Prithviraj, younger son of the famous Malayalam actor the late Sukumaran and actress Mallika, is the rising star of Malayalam cinema after Mammootty and Mohanlal. Prithvi did his schooling from the Sainik School and the Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram. He was doing his Bachelor Degree in ComputerEngineering at the University of Tasmania, Australia when he came into the film world. During one of his vacation trips to Kerala, director Fazil introduced him to screen playwright Renjith who was searching for a new face in his first directorial venture. Ranjith impressed by him offered the lead role in his film 'Nandanam' (2002). So he discontinued his studies and concentrated on acting. Quite early in his career Prithviraj was fortunate to act in films directed by leading directors in the Malayalam film industry such as Lohitadas, Vinayan, Kamal and Bhadran.
Prithviraj managed to win the hearts of the Malayalam film audience through his first film itself, especially that of female viewers. He had a definite edge over other younger heroes with his good looks- he was tall, had a good moustache and acting talent - he could do both action and romantic roles with panache.
After the fantastic performance in 'Nandanam' he got several offers. His list oearlyf sterling performances include films like 'Stop Violence' (2002), 'Vellithira' (2002), 'Meerayude Dukham Muthuvinte Swapnam'(2003), 'Swapnakoodu' (2003), 'Vellinakshatram' (2004), 'Akale'(2004), 'Daivanamathil'(2005), 'Ananathabhadhram'(2005) etc. In 2006, Lal Jose's 'Classmates' was released and it turned out to be one of the biggest blockbusters in Malayalam cinema. After pulling off the role of a corrupt police officer quite well in Vargam (2006), Prithviraj acted in another film 'Vaasthavam' with the same director, M. Padmakumar and again it was a hard hitting drama and Prithviraj got noticed for his intense acting. As Balachandran Adiga in Vaasthavam, Prithvi once again proved that he is here to stay.
He made his Tamil debut in cinematographer K V Anand's film 'Kana Kandein' (2005) in which he did a negative role. After 'Kana Kandein' Prithviraj has his share of fans in Tamil Nadu too. His second Tamil film 'Parijatham' directed by veteran Bhagyaraj, gave Prithvi the break he needed. In the wake of the success of Parijatham, Prithvi has become one of the most sought-after heroes in Tamil cinema. Another noted Tamil film was 'Mozhi', produced by Prekash Raj, in which he was paired with leading heroine, Jyothika.
He is the youngest actor to receive the Kerala State Award for the Best Actor. Among the current crop of new faces in Malayalam cinema, Prithviraj is definitely the most bankable star.
