‘Salaar’ vs ‘Dunki’: Prithviraj Sukumaran reacts to clash; ‘looks forward’ to watching SRK starrer

The box office clash between ‘Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire and ‘Dunki’ is eagerly anticipated by movie-goers.

While Shah Rukh Khan's ‘Dunki’ is scheduled for release on December 21, Prabhas and Prithviraj Sukumaran's ‘Salaar’ will hit the screens a day later on December 22. The pre-release buzz surrounding both films suggests fierce competition and only time will tell which film will emerge victorious at the box office.

Now, in an exclusive conversation with News18 Showsha, Prithviraj said that he doesn’t want to take a pick between his film and ‘Dunki’. He shared that he can’t wait to watch SRK starrer on the big screen.

‘I’m really looking forward to watching Dunki. I’m a huge Shah Rukh Khan fan. I’m also a big fan of Rajkumar Hirani,’ he said.

He is equally excited about a big-ticket Malayalam film starring Mohanlal that’s also scheduled to release on December 21.

‘As a film lover, I think it’s the greatest holiday season ever, at least in Kerala, because we’ve Salaar, Dunki and Neru. Neru is a Mohanlal-Jeethu Joseph film and they’re collaborating after Drishyam 2. We get to have three really big films at the box office and I’m watching all three for sure,’ he said.

Unlike ‘Dunki’, ‘Salaar’ is set to release across five languages – Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi.

Prithviraj argues that the concept of a pan-Indian film goes beyond just casting actors from different industries. He believes that the trend of multilingual releases becoming common indicates a broader interest in tapping into the pan-Indian market, with various filmmakers and actors eager to reach audiences across different regions.

The actor explained, ‘Baahubali, which marked the beginning of the movement, was made with Telugu stars. Same goes with KGF or Kantara, which is an even more gratifying example. You’ve to choose a story that you want to tell, write a script, be honest to what’s on paper and try and make the best version of that script. Salaar is an A-list release in every language in India. And we made it honestly and not as a pan-Indian film.’

Prithviraj has revealed that initially, Prashanth Neel, the director of ‘Salaar,’ wasn't aiming to cast actors from different markets just to create a pan-Indian project. Prithviraj became aware of this when he informed the filmmaker that he couldn't do the film due to the pandemic. This indicates that the decision to cast actors from different industries was not solely driven by the goal of creating a pan-Indian film.

He said, ‘If all he wanted was a star, I wasn’t the only option. He’s Prashanth Neel and after KGF 2, he could’ve gone to anybody. In his mind, Prithviraj was Vardharaja Mannar. I’m also equipped enough as a filmmaker and an actor to read a script and hear a narration and understand if they’re after the star or the actor. The idea is to let the actor make the decision and not the star.’

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