12th Man director Jeethu Joseph: Had plans to do a movie with Rishi Kapoor and Mohanlal

Director Jeethu Joseph is gearing up for the release of his next film – 12th Man, which has him teaming up again with Mohanlal after Drishyam 2. While the Malayalam superstar is an actor he has frequently collaborated with, another artiste that the filmmaker says he had enjoyed working with was the late Bollywood star Rishi Kapoor.

Jeethu had worked with the actor in The Body, which was also the Malayalam filmmaker’s debut Bollywood venture and Rishi’s final theatrical release before he passed away on April 2020.

In a recent interview with First Post, Jeethu said that working with Rishi Kapoor was a “beautiful experience” as the two shared a great rapport on and off the sets. The filmmaker also said that he wanted the Bollywood actor to do a movie with Mohanlal and had even discussed the same with the actor.

In an earlier interview with Kochi Times, the director also had said that he had initially planned to do Drishyam with Rishi Kapoor in Hindi, but had to drop the plans as the Bollywood market functioned differently. The Sharmaji Namkeen actor had also mentioned about working with Mohanlal during the post-production of The Body in 2019, Jeethu revealed.

Meanwhile, the filmmaker is set to return to Bollywood soon. In an interview with OTTplay last year, he said that he is working on a few Hindi projects that other writers are scripting. Currently, the director is awaiting the release of 12th Man, which will drop on Disney+ Hotstar on May 20.

Jeethu has also wrapped up shooting for Asif Ali’s thriller Kooman, which is scripted by KR Krishnakumar. He is set to head to Europe next week for the recce of Mohanlal’s Ram, an action-thriller that also stars Trisha and Indrajith Sukumaran. The movie, which has completed its Indian schedules, will now resume filming in the UK and Middle East.

Also read: 12th Man: Mohanlal, Jeethu Joseph’s Disney+ Hotstar whodunit film to be remade in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil?