Prithviraj Sukumaran Exclusive Interview: Prithviraj Sukumaran talks about why he wants to release Empuraan as Pan Indian Movie. Prithviraj Sukumaran also talked about who is the favorite bollywood actor. Watch our Exclusive Interview with Prithviraj Sukumaran for these and much more | 'എമ്പുരാൻ പാൻ ഇന്ത്യൻ റിലീസാക്കുക എന്നത് എന്റെ ആഗ്രഹം'
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NewsTranscript
00:00Lucifer gets re-made in Bollywood, who do you think can play the character of Mohanlal sir?
00:04Shah Rukh Khan sir.
00:05Favourite actor in Bollywood?
00:06Samitabh Bachchan sir.
00:07Okay.
00:08Lucifer released in 2019, what took you 6 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 successes, I walk away from successes and I walk away from failures.
00:29And what's the one thing you imbibed as an actor from Lal sir?
00:32Many things, most of all how you should be with a director.
00:35What was the most challenging part for you as a director to direct a legend like Lal sir?
00:42So 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 am Ashwin and you are watching me on Filmybeat.
00:53Today I am sitting with superstar Prithviraj Sukumaran who is gearing up with his new film L2 Empuran.
00:59Prithviraj, welcome to Filmybeat.
01:01And firstly congratulations for the 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 a very special evening for me.
01:16Firstly for the fact that the teaser has been so well received.
01:20Secondly that we were able to have all our friends from 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 in person to launch the teaser.
01:31This is my third film as a director and to have this journey within a course of three films.
01:37And to have the privilege of being able to direct Mohanlal sir for all three of my directorials is all a blessing.
01:43I don't truly know if I deserve all this.
01:45I am just trying my best to live up to the opportunity that has been presented.
01:50And I hope all the anticipation that the teaser has set is met on the 27th of March when people see the film in theatres.
01:57Absolutely.
01:59Lucifer released in 2019. What took you six years to come up with the sequel?
02:03Did the pandemic affect the production and everything?
02:05Yes, Covid was the reason.
02:07This was supposed to be my second directorial actually.
02:09We were supposed to go on floors sometime beginning of 2020.
02:13That's when the pandemic happened and it just sort of completely derailed our plans.
02:20But in a way the five year wait, although this franchise was conceived in 2017,
02:30every time you make a film you need to review it to the current socio-political circumstances around you and all that.
02:36So with all those reviews coming in, I think this is now a better film than it was originally conceived.
02:42But having said that, it still stays very honest and true to 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 and what has happened with cinema as an industry in general
02:57has a pleasant coincidence because this particular part of the franchise,
03:03the story happens to have a very national kind of a scape and also an international plotline running.
03:09In fact about 30-35% of the film is in Hindi.
03:13And 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.
03:23So we were very keen that this time we should have this film released simultaneously in all five languages.
03:32Which we couldn't do with Lucifer.
03:35My second question was that Lucifer wasn't released in theatres in Hindi.
03:39So this time you guys are going the pan-India way.
03:41So was it your decision?
03:43Yes, it was.
03:45Because one, the business of cinema has evolved to a point over the last six years where now you can legitimately do that.
03:53Secondly, the quality of this particular film is such, when I say quality I mean the nature of this film is such
03:59that I think it will find resonance much more than the part one of the franchise with people around the country and around the world.
04:05And the greatest thing about the film I believe is that it perfectly works as a standalone film.
04:12So for people who have not seen part one, it is not like you are not going to understand what the film is.
04:17Yeah, for people who have seen part one, maybe a few dialogues and a few characters might hold more throwback value.
04:23But even without that I think the film works well.
04:25Lucifer was the first Malayalam film to cross the 200 crore mark.
04:31I don't know.
04:33The box office.
04:35It was a massive hit.
04:37It shattered a lot of records.
04:39More than being a hit, it went on to achieve a cult kind of a status with audiences and with so many of the scenes and dialogues being replayed and reels and all that.
04:49So I am really flattered.
04:52Do you feel pressure this time because the stakes are really high and 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 has seen Lucifer 1 would have imagined their own version of Lucifer 2.
05:07But unfortunately I cannot let that dictate what I am making.
05:11I will have to stay true to my vision.
05:13I will have to stay true to the actual plot that we had originally in mind.
05:18Just because part 1 was a big hit, I cannot suddenly come and change part 2.
05:22And I can just hope that people like what they see.
05:26This has always been the part 2 that we wanted to make.
05:30With of course a few things being reviewed for the times that we live in.
05:34Other than that, the pressure exists outside of the film.
05:38Yesterday at the teaser launch event, Lal sir said that you are going to be the best director this country has ever produced.
05:46I am just really flattered and blessed for a legend like that to have such high expectations upon me.
05:55I don't know, I will just continue doing my craft and my work with all the commitment and diligence that I can muster.
06:05And I will continue learning cinema and I will continue hoping that I get the opportunity to work with legends like himself.
06:12And as a part of the statement that he made, what was the most challenging part for you as a director to direct a legend like Lal sir?
06:22You know the thing is, there are legends for a reason.
06:28And the reason is that they are immensely gifted and they are fantastically professional.
06:34So the legends are the ones who are the easiest to work with actually.
06:38Once you understand their process as an actor, they suddenly make a lot of sense to you.
06:45Because they are very consistent with their process, that's why they are doing it for so long.
06:49I have had the privilege of directing so many actors.
06:52One of the easiest actors I could direct is Lal sir.
06:56Because I understand the process now.
06:58He will come and he will 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 magical version that he has interpreted out of it.
07:09And we have this really nice synergy happening now over the three films.
07:13He is just very very easy to direct.
07:17I am not saying others are tough.
07:19But with him I think I have a relationship now.
07:21But this is the third film.
07:22So when you first directed him, was there any kind of hesitation when you wanted to change something in him while directing?
07:29Or he was very receptive of...
07:31When I did my first film, I was thinking I am going to direct one film in my life.
07:35So I was very clear about the fact that okay, this might be just that one film that I ever direct.
07:42So I am going to make sure, even if the film turns out good, bad or whatever.
07:46I am going to make sure that I am going to make the film that I have in my mind.
07:49Because I might get to do this only once.
07:51So whatever happens, whoever I have to piss off, I am going to go tell them this is what I want.
07:57And I am going to do the film that I have in mind.
08:00And that's what I did with Part 1.
08:02Even with Lal Sir, with whoever it is, I used to go and say no.
08:04This is not what I have in mind.
08:06What I want is this and I would 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 and 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, you know, we think we would be better off doing it this way.
08:44So we have that synergy happening and that's how a film should be made.
08:48That's the actual process. Cinema is always a team sport.
08:50And what's the one thing you imbibed as an actor from Lal Sir?
08:54Many things. Most of all, how you should be with the director.
08:57Because he is a standing lesson for me on how I should be with my directors.
09:03Every time I feel irritated on a set when I'm acting,
09:07every time I feel like I want to tell someone off,
09:09I can easily draw a reference over the course of three films where,
09:14okay, 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.
09:34Direction is more challenging because it just involves a lot more work.
09:37A lot, constant decision making.
09:39And any given day there are about 200-300 people on set waiting for your instructions.
09:45Money 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.
10:18I'm getting a queue to wrap up, so I'll just ask two questions.
10:22So success and failures go hand in hand.
10:24Last year you did Bade Miya, Chhote Miya, which did perform well at T-box.
10:27How 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.
10:38Whatever happens on 27th of March, 28th of March, I still have to live my life.
10:43So I keep saying this.
10:45Sometimes my wife asks me,
10:47why don't you celebrate your successes more?
10:51Maybe because I enjoy the process more than the result.
10:57The 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.
11:08Same thing with this film.
11:10I'm really thankful that I was able to do the film the way it got done eventually.
11:14The result is then secondary.
11:18My 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 3 of the franchise would be wonderful.
11:27But other than that, it's not much.
11:30A lot of South cinemas are being remade in Bollywood.
11:33So if Lucifer gets remade in Bollywood, who do you think can play the character of Mohanlal sir?
11:38Shah Rukh Khan sir.
11:40And that would be safe to say he's your favourite actor in Bollywood?
11:43My favourite actor in Bollywood is Amitabh Bachchan sir.
11:47Lastly, any update on the Dharma movie you were doing alongside Kajol sir?
11:56Till the makers make an official statement or an announcement,
11:59it's better for me to not talk about it.
12:02There's a saying in Hindi, yeh toh trailer hai, picture abhi baaki hai.
12:06After seeing the teaser, we all are waiting for the movie that is releasing on 27th of March.
12:13Wishing you all the best sir.
12:14Thank you so much.