Alone movie: Antony Perumbavoor said Mohanlal would probably never do such a film again, says Shaji Kailas

Director Shaji Kailas, who teamed up with Mohanlal for his latest release Alone after a gap of almost 13 years, recently revealed that he was sure that the movie wouldn’t work in theatres. The movie, which was initially meant to be an OTT release, is now set to begin streaming on Disney+ Hotstar from March 3.

Also read: Alone OTT release: Why Mohanlal-starrer’s delayed gamble backfired? 

In a recent interview, the director said that the movie, which was shot in 2021, was planned after Mohanlal had decided to do a few projects that also provided work for those in the film industry, which was stalled due to the pandemic.

“It was a movie made to provide jobs to a lot of people during the pandemic. We had to take the RT-PCR tests every day. Apart from Mohanlal, everyone else worked in the movie wearing masks. So, it was a risk that Mohanlal took for the industry,” said the veteran filmmaker, in an interview with Behindwoods.

In another interview, the filmmaker said that he was sure that the film wouldn’t work in theatres. “It was filmed in a different mood and was shot during the COVID pandemic inside an apartment. So, we knew if it was released in theatres, people would say that ‘it had a lot of lag’,” said the veteran director, who had also shot Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Kaduva and Kappa last year.

But Alone’s producer Antony Perumbavoor insisted that the movie be released in theatres, “even if it’s for one day”. “He said, ‘Lal sir will be acting in such a film only once. He hasn’t done it before and won’t probably never do it again. So, we have to show it in theatres’. I told him that it would be risky, but he said that it was an experimental film and it could be criticized or acknowledged. ‘But if it’s the latter, then we would be happy’,” Shaji explained.

Also read: Alone on OTT: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Manju Warrier to Annie, who plays who in Mohanlal’s Disney+ Hotstar release 

In fact, it was also Antony who had suggested using the voices of known artistes such as Prithviraj Sukumaran and Manju Warrier as for characters in Mohanlal’s single-actor film. “He said it would make the audience think of the actors when they hear their voices, adding another dimension,” said the filmmaker, who is currently shooting for Bhavan’s The Hunt.