He claims to have Martin Scorcese among his fans and is on the wish list of Sean Penn's agent, so when asked about a comparison to Bollywood's kisser boy Emraan Hashmi, thanks to the 32 lip locks in his upcoming film, actor Prashant Narayanan asks, "Who's Emraan Hashmi?"
Narayanan, who grabbed headlines thanks to the erotic content of his upcoming film Mr Singh Mrs Mehta, says that he does not want the kisser tag.
"I never heard of Emraan Hashmi before people started asking me if I am the next Emraan Hashmi. I have not seen any of his films. As far as the kisser tag is concerned, I don't want the tag and I did not sign the film hoping for it. May be it worked for Emraan, but I don't want it," said the actor.
Narayanan, who is a well-established name in the independent cinema circuit thanks to films like Chhal and The White Elephant, is a self-confessed "mad man" and says that he does not care about stereotypes or niches.
"I don't want to create a niche for myself because I dream of becoming the most versatile actor in the industry. I have done commercial stuff as well as films shot on digital cameras in trains and on the street. My next film has not one kissing scene by the way," said the 37-year-old actor.
From Academy Award winning German director Florian Gallenberger's film Shadows of Time to Bombil and Beatrice which was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, the actor has an impressive resume, beginning from the days he was a assistant director to Govind Nihalani.
{{/usCountry}}From Academy Award winning German director Florian Gallenberger's film Shadows of Time to Bombil and Beatrice which was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, the actor has an impressive resume, beginning from the days he was a assistant director to Govind Nihalani.
{{/usCountry}}Narayanan, who was born in Kerala, studied in Delhi and moved to Mumbai in the 90s to become an ad film producer, finds the number game about kisses very funny.
"I am sure I had more than 34 kisses in the film, I was not counting though you see. The film takes a very honest look at infidelity and the kisses were not forced into the script for shock value or to create controversy," he said.
Narayanan plays painter Ashwin Mehta in the film directed by debutante Pravesh Bharadwaj, which revolves around the relationship between him and Neera Singh, played by British-Indian actress Aruna Shields.
The two find that their spouses are having an affair. Drawn together by shame and anger, they find comfort in their growing friendship as Neera becomes Ashwin's muse and lover.
The 'piece-de-resistance' of the movie, which has already grabbed headlines, is a scene where Ashwin paints Neera in the nude.
"It is an intense scene and everyone on set was tense about it. Some of the scenes that I had with both Aruna and Lucy, ran into many takes because both of them don't understand a word of Hindi," said Narayanan.
Mr Singh Mrs Mehta releases on June 25.