Filmmaker Sam Anton, who has cast G.V. Prakash Kumar in upcoming Tamil horror-comedy "Darling", says the composer is a "natural actor".
Prakash, who is A.R Rahman's nephew, recently made his acting debut in the yet-unreleased Tamil romantic-drama "Pencil".
"Since he has worked as a music composer on several films, he knows the mistakes an actor shouldn't do. He ensured he never made those mistakes, and that automatically made him a natural actor. It was such a delight to work with him," Anton told IANS.
"I also feel his association (as a music composer) with filmmakers such as Vetrimaaran and A.L. Vijay has helped him to be an actor," he said.
Anton roped in Prakash in the title role because he wanted audiences to see a new hero, who is already popular.
"He (Prakash) was working on 'Pencil' when we started looking out for a hero. My film's producer and I felt he would be perfect for the role because we wanted to cast a new hero, who is known to the audience. Prakash is quite popular through his music," he said.
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"Audiences have seen him only in a clean shaven look so far. But we didn't want that and gave him a makeover to make him hero material. He was so interested in this project that we made it into a perfect commercial outing," he added.
"Darling" is the official remake of Telugu hit "Prema Katha Chitram".
Anton says the film will be technically superior to the original.
"'Darling' will be technically and musically better. Since it features Prakash in the lead role, we wanted it to be musically very different," he said.
"The Telugu version had the essence that worked in its favour, but we wanted the remake to be technically strong. We concentrated on the technical aspect a lot because we wanted it to be different from other horror comedies that are being made," he added.
To make "Darling" technically better, Anton clarifies that they "didn't concentrate too much on visual effects. But you will feel its impact in some places.
The film, which is jointly produced by Studio Green and Geetha Arts, also features Nikki Galrani and Karunas in important roles.