Amid Sabarimala protests, Prithviraj Sukumaran announces his mega-budget movie 'Ayyappan'

Prithviraj Sukumaran, the young Superstar in Mollywood has announced his next movie which will be directed acclaimed writer Shankar Ramakrishnan. Titled 'Ayyappan', the film will portray the star in the role of Lord Ayyappa, the Hindu God.

Interestingly, the announcement from Prithviraj Sukumaran came in the midst of elevating tensions in Sabarimala followed by a Supreme Court verdict that allows the entry of women between the age of 10 to 50 inside the temple.

In a recent Facebook post, Prithviraj Sukumaran also shared a sample poster of the movie which depicted him sitting in a cave with a tiger on the foreground.

"It's been years..since Shankar first told me about this. And I've always dreamt of this taking off one day! Finally..#Ayyappan," Prithviraj captioned the image.

Even though more details regarding this movie are yet to be unveiled, industry experts have already started claiming that 'Ayyappan' will be one of the costliest movies ever made in Malayalam. The film is bankrolled by August Cinemas.

Shankar Ramakrishnan who debuted as a director in the anthology movie 'Kerala Cafe (Segment: Island Express) is now busy with the works of his new movie 'Pathinettam Padi' which features megastar Mammootty in the lead role. The shooting of the movie is progressing steadily, and he will start the works of 'Ayyappan' after the post-production work of 'Pathinettam Padi' gets wrapped up.

On the other hand, Prithviraj is apparently now in Mumbai shooting some crucial scenes for his debut directorial venture 'Lucifer'. Mohanlal is playing the lead role in this movie, while the supporting star cast includes Vivek Oberoi, Tovino Thomas, Manju Warrier and Kalabhavan Shajon.

Prithviraj's upcoming release as an actor is '9' directed by Jenuse Mohammed. The film will hit the theaters in February 2018. It has been learned that '9' is a sci-fi flick made with a lavish budget.