Prithviraj to focus more on Bollywood projects

Buoyed by his comfort with Hindi and Bollyood's relaxed pace, southern star Prithviraj Sukumaran, who will soon be seen in "Aiyyaa", is eager to find a firm foothold in Hindi filmdom.

"I want to go slow with southern movies. I will do one-two films a year. So, that means three months, and the rest of the time I want to give to my new found Bollywood career," Prithviraj told IANS, a few days before his Bollywood debut with Rani Mukherjee.

The actor, who hails from Kerala, has no particular genre in mind for his next Bollywood project.

"I want to work in the genre that defines good cinema. Regardless of what the film is about, it should be a cinema which deserves to be made," he added.

The 29-year-old made his debut in 2002 with the Malayalam film "Nandanam" and entered Tamil cinema with the 2005 release "Kana Kandaen".

After following strict deadlines down south, he enjoyed the relaxed pace in Bollywood.

"The process of filmmaking is the same, but in the south you always work according to a deadline. The day you announce the muhurat of the film, you announce the release date. So you give yourself a deadline and everything is hurried to meet that.

"In Bollywood, you make the film at its own pace, you edit, and see the work and then decide when to release. This is how, I feel, a film should be made," he said.

"Aiyyaa", written and directed by Sachin Kundalkar, centres on Rani Mukherjee's character, but this doesn't seem to affect the actor in any way.

"I don't mind making my debut in a film centred on the actress. My Malayalam debut was also centred on a woman. The point where I have reached in Malayalam cinema, if I reach that position in Bollywood with this film, then what is the harm?" he said.

Discussing his role in the film, he said: "I play a south Indian art student with whom Meenakshi (Rani) falls in love. He leaves certain impressions on her and goes by them but then the film reveals what he actually is. So there is a lot of mystery associated with the character."

The actor says his Hindi is pretty good and so he faced no language issues.

"Language was not a problem. Hindi is the only language apart from Malayalam and English which I can read and write. I have done many Tamil films and I am way more comfortable in Hindi than I am in Tamil; so that was not been a problem," he said.

Produced by Anurag Kashyap "Aiyyaa" hits theatres Oct 12.