Today is Pawan’s birthday- Happy Birthday Pawan. His fans call him “Power Star.” I’d rather go easy on the power bit. I’d instead think of him as a spontaneous actor. Pawan is not afraid of doing a different kind of movie. Many actors in Tollywood use the word different as a cliché to be mouthed in a press conference. Not Pawan. He does the same things differently. And he does different things differently. He raises the experimentation bar a little higher than the rest. People who have worked with him say he likes to shake things a bit loose. You can see it in his characterization too. He pushes his characters out of their comfort zone. Take Siddhartha in the movie Khushi.
It is a typical Pawan thing. Pawan is breezing through the character. He has got Bhoomika eating out of his hand. And then as the audience thinks what else is there, except for him to tie the knot with her, Pawan introduces a twist in the tale. The only difference being it is a funky kind of twist. He angers the heroine by gazing longingly at her navel. So, Bhoomika storms out saying she hates him. And Pawan being Pawan infuriates her further by describing her lips, eyes and more in his patented dialogue delivery style. With just those 15 minutes of maverick improvisation, Pawan had the college going crowd hooked as repeat audience. A good movie went onto become a great hit.
Pawan is passionate about Cinema. He gives an impression of an actor who has studied the subject of heroism thoroughly. He looks at movies in terms of overall success. He loves playing a reserved, reluctant hero. In Khushi, almost till the end he plays a man torn by a love that he is not able to express. The glamour quotient is reserved for the heroine. In Badri too, he restrains himself for the most part. It is only when confronted by Prakash Raj that the dam bursts, and bursts spectacularly. “Nuvvu Nanda aithae naenu Badri” he says defiantly. He dismisses Prakash Raj’s goons in a walk-fight.
Sure, the fight was composed well. But it was Pawan’s spontaneous display of aggression that gave it the punch. He has got a sizzling edge when he strides in for a fight. He is very graceful in his display of aggression. It is almost as if, aggression comes naturally to him. He seems to have the will to switch it on instantly. Another switch that he has easy access to is his comic timing. His characters have this self deprecating sort of humor. E.g. if he is a student he fails repeatedly, but is very cool about it. However as the movie progresses his character usually ends up having the last laugh.
It has not been an easy climb for Pawan. Being Chiranjeevi’s brother is an expectation that has crushed his other brother - Nagababu. Very early in his career, Pawan seems to have taken the strategic decision of not copying the onscreen mannerisms of his hugely successful elder brother. He has instead taken the difficult path of being an original. And it has clicked. Today distributors more often than not feel safe with a Pawan starrer. They know that he is one actor who has the interests of the audience at the top of his mind. Recently Pawan was in the news for obvious reasons – Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam has had its inevitable impact on him. Going forward he will surely plump for more socially relevant characters. But he will always make sure that the fun and spontaneous element in his characterization is not compromised at all. After all, he primarily is an entertainer.
|
