Prithviraj Sukumaran (born 16 October 1982 in Trivandrum, Kerala, India) is an Indian film actor. He made his debut in 2002 in the Malayalam film Nandanam, and has since acted in more than 50 films, notably including Nandanam (2002), Swapnakoodu (2003), Ananthabhadram (2005), Vaasthavam (2006), Classmates (2006), Thalappavu (2008), Thirakkatha (2008), Puthiya Mukham (2009) and Robinhood (2009). Prithviraj's notable Tamil films are Kana Kandaen (2005), Mozhi (2007) and Raavanan (2010). He has also made his presence felt in Telugu films through Police Police (2010) and Villain (2010).
Prithviraj was born in Trivandrum, Kerala, to Malayalam actors Sukumaran and Mallika. His elder brother Indrajith Sukumaran and sister-in-law Poornima are also film actors. His initial schooling was at St. Mary's School Poojappura, which was near his Chengallur home. Here he acted in various dramas and skits for the annual day celebrations. Later he did his schooling from the Sainik School Kazhakoottam, Thiruvananthapuram and Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram. Prithviraj, along with his brother Indrajith, used to take part in debates and elocutions in the school. Prithviraj had also won the title of "Mr LA Fest", in 1999 at LA Fest, an annual inter-school arts festival hosted by Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram.
While pursuing his Bachelor's in Information Technology at the University of Tasmania, Australia, he was called by Renjith to play the lead role in his directorial debut Nandanam. It was Fazil, a leading Malayalam film director, who introduced him to Renjith. After his performance in Nandanam, he was flooded with offers from the industry, so he decided to take a break from studies and concentrate on acting.
Prithviraj began his career in Malayalam cinema in 2002. The Hindu commented in 2007 that Prithviraj would remain one of the young stars in the reckoning irrespective of the box office prospects of his films.
Malayalam cinema
In 2002, Prithviraj was cast by Renjith in his second directorial venture, Nandanam. After this he appeared in films directed by Lohithadas, Vinayan, Kamal and Bhadran.
He later went on to do Stop Violence and Swapnakoodu. Shyamaprasad, who cast him in lead role in his film Akale, said that Prithviraj's advantages are his talent and intelligence irrespective of his box office successes.
In 2006, he played the role of Sub Inspector Solomon Joseph in the critically acclaimed Vargam. After Vargam, Prithviraj acted in Vaasthavam with the same director, M. Padmakumar, for which he received the Kerala State Award for Best Actor for 2006, and became the youngest actor to win the award. The same year he starred in Lal Jose's Classmates which went onto become an all time blockbuster thus increasing his market value and brought about confidence in producers to make more youth oriented movies.
In 2007, he starred in Chocolate, directed by Shafi which was a huge success. In 2008, he starred in Thalappavu (directed by Madhupal) and Thirakkatha (directed by Renjith), in which he took up roles which serve as pivotal characters. One of the reviews of Thalappavu describes it as a film which is truly the coming-of-age film for Prithviraj the actor and that there is a spartan dignity that he brings into his commanding portrayal of Naxalite Joseph. The Sify review of Thirakkatha describes it as a "genuine attempt that keeps the viewer engaged until the end". Both Thalappavu and Thirakkatha shared the award for the best film in the Film Critics Award for 2008. He has also made a special appearance in Anjali Menon's Manjadikkuru.
In 2009, the success of Prithviraj's Puthiya Mukham (directed by Diphan) led the Print & Visual Media to anoint him as Superstar. His other releases in 2009 were Robinhood (directed by Joshy) and Malayalam's first Anthology film Kerala Cafe.
In 2010, Prithviraj's first release was the offbeat film Punyam Aham followed by Thanthonni and Pokkiri Raja alongside Mammootty.
His next release in Malayalam is Veettilekkulla Vazhi : The Way Home co-starring his brother Indrajith.
Tamil cinema
Prithviraj made his Tamil debut through Kana Kandaen in 2005 as the suave and sophisticated villain.
Soon he got the opportunity to act under the direction of Bhagyaraj in the film Parijatham. Bhagyaraj said in an interview, "The entire media unanimously appreciated Prithviraj in Kana Kandaen, so it was with that confidence that I signed him".
Prithviraj's Mozhi in 2007 was a critical and commercial success. He also starred in Satham Podathey and Kannamoochi Yenada in the same year.
In 2008, Prithviraj starred in Vellithirai, the Tamil remake of Udayananu Tharam. Rediff described his performance: “Prithviraj makes the best of his assets - his expressive eyes, which glint in fury, soften with love, or brim over with frustrated tears”. The Tamil remake of Classmates, called Ninaithale Inikkum, was his last release.
His latest release in Tamil is Mani Ratnam's Raavanan, co-starring Vikram and Aishwarya Rai. The movie opened to full houses though it met with only moderate critical success. His performance was appreciated in the movie and some critics stated that he performed the role of Dev better than his Hindi counterpart.
Telugu cinema
Prithviraj's presence in Telugu is through Sivapuram, the Telugu dubbing of the Malayalam hit Ananthabhadram. His first Telugu film was supposed to be Kalakanidhi, directed by Bhushan Kalyan produced by Ravi and Mahesh Kumar under the banner of Swan Creations, but the project got shelved after the death of actor Raghuvaran. Therefore, Prithviraj's first straight Telugu release became Police Police (a Tamil - Telugu bilingual film, the Tamil version called Kutrappirivu), costarring Srikanth and directed by debutant Manmohan.
His next release in Telugu is Mani Ratnam's Villain, the Telugu dubbed version of Raavanan.
As a singer
Prithviraj debuted as a singer in Puthiya Mukham by singing the title song of the film, "Kaane Kaane". He later went on to sing in many of his films. By successfully attempting different genres, he proved his versatility as a singer too.
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