Prithviraj Sukumaran


Prithviraj Sukumaran is an Indian film actor, director, producer, playback singer, and distributor known for his works primarily in the Malayalam cinema. He has also appeared in the Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language films. He has appeared in more than 100 films in a variety of roles, and has won several awards, including a National Film Awards, three Kerala State Film Awards, a Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and a Filmfare Awards South.
The son of actors Sukumaran and Mallika, Prithviraj was first spotted by director Fazil. Fazil's screen test of Prithviraj prompted director Ranjith to cast him in the 2002 romantic-drama Nandanam, his acting debut, a commercial success. He established himself as a successful leading actor in the following years. In 2006, he starred in the coming-of-age romance film Classmates, which became the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever till that time. In the same year, he won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his performances in Vaasthavam, becoming the youngest recipient of the award at the age of 24. In 2007, he played a musician in the Tamil romantic comedy Mozhi. The 2009 action film Puthiya Mukham marked his debut as a playback singer, the film is considered significant in heightening his stardom. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor again in 2012 for the medical drama Ayalum Njanum Thammil and the biographical film Celluloid.
In 2010, he began co-producing films for the production house August Cinema, starting with the historical film Urumi which he also starred in. In 2011, he co-produced and starred in the social drama Indian Rupee, for which he received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam and Kerala State Film Award for Best Film. In 2014, he won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain for his performance in Kaaviya Thalaivan. His 2015 period film Ennu Ninte Moideen and 2017 horror thriller Ezra are both amongst the top ten highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time. He ended his partnership with August Cinema in 2017 and launched an independent production house, Prithviraj Productions, debuting with the 2019 science fiction film 9. Prithviraj made his directorial debut in 2019 with Lucifer which became the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever.

Early life

Prithviraj Sukumaran was born at Thiruvananthapuram to actors Sukumaran and Mallika Sukumaran. His family was settled in Tamil Nadu at the time, where he attended Shrine Vailankanni Senior Secondary School in T. Nagar, Chennai and St. Joseph's Boys School, Coonoor. When the family moved to Kerala, he attended the NSS Public School, Perunthanni. He then moved to St. Mary's Residential Central School, Poojappura where he acted in plays and skits for the school's Annual Day Celebrations. He completed his education at Sainik School, Kazhakootam and Bhavan's Senior Secondary School, Kodunganoor. He also participated and won several debates and elocution competitions while in school. Prithviraj won the title of "Mr LA Fest" in the Annual Inter-School arts festival hosted by Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram in successive years and is the only person to date to win that title twice.
After school, he studied for a bachelor's degree in Information Technology at the University of Tasmania in Australia.While there he auditioned for film director Ranjith Balakrishnan and won the lead role in the film Nandanam. It was film director Fazil who introduced him to Ranjith. His elder brother Indrajith Sukumaran and sister-in-law Poornima Indrajith are also film actors.

Career

Malayalam

In 2001, 19-year-old Prithviraj underwent a screen-test by director Fazil for one of his projects. Even though that project never materialised, Fazil recommended him to director Ranjith, who was planning his second directorial, Nandanam, Prithviraj underwent screen-test for the role and got selected. Though Nandanam was the first film that Prithviraj acted in, it was released after Nakshathrakkannulla Rajakumaran Avanundoru Rajakumari. Prithviraj then appeared in films directed by Lohithadas, Vinayan, Kamal and Bhadran. Shyamaprasad, who cast him in lead role in his film Akale, said that Prithvi's advantages are his talent and intelligence irrespective of his box office successes.
In 2006, he played the role of Sub Inspector Solomon Joseph in Vargam, then appeared in Vaasthavam, for which he received the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor. He was the youngest actor to win the award. The same year he starred in Lal Jose's Classmates. In 2007, he starred in Chocolate, directed by Shafi. In 2008, he starred in Thalappavu, and Thirakkatha, playing pivotal characters in both. One of the reviews of Thalappavu describes it as the coming-of-age film for prithviraj describing the "spartan dignity" he brought to his portrayal of the Naxalite Joseph. The Sify review of Thirakkatha describes it as a "genuine attempt that keeps the viewer engaged until the end". Both Thalappavu and Thirakkatha shared the award for the best film in the Film Critics Award for 2008. He also made a special appearance in Anjali Menon's Manjadikuru.
In 2009, the success of Prithviraj Sukumaran's Puthiya Mukham lead to him being called a "Superstar". His other releases in 2009 were Robin Hood and the anthology film Kerala Cafe. In 2010, Sukumaran's notable films were Pokkiri Raja and Anwar, directed by Amal Neerad. In 2011, Prithviraj produced his first film, the multilingual Urumi. Other releases in Malayalam include City of God, Manikyakallu, Veettilekkulla Vazhi and Indian Rupee. Reviewers praised Prithviraj Sukumaran for his performance in Indian Rupee, the critic at Nowrunning.com, who described it as his "career best performance". In 2012, his major releases were Hero, Molly Aunty Rocks! and Ayalum Njanum Thammil, along with cameo roles in Aakashathinte Niram and Manjadikuru. In 2013, Prithviraj had three releases Celluloid, Mumbai Police and Memories, all of which were critical and commercial successes. He portrayed J.C. Daniel in Celluloid, for which he won his second Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor.
In 2014, Prithviraj's first major release was London Bridge, which failed at box office; followed by 7th Day, which turned out to become a commercial success. He also did a cameo role in Munnariyippu. His third release of the year, Sapthamashree Thaskaraha was praised by critics and audiences alike. His first release of 2015 was Picket 43. His second movie of 2015 was Shyamaprasad's Ivide. Prithviraj was widely praised for his acting in the movie. Varun Blake is considered to be one of his best performances till date. He next appeared in Lijo Jose Pellissery's Double Barrel, which was appreciated for its novelty. His most successful film of the year was Ennu Ninte Moideen, which narrated the tragic love tale of Kanchanamala and Moideen that happened in the 1960s in Mukkam, a riverside village in Kerala. The film opened to critical acclaim, with several critics regarding it as one of the greatest romance films made in Malayalam. His role as Moideen in the film is regarded as one of the best in his career. His next releases Amar Akbar Anthony and Anarkali became major commercial success at the box office, thus completing a hat-trick of hits ending the year.
Prithviraj had four releases in 2016, debuting with Paavada, a family drama in which he played a drunkard. It met with positive response and was a commercial success, grossing 16.34 crore from Kerala box office and ran for 100 days in theatres. His following releases Darvinte Parinamam and James & Alice met with mixed reviews, the former told the story of an ordinary man dealing with a local goon and the latter was a family drama that discussed the matter of life and death. His last release, Oozham, an action thriller directed by Jeethu Joseph was a commercial success, earning 15.25 crore in 25 days. He played a demolition expert. In 2017, he starred in the horror film Ezra, which became one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year, grossing 50 crore worldwide, with 33 crore from Kerala box office. He continued the year with Tiyaan, Adam Joan and Vimaanam. Both Tiyaan and Vimaanam were moderate box office hits. Adam Joan collected around 20 crore at the box office and emerging as a superhit.
His first release of 2018 was Roshini Dinakar's romantic drama My Story, a commercial failure at the box office. His next two releases were Anjali Menon's drama Koode and Nirmal Sahadev's crime drama Ranam. Koode received critical acclaim and was a commercial success, while Ranam met with positive critical response but performed moderately at the box office. In 2018, Prithviraj launched his independent production house, Prithviraj Productions. In 2019, he produced and starred in the science fiction film 9. The film received critical praise for its novelty, actors' performance, direction and cinematography. It was a box office hit. Prithviraj made his directorial debut in 2019 with Lucifer, starring Mohanlal, the film became the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever.

Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi

In 2005, Prithviraj Sukumaran debuted in Tamil through Kana Kandaen. In 2006, Prithviraj co-starred with actor Bhagyaraj's daughter Saranya Bhagyaraj in Parijatham. It has been acclaimed as a hit and gave the actor a turning point in his Tamil film career. In 2007, Prithviraj co-starred in Mozhi. He also starred in Satham Podathey and Kannamoochi Yenada in the same year. In 2008, Prithviraj starred in Vellithirai, the Tamil remake of Udayananu Tharam. Rediff described his performance: "Prithviraj... makes the best of his assets -- his expressive eyes, which glint in fury, soften with love, or brim over with frustrated tears." The Tamil remake of Classmates, titled Ninaithale Inikkum, was released in 2009. He played a cop in Mani Ratnam's Raavanan in 2010 with Vikram playing the main protagonist and his performance was critically acclaimed. Prithviraj played one of the main characters in director Vasanthabalan's big budget period film Kaaviya Thalaivan, in which he co-stars with Siddharth.
Prithviraj Sukumaran debuted in Telugu through Police Police, which was released in 2010. Besides, Prithviraj has had many of his Malayalam films dubbed into Telugu such as Sivapuram in 2006, which was the dubbing of Ananthabhadram and ATM in 2010, which was the dubbing of Robin Hood. The dubbed version of Urumi released in August 2011.
Prithviraj debuted in Bollywood through Aiyyaa, directed by Sachin Kundalkar. Aiyyaa, which was jointly produced by Anurag Kashyap and Viacom 18 released on 12 October 2012. His second film Aurangzeb, directed by Athul Sabharwal, released on 17 May 2013. His performance was highly praised. His next film was Naam Shabana in 2017, in which he played the antagonist.

Personal life

Prithviraj married BBC India reporter Supriya Menon on 25 April 2011, in a private ceremony held at Palakkad. They have a daughter named Alankrita Menon Prithviraj, born in 2014. Prithviraj's family resides at Thevara, Kochi.

Filmography

Film production

In 2012, Prithviraj Sukumaran started a production company named August Cinema with cinematographer turned director Santosh Sivan and businessman Shaji Nadesan. In 2015, actor Arya joined the production company. However, in 2017, he announced on his Facebook page that he is quitting the company. In March 2018, Prithviraj announced the launch of his independent production company named Prithviraj Productions. Later the actor announced that his production company was getting into a collaboration with Sony Pictures India for its maiden venture.

Playback singing

Prithviraj debuted as a singer in Puthiya Mukham by singing the title song of the film; "Kaane Kaane".
YearSongFilmMusicNotes
2009"Kaane Kaane"Puthiya MukhamDeepak DevFeatured in Title credits
2010"Kaattu Paranjathum"ThanthonniThej MervinNot featured in the film
2010"Kettille Kettille"Pokkiri RajaJassie GiftParty song
2010"Njan"AnwarGopi SundarFeatured in the end credits
2011"Vadakku Vadakku"UrumiDeepak DevFirst song in the film
2012"Tarzan Antony Coming Back To Cinema"HeroGopi SundarFirst song in the film
2014"Oru Kadha Parayunnu Lokam"7th DayDeepak DevTitle song
2015"Ivide"IvideGopi SundarTheme song
2015"Premamennaal"Amar Akbar AnthonyNadirshahParty song
2017"Arikil Ini Njan Varaam"Adam JoanDeepak DevFeatured in the film
2020“Adakachakko”Ayyappanum KoshiyumJakes BejoyPromo Song

Narrator

AwardYearCategoryFilm
National Film Awards2011Best Feature Film in MalayalamIndian Rupee
Kerala State Film Awards2006Best ActorVaasthavam
Kerala State Film Awards2011Best FilmIndian Rupee
Kerala State Film Awards2012Best ActorCelluloid, Ayalum Njanum Thammil
Filmfare Awards South2013Critics Award for Best Actor – SouthCelluloid
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards2014Best VillainKaaviya Thalaivan