Prithviraj Sukumaran On His Less Screen Time In ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’: ‘Have Taken A Backseat…’

Prithviraj Sukumaran is all set to play the antagonist in the upcoming big-ticket release ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’. The Malayalam star has earlier starred in several Hindi films like ‘Aiyyaa’, ‘Aurangzeb’ and ‘Naam Shabana’. In ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’, Prithviraj would be seen with Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff and the action film is directed by Ali Abbas Zafar.

Speaking about his less on screen time in the film, the 41-year-old actor told news agency PTI, “I believe that rather than placing yourself first, place the film and make sure the casting is done in a way that justifies the story… If you look at my filmography in Malayalam, there are multiple films where I’ve taken a backseat in terms of screen time.” He also gave an example of his 2021 movie ‘Kuruthi’, in which he played the antagonist, despite being offered the main lead part by the director Manu Warrier.

“Kuruthi’ was first pitched to me to play the lead, which was played by Roshan Mathew. It took a lot of convincing on my part to convince the director Manu Warrier that I should play the villain, and someone else should be the hero,” he said. 

Speaking about his role in the film, the actor, who has starred in ‘Salaar’, ‘Lucifer’, ‘Kaaviya Thalaivan’ and ‘Ravananan’, said that in ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’, Akshay and Tiger perform death-defying stunts as two elite soldiers, but the film is still incomplete without the presence of his character Kabir. “In ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’, there’s Akshay sir, he is one of the biggest stars of the country, and there’s Tiger, a very popular young star from Hindi. I can assure that without Kabir, the film is incomplete,” he said. 

Sukumaran further praised Akshay Kumar for leading a disciplined lifestyle. “They are professional, focused and good at action. Working with Akshay sir has been an eye-opening experience. The way he approaches work, like he is ready at 7:00 am and you will never see him tired on a set. He is always full of energy and leads a rigid, disciplined lifestyle,” he said. “There’s an amazing fun side to him. When we were shooting in Glasgow, Scotland, he would take us out for dinner. I got to see the wonderful relationship that he shares with his son (Aarav), he is a great dad,” he signed off.

Backed by Pooja Entertainment in association with AAZ, ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ will release on the occasion of Eid on April 10, and stars Manushi Chhillar and Alaya F.