Prithviraj Sukumaran on his upcoming films, when he’s planning to begin shooting Empuraan, Salaar and Kaaliyan

If not for the pandemic, several of Prithviraj Sukumaran’s much-anticipated projects such as Empuraan, Kaaliyan and Karachi ’81 would have gone on floors by now. But now that the pandemic has begun to subside, the actor revealed that all these are projects are back on and also shared updates on when he will begin shooting for these films.

Before flying to Algeria on Thursday night to resume the shoot of Blessy’s Aadujeevitham, the actor in a media event held in Kochi said, “For the past years, I have been designing my personal and professional life around Aadujeevitham. As it has to be shot in the desert, we can only shoot during a particular season every year. For the past four years, three months before that time of the year, I start growing my beard and losing my weight, and then for some reason, the shoot doesn’t happen.”

The actor will be shooting for Aadujeevitham in Algeria and Jordan till June this year. Once he’s back, he will complete his other pending commitments in Malayalam and other languages, he said.

“Empuraan is definitely a priority; the shoot might begin in 2023. We need time to set up the shoot,” he said, when asked about the status of the sequel of his directorial debut Lucifer, starring Mohanlal, Manju Warrier and Tovino Thomas.

Prithviraj also said that his two other big-budget films – Kaaliyan and Karachi ’81 – are back on too. “Both these films were delayed due to the pandemic, as they couldn’t be shot during such circumstances. But now that things have returned to how it was during the pre-COVID times, I will be doing these films once I am back (from Aadujeevitham’s shoot) along with my commitments in other languages,” he said, adding that the first two projects that he will join are Venu’s Kaapa, co-starring Asif Ali, Manju Warrier and Anna Ben, and Jayan Nambiar’s directorial debut Vilayath Buddha, based on GR Indugopan’s novel. The actor is also part of Prabhas' Salaar and is set to write and direct a web series based on Biscuit Baron Rajan Pillai.

Also read: Prithviraj: My character in Jana Gana Mana has been treated unfairly by the system and carries that anger