Music, Melody and Action – GV Prakash Kumar
Flying high as a music director, a successful actor and a producer, GV Prakash Kumar has long since stepped out of the shadows of his world-famous uncle, AR Rahman to become a huge celebrity purely on his own merit. Shankaran Malini discovers more in a conversation with the prodigy himself.
Notwithstanding the years that he hopes to add on with his recent signature look defined by his beard, moustache and dense hair, GV Prakash Kumar is still startlingly young for someone so successful.
The look has stayed with him since his Darling days – his debut movie in the horror-comedy genre which turned out to be a huge success. “I tried out a few styles before retaining this one. This is how I will look in my forthcoming film Trisha Illana Nayanthara too. I think it has been lucky for me,” smiles GV, as the young actor is fondly called.
GV Prakash today reigns supreme as not just an acclaimed music composer but also a busy actor. ‘I have been signed on for ‘Bruce Lee’, followed by ‘Darling 2’ by Sam Anton and a Vetrimaaran screenplay in Atlee’s dialogues titled ‘Ketta Paiyyanda Indha Karthi.” GV is becoming a favourite for his punch lines too – think ‘Virgin pasanga saabam ungala summa vidathu dee’ (meaning the curse of virgin boys won’t spare you girls) from ‘Trisha Illana Nayanthara’ – has become a huge hit.
So what prompted him to act? “I have always liked to pose, ever since my childhood. I have also been interested in photography. Before ‘Veyyil’ happened, I did a photo shoot with a well-known photographer. He gave me a lot of confidence during the shoot about my looks. I really enjoyed it. Still the fact is that despite my love for acting, I have till date never approached anyone for roles. My journey started when Shankar sir wanted a music composer for his production venture – ‘Veyyil.’ Director Vasanthabalan sent my show reel to him. He was impressed and I was signed on. As regards my acting opportunity, AR Murugadoss wanted to cast me in one of his films. However the film didn’t take off. Luckily, ‘Prema Katha Chithram’ was remade in Tamil and I was signed on for it. ‘Darling’ went on to become one of the most successful films of the year,” he says.
GV’s forthcoming film ‘Trisha Illana Nayanthara’ is set for a release in Telugu as ‘Trisha Ledha Nayanthara.’ As the film nears its impending release date, rumours are spreading thick and fast about GV shooting a sizzling lip-lock scene with as many as 36 retakes with his co-star! That’s marathon kissing, huh? GV deftly downplays the news saying, “Oh, the retakes were just blown out of proportion. There are a lot of angles because this scene is a sequence. The director was very clear about the lip-lock scene from the beginning saying it has to be in the film. I didn’t have a problem doing it. It was never an issue.”
“The controversy of the 36 retakes of the liplock scene in my film has just been blown out of proportion”
As regards the controversial song, “Bittu Padam Di,’ referring to porn films, he says, “I think ever since the ‘Choli Ke Peeche’ number, controversial songs have always been a part and parcel of Indian films. Why are people talking only about this song? I have done ‘Aariro’ in ‘Deiva Thirumagal’, ‘Karuppu Karuppu’ in ‘Kakka Muttai’ and the like which are emotional and tug at the heart strings. I have always done a lot of variations. After all, variety is the spice of life.”
GV is set to complete a decade as music composer in the coming year and he is composing for his 50th film which incidentally is also Tamil superstar Vijay’s 59th film. Naturally, GV has a lot of things to look forward to. While he doesn’t wish to comment on the alleged rift between Dhanush and him, there is quite a similarity in the compositions of their films. Dhanush’s film earlier this year, set to Anirudh Ravichander’s music (Maari) had a song called ‘Thara Local Boys’ and GV’s composition for Vijay’s 59th film also has a song called ‘Ulaga Local Thara Ticket’. He says, “I have always wanted to do a ‘Thara Ticket’ song with Vijay sir. For a long time his fans have also been wanting to hear him sing such a song. Apart from that, there is no other coincidence.”
GV’s uncle AR Rahman is incidentally the one who initiated his foray into singing as well. “I started young, really young. I have been singing from the time I was 3 years old. Actually, I was 3 when I sang the ‘Chikku Bukku Rayile’ song in ‘Gentleman.’ At that age, I didn’t even know what I was doing. To date, I have no clue how I did it. And here I need to clarify that I was not the kid who enacted that song on screen. Of course, it was too young for me to recollect specific incidents or experiences. I used to play the piano at school and I have learnt to play the A-Grade. Then I started composing for ads. I have played for musicians like AR Rahman, Harris Jayaraj and many more. For AR Rahman sir alone I have played around 30 songs. Just ahead of the release of my debut film ‘Darling,’ Rahman sir put up the teaser on his twitter handle and promoted it,” he says. GV has also sung for his mother, AR Reihanna. “I sang twice for her. I went and performed as any other artist would and came back. That’s how much we value music in our family,” he says.
Life with childhood sweetheart, singer Saindhavi has been blissful for GV. “The going is good. We have known each other for so long that marriage has hardly brought about any drastic changes. Saindhavi has always been very supportive of me. We don’t interfere in each other’s work and believe in giving each other the necessary space,” he says.
“We have known each other for so long that marriage has hardly brought about any drastic changes”
GV’s production venture, ‘Madha Yaanai Koottam’ also garnered good reviews. Ask him about his future plans with regard to producing films and he says, “Madha Yaanai Koottam released a year ago. I am revamping my production house a bit. I will be producing a film next year, not this year. I am open to ideas – it could be a collaborative or independent effort and may be my own film or even feature a newcomer. GV will also be composing for a film by director Atlee next year.
Great going, GV! We’re proud of you.
