Prithviraj: Lesser known facts

Early life and family


Prithviraj was born on October 16, 1982, to the actors Sukumaran and Mallika. His elder brother, Indrajith, is also a well-known actor. Indrajith's wife, Poornima, was also an actress. Prithviraj did his schooling from St.Mary's Residential Central School, Sainik School Kazhakoottam and Bharathiya Vidya Bhanvan at Thiruvananthapuram. Prithviraj was active in various school plays and skits along with his brother, Indrajith. Prithviraj is the only participant to have won his school’s Mr LA twice, till date. He later on, attending University of Tasmania in Australia, where he pursued a Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology. In the year 2011, Prithviraj married Supriya Menon, a Mumbai-based journalist at Palakkad. In the year, 2014, their daughter was born, whom they named Alankrita Menon Prithviraj.

When Prithviraj was asked to grow beard


While pursuing his bachelor degree, Prithviraj got a film offer from the director, Fazil. He even underwent a screen test, but the film didn't work out. Fazil then recommended Prithviraj's name to the director, Ranjith. He was selected as the lead for the Ranjith directed film, Nandanam. Reportedly, Ranjith wanted him to grow beard for the role as Prithviraj was only 19-year old and needed to look mature. Technically, Nandanam is his debut film, but it was released after his other two films Nakshathrakkannulla Rajakumaran Avanundoru Rajakumari and Stop Violence.

His hobbies


Prithviraj is an avid traveller. Reportedly, he has stated that Switzerland and Tasmania are his favourtite places. With travelling, he is into photography. Prithviraj loves to click pictures and cherish it as memories. Prithviraj even enjoys reading and he has cultivated this hobby well.

His iconic films


After his iconic debut, there was no turning back. He kept on impressing his fans with his choice of films and splendid performances. Some of the most memorable movies featuring Prithviraj are Ananthabhadram (2005) directed by Santosh Sivan, Classmates (2006) directed by Lal Jose, Vaasthavam (2006) directed by M. Padmakumar, Thirakkatha (2008) directed by Ranjith, Urumi (2011) directed by Santosh Sivan, Indian Rupee (2011) directed by Ranjith, Ayalum Njanum Thammil (2012) directed by Lal Jose, Celluloid (2013) directed by Kamal, Akale (2004) directed by Shyamprasad, Veettilekkulla Vazhi (2011) directed by Bijukumar Damodaran, Punyam Aham (2010) directed by Raj Nair, Manjadikuru (2008) directed by Anjali Menon and Aakashathinte Niram (2012) directed by Bijukumar Damodaran.

<strong>Awards in his kitty</strong><br /> <br /> <br /> Prithviraj has won the National Film Awards Best Feature Film in Malayalam (Producer) for <em>Indian Rupee</em> in the year 2011. He won the Kerala State Film Awards Best Actor for the films <em>Celluloid</em> and <em>Ayalum Njanum Thammil</em> (2012) and <em>Vaasthavam</em> (2006), Best Film (Producer) for <em>Indian Rupee</em> in the year 2011. He has also won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor &ndash; South for <em>Celluloid</em> in the year 2013.

Broke the record of Mohanlal


Prithviraj became the youngest recipient to receive the Kerala State Film Awards Best Actor for Vaasthavam at the age of 24. He broke the record of superstar Mohanlal, who had won it at the age of 26 for the film, T. P. Balagopalan M.A., in the year 1986. This record was maintained by Mohanlal for almost 20 years.

Turning producer


In the year 2009, Prithviraj ventured into production by starting his own company, August Cinema, along with director Santosh Sivan and entrepreneur Shaji Natesan. His first movie as a producer was Urumi directed by Santosh Sivan released in the year 2011. The other films he produced are Indian Rupee (2011), Kadal Kadannoru Mathukkutty (2013), Sapthamashree Thaskaraha (2014), Double Barrel (2015) and Ennu Ninte Moideen (2015).

Actor turned singer


After turning producer, Prithviraj tried his hand at playback singing. He first sang the song 'Kaane kaane' for the film Puthiya Mukham (2009). Other songs are 'Kaattu Paranjathum' from the film Thanthonni (2010), 'Kettille Kettille' from the film Pokkiri Raja (2010), 'Njan' from the film Anwar (2010), 'Vadakku Vadakku' from the film Urumi (2011), 'Tarzan Antony Coming Back To Cinema' from the film Hero (2012), 'Oru Kadha Parayunnu Lokam' from the film 7th Day (2014) and 'Ivide' from the film Ivide (2015).

Venturing into other languages


Prithviraj made his Tamil film debut with the film, Kana Kandaen directed by K V Anand released in the year 2005. His other Tamil films are Parijatham (2006) directed by Bhagyaraj, Mozhi (2007) directed by Radha Mohan, Satham Podathey (2007) directed by Vasanth, Kannamoochi Yenada (2007) directed by V. Priya, Vellithirai (2008) directed by Viji, Abhiyum Naanum (2008) directed by Radha Mohan, Ninaithale Inikkum (2009) directed by Kumaravel, Raavanan (2010) directed by Mani Ratnam and Kaaviya Thalaivan (2014) directed by Vasanthabalan. He made his debut in Bollywood opposite Rani Mukherjee in the film Aiyyaa (2012) directed by Sachin Kundalkar and further acted in the film Aurangzeb (2013) directed by Atul Sabharwal. He even acted in a Telugu film Police Police (2010) directed by Manmohan.