Prithviraj: I have tried that my image as an actor or director doesn’t remain consistent

Malayalam star Prithviraj Sukumaran is all set to make his digital debut with the investigative horror-thriller Cold Case, which will release on Amazon Prime Video on June 30. The actor, who is on the verge of completing two decades in the industry, has always supported unconventional films and has not been shy playing different characters. 

“I almost find it obligatory that when an opportunity comes my way, I use my so-called ‘stardom’ to facilitate content that is out of the box. For good cinema I can do anything,” said Prithviraj, in a statement from Amazon Prime Video. 

While Cold Case will mark his OTT debut, it’s not the first time he has been ushering in changes in Mollywood. “The last movie that was shot on film in the Malayalam film industry was mine and the first film shot on digital was also mine. I am so glad that I lived through that phase and it’s very exciting to me,” he said in the statement released by the streaming service. 

Talking about his strategy as an actor and director, Prithviraj told Amazon Prime Video, “I have tried that my image as an actor or director doesn’t remain consistent. I would like to believe that doing films like Mumbai Police will create a sense of unpredictability about me. If you go and ask from people what is Prithviraj going to do next, you will get different responses from different people and I like that.”

In an interview to OTTplay, Prithviraj had talked about how the impact of OTTs on the Malayalam film industry. "Let us face this fact that the OTT-premiering phenomenon, of films releasing directly on digital platforms, was anyway meant to happen. I have said this even before the pandemic. The process might have been accelerated because of what has happened around us in the last couple of years. I think it’s great; not just for the financials of the industry but also for creative reasons," he said

The actor also maintained that theatres will always be mainstay for large-scale films. "There will be films that you and I will want to watch on a big screen with a crowd. If tomorrow, Marvel’s new multi-billion-dollar film releases on OTT platforms and theatres on the same day, I would still go and watch it in the theatres," he said.

Prithviraj, meanwhile, stressed on how the two platforms will cater to two different kinds of movies. He said, "There will also be another kind of cinema where the liberty that an OTT platform provides, for a filmmaker to not have to subject his creation to community viewing, would actually mean that the film becomes better. Where you take a script and you think that the best way you can tell a story is to let the viewers dwell on each moment; such films will eventually be designed as OTT films," he said, adding that a classic example is Fahadh Faasil's Joji that was designed and executed keeping in mind that it will be on Amazon Prime Video. 

When asked if Empuraan, the sequel of his debut directorial Lucifer, will be an OTT release, Prithviraj said, "Empuraan is never a film that is designed like that. It’s designed for the theatres, for thousands of people to sit together and watch. So, this phenomenon is nice and (both OTTs and theatres) will coexist. Don’t listen to the doomsayers."

The actor will be teaming with Mohanlal for his second directorial titled Bro Daddy soon. On what made him pick the movie to direct, the actor told us, "I just think that, especially given the type of content that is being produced and created in the past one and half years, all of us badly need a happy film. I was personally looking forward to something like that and that’s when I heard this script. It really appealed to me and it made me realise how much we have missed a film like this. In my mind, it was never meant to be a huge multi-starrer or anything. I thought it was so different from what I am used to as it’s different from my first movie and my supposed second film; so, I wanted to give it a try. It will be great for me as a filmmaker. I am going to break myself as I will have to conceive it differently. And then casually I narrated this script to Lalettan and immediately, he said we are doing it. That’s how it took off."

Prithviraj, meanwhile, is currently shooting for the tail-end portions of Bhramam, which is the remake of Andhadhun. Ask him about the challenges of remaking a movie as popular as Andhadhun and he told us, "The challenge is that it’s a hugely popular film and that’s what is exciting about it as well. I said yes to the film because I think it’s important that content not only travels from South to North. I think it’s crucial that down the line when a filmmaker makes a movie and that content can travel, it shouldn’t just be that South films are being remade. It would be nice to have the other way round too. I think Andhadhun as a film has content that lends itself very well to Malayalam. I hope I will be proven right when you see the movie."

The actor has also finished shooting for Manu Warrier's Kuruthi. He is yet to complete the portions of Dijo Jose Antony's Jana Gana Mana and Rathish Ambat's Theerpu.