Sarzameen star Prithviraj Sukumaran’s last soldier movie was Malayalam cinema’s final project shot on film

Sarzameen is not the first time that Prithviraj Sukumaran is playing a solider, the actor was last seen as an Army Jawan in Picket 43, which was the last Malayalam movie to be shot on film.

Prithviraj Sukumaran in Picket 43, Sarzameen

Malayalam star Prithviraj Sukumaran is back in Bollywood with Sarzameen, which also stars Kajol and Ibrahim Ali Khan. The Hindi film is set to release on JioHotstar and OTTplay Premium on July 25, 2025. The recently released trailer showed Prithviraj Sukumaran as a dedicated Army officer and is garnering attention for the glimpse. But this is not the first time that Prithviraj is playing a soldier, the actor was last seen as an Army Jawan in Picket 43. Its director Major Ravi has now shared that Picket 43 was the last Malayalam movie to be shot on film. Here’s some trivia on Picket 43 and Malayalam cinema

Prithviraj’s movie as a soldier before Sarzameen

Picket 43 is a 2015 Malayalam movie, which starred Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead role of soldier Haridran Nair. Major Ravi penned and directed this film, which revolves around a soldier posted at a border post along with his dog.

While commenting about the challenges of shooting the film, Major Ravi said, “We shot the movie when it was like minus 20 degrees Celsius. But still we completed the shoot in 22 days.”

“It was the last Malayalam movie to be shot on film, after that everything became digital,” the director, a former Army officer, pointed out.

Major Ravi also shared how he had to run from pillar to post to get the final two cans of film to complete the shooting.

While sharing that the dog featured in the movie also died, Major Ravi said, "It was a sniffer dog of the Army. It was killed during an operation and everyone in the unit was saddened.”

Major Ravi commented about Picket 43 during a promotional event for the upcoming film Ravindra Ne Evide, which also features Anoop Menon and Dhyan Sreenivasan. Anoop Menon also remarked that it was his favourite Major Ravi film.

On the other hand, Prithviraj Sukumaran has been part of varied roles in his over-two-decade career in cinema, across languages. Some of his notable films include Celluloid, where he played JC Daniel, the father of Malayalam Cinema. He was last seen in L2 Empuraan, which he also directed. He joined Mohanlal for the Lucifer sequel along with a host of other stars.

Also read: Explore Prithviraj Sukumaran’s binge-worthy films on OTT before Sarzameen

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