Meet debutant villain Prakash Varma from Mohanlal’s Thudarum and creator behind ZooZoo ads

Tharun Moorthy's Thudarum is performing well in theaters. The film has received positive feedback for its unique story and strong performances. While fans were impressed by the screen presence of Mohanlal and Shobana, another actor stole the limelight. After watching the film, viewers were left wondering who played George. His performance, which matched the leading cast, particularly stood out as the villain. For those still wondering, he is Prakash Varma.

Meet Prakash Varma

Prakash Varma is a well-known ad filmmaker and the creative mind behind some of India's most iconic advertisements. He is best remembered for the ZooZoo commercials and the "boy and puppy" campaign for some telecom services. 

Prakash is also the founder of Nirvana Films, a leading production company based in Bengaluru. Before founding the company in 2001 with his wife Sneha Ipe, he worked under renowned Malayalam filmmaker Viji Thampi. 

He later joined ad filmmaker V.K. Varma before launching his own company. Nirvana Films became known for producing some of India’s most popular ads, including those for top brands Amazon Prime.

Prakash's work has brought him international recognition. His campaigns for Kerala Tourism and with Shah Rukh Khan for Dubai Tourism received widespread attention. His career took a significant turn in 2009 when Hollywood director Michael Bay's production company, The Institute, signed him.

Netizens react to Prakash Varma's performance

Initially, netizens assumed Prakash Varma's role in Thudarum would be minor. However, they were taken aback by how director Tharun Moorthy crafted his character as a powerful villain alongside Mohanlal. Many viewers even called him the "surprise element" of the Malayalam drama.

"#PrakashVarma the ad filmmaker is simply fantastic as the cunning, cool and calculating antagonist in #Thudarum! Hat’s off to dir #TharunMoorthy for his writing as this character and his evil doings makes us root and sympathise more for hero @Mohanlal!," wrote a netizen.

Check out more reactions below:

Thudarum hit the big screens on April 25. The movie featured Mohanlal, Shobana, Prakash Varma, Binu Pappu, Maniyanpilla Raju and several others in prominent roles.

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