Oh, so many of them! Lalettan’s Drishyam and Oppam. You mentioned you watch Malayalam films often. He is very humble and sweet despite being a superstar. Otherwise I used to just come here quietly. ‘You come to Sabarimala every year? I said, ‘Yes,’ and he replied, ‘Wow! I am going to organise your next trip.’ After that, he started helping me out with all my trips to Sabarimala. Every time I came to Kerala, I used to meet him.ĭuring the time of Company, he once asked me. Also, over time we have created a lovely friendship and close bond with him. Secondly, he is one of the finest actors India has ever produced and I wanted to work with him again. Is it the Company connect that urged you to debut with Mohanlal? Antony Perumbavoor flew in soon after, and later I also spoke to Lalettan who said, ‘I would really like to have you on board’. The kind of stories, characters and fine craftmanship you get here aren’t found anywhere else. It’s a very exciting project and I don’t know whether I will get a role like this in Hindi.’ I said so, because Malayalam cinema is extremely mature. Soon after I told him, ‘Listen Prithvi, I really want to do this film. We kept missing each other, until one day, when he called me and narrated the script to me over the phone itself. There was no way we could make time to meet. At that time, he was shooting in Manali and I was shooting in Mumbai. He explained about this central character in the film who is pitted opposite Mohanlal’s and said he wants me to play it. As someone who watches Malayalam films often, I was excited. It was Prithviraj who called me first with the offer, about his directorial debut Lucifer, which also has Mohanlal, Manju Warrier and Tovino. Somebody or the other from Mollywood used to get in touch with me with an offer, but my reply has always been, ‘I will do my first film with Lalettan!’ I have been visiting Kerala every year for the Sabarimala pilgrimage, for the past 18 years. Well, I have been offered multiple Malayalam films in the past. “Aaharam kazhicho?” He playfully asks, flaunting the few Malayalam words he picked up in the ten days of shooting in Thiruvananthapuram, before talking about his debut in M-Town, foray into the South and more.
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