I want to be known as an actor without labels: Prince Cecil

Prince Cecil believes in making daring decisions in his life. After playing chocolate boy roles in the intial days of his career, the actor took a hiatus to polish his acting abilities, but couldn’t find work when he returned. The actor decided to try his luck in OTT with Bigg Boss Telugu, and he’s been going strong ever since. When he was offered the role of an antagonist in DJ Tillu, he took the risk of sacrificing his hero reputation, and it paid off.
‘I made a bold decision to take a year-and-a-half break in 2014’
Despite starting his acting journey at the behest of his father and enjoying early success with films like Neeku Naaku Dash Dash, Bus Top made by director Teja and Maruthi respectively, Prince’s career took a downward turn. “After experiencing highs and lows, I made a bold decision to take a year-and-a-half break in 2014 to join an acting institute, and undergo martial arts training to work on my physique,” he says.
Upon his return, the actor couldn’t bag any films and was waiting for a chance to regain visibility. “Back then, taking a break was uncommon in our industry, but I’m glad it has been normalised. When I was offered a spot on the reality show Bigg Boss Telugu 1, people asked me not to take it up. However, I took the risk and it became a turning point in my career,” he says.
‘It was both fun and challenging to play Shannon in DJ Tillu’
Prince landed the role of Shannon in the Tillu franchise because he perfectly matched the makers’ vision in terms of appearance and physique. Reflecting on how it all fell into place, he shared, “The concept of Tillu originated in Vizag, our hometown. About three years back, the director Vimal Krishna aimed to craft an entertaining, low-budget film and felt I was perfect for the character he envisioned. He said that my Anglo-Indian appearance and physique was fit for a character like Shannon.”
“It was both fun and challenging to play Shannon and I was overjoyed by the response from fans. He is not the typical, mainstream villain as seen in Telugu cinema, and I think that’s why audiences liked him,” he added.
‘I am excited to work with Boyapati Srinivas again’
Prince wants to be recognised simply as an actor without labels like the protagonist, antagonist, or supporting actor. “Despite my initial hesitations about playing villain roles, my performance in Skanda earned me praise. I am collaborating with Boyapati sir for another project; I might be cast as an anti-hero again,” he says. After the success of DJ Tillu and Tillu Square, the third installment, Tillu Cube, is in progress with high expectations. Prince credits much of the success to Siddhu Jonnalagadda’s exceptional portrayal of Tillu and the spontaneous dialogue delivery. “The Tillu franchise follows an unscripted approach; most of the dialogues and scenes were improvised on the spot by the team. Tillu Cube will also be made without a fixed script,” he concludes.
By- M Priyanka Goud