Uppalapati Venkata Satyanarayana Prabhas Raju, popularly know as Prabhas, is one of the finest actors in the nation. From his struggle to carve a niche for himself, to becoming an established name in the Indian film industry, Prabhas has had quite a journey. Even today, he is hailed as being the one to change the face of the Telugu film industry with the overpowering success of the Baahubali franchise, which did a roaring trade internationally. The actor’s latest movie Radhe Shyam is now playing in theatres.
Wondering how he became an actor? In an exclusive interview with Man’s World India, Prabhas tells, “I was born shy, and my friends were in shock when I told them that I was taking up cinema. As a kid, I saw my dad as a producer and uncle as an actor and wondered how they managed to do all of these in front of so many. In fact, they once asked me if I would like to be a child actor, and I said no with a straight face. I am opening up these days, but I can never be an extrovert,” adding, “My father and uncle stopped 30 years back. We all were out of the industry and faced a financial crisis. In 1970, I realized that I want to be an actor. I joined acting classes and went to Dr. Satyanand and that really helped me – I was asked to act like a cat or a dog. It helped me in opening up in front of so many people. Till today, I am comfortable inside the film sets or in abroad where people don’t recognize me much.”
In 2022, when Prabhas made his debut with the Telugu film Eeshwar, no one thought that he would become the star that he is today. Following Eeshwar, he did Raghavendra, which too went unnoticed. All this changed with Varsham in 2004, as it brought him a huge fan-following. Mirchi in 2013 was a turning point for the actor. And then, came Baahubali.
The cliffhanger from the first film created hype and there was one question on everyone’s lips – “Why did Katappa kill Baahubali?” The desperation to find the answer drove all fans to the theatres for the sequel, which also saw a resounding success, on the domestic and international front, breaking all records.
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