Many were the gossips brewing between his co-stars, about him, until Prithviraj’s marriage with BBC India reporter Supriya Menon. Gossips have suddenly vanished into thin air. How come?
“Yes, after the marriage, I am not a part of any gossip, which is actually boring. I am looking forward to hear more gossips,” laughs the actor, on the sets of Diphan’s new film Hero, along with Punjabi kudi Yami Gautam.
Sporting a grey shirt and blue jeans, the Mollywood heartthrob looks as smart as ever. The handsome hunk of M-town with his dimpled cheek and toned abs is surely a ladies’ man; and, with his charming personality, he is sure to earn more brownie points.
Making a foray into Bollywood film Aiyya, Prithviraj will be the first actor in the M-town to play the lead role opposite Rani Mukherjee. Prithvi, who plays the role of a Tamil boy Suriya, says, “Director Anurag Kashyap is known as the dark filmmaker, but Aiyya is a rom-com masala movie, which will surely entertain the masses.”
Fully at ease with Bollywood, the actor does not consider Aiyya as a grand entry into B-town, but just another film, which has a bigger arena. He says, “There are too many experiments and trials happening in Bollywood and there is so much originality in this industry; it feels good to be a part of it.”
He has shared the screen with Bollywood beauties Rani Mukherji and Aishwariya Rai and considers it as a privilege to do so with two great actors. Talking about the Bong beauty Rani, Prithviraj is all praise for the care she takes to make him feel comfortable on the sets. “Rani has taken so much effort and we used to have several script-reading sessions for the movie.”
Although the actor has not committed for other movies in Bollywood, he has listened to Prawaal Raman’s script.
Prithviraj’s debut in Kollywood was through a villain role in Kana Kanden, which was highly appreciated. Unlike Mollywood, the actor has just done a couple of movies for Kollywood, but the star was all flattered when, at Chennai airport, fans came to him and appreciated his work.
Prithvraj, who has worked for the four industries — Bollywood, Mollywood, Kollywood and Tollywood — says, “Although the process is the same everywhere, in Mollywood, the release date is announced before the shooting, so you have a deadline much before the shoot unlike the B-town, which has so much time.”
“It is a butterfly effect here with only 250 theatres in Kerala; a deadline is indeed tough,” he adds.
The actor is not choosy about his films, but feels it should communicate to him as a listener. “I keep it simple. I do agree I have made mistakes but the movie should appeal to me as a viewer as well.”
With many new and young directors stepping into the industry, Prithvi finds it a genuinely path-breaking step with so many good releases –- Indian Rupeee, Salt n Pepper, Traffic. “These movies are accepted by the people rather than the usual clichés in the Mollywood industry.”
When asked how he spends his free time, he says, “I hardly get time to spend with my family. Supriya and I love travelling and we see to it that we discover new places that both of us haven’t seen before.”
