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| Prithviraj |
I thought of writing an article on Prithviraj, and how he has evolved over the years after I was done watching Mumbai Police. The way he has shed his alleged arrogant image, the way he is now an ambassador of Malayalam cinema in India, the maturity in choosing scripts and the guts to take up roles that some actors would stay away from. The Prithviraj we know today is an educated, handsome, intelligent, talented and successful actor who has a very vast and fruitful acting career ahead of him. I wouldn't say Prithvi is the best young actor in Malayalam cinema at present, but he is someone who has over the years understood what his strengths are and has successfully used it to best results.
The first movie I watched of Prithvi was 'Nandanam', He was perfect for the role and showed maturity in portraying someone older than him at the age of 20. I felt even greater respect for Prithvi after I happened to watch Unni Mukundan enact the same role in the tamil remake of the film 'Seedan', the difference was like day and night. Nandanam, a female protagonist film was widely accepted by family and female audience. The film won many accolades including the state award for best actress for Navya Nair. Prithvi's talent though not lauded was noticed by other film makers. Suddenly Malayalam cinema had a young handsome hero other than Kunchakko Boban, directors and producers decided to cash in and Prithvi signed quite a few films. The films that followed bombed at the box office and most of them were made by mediocre filmmakers like Vinayan and AK Sajan. Prithvi finally got some recognition with 'Swapnakoodu', where he played the lead as an arrogant Casanova. The film was a hit but the success was credited mostly to the cast that included Prithvi, Kunchakko Boban, Meera Jasmine, Jayasurya and Bhavana.
After 'Swapnakoodu', came a really good film 'Ammakilikoodu' starring Prithviraj in the lead role directed by then debutant M.Padmakumar. I still consider this as one of Prithvi's best performances taking in consideration his age at that time. The film failed to impress moviegoers, which i feel is because of the new director tag that came with the film and the quality of Malayalam cinema at the time. After Ammakilikkoodu came Lohitadas directed 'Chakram', a film initially scripted for Mohanlal in the lead, and even a few scenes were shot with Mohanlal, Dileep and Vidya Balan. The project was dropped after some differences between the cast and the director, It was later that Lohitadas choose Prithvi to fill into Mohanlal's shoes. The move failed and the film though good bombed at the box office. After Chakram a series of bad films followed after Prithvi started doing films with directors like Vinayan more often than before. 2005 started good for Prithvi as his debut in tamil as villain in 'Kanakanden' was widely appreciated. Later that year came more good films like Ananthabhadram and a cameo appearance in 'Achanurangatha veedu'. Though most of his films did decent business, people still didn't consider him a bankable star.
2006 was the year fortunes changed for Prithvi, with Laljose directed 'Classmates'. I was in school back then and i still remember preferring to watch Keerthichakra over Classmates, while few of my friends took the dare and went for Classmates, a film with mostly newcomers. They later told us the film was brilliant and that there were very few people at Cinemas on the first day. Word of mouth publicity helped the film and soon theatres were packed with crowds. Many people had to return without tickets. The film was the first blockbuster of Prithvi's career. Still people credited the success to the vibrant cast of the film. Prithvi also did Vargam the same year, a modern day adaptation of IV Sasi-Ranjith-Mohanlal classic 'Devasuram'. The film opened upto mixed responses with many people claiming it to be a bad adaptation of the classic, while some lauded the attempt by M Padmakumar. Then again later that year came 'Vaasthavam' which is one of his best works till date. The film fetched him the state best actor award for his portrayal of Balachandran, a corrupt politician. In 2007 Prithvi started off with 'Mozhi' in tamil, which starred him opposite Jyothika and the film was a super-hit, Prithvi received praise for his role as a happy-go-lucky musician in the film. Prithvi soon formed a bond with Prakash Raj who later casted in his productions like Abhiyum Naanum and Vellithirai. 2007 was a year to forget for Prithvi except for Chocolate, which saw good collections from theatres across the state. 2008 started off with the role of Naxal Joseph in 'Thalappavu', directed by actor turned director Madhupal. Prithvi did justice to his role in the film, but was overshadowed by Lal as constable Nanukuttan Pillai, who won the state award for the role that year. 2008 was also the year that Prithvi rejoined with Ranjith after a gap of 6 years for 'Thirakkadha', where he played second fiddle in a film that had Anoop Menon in the lead role.
2009 was a year of flops and only Puthiyamugham and Kerala Cafe managed to do good business. Puthiyamugham posters during it's run came with a tagline 'Superstar Prithviraj', which didn't go well with the masses. This was also the time that Prithvi was highly criticized for his interviews. I remember seeing him in a lot of interviews, His confidence and outspoken answers were often mistook for arrogance and disrespect to senior actors in the film industry. People started labeling him as an arrogant actor, soon more people followed and a majority of people criticized him and the media added fuel to the fire. Having seen a few of his interviews, i never felt him to be arrogant instead i felt that he was being frank with the questions being asked to him. We malayalees are really cruel when it comes to making fun of others, we always find someone to pick on, make fun at and find joy doing so. Once we had Prithvi, then we had Sreesanth, then came Silsila Harishankar and at present we have a Santosh Pandit. Sadly Prithvi was once at the receiving end of all this and faced a lot of abuse over social media. Everything he said or did was judged against him. Having said that i have felt Prithvi to be a bit more cautious and diplomatic while giving interviews in other language medias. Prithvi in a few interviews have spoken how people asked him to change the way he spoke, the way behaved and the way he conducted himself before others. I find this to be very cruel, it is like asking someone to lose their identity, and whoever in the industry it maybe who asked him to do so should feel ashamed.
Coming back to his career, 2010 again wasn't a lucky year for him when films like Thanthonni released, which did little good to his image off screen with him playing an arrogant and spoilt youth. Then came Pokkiri Raja, which i consider to be a crap though it did collect quite a few. The latter part of 2010 bought luck to him as he was cast in one of the lead roles of a Mani Rathnam movie which had Vikram as the protagonist and Prithvi as his antagonist. The film had Aishwarya Rai playing the female lead opposite him and Prithvi's character though short was appreciated by the critics.
2011 was a very important year in Prithvi's career. It was the year that he got married and he ventured into producing films. The year started off with 'Arjunan Sakshi', a film from Passenger director 'Ranjith Shankar'. Arjunan Sakshi opened up to mixed reviews, but having watched it i found it to be good enough. Then came 'Urumi' directed by Santosh Sivan and produced by August Cinemas, a production house by Prithviraj and Shaji Nadesan. The film is touted as the second most expensive movie in Malayalam cinema and managed to receive profits upon release. Then came the best film of the year that Prithvi starred in, City of God by Lijo Jose Pellissery. I am not sure how the movie fared, but little of it was heard during the time of release, i watched it when it came on TV. Veetilekulla vazhi, a national award winning film and Indian Rupee, two good films made sure that 2011 was fruitful for Prithvi. Prithvi also produced by Ranjith's Indian rupee which was awarded the national award for best producer. His marriage also happened the same year and was a very private affair and was known only to very close relatives. The media came to know about the marriage only after it was over. The private marriage function also made some media people and critics unhappy, again Prithvi was the center of attention, the epitome of arrogance. The famous Brittas interview also happened the same year, sadly for Prithvi something his wife said about him speaking English fluently was again credited to his so called arrogant behavior.
Prithviraj happened to be part of a National award winning Malayalam film 'Manjadikuru' by Anjali Menon in 2012. I suggest you watch Manjadikuru as soon as possible, if you haven't yet. Then came Aakashathinte niram, a film i am yet to see which received many accolades and was shortlisted for an academy award nomination. Two good short roles in Bachelor Party and Molly Aunty Rocks was followed by his bollywood debut 'Aiyyaa', a film that i wished he hadn't done. 'Aiyyaa' also starred Rani Mukherjee and was a disaster at the box office. But bollywood had already recognized the talent in Prithvi and was signed by Yashraj films for 'Aurangazeb' which released recently.
Ultimately it was the last quarter of 2012 and this year that made my respect for him grow manifold. Starting from Ayalum Njanum Thammil, Celluloid and Mumbai Police with three good directors. Each film bettering the previous one. Prithvi slowly is choosing scripts carefully and is also directing the remake of 'Ayalum Njanum Thammil' in Bollywood and it is rumored that Amitabh Bachchan might do the role of Prathap Pothen in the original. From doctor Ravi Tharaken to JC Daniel to Antony Mosses, they all have been unique and different. These three characters have earned him a place in my heart.
So what i intend to say is that, it is high time that we start respecting this actor. He has rightly earned respect and is giving his best to the films he is working on. Let us put an end to the nicknames, the jokes and start giving him the respect he rightly deserves. I hope Prithvi stays the same being the confident and outspoken actor who doesn't sacrifice his identity just because some people want him to.
