Prithviraj Sukumaran (born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, director, producer, playback singer, and distributor known for his works primarily in Malayalam cinema.He has also appeared in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language films.He acted in more than 100 films in a variety of roles, and has won several awards, including a National Film Award, three Kerala State Film Awards, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award and a Filmfare Awards South.
Prarthana Indrajith (Niece)
He made his acting debut in 2002 with a leading role in Ranjith's romantic-dram Nandanam, 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. 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.[9] 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.[10]
Career in malayalam film industry
In 2001, 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 (2002), 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.[18]
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.[19] He was the youngest actor to win the award.[20] The same year he starred in Lal Jose's Classmates. In 2007, he starred in Chocolate, directed by Shafi.[21] In 2008, he starred in Thalappavu, (directed by Madhupal) and Thirakkatha (directed by Ranjith), 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.[22] The Sify review of Thirakkatha describes it as a "genuine attempt that keeps the viewer engaged until the end".[23] 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 (directed by Diphan) lead to him being called a "Superstar".[24][25] His other releases in 2009 were Robin Hood (directed by Joshy) 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".[26] 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.[7]
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 (Prithviraj's character in Ivide) is considered to be one of his best performances till the 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.[27][28] His role as Moideen in the film is regarded as one of the best in his career.[29] His next releases Amar Akbar Anthony and Anarkali became a 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 a 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.[30] 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.[31] He continued the year with Tiyaan, Adam Joan and Vimaanam. Both Tiyaan and Vimaanam were moderate box office hits. Adam Joan collected around 20 crores 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.[32] Prithviraj made his directorial debut in 2019 with Lucifer, starring Mohanlal, the film became the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever.[10]
Personal info
Prithviraj married BBC India reporter Supriya Menon on 25 April 2011 in a private ceremony held in Palakkad.[37][38] They have a daughter born in 2014. His family resides in Thevara, Kochi.[39]
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.
Pritwiraj Sukumaran first directed film
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