Prakash Bare is an Indian theater and film actor focusing on Malayalam, English and other south Indian language productions.[1] Starting with the 2010 Malayalam film Sufi Paranja Katha, Prakash has acted in more than 30 films directed by some of the most eminent filmmakers.[2] He is now a live presence in south Indian art house movies and theater scene. Prakash is also a technologist and entrepreneur focusing on VLSI, Software, media production etc. As a social activist, Prakash is involved in the Endosulfan struggle of Kasaragod and is the president of CERV Collectives[3] which secured interim compensation of ₹ 5 lakhs for 6000 plus affected patients through a legal campaign. [4]

Prakash Bare
Bare in April 2015
Born
Kasaragod, India
Occupations
  • Actor
  • producer
  • technologist
Organizations
  • IndVentr
  • ShareYourFortune
  • Simelabs
TitleCo-founder of Sinergia Media Labs aka Simelabs
SpouseLatha Rao
Children2

Early life

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Prakash grew up in Chirakkal, a small village in Kannur district and attended Kamala Nehru UP School, Govt Model High School, Valapattanam and S. N. College, Kannur for Pre University Degree. He completed B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, Kerala. Prakash was active in dramatics during the college days and has won many accolades including Best Actor awards in Calicut University Interzone arts festival. He later did a masters in Microelectronics from IIT Kanpur,[5] and spent 15 years in Silicon Valley, California where he worked as a technologist and entrepreneur in the micro chip design and automation industry.[2]

Tech career

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Prakash has held various technology and business positions in electronics design industry in the US and India. He was a co-founder of GDA Technologies Inc,[6] one of the pioneering Electronic Design Services(EDS) companies. GDA, listed as one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in US by Inc Magazine its annual INC500 list in 2002, was subsequently acquired by Rambus Inc and L&T Technology Services[7] in March 2007. He is currently the Co-founder & Chief Gardener of Sinergia Media Labs, based in Smartcity Kochi which is into digital transformation services solutions provider.[8]

Acting career

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Prakash Bare has acted in more than 30 films, mostly critically acclaimed and artistic, in Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi and English languages directed by eminent filmmakers like Priyanandanan, P. Balachandran, Dr. Biju, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, Shyamaprasad, Jayan K. Cherian, Sathyan Anthikkad, V. K. Prakash, Abi Varghese, M. Padmakumar, Lijin Jose, Sajeevan Anthikkad, Satheesh Paul, MG Sasi, Shalini Usha Nair et al. Ivan Megharoopan, Oraalppokkam, Sufi Paranja Katha, Shutter(Marathi), Oru Indian Pranayakatha and Kaadu Pookkunna Neram are some of most noticed performances of Prakash.

Prakash is best known for his depiction of poet KP Madhavan Nair in Ivan Megharoopan inspired by the life and works of the renowned Malayalam poet P. Kunhiraman Nair (popularly known as Mahakavi P). Poets O.N.V. Kurup and Kavalam Narayana Panicker, contemporaries of the great poet, observed that Prakash performed brilliantly as P, even with exact the body language as if he is very familiar with P though he has never met him in person.[9] Renowned filmmaker Sathyan Anthikkad also highly appreciated Prakash's performance as the poet and invited him for his next film Oru Indian Pranayakatha to do the much noticed role of Azad, an Ittharwala from Rajasthan. Prakash's performance was also lauded by the John Abraham award jury in their citation for that year's award for the film. Critic Veeyen in his review commented: "The film belongs to Prakash Bare, and his luminescent performance that puts in the right amounts of mirth, gloom and life itself, helps him capture the poet that he plays with aplomb and move far beyond a mere impersonation".[10]

Another noted performance of Prakash is in film Oraalppokkam, produced by Kazhcha Chalachithra Vedi through online crowdfunding [11] and shot in Kedarnath and Uttarakhand areas. The Hollywood Reporter observed that "playing the uncommitted philosophy teacher forced to question his very existence, Prakash creates an anxious, self-deceiving but always believable hero".[12] Paresh Palicha in his review in Rediff.com observes: "It is Prakash Bare as an actor who shoulders the responsibility of communicating the director’s vision to the viewer and he does it with utmost sincerity. We can see the turmoil he is going through in the entire film."[13]

Diverse roles like Maamootty in Sufi Paranja Katha, Filmmaker in Shutter(Marathi), Itthar trader Azad in Oru Indian Pranayakatha, IT tycoon Mahesh Moorthy in Ivide, Sub Inspector in Kaadu Pookkunna Neram, Dr Mohankumar in Valiya Chirakulla Pakshikal, Thahasildar Sunil Das in Jalam, Swami Haripanchanana Baba in Prabhuvinte Makkal are some of the other most noted performances of Prakash. The investigation officer DIG Balagopal Narayan in Satheesh Paul's Kaattu Vithachavar and the filmmaker in Dr. Biju's new English film Painting Life are Prakash's upcoming lead roles.

Production activities

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Under the banner Silicon Media,[14][15] Prakash has produced/co-produced Sufi Paranja Katha, Janaki, Ivan Megharoopan, Shutter(Marathi), and Papilio Buddha.[16][17] Thampi Antony has been a co-producer for the first four productions of Silicon Media and Gopa Periyadan a collaborator on Ivan Megharoopan. Their productions have won several recognitions including 15 state film awards and official selections to reputed film festivals like Berlin, Montreal, BFI, Durban, Kerala, Mumbai, Kolkata, Trinidad-Tobago etc.

Prakash has tried to experiment with his productions by staying away from formulas and conventions[18] His focus areas include content creation and delivery on internet and the newer technology trends in that domain. Prakash has also been part of multiple crowd funded films as an actor as well as collaborator. Teaming up with MP Sajeev and VKP, he produced Shutter in Marathi language (2015). In 2016, he co-produced a sitcom Brown Nation, based on the lives of Indian community living in NJ area, which is well received on Netflix. Dr. Biju's English film Painting Life is Silicon Media's upcoming production.

Theater

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Prakash formed BlueOcean Theater group along with friends and colleagues including Jayaprakash Kulur, VKP, Padmapriya, Manojkumar Narayanan, musician Sunilkumar et al.

BlueOcean theater productions includes plays based on the works of Samuel Beckett, Anton Chekhov, Neil Simon, Jayaprakash Kulur and NN Pillai. Becket's Waiting for Godot was presented in Malayalam as "Godoye Kaathu" (based on Kadammanitta's translation), directed by theater veteran KA Nandajan in which Prakash played the role of Vladimir.[19][20] 4Play, based on the works of Anton Chekhov and Jayaprakash Kulur was staged in 2012 with a cast of Prakash, Padmapriya, Manojkumar Narayanan, VKP, Ann Augustine, and Vandana Prabhu.

In 2017, BlueOcean collaborated with NECAB and Performance Studies Collective, Delhi to produce The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - play directed by Deepan Sivaraman based on the classic German expressionist silent film of 1920. Prakash enacts in this play the title role of Dr Caligari.[21]

Filmography

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As actor

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Year Title Director Character
2010 Sufi Paranja Katha Priyanandanan Maamootti
2011 Janaki MG Sasi Ayaal
Akam Shalini Usha Nair Architect CK
2012 Ivan Megharoopan P. Balachandran Poet KP Madhavan Nair
Friday Lijin Jose Arun
Arike Shyamaprasad Vinayan
Prabhuvinte Makkal Sajeevan Anthikad Haripanchanan Baba
Ithra Mathram K. Gopinathan Guest appearance
2013 Papilio Buddha Jayan K. Cherian Police officer
Silence V. K. Prakash Guest appearance
2014 Oraalppokkam Sanal Kumar Sasidharan Mahendran
Mazhaneerthullikal V. K. Prakash Editor
Nayana KN Sasidharan Jayan
Kukkilyar Nemom Pushparaj Raman Nair
Shutter (Marathi) V. K. Prakash Struggling film director Govind
Brown Nation (TV Sitcom) Aby Varghese Guru (Godman)
2015 Balyakalasakhi Pramod Payyannur Suhara's father
Jalam Padmakumar Sunil Das
Rangolu (Kannada) AV Jayaraj Film Director
Ivide Shyamaprasad Mahesh Murthy
Birds With Large Wings Dr. Biju Dr. Mohankumar
Rockstar V. K. Prakash Narendran
2016 Kaadu Pookkunna Neram Dr. Biju Sub Inspector
Tiyaan Jeeyen Krishnakumar Corporate head
2017 Kaviyude Osyath Vineeth Anil Kavi
2017 Kaattu Vithachavar Satish Paul DIG Balagopal
Mammali Enna Indiakkaran Arun N. Sivan Gafoor Haji
Shukra Dase (Kannada) Joseph Neenasam Udyami
Painting Life Dr. Biju Filmmaker
Udampadi Suresh peter Ayyappan
2018 Madhuram ee jeevitham Fr. Anil Philip Samuel
Veyilmarangal Dr. Biju Collector
2020 Orange Marangalude Veedu Dr. Biju Davis
Etham Praveen Moodadi Artist Bose
2021 Portraits Dr. Biju Investigation officer
Pendulum Rejin Babu John Master
2022 Half Pants Full Pants V. K. Prakash Sampath
Cheers Sudevan Chairman
2023 Pendulum Rejin S. Babu John Master

As producer

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Year Title Director Language Notes
2010 Sufi Paranja Katha Priyanandanan Malayalam 4 Kerala state awards, IFFK
2011 Janaki MG Sasi Malayalam Kerala state award for Best child artiste, IFFK
2012 Ivan Megharoopan P. Balachandran Malayalam 4 Kerala state awards including second best film, John Abraham Sp Jury Award
2013 Papilio Buddha Jayan K Cherian Malayalam Berlinale, Montreal, BFI, Durban, Oxaca, 2 Kerala state awards..
2014 Shutter (Marathi) V. K. Prakash Marathi Best regional film in JIFF, DD Sahyadri award for editing, Sanskruti Kaladarpan Award for Sachin
2014 Brown Nation (TV Sitcom) Aby Varghese English Released on Netflix
2017 Painting Life Dr. Biju English World premiere in Montreal World film festival
2019 Udampadi Suresh Peter Malayalam
2021 House of Orange Trees Dr. Biju Malayalam

References

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  1. ^ Shiba Kurian (18 February 2012). "Prakash Bare to play a poet". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  2. ^ a b "The world is craving for Indian culture". Deccan Chronicle. 7 July 2011. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  3. ^ "Kerala government ties up SC order on endosulfan compensation with red tape". New Indian Express. 26 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Relief for endosulfan victims as SC orders payment of compensation". The Hindu. 9 April 2022.
  5. ^ "Entrepreneurs who reinvented careers in India to chase their dreams". 24 March 2012.
  6. ^ "GDA technologies".
  7. ^ "L&T Infotech Acquires GDA Technologies, Inc".
  8. ^ "About Us | SImelabs | Reimagine your Business". Sinergia Media Labs. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  9. ^ Quotes About Ivan Megharoopan. YouTube. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Ivan Megharoopan Review | Ivan Megharoopan Malayalam Movie Review by Veeyen".
  11. ^ "A Woman of Myriad Talents". Archived from the original on 8 January 2014.
  12. ^ "'Six Feet High': Goa Film Bazaar". The Hollywood Reporter. 30 December 2014.
  13. ^ "Review: Oraalppokkam is disturbingly impressive".
  14. ^ "Painting Life Movie".
  15. ^ "With Silicon Media (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)". IMDb.
  16. ^ "Malayalam producer Prakash Bare is content with his film's reaction". ibnlive.in.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Censor Board has humiliated me again: Prakash Bare - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  18. ^ Saraswathy Nagarajan (10 January 2018). "'I try to experiment in all of my productions': Prakash Bare". The Hindu. Thiruvananthapuram, India.
  19. ^ "The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Malayalam adaption of 'Waiting for Godot'". www.hindu.com. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  20. ^ Cheerath, Bhawani (24 September 2010). "The endless wait". The Hindu.
  21. ^ Sudeesh Yezhuvath. "As Caligari looms large". Countercurrents.
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