Exclusive! Mathew Thomas, Naslen are Brazil football fans in Sudhi Maddison’s all-out entertainer, Neymar

The Thaneermathan Dinangal duo of Mathew Thomas and Naslen have quickly built a fanbase among the youth through their movies in their past few years. Their upcoming movie titled Neymar will have both of them play leads for the first time.

Talking to OTTplay about the film, its director Sudhi Maddison tells us, “It’s an all-out family entertainer that revolves around a series of incidents that happens in the lives of two youngsters who have just completed their Plus-2.”

With a title like Neymar, how does football figure in the movie? “Both Mathew and Naslen’s characters are members of a Brazil football fans group in their hometown. Football is a part of the movie, but not a major aspect. We can’t reveal anything more, but the film encompasses a lot of the events from their travels and other interesting incidents,” says the filmmaker, who will be making his debut with the movie.

The team is currently planning to begin the shoot by mid April. “We will be finalising the rest of the casting next month. The film will have a lot of newcomers,” says Sudhi.

The director had begun his career as an assistant editor of the Tamil film Jilla, which had Mohanlal and Vijay in the lead. “I have worked in many films in Tamil and Malayalam such as Happy Wedding, Style and Ambili as spot and assistant editor. Most recently, I was the co-director of Operation Java and it was during its shooting that I bounced off a thread I had in mind with the production house of the film, V Cinemas. They liked the idea and had asked me to develop it further,” he says.

Meanwhile, Mathew and Naslen will next be seen together in Arun D Jose’ Jo and Jo, which is touted to be a young-adult family drama. The movie also has Nikhila Vimal, Leena Antony and Johny Antony as part of its cast.

Also read: Mohanlal’s surrogacy drama Dasaratham to get a sequel, Sibi Malayil confirms scripting is complete