L2 : Empuraan movie director Prithviraj Sukumaran exclusive interview with FilmiBeat
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NewsTranscript
00:00Lucifer gets re-made in Bollywood, who do you think can play the character of Mohanlal sir?
00:04Tarun Khan sir.
00:05Favourite actor in Bollywood?
00:06Samita Bachchan sir.
00:07Okay.
00:08Lucifer released in 2019, what took you six years to come up with the sequel?
00:13Any update on the Dharma movie you were doing alongside Kajol sir?
00:18So I think in fact about 30-35% of the film is in Hindi.
00:22How do you take failures?
00:23Like I take my success.
00:25I walk away from successes and I walk away from failures.
00:28And what's the one thing you imbibed as an actor from Lal sir?
00:32Many things.
00:32Most of all, how you should be with the director.
00:35What was the most challenging part for you as a director to
00:39direct a legend like Lal sir?
00:41So the legends are the ones who are the easiest to work with actually.
00:45Lucifer.
00:48This deal is with the devil.
00:50Hi, I'm Ashwin.
00:50You're watching me on Filmybeat.
00:52Today, I'm sitting with superstar Prithviraj Sukumaran,
00:56who's gearing up with his new film L2 Empuran.
00:59Prithviraj, welcome to Filmybeat.
01:01And firstly, congratulations for the like thunderous teaser that we saw.
01:07And at the venue also, the grand launch in presence of Mammootty sir.
01:11How was the whole experience?
01:12This is really, you know, this is a very special evening for me.
01:16Firstly, for the fact that the teaser has been so well received.
01:20Secondly, that, you know, we were able to have all our friends
01:23from media across the country fly in and attend the event.
01:26And of course, the icing on the cake being Mammootty sir being there present
01:29in person to launch the teaser.
01:32This is my third film as a director.
01:34And to have this journey within a course of three films,
01:38and to have the privilege of being able to direct Mohanlal sir for all three of my directorials
01:42is all a blessing.
01:43You know, I don't truly know if I deserve all this.
01:45I'm just trying my best to live up to the opportunity that has been presented.
01:49And I hope, you know, all the anticipation that the teaser has set
01:54is met on the 27th of March when people see the film in theatres.
01:57Absolutely.
01:58Lucifer released in 2019.
02:00What took you six years to come up with the sequel?
02:03Did the pandemic affect the production and everything?
02:05COVID was the reason.
02:06And this was supposed to be my second directorial, actually.
02:09We were supposed to go on floors sometime beginning of 2020, you know, with this.
02:14That's when the pandemic happened.
02:16And, you know, it just sort of completely derailed our plans.
02:20But in a way, the five-year wait, the sort of,
02:26the thing was, although this franchise was conceived in 2017,
02:30every time you make a film, you need to review it to the current
02:33socio-political circumstances around you and all that.
02:36So with all those reviews coming in,
02:38I think this is now a better film than it was originally conceived.
02:42But having said that, it still stays very honest and true
02:45to the narrative progression that we had in mind from the beginning.
02:49Good thing being that I just think that the nature of this film
02:54and what has happened with cinema as an industry in general
02:58has a pleasant coincidence because this particular part of the franchise,
03:03the story happens to have a very national kind of a scale
03:07and also an international plotline running.
03:09Yeah.
03:10In fact, about 30-35% of the film is in Hindi.
03:14And that's because the characters and the terrain exist in that space.
03:19And I want to have that particular portion in all five versions in Hindi.
03:24So we were very keen that this time we should have
03:29this film released simultaneously in all five languages,
03:33which we couldn't do with Lucifer.
03:34Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:34My question was, second question was this,
03:36that Lucifer wasn't released in theatres in Hindi.
03:39So this time you guys are going the pan-India way.
03:41Yes.
03:41So was it your decision?
03:44Yes, it was.
03:45Because one, the business of cinema has evolved to a point
03:48over the last six years where now you can now legitimately do that.
03:52Secondly, the quality of this particular film is such,
03:55when I say quality, I mean the nature of this film is such
03:58that I think it will find resonance much more than the part one
04:02of the franchise with people around the country and around the world.
04:05And the greatest thing about the film, I believe,
04:08is that it perfectly works as a standalone film.
04:12Yeah.
04:12So for people who have not seen part one,
04:14it is not like you are not going to understand what the film is.
04:17Yeah.
04:17For people who have seen part one, maybe a few dialogues and a few characters
04:21might hold more throwback value.
04:23But even without that, I think the film works well.
04:25Yeah.
04:26Lucifer was the first Malayalam film to cross the 200 crore mark, you know.
04:32I don't know.
04:33The box office.
04:34It was a massive hit.
04:36Yeah.
04:36More than being a...
04:37It shattered a lot of records.
04:38More than being a hit, it went on to achieve a cult kind of a status with audiences and,
04:44you know, with so many of the scenes and dialogues being replayed and reels and all that.
04:49So I'm really flattered.
04:51Yeah.
04:51So do you feel pressure this time because the stakes are really high and,
04:54you know, the bar has been set?
04:56No, I understand there is pressure.
04:58I understand there is expectation.
05:00I know for a fact that pretty much everyone who's seen Lucifer one...
05:03Yeah.
05:04Would have imagined their own version of Lucifer two.
05:07But unfortunately, I cannot let that dictate what I'm making.
05:11You know, I will have to stay true to my vision.
05:13I have to stay true to the actual plot that we had originally in mind.
05:18Just because part one was a big hit, I cannot suddenly come and change part two.
05:22Yeah.
05:22You know, and I can just hope that people like what they see.
05:27This has always been the part two that we wanted to make with, of course,
05:31a few things being reviewed for the times that we live in.
05:35Other than that, you know, the pressure exists outside of the film.
05:38Yeah.
05:40Yesterday at the teaser launch event,
05:42Lalsa said that you're going to be the best director this country has ever produced.
05:47I'm just really, really flattered and blessed for a legend like that.
05:52Yes.
05:53To have such high expectations upon me.
05:56I don't know.
05:57I'll just continue doing my craft and my work with
06:03all the commitment and diligence that I can muster.
06:05And I'll continue learning cinema.
06:07And I'll continue hoping that I get the opportunity to work with legends like himself.
06:11And as a part of the statement that he made,
06:14what was the most challenging part for you as a director to direct a legend like Lalsa?
06:21You know, the thing is when there are legends for a reason.
06:27Yeah.
06:28And the reason is that they are immensely gifted and they're fantastically professional.
06:34So the legends are the ones who are the easiest to work with, actually.
06:38You know, once you understand their process as an actor,
06:42they suddenly make a lot of sense to you because they're very consistent with their process.
06:46That's why they are doing it for so long.
06:48Yeah.
06:49So with Lalsa, I've had the privilege of directing so many actors.
06:52One of the easiest actors I could direct is Lalsa.
06:55Yeah.
06:56Because I understand the process now.
06:58He will come and he'll ask you, what do you want me to do, sir?
07:01And he expects you to give him a brief.
07:03And once you give him a brief, he then imbibes it and he does this really
07:06magical version that he's interpreted out of it.
07:09And we have this really nice synergy happening now over the three films that,
07:13you know, he's just very, very easy to direct.
07:17I'm not saying others are tough, but with him, I think I have a relationship.
07:20But this is the third film.
07:22So when you first directed him, was there any kind of hesitation
07:26when you wanted to change something in him while directing?
07:29Or he was very receptive of...
07:30So when I did my first film, I was thinking I am going to direct one film in my life.
07:35Okay.
07:36So I was very clear about the fact that, okay,
07:39this might be just that one film that I ever direct.
07:42So I'm going to make sure, even if the film turns out good, bad or whatever,
07:46I'm going to make sure that I'm going to make the film that I have in my mind.
07:49Because I might get to do this only once.
07:52So whatever happens, whoever I have to piss off,
07:55I'm going to go tell them this is what I want.
07:57And I'm going to do the film that I have in mind.
08:00And that's what I did with part one.
08:01Even with Lal Sir, with whoever it is, I used to go and say,
08:04no, this is not what I have in mind.
08:05What I want is this.
08:06And I'd like you to do that.
08:08But what has happened thankfully for me is that through the course of making my first film,
08:13I think the actors, the wonderful, wonderful actors who worked with me,
08:17they realized and understood my process.
08:20And they started trusting it.
08:22They started trusting, okay, this is how Prithvi would like us.
08:26That is how Prithvi makes films.
08:28And we trust his process.
08:30Once that trust forms, then it becomes very, very easy.
08:34So now it's no longer a challenge.
08:36Now I can go up to anybody and I can say, this is not what I want.
08:40And they can come and tell me, we think we would be better off doing it this way.
08:44So we have that synergy happening.
08:45And that's how a film should be made.
08:47That's the actual process.
08:49Cinema is always a team sport.
08:50And what's the one thing you imbibed as an actor from Lal Sir?
08:54Many things.
08:55Most of all, how you should be with the director.
08:58Because he is a standing lesson for me on how I should be with my directors.
09:04Every time I feel irritated on a set when I'm acting,
09:07every time I feel like I want to tell someone off,
09:10I can easily draw a reference over the course of three films where,
09:15okay, this is very similar, but you remember how he dealt with it.
09:19It's been more than two decades for you in this industry.
09:22You've been an actor, now a director.
09:25Very soon, the best director, like Lal Sir said, in India.
09:29What was more challenging, being an actor or being a director?
09:32Direction is more challenging.
09:33Direction is more challenging because it just involves a lot more work.
09:37Constant decision making.
09:39And any given day, there are about 200 to 300 people on set waiting for your instructions.
09:46Money is being spent on decisions that you make.
09:49And you're constantly involved with that process that is going on non-stop.
09:53Direction is more challenging.
09:55That's not to say that acting is not challenging at all.
09:58And me now being a director, it will sound a little immodest, me saying it,
10:03but actors are limited by their directors.
10:07A great performance can be shot badly and it will come across as a mediocre performance.
10:13A mediocre performance can be shot flatteringly and it could just pass the test.
10:19I'm getting a queue to wrap up, so I'll just ask two questions.
10:23So, success and failures go hand in hand.
10:25Last year, you did Bade Miya, Chote Miya, which did perform well at T-Box.
10:28How do you take failures?
10:29Like I take my success.
10:31I'm detached with it.
10:33I walk away from successes and I walk away from failures.
10:37Wow.
10:38Whatever happens on 27th of March, 28th of March, I still have to live my life.
10:43You know, I still have to.
10:44So I keep saying this.
10:45Sometimes my wife asks me, like, why don't you celebrate your successes more?
10:50I'm like, maybe because I enjoy the process more than the result.
10:55You know, I enjoyed the most gratifying thing for me was not that the goat life was a smash hit.
11:02The most gratifying thing for me was that I could do it the way it deserved to be done.
11:07Same thing with this film.
11:08You know, I'm really thankful that I was able to do the film the way it got done eventually.
11:14The result is then secondary.
11:16Yeah, my producers making money and the investment coming back would be great.
11:21And the success of this film paving way for us being able to do part three of the franchise
11:26would be wonderful.
11:27But other than that, you know, it's not much.
11:30A lot of South cinemas are being remade in Bollywood.
11:32So if Lucifer gets remade in Bollywood, who do you think can, you know, play the character
11:37of Mohanlal sir?
11:38Shah Rukh Khan sir.
11:40And that would be safe to say he's your favorite actor in Bollywood?
11:43My favorite actor in Bollywood is Amitabh Bachchan sir.
11:45Okay.
11:47Lastly, any update on the Dharma movie you were doing alongside Kajol sir?
11:53So I think till the makers make an official statement or an announcement,
11:59it's better for me to not talk about it.
12:02Okay, so there's a saying in Hindi, yeh toh trailer hai, picture abhi baaki hai.
12:05And after seeing the teaser, we all are waiting for the movie that is releasing on 27th of
12:12March.
12:13Wishing you all the best, sir.
12:14And thank you.
12:14Thank you so much.
12:15Thank you so much.