Prithviraj Sukumaran

Prithviraj Sukumaran (/pr̩it̪ʰʋiɾaːd͡ʒ/; born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, director, producer and playback singer primarily working in Malayalam language films.

He has also done Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films.

He acted in more than 100 films in a variety of roles and has received several awards including a National Film Award, three Kerala State Film Awards, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award and a South Filmfare Award.

Prithviraj was born 16 October 1982 to the actors Sukumaran and Mallika Sukumaran at Thiruvananthapuram.

His family was settled in Tamil Nadu at the time, where he attended Shrine Vailankanni Senior Secondary School in T. Nagar, Chennai, and St. Joseph's Boys School, Coonoor.

When the family moved to Kerala, he attended the NSS Public School, Perunthanni.

He then moved to St. Mary's Residential Central School, Poojappura where he acted in plays and skits for the school's Annual Day Celebrations.

He completed his education at Sainik School, Kazhakootam and Bhavan's Senior Secondary School, Kodunganoor.

He also participated and won several debates and elocution competitions while in school.

Prithviraj won the title of "Mr LA Fest" in the Annual Inter-School arts festival hosted by Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram in successive years and is the only person to date to win that title twice.

After school, he studied for a bachelor's degree in Information Technology at the University of Tasmania in Australia.

During this time, he auditioned for film director Ranjith and won the lead role in the film Nandanam.

It was film director Fazil who introduced him to Ranjith.

His elder brother Indrajith Sukumaran and sister-in-law Poornima Indrajith are also film actors.

In 2001, Prithviraj underwent a screen-test by director Fazil for one of his projects.

Prithviraj made his acting debut with Nandanam (2002), a commercial success.

Even though that project never materialised, Fazil recommended him to director Ranjith, who was planning his second directorial, Nandanam (2002), Prithviraj underwent screen-test for the role and got selected.

Though Nandanam was the first film that Prithviraj acted in, it was released after Nakshathrakkannulla Rajakumaran Avanundoru Rajakumari and Stop Violence.

Prithviraj then appeared in films directed by Lohithadas, Vinayan, Kamal and Bhadran.

Shyamaprasad, who cast him in lead role in his film Akale, said that Prithvi's advantages are his talent and intelligence irrespective of his box office successes.

In 2005, Prithviraj Sukumaran debuted in Tamil through Kana Kandaen.

He established himself as a leading Malayalam actor with Classmates (2006), the highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year.

The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for Vaasthavam made him its youngest recipient at 24.

In 2006, Prithviraj co-starred with actor Bhagyaraj's daughter Saranya Bhagyaraj in Parijatham.

It has been acclaimed as a hit and gave the actor a turning point in his Tamil film career.

In 2006, he played the role of Sub Inspector Solomon Joseph in Vargam, then appeared in Vaasthavam, for which he received the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor.

He was the youngest actor to win the award.

The same year he starred in Lal Jose's Classmates.

He played a musician in the Tamil romantic comedy Mozhi (2007) and ventured into playback singing with Puthiya Mukham (2009) before earning his second Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for medical drama Ayalum Njanum Thammil and biographical film Celluloid.

In 2007, he starred in Chocolate, directed by Shafi.

In 2007, Prithviraj co-starred in Mozhi.

He also starred in Satham Podathey and Kannamoochi Yenada in the same year.

In 2008, he starred in Thalappavu, (directed by Madhupal) and Thirakkatha (directed by Ranjith), playing pivotal characters in both.

One of the reviews of Thalappavu describes it as the coming-of-age film for prithviraj describing the "spartan dignity" he brought to his portrayal of the Naxalite Joseph.

The Sify review of Thirakkatha describes it as a "genuine attempt that keeps the viewer engaged until the end".

In 2010, Prithviraj joined the production house August Cinema to then headline and co-produce Urumi and Indian Rupee (both 2011); the latter won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam and Kerala State Film Award for Best Film.

He won a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain for Kaaviya Thalaivan (2014) before appearing in Ennu Ninte Moideen (2015) and Ezra (2017).

After leaving August Cinema in 2017, he launched Prithviraj Productions independently that firstly backed 9 (2019).

Prithviraj made his directorial debut with Lucifer (2019), which was the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever until June 2023.

He has since starred in Driving License (2019), Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020), Jana Gana Mana (2022) Kaduva (2022) and Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire (2023).