Young star Prithviraj Sukumaran was on cloud 9 after a successful career in 2015 that had three back-to-back blockbusters of the actor. The success of Ennu Ninte Moideen, Amar Akbar Anthony and Anarkali raised his career graph by finding the top spot at the Kerala box office.
The audience, who had accepted the performances of the actor in all these movies, had been eagerly awaiting releases of Prithviraj in 2016 and the comedy entertainer Paavada was his first release of the year, and expectations were sky high from it. Did the G Marthandan directorial perform well? Read Paavada review.
Paavada, released on January 15, opened to positive response from the movie-goers. The movie is estimated to have earned a gross collection of approximately Rs. 16.34 crore with a share amount of Rs. 7.17 crore at the Kerala box office,where it had completed 100 days of theatrical run. Prithviraj was lauded by the audience for convincingly playing the role of a drunkard named Joy in it. The film, which also stars Anoop Menon, Asha Sarath, Miya George, Maniyan Pilla Raju and Nedumudi Venu, was thus called as the fourth superhit of Prithviraj in a row.
In March, Prithviraj's family action entertainer Darvinte Parinamam, helmed by Jijo Antony hit the screens in Kerala. However, the movie that narrates the story of an ordinary man dealing with a local goon following some unfortunate events, opened to mixed response from the audience.
The family entertainer James and Alice digs deep into the life before and after marriage through Prithviraj and Vedhika's characters. Since the Sujith Vaassudev directorial had a not-so-common story-telling method, it was tagged as not everyone's cup of tea. Critics had commented that the movie could have been better if it's narrative spinning around the ideas of death and life was made shorter. Nevertheless, Prithviraj performed well as a trendy artiste and later as a corporate filmmaker in the movie.
It was Jeethu Joseph's revenge thriller, Oozham, that helped Prithviraj regain his successful career in 2016. The actor, who played as Surya, a demolition expert, was well appreciated for his performance in the movie, which also stars Balachandra Menon, Neeraj Madhav, Divya Pillai, Rasna Pavithran, Kishor Satya, Jayaprakash, among many other in pivotal roles. It made a collection of over Rs 1.25 crore on its opening day from Kerala and earned approximately Rs 15.25 crore within 25 days of theatrical run in the state.
Upcoming movies
Seems like Prithviraj has a busy year ahead as the versatile actor has been roped in to play the lead roles in many movies, compared to his counterparts in the industry. He has more than eight confirmed projects, including Ezra, My Story, Tiyaan, Beautiful Game, Detroit Crossing, Vimaanam, Karnan and Aadu Jeevitham, lined up for 2017.
The horror thriller Ezra was scheduled to hit the screens as a Christmas release on December 23, however, the release date is said to have been postponed due to the theatre strike between the producers and theatre owners in Kerala. The teaser, trailer and songs of the Jay K directorial, which stars Priya Anand in female lead role, have opened to tremendous response from the audience.
Directorial debut
Prithviraj has announced that he will be making his debut as a filmmaker in 2017 with the movie titled Lucifer, starring Mollywood superstar Mohanlal in the lead role.
