Exclusive! Salaar actor Prithviraj Sukumaran about the timeline on his next directorial, Tyson

It’s been a year-and-a-half since Malayalam actor-filmmaker Prithviraj Sukumaran announced a film called Tyson that he is set to direct for KGF and Salaar makers Hombale Films. The film, according to reports, is based on a script by actor-writer Murali Gopy, who has written Prithviraj’s earlier Lucifer and the ongoing project Empuraan. Reports suggest that Tyson would have Prithviraj in the lead, as an IAS officer in an action-packed commercial entertainer. The actor-filmmaker is currently in the midst of promoting his first pan-India movie, Salaar, in which he plays a pivotal role along with leading man Prabhas. He will finish this commitment and then return to the set of Empuraan. When will Tyson take off then, we ask.

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“Honestly, I do not have a timeline on Tyson at the moment,” Prithviraj tells us and adds, “I have to finish L2E (Empuraan), which is also a pan-India film. Once I finish that I have a couple of acting commitments, including Salaar 2. Tyson is getting delayed because owing to the pandemic I could not start Empuraan until this year. That was always supposed to be my next directorial before Tyson. Empuraan is a film that will be shot across multiple countries and was not something I could have hoped to start during the pandemic.” But could it be on floors sometime in 2025 or 2026? “Well, let’s see. I will try to multi-task, but at the moment, I can’t comment definitively,” he says.

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Hombale Films, adds Prithviraj, was among the first banners outside of Kerala that approached him to direct a film, and during that conversation is when producer Vijay Kiragandur told him that Prashant Neel wanted to pitch a character from Salaar as an acting gig. So, in terms of timelines of working with Hombale Films, it was always Salaar first and only then Tyson, says the actor, who plays Varadharaja Mannar in the Prabhas-led film. In theatres on December 22, the first of the two-part saga delves into the friendship between Deva (Prabhas) and Varadha, who begin as thick pals, but are then forced apart owing to certain circumstances.