Happy birthday Prabhas: Everything you want to know about the pan-Indian rebel star

After the stupendous success of Baahubali, Prabhas attained a new level of stardom. On the occasion of his birthday, we present to you some of the facts, about the darling of the masses, in no particular order. 

• Venkata Satyanarayana Prabhas Raju Uppalapati is Prabhas' full name. He was born in Chennai to Suryanarayana Raju and Siva Kumari. Prabhas is the nephew of actor Uppalapati Krishnam Raju and has two siblings.
• Prabhas went to the DNR School in Bhimavaram and earned a B Tech from Sri Chaitanya College in Hyderabad.
• Prabhas began his Tollywood career in 2002 with Eeswar and with Varsham (2004), he established himself as a solo hero.
• Prabhas is the first actor from India to star in a movie that earned Rs 1 billion in ten days. Additionally, he is the first actor whose movie (Baahubali 2) became the first in India to gross over Rs 1500 crore.
• Interestingly, before the release of Baahubali, Prabhas was charging Rs 7 crore as his remuneration.
• The actor, whose nicknames include Prabha, Pubsi and Mr Perfect, acknowledged that because Baahubali has given him so much (fame), he would not mind being called 'Baahubali' for the rest of his life.
• He is a major volleyball aficionado and has even constructed a court inside his home because he enjoys playing the game so much. Volleyball was a part of his fitness regimen as he prepared for his role in Baahubali.

• Prabhas is the first South Indian actor to get a wax statue at Madame Tussauds. He studied dance under Sekhar master before entering the film industry. Other Indian actors to have their wax statues there are; Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Katrina Kaif.
• The actor had to put on weight to play Baahubali and weighed roughly 100 kilos. He ate non-vegetarian food to gain roughly 20 kilos of pure muscle. Lakshman Reddy trained him for the film, and he won the title of Mr World in 2010. The producers also gave the actor gym equipment worth Rs 1.5 crore.
• Prabhas was ranked sixth on GQ Magazine's list of the Most Influential Young People of 2017. All thanks to Baahubali: The Conclusion. He did not sign any movies for four years while working on Baahubali. As simply put by Prabhas, “One Baahubali is equal to 100 films.”
• Bhakta Kannappa, a 1976 Telugu movie starring Prabhas' uncle Krishnam Raju, is his all-time favourite movie. He equally enjoys watching Rajkumar Hirani movies. And, Hearsay is that Prabhas watched Munna Bhai MBBS and 3 Idiots, almost 20 times.
• Oh, by the way, did you know that Prabhas dubbed for Manchu Vishnu in Denikaina Ready (2012)? Additionally, the actor appeared in a cameo in Prabhudheva's 2014 film Action Jackson, starring Ajay Devgn. His first appearance in a Bollywood movie, however, remained unnoticed.
• And, guess who's Prabhas' favourite actor? Robert De Niro!

• Rajamouli's first collaboration with Prabhas, Chatrapathi, was an immensely popular action drama with the actor's signature flourish. The movie centres on a Sri Lankan refugee who ends up working as a slave in Vizag.
• Top five films from Prabhas' career include Chatrapathi (2005), Billa (2009), Darling (2010), Mr Perfect (2011), and Mirchi (2013).
• If not an actor, Prabhas reportedly aspired to be a hotelier. He enjoys eating, and his favourite dishes are butter chicken and biryani. His go-to cheat meal throughout the demanding physical preparation for Baahubali would also be biryani.
• Only a few people knew Prabhas' love for reading. When he is not busy shooting, he uses his library at home.
• Are you aware that Prabhas enjoys travelling, as well? He prefers to travel to London and adores taking trips to Europe.
• Although Prabhas and Anushka Shetty have been romantically linked for a long time, there have been other marriage-related rumours. One claims that, during the period of Baahubali, he was presented with 6000 marriage proposals, all of which he turned down. He was allegedly engaged to a 23-year-old engineering student, according to another rumour that circulated online a few years ago.
• Prabhas donates generously without ever making a big deal out of it.

• Aside from advertising for a car company, Prabhas may not have appeared in many commercials. The actor doesn't seem to be too excited about it. According to reports, he even turned down brand endorsements for Rs 150 crore.
• Prabhas only looks for the plot in a script now that he has had back-to-back successes. While he does pay attention to his character in the film and the script, he thinks the plotline is what matters the most.
• When asked what changes Prabhas wants to see in film over the next five years, he responded, "What works and what does not is decided by the audience. If implemented properly, new ideas should be more effective."
• Prabhas long believed that he is too reserved to show emotion in front of the camera. The actor claims he still feels "conscious" at public gatherings and is learning how to deal with fame. He reportedly said, "I've been in the business for almost 13–14 years, but I have no idea how to manage stardom. My fans are disappointed that their hero doesn't act more frequently. I've improved and am working to do so."
• Prabhas claims it was difficult to persuade his family of his newly-discovered acting aspirations. "I once told a friend I wanted to be an actor, but he didn't believe me... After at least ten days, he started to believe me. He served as Saaho's producer."
• SS Rajamouli's Baahubali series and Saaho are Prabhas' most recent films. Next up for him is Salaar, directed by Prashanth Neel of the KGF-fame, Project K, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone, Spirit, by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, and Adipurush, a mythological movie based on the epic Ramayana, starring Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan.
• According to Siasat Daily, the Baahubali star has hiked his fee and is charging Rs 100 crore per project.

The following is what Prabhas observed about the tradition of pan-Indian cinema: "Competition exists in every industry. However, for a pan-Indian film, the real pressure is to understand what the public wants. It's not always clear to a Telugu director what the Punjabi audience wants. Bollywood has catered to northern audiences for years, and we've seen films like Mughal-e-Azam and Mother India; in Tamil cinema, Rajini sir and Vijay have been doing top-notch movies. It can be difficult to predict which story will be popular across the board. Instead of pitting actors against one another, the focus should be on what we can provide the audience and how to do it. There isn't a single formula that works for all-Indian films."

• A report published by ETimes says, Prabhas asked for Rs 150 crore for Spirit, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga. He could become India's highest-paid actor as a result of this. Interestingly, Prabhas wasn't the initial pick. Ram Charan declined the film when the director approached him first. The filmmaker subsequently approached Mahesh Babu and Allu Arjun; both declined the offer.
• In an interview, Tanhaji-fame director Om Raut explained why he chose Prabhas for Adipurush. "When I was creating Raghav's character, Prabhas was constantly on my mind since I found him to be so compelling. I wouldn't have made the movie if it weren't for him."

• Prabhas said that Raut's engaging screenplay and the way it incorporates Indian history and culture are the reasons he agreed to star in Adipurush. "How he conceptualised the movie was massive and magnificent. And I believe he did so admirably."
• For the team, Adipurush is "not just a film, but a symbol of devotion." Om Raut praised Prabhas' performance in Adipurush, saying, "The way he performed it is divine. On many levels, it is quite spiritual, yet it is also a commercial movie. So, it has that odd balance of appealing to the crowd, as everyone does, but at the same time, we had to uphold the character's holiness and purity; stay within its bounds, and try to do what we want to accomplish."

• According to a source, Prabhas received compensation of close to Rs 120 crore for his role in Adipurush. The movie will be released in IMAX and 3D, too.
• The Hindi and Telugu versions of Adipurush are shot by T-Series and Retrophiles. On January 12, 2023, it is scheduled for theatrical release. Kannada, Malayalam, and Tamil dubs will also be offered. On October 2, 2022, a ceremony in Ayodhya saw the launch of the first teaser for Adipurush.
• The movie maintains the fresh tradition started by SS Rajamouli's RRR and Ayan Mukerji's Brahmastra as the most recent big-budget Indian movie to incorporate Hindu mythology and culture.

• Despite the current global expansion of streaming platforms, Prabhas admitted he is nervous about making his OTT debut. He revealed to Delhi Times "I suppose it is a safer choice for the filmmakers to release some movies on OTT if they believe that viewers will prefer to see them at home rather than at a theatre. All of my movies are currently big-screen releases."
• Prabhas added he may give it some thought in the future (exploring the OTT space). "Although I am aware that we should all change, I won't be considering the OTT area for another three to four years. I'm all for going to the movies and the associated experiences."