Interview: Prabhas on 'Radhe Shyam': 'Didn't want to do only action'

Superstar Prabhas, who has worked in blockbuster hits with a dollop of high-octane action, says he wanted to move away from his action image and do something different and that's how his latest release 'Radhe Shyam', a lovestory, happened to him. The 'Baahubali' star says 'Radhe Shyam' also has a sprinkle of thriller and is India's first film with retro visuals, dresses and colour mix.

In a candid conversation with IANS, during the promotion of the film in the Capital, Prabhas revealed as to what enticed him to take up 'Radhe Shyam', which also stars Pooja Hegde.

"I wanted to do something different not like action, action and action... I wanted to do something different so that I could do some experiment more in the future. So, we thought we'd do a love story or something different. I heard 3-4 scripts and planned to do this," said Prabhas, who is the first south Indian star to receive a wax sculpture at Madame Tussaud's wax museum. The 42-year-old actor hopes that the film lives up to the expectations.

"The promos and making videos got good response and finally after three different dates finally it's getting released so hope it works," he said. Written and directed by Radha Krishna Kumar, 'Radhe Shyam' is a period romantic drama, which revolves around the story of Vikramaditya, a palmist who is conflicted between destiny and his love for Prerana, played by Pooja.

Does Prabhas in personal life believe in palmistry and astrology?

"I never followed anything like that. We have heard many stories... In my family also we had heard many stories... This palmist told that this is going to happen and all my uncle said 'he's going to be big when I was born' but I never followed any palmistry or astrology..."

"We have a rich culture in astrology in India but I never followed," said the pan-India star, who was ranked second in Times' Most Desirable Men for the year 2017 and twelfth in 2018.

Prabhas has previously done two romantic films such as 'Darling' and 'Mr. Perfect'.

Asked about what attracts him towards the concept of romance, he said: "So, I did two romantic love stories in Telugu which I had good action image then also I did that and it worked very well... It's called 'Darling' and 'Mr. Perfect'."

"So, after 'Baahubali' and 'Saaho'... We thought better go with a love story with a small budget and I couldn't get a proper script then 'Saaho' happened... for 'Radhe Shyam' we took a lot of care and drama..." Added the actor: "We can say it's a love thriller also in a way and with grandeur and first time in Indian-cinema, retro. We, never saw Indian cinema with retro visuals or dresses or the colour mix."