Akshay Kumar is speechless at ‘better actor’ Prithviraj’s 16-year dedication to Aadujeevitham: ‘Here, we can’t work beyond 16 months’

One of the most ambitious projects in Prithviraj’s career, even Akshay Kumar was recently left speechless upon learning the number of years Prithviraj dedicated to Aadujeevitham. At the Bade Miyan Chote Miyan trailer launch event in Mumbai on Tuesday, Akshay expressed his immense admiration for Prithviraj and stated that the Salaar star is a better actor than he is. “He has more dialogues than us in the movie! But it has been so much fun working with him. I’ve learnt so much about acting from him,” he said, leaving Prithviraj red in the face. As he deflected the compliment, Akshay emphasised Prithviraj’s talent saying, “Just because I’ve been in more films than you doesn’t mean that I’m better! You’re a much better actor,” Akshay added.

The Khiladi actor further talked about Aadujeevitham and recalled being mesmerised by its trailer. “He showed me the trailer and usually I do not go for movie screenings but I’ve asked him to call me for the screening. I will go for it because it looks so interesting. All of you must watch it.”

Watch Aadujeevitham and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan trailers here:

When Akshay asked Prithviraj, “I think you have been working on this movie for 2-3 years now,” the Malayalam actor responded, “16 years,” leaving Akshay astonished and speechless. “Bete, kya kar rahe the 16 saal tak? (What were you guys doing for 16 years?) This man has worked on this film for 16 years! Unbelievable. Yahan 16 mahine humse ek picture pe kaam nahi kiya jaata (Here, we can’t even work on a film for 16 months). Hats off to him,” Akshay added.

The journey of Aadujeevitham began in 2008-09 when director Blessy decided to adapt Benyamin’s best-selling novel into a film. Soon, Prithviraj joined the project. However, it took Blessy six more years to start working on the script. Despite filming starting six years ago, the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdowns caused further delays to the project.