Prithviraj Sukumaran: Jana Gana Mana got the maximum amount of feedback and responses from Telugu states

Prithviraj Sukumaran is a very popular face among Telugu audiences and they have consistently revered him as one among the finest performers in the country today. It wasn’t surprising to see the grand welcome he had received for the promotions of the Telugu version of Kaduva in Hyderabad today. The multi-faceted personality was as articulate as ever during his media interaction.

“Before everything else, I need to thank Telugu audiences for Jana Gana Mana. The film made a lot of money here and was commercially very successful in Hyderabad. I know it because I was the producer. The maximum amount of feedback, responses I’ve got for the film after the OTT releases was from the Telugu states. So many people personally reached out to me,” he said.

Elaborating on his connection with the city, Prithviraj stated, ‘My connection with Hyderabad is slightly strange because I’ve shot in the city extensively over years. I come to RFC, shoot for my film and leave almost immediately. It was only during Bro Daddy that I discovered the spirit of the city in its entirety. We shot the entire film here and your love for cinema is humbling.”

“The biggest reason for Telugu cinema to be flourishing is its audiences. I could feel your love for cinema at many occasions. When I had asked my assistants to block the busy Park Hyatt road for five minutes, I thought the shoot would be very difficult to coordinate. However, several four-wheeler owners were considerate to wait until the shot was over. Stopping the traffic for a shoot was acceptable. Need we say more?” he added.

Opening up about Kaduva, the actor mentioned, “Thank you for the reception for the Kaduva team. Kaduva is a special film for me because it’s a kind of cinema that Malayalam industry has forgotten to do. Malayalam cinema is going through a great phase, we are making fantastic cinema that’s real, cerebral and socially relevant. Somewhere, we’ve stopped making these big, mass action entertainers, which we’re very capable of producing.”

“If you want to see action or a mass masala film, the narrative is that you need to watch either a Telugu, Tamil or a Kannada movie. I am not comfortable with that thought and I hope Kaduva will reawaken a genre that has fallen asleep in Malayalam cinema. I was particular that the dubbed versions of the film are released well.”

He opined that Kaduva will mark the beginning of a new norm. “Malayalam cinema will now realise the importance of going to each city and speaking to audiences directly. I definitely plan to do that for my future films. I am very excited about what’s happening in Telugu cinema - one of my films got remade as Bheemla Nayak and another remake of my first directorial Lucifer will feature Chiranjeevi in the lead,” Prithviraj said.

“We watch Telugu cinema closely and it’s flattering to know that you guys also watch Malayalam cinema closely as well. In the times to come, I can assure you there’ll be bigger and broader collaborations between Malayalam and Telugu industries,” he shared on a parting note.

Directed by Shaji Kailas, Kaduva is produced by Supriya Menon and Listin Stephen and releases on June 30.