Prithviraj Sukumaran reveals the secret behind Malayalam cinema's extremely good-made movies

Malayalam superstar Prithviraj Sukumaran is busy promoting Aadujeevitham . The film, which is due to hit cinemas this week, marks the culmination of director Blessy's 16 years of efforts. The movie struggled to take off owing to budgetary constraints.

Historically, although the Malayalam film industry enjoys a formidable reputation for making excellent movies, the size of its global box office market dwarfs in comparison to its counterparts in southern states. This has prevented the Malayalam film industry from making large-scale movies such as Aadujeevitham for years.

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And yet, that has not limited Malayalam filmmakers from regularly churning out extremely well-made films. What's their secret sauce?

Prithviraj Sukumaran's secret to success

"Having worked in different industries, I think Malayalam cinema traditionally ensured that the largest chunk of the budget goes towards making the film. I have worked in the film industry where a movie is made on a budget of Rs 75 crore, of which Rs 55 crore goes to remuneration. And you are making the film only on Rs 20 crore," Prithviraj told Gulte.

Prithviraj cited the example of his own approach to filmmaking that allows producers in the Malayalam film industry to make bigger films. He revealed that he doesn't take an up-front salary for the movies he acts in Malayalam. Instead, he lets the producer invest all the money in the production to ensure they get the best possible output for the movie. "If my films don't make any money, I don't get paid. If they have made a lot of money, I get more than what I would have received in salary," he added.

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It wouldn't be wrong to say that Aadujeevitham is one of the most ambitious movies in Prithviraj's career. And he's leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the movie gets a big launch worldwide on March 28.