Exclusive! Pramod: English Manja is strictly for fans of hardcore commercial cinema

There was a time, not too long ago, when Kannada actor Pramod was desperately looking for work, even though he’d had noteworthy outings with Geetha Bangle Store and Premier Padmini. “As an actor, the idea of sitting at home idle seemed unthinkable and when the team of English Manja approached me, I thought it was interesting. Directed by Arya M Mahesh, the film is a hardcore commercial entertainer, in which I play a rowdy. But unlike most others in the genre, here, I am not someone who is forced to turn to a life of violence owing to circumstances. Manjunath, aka Manja, dreams of such a life from a young age and goes out of his way to do daredevilry and impress local dons,” explains Pramod.

The actor admits that audiences may find the subject of English Manja and its treatment a tad routine, but he insists that there’s more to the film than just a lot of action. He adds that it was a learning experience for him. “I’d not done an out-and-out commercial film and English Manja ensured I could tick that off on my list of must-try items. But, more importantly, this is a film that also has a love story at its crux. As much as Manja is devoted to his criminal gang, his heart beats for a certain girl. How his life changes because of her forms a major part of the narrative,” says the actor.

Meanwhile, Pramod, who was widely noticed for his role as Udaal Babu in Rohit Padaki’s 2021 film Rathnan Prapancha, tells us that the films that have come to him since then have been tremendously exciting. “One of the films that I am eagerly looking forward to is Bhuvanam Gaganam. I play the lead in the film, which involves a journey, and along the way, I meet this character played by Pruthvi Ambaar. The narrative follows how this impacts my character’s life thereon. We have about 10-12 days’ worth of shoot left, which involves a journey to Kanyakumari. We should be able to finish this sometime in May, after the Karnataka state elections. Bhuvanam Gaganam will be a special film in my career, not just for its subject and my role, but also the scale on which it is being made. It will be quite the visual treat,” says Pramod.

His big-ticket outing, though, is, undoubtedly, Prashant Neel’s Salaar, in which he plays a pivotal character that shares screen space with Prabhas and Prithviraj. “Salaar, of course, is a big platform for me and I believe it will be a gamechanger for my career. I have a good, noteworthy role in the film and am confident that it will help me make inroads in other industries. Am yet to finish my portions and have a few days of shoot left to wrap up. Salaar, I guess, will be my next release after English Manja, unless the makers of Bhuvanam Gaganam manage to bring it to theatres before September 28. Am looking forward to the promotional campaign of Salaar; if it is anything like KGF, it will be massive boost for me,” says Pramod.

What about Alankara Vidyarthi? “Unfortunately, this film is stalled and I am not sure if and when it will take off again. I am hopeful of wrapping it up at some point, but I will need to lose weight for the continuity shots. At the moment, there is no update on this. There are a couple of interesting projects produced by Shruti Naidu ma’am that will be announced shortly. Official announcements should happen by June,” he signs off.