Will 'Baahubali's' Prabhas Be The Next Harrison Ford, Or Elijah Wood?
You know you’re on a roll when the prime minister of your country takes a break from the duties of leading 1.2 billion people to brag on Twitter about meeting you.
You know you’re hotter than hot when the Times of India calls you ‘The New Salman Khan Of The Film Industry.’
Prabhas, the immensely likable and charismatic 35 year-old star of Baahubali: The Beginning—now the biggest blockbuster hit in South Indian cinema’s 84 year existence—is at a fateful, peak moment in his movie star career. Only a few times before have movie stars found themselves in this position, having played indelible lead roles in record-breaking action blockbusters. What he does next will determine whether he enjoys a stellar, Harrison Ford post Star Wars type career, or a relatively undistinguished career like that of Elijah Wood post Lord of the Rings.
Not to knock Elijah Wood—he’s a likeable, talented, and very busy actor—but after his starring turn as Frodo Baggins in one of the most successful movie franchises in Hollywood history, one would have hoped to find him in loftier productions than the movie Cooties or a TV series called Robot Chicken.
Ford, on the other hand, parlayed the good fortune of his success in Star Wars into a phenomenal 40+ year career as one of the world’s biggest and most consistent box office heroes. He’s such a movie badass that he’s still playing Han Solo, 38 years after he first introduced the character in Star Wars: A New Hope. He’s worked with world-class directors like Spielberg, George Lucas, and Ridley Scott, playing the president of the United States (Air Force One) , CIA Analyst Jack Ryan (Patriot Games) a noir detective who hunts down androids (Blade Runner) and perhaps one of the most memorable movie characters of all time, Indiana Jones.
Now that’s the kind of career Prabhas ought to be aiming for. He has demonstrated a broad range of talents, from his abilities to sing and dance, to literally and figuratively carry off the challenge of playing a movie god, to credibly charm beautiful divas in one scene and then lead an army into battle in the next. Some may quibble about his acting chops, but that’s scarcely been an obstacle for many of India’s leading stars, or for Hollywood’s either.
So what’s next for this sizzling hot movie star? After a European vacation with friends he’ll return to India to shoot the rest of Baahubali: The Conclusion beginning in September. And after that, it would be advisable for him to continue working with those collaborators who have helped him reach his current megastar status. As we’d say here in America, “dance with the one who brung you.” Director S.S. Rajamouli has already stated that he couldn’t have pulled off Baahubali without him, and writer Vijayendra Prasad created the story that made his star-making role possible. Let’s hope that this creative trio has more marvelous movies in store for the future.
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