Fresh Start

After parting ways with girlfriend,actress Amy Jackson,the 27-year-old lives this philosophy. He has invested his energies into promoting his next release Issaq,scheduled for July 26. In the movie,he plays a character based on the tragic hero of William Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet.

The film,directed by debutant Manish Tiwary,has been awaiting release for over a year. “It came to me four years ago. I was taken in by the nuances of the character,which go beyond Shakespeare’s original,” says Prateik.

While the story has been retained,the setting has been altered to that of two warring gangster families of Varanasi,with a parallel Naxalite track. “I play the character of a playboy and a killing machine. Yet,there lurks in him the pain of having turned to guns at an early age; it builds in him as anger,which is released when he falls in love with the daughter of his enemy,” he adds.

While the role needed Prateik to familiarise himself with the mannerisms,language and diction of people from North India,the character demanded that Prateik tap into his own angst. “I was a very angry child because of the issues at home,” he says,referring to the controversies surrounding his actor parents,Smita Patil and Raj Babbar. “Manish managed to bring out that angst within me and I could lend it to my character,” he says. The young actor believes he has mellowed over the years. He is better equipped to understand the complicated relationship that his parents and both sides of their family have shared.

Prateik’s love for acting is visible in the way he incessantly talks about the films he has worked on and would like to. He admits that his exposure,while growing up,was limited to mainstream Hollywood and Bollywood films until Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na came his way seven years ago. “I was training with adman Prahlad Kakkar,who liked my goofiness and cast me in a few ads,giving me my first exposure in front of the camera. It was also he who pushed me to audition for Jaane Tu. The film changed my perception of cinema and opened doors to what the medium can achieve,” he recounts.

However,entering the film industry without any prior understanding of its functioning or people soon had him disillusioned. While Kiran Rao’s Dhobi Ghat won him compliments,other films,such as Dum Maaro Dum,My Friend Pinto and Ekk Deewana Tha,didn’t work at the box office. “On the one hand,there are people like Aamir (Khan) and Kiran who guide me whenever I need them. On the other,are those who pretend to be well-wishers and friends,” he says and recounts how he had believed a director who had promised to sign him on and let go of other projects,only to read in the papers that someone else had been cast for the role.

At present,Prateik — who is working on a suspense thriller titled Rum Pum Posh — feels better-equipped to handle his career. He is also learning the trade,the importance of choosing a film that will be a box office success and what goes into making a movie other than acting. “I only sleep and eat my meals at home. Every day,I head out to meet people,watch films,educate myself on the medium so that I can better myself at it,” he says.

dipti.nagpaul@expressindia.com