Saturday, April 25, 2009

An Interview with Mozhi Fame Prithviraj.

Prithviraj, who starred in Mozhi and Vellithirai has come from a family of actors. His father Sukumaran and mother Mallika were actors. His brother brought Indrajith is an actor too. In fact he is playing an important role in Sarvam. But he never dreamt of acting.When he was doing his computer engineering in Australia, he came down for vacation. Director Fazil introduced me to Director Renjith, who looking for a new face for his directorial debut Nandhanam.Later he debuted for Kana kandein which was his first tamil movie with K.V. Anand.He was happy to see himself on the screen first time, but he felt that he must improve a lot. He was one of those people who had no idea of what they wanted. Now Finally I am doing something like.He says, “ I like to rush of adrenalin, the kick that acing gives, I want to die an actor”.He has done 45 films including 7 in tamil so far. Now he is doing Ninaitheley Inikkum, a remake of Malayalam hit Classmate. He feels he must work harder to attain a certain level in acting.He says he is open to any kind of role that will showcase his talent.He often takes the path less travelled. Instead of vacationing in Las Vegas or Goa last year as his friends had suggested, he chose to set out on a trip to discover an India he had never seen before.It was an eight-day biking trip to the Himalayas, along with a friend, Arjun. “We travelled on two ‘Bullets’ and each day was an adventure. We slept and ate in the homes of the Pahadis and really roughed it out, but we saw some unforgettable sights. We spent the New Year in the Himalayas,” he recalls.Unlike many ‘star sons’ who have ridden piggyback to the silver screen on their parents’ clout, fame and money, Prithiviraj, hailed as a superhero-in-waiting, has come up the hard way. He made his debut in Ranjith’s ‘Nandanam’ when he was still a student of engineering in Tasmania, Australia.
Mani Ratnam’s film:
His career graph took time to rise but clever choice of roles and determination have made him one of the busiest stars in South India today. He will soon be acting in a Mani Ratnam film with Vikram and Aiswarya Rai. “Mani Ratnam is one of the reasons I am in films,” he says. He is delighted at the opportunity.However, bitten by the acting bug so early, Prithiviraj never got around to completing his college studies. Does it bother him? “Not really. But it would have been better if my entry into tinsel town had happened a little later. On hindsight, I feel that cinema was always my destination. I wish I had gone to New York University or some place like that to study cinema,” says the star.Prithviraj is a good cook too…
But he feels that his two years in Tasmania helped him grow as a person. “I became more independent. I learnt to do everything, from washing and cooking to managing my finances, on my own.”“I am a very good cook,” he adds with a grin. “I can cook exotic Chinese dishes that I learnt from my friends, who were women, by the way.” But cooking is not his hobby. That is something he does well. Like singing, a talent he seems to have inherited from his mother, Mallika Sukumaran. “Ranjith wanted me to do a song in ‘Rock n’ Roll’ but I wriggled out of it,” he laughs.
Prithiviraj is into books and his eclectic tastes have him reading books that range from thrillers and pulp fiction to tomes on cinema and philosophy. “I think my brother, Indrajith, and I inherited the passion for reading from my father, Sukumaran, who was a voracious reader. He would read nine newspapers and the collection we had at home would beat that in many local college libraries. He had a thirst for knowledge,” recalls Prithiviraj.
Perhaps it is that desire to learn that finds Prithviraj taking a keen interest in the minutiae that goes into filmmaking. “If there is something new on a set, say a new camera, I make it a point to understand its working within two days. I try and glean as much knowledge as I can about it.”
Ambitious :
Talk about cinema and Prithviraj becomes animated. He feels that Indian cinema in general and Malayalam cinema in particular must adapt the best of international technology but look for “content and stories within our culture and language.” “Why should we borrow stories from Hollywood or Bollywood? Our literature is so rich and diverse. But there is a dearth of good scriptwriters in Malayalam cinema. And I think we should have more films in English. That is one of the ways to cater to the world,” he points out.
HIS Goals:
“Ten years from now, I see myself as a director and a producer with my own production house that will, hopefully, make good films. Not just films in Malayalam and Tamil but Indian films in English that will appeal to regional and international audiences,” says the actor.Marriage:
And, marriage? “Yes, that is on the cards. But only to someone I come to know well enough and am comfortable with.”There was no time for more.
Prithviraj was taking a break from a shoot at Vismaya Max at Kazhakuttam, in the outskirts of the city.


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