Hariharan plans to helm a mythological Prithviraj to play Lord Krishna in Syamanthakam. Seasoned director Hariharan is all set to shoot a mythological on Lord Krishna. “Although Shri Krishna has been featured before in a few Indian films, this would be the first time that he is being portrayed as an out- and-out hero. Krishna will be seen as a warrior, lover and philosopher,” said Hariharan to FridayReview. Prithviraj has been cast as Krishna. The film, Syamanthakam, will be made in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. “Prithviraj was my first choice to play Krishna. He has the right physique and the looks, I felt,” said Hariharan, the director of classics such as Parinayam , Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha , Amruthamgamaya and Panchagni . He added the film would feature actors from across the country. “I plan to complete the casting soon and also finalise the crew, though Resul Pookutty has already been confirmed to design sound,” he says. Gokulam Gopalan, who had produced Hariharan’s Pazhassi Raja, is the producer. “Syamanthakam needs a big banner like Sree Gokulam Films. Gopalan was very keen to produce as soon as he came to know of the project,” he said. Hariharan added that he had been planning the making of Syamanthakam for a long time now. “The film was on my mind even before Pazhassi Raja , but in those days you would not have been able to find producers willing to shell out so much money on a Malayalam film, as the number of theatres you had at your disposal to screen a Malayalam movie was limited. Things have changed now. Now you can release your film globally,” he reasons. Syamanthakam is an episode from the life of Lord Krishna in the Mahabharata. Syamanthakam is a diamond owned by King Satrajith. “It gets stolen and Krishna becomes a suspect. Other major characters in the film include Rugmini, Satyabhama, Jambavan and Balarama,” Hariharan narrated. The shoot of the film is likely to begin later this year.