Will Prithviraj turn pilot for his next?

Prithviraj goes to great lengths when it comes to essaying the characters of his movies with perfection.
His upcoming movie Vimaanam, directed by Pradeep M Nair, could prove the toughest yet as it will have the actor playing a differently-abled mechanic piloting an aircraft 800 meters above sea level. The director tells us, 'Vimaanam is an inspiring tale of a man achieving his dream despite all odds.Prithviraj plays a differently-abled youth who drops out of school after his pre-degree to build an aircraft that he can fly.'
However, the director is quick to clarify that though the main character is physically challenged, the film is not based on the real-life, speech- and-hearing-impaired hero Saji Thomas, who built an ultra-light aircraft all by himself. Pradeep says, 'This is a fictional story and only a few portions have been inspired from Saji's life. Prithviraj will not be seen as a hearing-and-speech impaired protagonist, and Vimaanam is a musical love story. He is a desi mechanic of sorts. I don't want to reveal more about his character right now.'
It was earlier announced that the team would be building three ultra-light aircrafts exclusively for the movie with the help of Saji. 'We have imported the parts required for the aircrafts and they should be ready soon,' says Pradeep, adding that the movie will have a lot of aerial shots with Prithviraj's character flying the aircraft.
Last year, the actor had got a deep-sea diving expert certification to film the underwater scenes for Anarkali. So will he be flying the plane in real? 'Flying is not as easy as diving. You need 40 hours of flying experience to get a pilot license for an ultra-light aircraft. But Prithviraj is very much involved in the technical side of the project.'
The team is planning to begin filming the movie by the end of July. 'It demands extended pre-production as a lot of visual effects are involved to film the flying sequences. Also, we need permission to shoot at various locations,' says the director.