The bubbly young hero of Tamil cinema Prithviraj will start shooting for Mani Ratnam's under-production film 'Ravana' from January.

The shooting for the film is currently on in the forests of Kerala where sets have been erected. The Tamil version features Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Priyamani, Prabhu among others, while the Hindi version features Abhishek Bachchan playing the lead role.

Cinematography is by Manikandan. The same man who spelt magic in Bollywood recently with some excellent work in 'Om Shanthi Om'. Though shooting has commenced already, sources say portions involving Prithvi will be shot from January.

Prithiviraj has also been in the news for developing a six-pack ab for the role.