PremiumMithya director Sumanth Bhat: Prakash Thuminad is a phenomenal actor; audiences will be surprised by his range
Debutant director Sumanth Bhat says that it is a travesty that actors like Prakash Thuminad are relegated to doing only certain kinds of roles, like comedy, for instance.
Last Updated: 11.21 PM, Mar 06, 2025
In discussions about debutant director Sumanth Bhat’s Mithya, which, after a successful film festival run is headed to theatres on March 7, everyone talks about the performance of the two kids who play Mithya and Vandana, but thereafter it is about Prakash Thuminad, as their uncle, Surya. “Together, they have created a very believable family dynamic. Prakash sir has mostly been seen in comedic roles, and has rarely done these kinds of characters, so audiences are surprised by his range in Mithya,” said Sumanth during a recent X Space interaction to promote the film.
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The sad part about the Kannada film industry, added Sumanth, is that actors are typecast. “If an actor’s comedy is appreciated, then he only gets to do those kinds of roles, or if he excels as a cop, he’s seen fit to only play a police man. That is a big tragedy; we don’t give actors the space to thrive and surprise us. Prakash sir is a phenomenal actor. In Mithya, there is a scene in an autorikshaw, wherein he says just one line and the entire backstory of his character becomes crystal clear. It is such a crucial scene and as an actor to pull it off is something else,” said the filmmaker.
At the end of the scene, Sumanth hugged Prakash, as that was the sequence in which he convinces audiences about his intentions and where he comes from. “For an actor to do that with just one line goes to show how special he is,” he said. Sumanth added that as filmmakers, it is up to them to challenge actors like Prakash, who are ever ready to explore and try something different.
The film’s story, about an 11-year-old boy dealing with the sudden death of both his parents, was inspired by a real incident, which Sumanth then developed with other personal elements. “Across the globe if you watch the debut films of a lot of filmmakers, it is often about their childhood, growing up or adolescence because that is the most exciting phase in terms of emotional drama in everybody’s life. You draw from your experiences. I had a great childhood and did not lose my parents when I was young. So, although Mithya has a lot of personal elements, it is not my story. Having said that, it does not become a fictional tale either,” explains the filmmaker.