Prithviraj, younger son of
the famous Malayalam actor the late Sukumaran and actress Mallika,
is the rising star of Malayalam cinema after Mammootty
and Mohanlal. Prithvi did his schooling from the Sainik School and
the Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram. He was doing his
Bachelor Degree in Computer Engineering at the University of Tasmania,
Australia when he came into the film world. During one of his vacation
trips to Kerala, director Fazil introduced him to screen playwright
Renjith who was searching for a new face in his first directorial
venture. Ranjith impressed by him offered the lead role in his film
'Nandanam' (2002). So he discontinued his studies and concentrated
on acting. Quite early in his career Prithviraj was fortunate to act
in films directed by leading directors in the Malayalam film industry
such as Lohitadas, Vinayan, Kamal and Bhadran.
Prithviraj managed to win the hearts of the Malayalam film audience
through his first film itself, especially that of female viewers.
He had a definite edge over other younger heroes with his good looks-
he was tall, had a good moustache and acting talent - he could do
both action and romantic roles with panache.
After the fantastic performance in 'Nandanam' he got several
offers. His list oearly
f
sterling performances include films like 'Stop Violence' (2002), 'Vellithira'
(2002), 'Meerayude Dukham Muthuvinte Swapnam'(2003), 'Swapnakoodu'
(2003), 'Vellinakshatram' (2004), 'Akale'(2004),
'Daivanamathil'(2005), 'Ananathabhadhram'(2005)
etc. In 2006, Lal Jose's 'Classmates'
was released and it turned out to be one of the biggest blockbusters
in Malayalam cinema. After pulling off the role of a corrupt police
officer quite well in Vargam
(2006), Prithviraj acted in another film 'Vaasthavam' with the same
director, M. Padmakumar and again it was a hard hitting drama and
Prithviraj got noticed for his intense acting. As Balachandran Adiga
in Vaasthavam, Prithvi once again proved that he is here to stay.
He made his Tamil debut in cinematographer K V Anand's film 'Kana
Kandein' (2005) in which he did a negative role. After 'Kana
Kandein' Prithviraj has his share of fans in Tamil Nadu too. His second
Tamil film 'Parijatham' directed by veteran Bhagyaraj, gave Prithvi
the break he needed. In the wake of the success of Parijatham, Prithvi
has become one of the most sought-after heroes in Tamil cinema. Another
noted Tamil film was 'Mozhi', produced by Prekash Raj, in which he
was paired with leading heroine, Jyothika.
