Prem Parrijaa on being selected from 11,000 people for 'Commando': Wasn't sure...

We have got a new 'Commando' and it is not Vidyut Jammwal. While Vidyut has won everyone's hearts with his action stunts in the film franchise, debutant Prem Parrijaa will take the baton forward in the Disney+Hotstar series. 'Commando' is all set to release on the OTT platform on August 11, and fans are absolutely excited. Interestingly, Prem was selected for the role from the 11,000 people who had given auditions to be the next Commando.

In an exclusive chat with IndiaToday.in, Prem reacted to the same. He said that he was sure he wouldn't land the role. Director Vipul Shah, who was also a part of the conversation, revealed that Prem was always the first choice, however, they wanted to give a chance to everyone.

I WAS SURE I WOULDN’T GET THE ROLE: PREM

Prem Parrijaa told us, "The audition process was very long and arduous. I met Vipul (Shah) sir through Mukesh Chhabra. We discussed the things I had to show him; there were my action videos and stuff. I had done a lot of practice. I have also done 15 years of theatre before this. I practiced acting, my martial arts, etc. I would go to the gym every day. I had a lot of content of my own which I was preparing. I showed it to him. Later, I saw in the papers that some 11,000 people had auditioned for the same role. I was sure that I wouldn’t get it."

He added, "But I got a call from Mukesh sir’s company and I was asked to go meet Vipul sir. He told me, ‘you’ll be the next Commando.’ I don’t know how long they spent on auditions but I feel very lucky to debut in such a franchise where everybody wants to see who the new Commando is. The name has already been taken to such a benchmark and I am grateful to be working with such superstars like Vipul sir and Adah.

PREM WAS OUR FIRST CHOICE: VIPUL SHAH

Vipul Shah said, "Prem was the first guy whom we met and he was our first choice. I saw him and told Mukesh that he was perfect. But we decided to go through the process of giving it a fair chance to everybody in the country. So we went through the auditions and we got 11,000 people. It took us one and a half months. Every day we were getting around 2,000 people to do a screen test, etc. However, every time I would tell Mukesh, ‘ye sab to ache hai lekin Prem in sabme behtar hai na.’ Eventually, we came down to Prem. We could have avoided the whole audition fiasco but I think it was interesting because everybody got a chance. I was very excited to see the enthusiasm of the entire nation to play Commando. That also gave us the confidence that people are interested in Commando as a web show. Prem has done a lot of hard work throughout."

ON BEING COMPARED TO VIDYUT JAMMWAL

'Commando' is a franchise known because of Vidyut Jammwal. When asked if he is apprehensive about being compared to Vidyut, Prem answered, "No, I am not scared at all. I am in very able hands. I am actually very thankful that Vidyut sir did what he did because everybody is interested in Commando because of what he has done. I am simply reaping the benefits of it. I am very grateful that I got to enter into the film industry in a franchise which is such a huge deal. I am not scared but happy.

Vipul Shah added, "Comparison is our default system. We want to compare. The fact of the matter is that this country has thousands of commandos. In the film world, it will always be Vidyut and in the OTT world, it is Prem. Maybe at some point in future, they will unite for a big mission. Comparison is inevitable because Vidyut has set a huge benchmark. What we did is we changed the entire style of action. We worked very hard to give him a completely different style of action. In the film, Commando, Vidyut does amazing acrobats and great martial arts but he doesn’t hit to kill. That was the style there. It was closer to Jackie Chan's style of action. Here, he (Prem’s character) is a serious guy. When he hits, he means to kill. That is the kind of intensity our new commando has. It is very different from what Vidyut has done."

I WAS SCARED ON SETS: PREM

Since this is Prem Parrijaa's debut in showbiz, he said that he used to be scared on sets. "I was scared most of the days. It was my first time in front of the camera. But the entire production team made me feel very comfortable. I remember we were shooting in Manali and the temperature was minus 6 or 7. I had to a sequence where I am paragliding off the cliff. Now I have done paragliding in the past but I was nervous thinking ‘ye to bhot thand hai yaha, upar pata nahi kya hoga.’ That day, I was more scared than usual. I hope everyone loves that sequence because it is one of my favourite. I prayed every day before I started the shoot, but that day I prayed 10 times harder."