EXCLUSIVE: Prithviraj REVEALS Bollywood Doing Better Than South Films Made Them Jealous; Says, “New-Age Filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane And Hansal Mehta…”

Prithviraj Sukumaran is a dynamic force in Indian cinema, excelling as a director, actor, and producer. While he gained fame for his powerful performances in Malayalam films, his directorial ventures, particularly Lucifer (2019), showcased his keen eye for storytelling and grand cinematic vision. Known for seamlessly blending commercial appeal with gripping narratives, Prithviraj is shaping the future of Malayalam cinema. With L2: Empuraan on the horizon, he continues to push creative boundaries, cementing his reputation as one of the industry’s most visionary filmmakers. In an exclusive chat, Prithviraj talks about why films resonate with people.

Prithviraj On Why Films Resonate With People And Why We Don’t Have A Salim-Javed Anymore

In an exclusive chat with Bollywood Bubble, Prithviraj shares an anecdote about why we don’t have a Salim-Javed anymore and why films resonate with audiences, “So every large scale, big ticket, masala entertainer that would have connected with the audience and found success, deep down would have a piece of content that would have resonated, without that no film will work. Even if its something like Jawaan, one of India’s biggest hits, on the surface you would think its just you know, Shah Rukh Khan sir playing this larger than life character and shot beautifully and all that but, deep down there was a piece of content that sort of resonated with people that made them watch the film.”

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He added, “So, lets say Dabangg or Dhoom, deep down there’s a piece of content, very well written that resonated with the people, dressed up in this grand scale of things, only then will films work. Just, scene after scene of great production design is not going to make a film work. So in Malyalam, we have always thought that content is where everything should start, I think after having worked in so many industries, I’m sure Mohanlal Sir will agree, Malyalam remains the only industry where even now, projects are kickstarted by writers, it is a writer who first thinks of a story, then approaches a director or an actor and narrates it, then the writer and the director decides, who should direct, act, produce.”

He continued, “Now you see the tradition of, writers being the power center has sort of retained the flavor of our films heavily relying on written material. So yesterday we had a press meet here for the promotions of Empuran and I had my writer sit next to me on stage, so a media representative was asking us, ‘This is very unusual, we never see writers on stage with the stars,’ you will always see the writer on stage of a Malyalam film, he’s not here today because my writer is also an actor, so he had to fly back to shoot, he was a police officer in Drishyam, he wrote my film.”

He concluded, “This is sort of what sets the flavor of Malyalam films apart and you know there is a lesson there, why don’t we have a Salim-Javed anymore so.”

On The Work Front

On the work front, Prithviraj Sukumaran has several upcoming projects. He is set to appear in Vilayath Buddha, a Malayalam film that explores complex human emotions. Additionally, he is involved in Tehran, a Hindi action thriller currently in production. These diverse roles underscore Prithviraj’s commitment to challenging and varied performances across multiple film industries.

Watch Full Interview

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Prithviraj Reveals Possibility Of Telugu L2: Empuraan Remake With Salman Khan And Chiranjeevi; Says, ” Completely Upto…”