Prithviraj has proved himself to be a crowd puller in Tamil and Malayalam, over the years. From his humble start in Tamil as a villain in ‘Kana Kandein’, the actor has came a long way, effectively handling comedy and action in Tamil cinema, while in Malayalam he is able to create at least one big hit every year, the latest being his movie with Mammootty ‘Pokkiri Raja’.

No other actor in Mollywood has been able to take such a screen space in a Mammootty flick, this time in ‘Pokkiri Raja’ he has more than 55 percent screen time in the film, almost leading the movie till interval, in his own shoulders till the megastar arrives. Anyhow, the biggest movie from the actor is yet to come in the form of Mani Ratnam's ‘Raavanan’ scheduled for a release next month. In the movie Aishwarya Rai appears as his heroine while Vikram dons the lead (title) role.

Speaking about this movie with a magazine, Prithviraj has revealed that the greatness of Mani Ratnam was the only reason for him to take up the movie, that too in a villainous role. He also disclosed that he had hoped in his early days in filmdom, to work as an assistant to Mani and to learn the art of direction from him. But destiny had made him walk another way and to be a star in a Mani Ratnam film.

Prithvi who expects ‘Raavanan’ to showcase one of his different facets in acting, also feels sorry for those actors who never has got a chance to be in a Mani Ratnam film. 'It is the biggest ever blessing that you can have, as an Indian actor' adds Prithviraj.

Interestingly much of the lead actors of Malayalam like Mammootty, Mohanlal, and Manoj K Jayan had been with the great director of our times, in his previous films. And few will remember that Mani Ratnam had even directed one film in Malayalam, ‘Unaroo’ which came out in the early eighties and featured Prithvi's father Sukumaran in a pivotal role.