Prithviraj Sukumaran: A keen cinema observer would find Shaji Kailas’ influences in Lucifer

The actor-director teamed up with Shaji Kailas for the second time for their upcoming release Kaduva

Shaji Kailas and Prithviraj Sukumaran on the sets of Kaduva

Veteran director Shaji Kailas in the 90s spearheaded the ‘mass’ masala action entertainers with superhits such as Aaraam Thampuran and The King. So, it’s only natural that the filmmaker’s works have influenced the younger directors including Prithviraj Sukumaran, who has teamed up with Shaji for the second time for Kaduva.

Incidentally, when Prithviraj was narrated its script, Shaji Kailas had been staying away from the industry for some time. In an interview with Indiaglitz, the actor said that Jinu Abraham had written Kaduva as a “typical ‘mass masala’ action entertainer and the story is set in the early 90s”.
“All the reference films that came to my mind were mostly Shaji Kailas and Joshiy films,” he said, adding that’s how he called the veteran filmmaker to listen to the film’s narration.

Also read: Kaduva: Prithviraj Sukumaran reveals Biju Menon was the first choice to play Vivek Oberoi’s role

Further on working with the filmmaker, Prithviraj said that he has always held him in high regard. “I believe he is a filmmaker who singlehandedly brought in a pronounced change in the filmmaking language in mainstream Malayalam cinema. I am inspired by Shaji Kailas the filmmaker,” he said, adding that a keen observer of cinema could watch Lucifer and identify the influences of Shaji Kailas in the film.

Prithviraj and Shaji Kailas had also worked in Simhasanam a decade ago. The upcoming movie also marks the actor’s comeback to the ‘mass’ action genre. He said that when he first heard the script in 2019, what immediately struck him was that there was a dearth of such films in Malayalam.

He said he is happy that the movie, which also has Vivek Oberoi, Samyuktha Menon, Arjun Ashokan and Baiju Santosh, is hitting theatres at a time when people have been discussing why Malayalam cinema, which has been lauded for its rooted-to-reality and cerebral cinema, has been missing out on the genre. Kaduva is set to hit theatres on June 30.

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