In an exclusive interview with IANS, Prithviraj delves into the distinctive storytelling style of Malayalam cinema and its bold genre experimentation. Prithviraj opens up about the challenges of self-doubt in his career and shares his perspective on the widespread admiration he receives from women of all ages, discussing the impact it has on him personally and professionally.
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00:00Yes, I agree that Malayalam cinema is going through a great phase, we are making great
00:09films, fantastic content consistently for many years now and I hope this phase never
00:14ends.
00:15I hope this phase is like for lifelong.
00:16But I disagree with the fact that Malayalam is the only industry making great cinema.
00:21There is great cinema happening everywhere.
00:23Malayalam is going through an extraordinarily good phase, that I agree.
00:27I was just talking to the other friend from media that not too long ago we were looking
00:32at Hindi cinema and thinking, how are they doing this, how are they able to come up with
00:37such a breakthrough content.
00:38When RGV came in and suddenly completely changed mainstream filmmaking, we all thought, wow,
00:46Bollywood is really cracking it.
00:48When Anurag Kashyap's Vikramaditya Motwane and all these new age filmmakers burst into
00:53the scene in Hindi, I remember the conversation in Kerala was, wow, how is Hindi cinema able
00:58to do this?
00:59Now the same is being spoken about Malayalam cinema and I hope that that conversation continues
01:04forever.
01:05There is great cinema being made everywhere and I hope that every industry, sooner rather
01:12than later, identifies their own strengths and makes films the way they really can.
01:20One thing, if at all, that I especially like in Malayalam cinema is the fact that we have
01:24never lost sight of the fact that writers are the cornerstone of cinema.
01:32So even that documentary I saw, I remember that 70s and 80s Bollywood, the biggest superstars
01:39were Mr. Salim and Mr. Jadhav.
01:41So maybe there is a lesson there.
01:43For me, cinema is always a team sport.
01:52So an actor's performance can only be good if his co-actors are equally good.
01:59And an actor can only be good in a film.
02:01I know now that I am a director saying this, it's a bit immodest, but an actor can only
02:06be good in the film if the director lets him be good in the film.
02:10A great performance needs to be shot well for people to understand that it's a great
02:16performance.
02:17A great performance can be made to look mediocre if you have shot the performance in the wrong
02:23way.
02:24So the technicians who work behind the camera hold that much power over the way the content
02:29is served.
02:30Like I said yesterday on stage, I believe I have the world's best team.
02:34I think my chief technicians are world class.
02:38None of them are like, sitting in Bombay, you might not be able to identify even one
02:45single name from that.
02:46But to me, they are superstars.
02:47You know, they are the world's best technicians to me.
02:50And I strongly believe I have a team that can handle a project of any scale, any magnitude,
02:56anywhere in the world.
02:57And I wanted them to be on stage with me because without them, I was not going to be able to
03:01pull this off.
03:02If I change one of them and replace them with someone else, there's going to be a difference
03:07in the film.
03:08I don't know if it's going to be better or worse, but what I've made is not going to
03:10be possible with one of them not being there.
03:12So on my set, from my associate director to my cinematographer to my production boy, they
03:18all have equal ownership over the film.
03:21And I keep saying this, I edit my films on location, online, and everyone is welcome
03:26to come and watch it.
03:27When you come to my location evenings, when we wrap, you'll see everyone, the production
03:32boys, the drivers, everyone coming and watching the scene that we shot that day.
03:36Because I think we're all part of the process, we've all made the film together.
03:44Self-talk never leaves you.
03:46The basic thing of being an artist is that you question yourself.
03:51The day you start thinking, that's it, I'm now fantastic, there's nothing more to be
03:58improving upon, is the day you sort of hang your boots and walk away from this.
04:03Self-talk never leaves you.
04:05And every actor will tell you this.
04:07Every actor, the good ones at least, will definitely tell you this.
04:12I can see Mohanlal sir becoming nervous.
04:15I can see, I've had the privilege of acting with Mohanlal sir as a co-actor.
04:22I remember a scene where, there was something in a scene where he comes in,
04:26this is working, you tell me, this is working, you think it's working.
04:29And I was blown away that he's doubting it.
04:32And that is the process.
04:33These legends, they are still constantly doubting themselves.
04:37Like Mammootty sir and Mohanlal sir, they have nothing to prove now.
04:41If they stop what they're doing today, they'll still go down in history as two of the greatest
04:45actors the world has ever seen.
04:47But even today they come on location, and they read a scene, and sometimes they're tense,
04:52they're worried.
04:53So self-talk never leaves you, it should never leave you.
04:56I'm an M, I'm very flattered, but I've always, I've not thought of myself as a very good
05:07looking guy, ever.
05:11And it's just, also the kind of cinema that I do, maybe, I don't end up doing a lot of
05:16films where it's about my looks and all that, which is what was very refreshing for me about
05:20my first Hindi film.
05:22I did a film called Aaiya, where the whole film was about me neck downwards.
05:26That was very refreshing for me because I didn't think that I could be shot like that
05:31objective desire.
05:33So yeah, I mean, maybe that was the only film where the film was largely about my looks
05:38and all that.
05:39Other than that, even the kind of films I do are not about me looking good.
05:43So I've not been constantly fed with the thought that I'm like this really good looking man
05:48and all that.
05:50And so yeah, I'm flattered that, if women do find me attractive, I'm flattered they
05:57do, but I'd much rather that they find my work attractive.