"I would love to direct again and in fact I have some very good scripts in my mind. I'm just in the process of penning them down. Once I'm done with that and once I complete the projects I am currently working on, I will take up direction," Prakash told reporters in an interview on phone from Mumbai. The choreographer donned the director's hat in 1997 for "Ghoonghat" starring Ayesha Jhulka and Inder Kumar.
"People in the industry feel that I am only capable of directing dance sequences where many dancers are required. I have been typecast for doing only such sequences, which is a drawback for me...It's a mind block that people have," Prakash told reporters in an interview. "They feel I won't be able to do anything else. Hence I have become choosy too. I only take up work that gives me the freedom to apply creativity," he added.
Prakash, who started working at the age of 17, has been in the industry for almost three decades now. Some of the films he choreographed for include "Hum", "Karan Arjun", "Main Khiladi Tu Anari", "Krantiveer", "Gupt", "Dil Bole Hadippa" and "London Dreams" among many others.
On the whole, Prakash has choreographed close to 1,000 songs in different languages. The choreographer, who recently won his first National Award for the song "Azeem-o-shaan" from the film "Jodhaa Akbar", had lost all hope of winning an award for it and so it came as a surprise.
"We had really worked hard on the song and it is one of my most difficult dance sequences. I was expecting that the song will definitely fetch me awards, but when it did not get recognition, I lost all hope. "I was very disappointed initially. But when the National Awards were announced, I couldn't believe it. It is a great honour and very surprising," said the dance director.
Prakash, who works with his wife Rekha as his partner, feels nowadays choreography lacks creativity and an Indian touch. "The way songs are choreographed today, there is no Indian touch and there is hardly any creativity. Most people just simply copy from Western cultures and that's why all of them end up doing the same thing," said Prakash.
"Indian culture is so vast and rich, I don't know why people are not encouraging it," he added. He also feels choreographers don't get their due in the industry. "We are not honoured the way we should be. Music and dance are the most important things in our culture, but we are still not given our due as far as recognition is concerned.
"As far as remuneration is concerned, the actors, directors are paid in crores, but we are given just a few lakhs. Even we should be paid properly because we work very hard," said the choreographer. One of the few projects that Prakash is currently working on includes Anees Bazmee's "No Problem" and Arbaaz Khan's "Dabang".