Exclusive! Tovino Thomas: Rejecting Vaashi’s script in 2017 helped Vishnu G Raghav arrive at a better version

The team of Tovino Thomas and Keerthy Suresh-starrer Vaashi wrapped up the film’s shoot in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. Tovino shared the news on his social media page, while writing that he “wishes the world” for its director Vishnu G Raghav.

The duo has been friends for over a decade now. In fact, Tovino was set to act in Vishnu’s short film For Hire in 2013, but had to opt out of it three days before the shoot as he got a call for another movie. They had first collaborated for Dulquer Salmaan’s Theevram, in which Tovino had worked as assistant director for over 40 days while Vishnu was an actor.

In an exclusive interview with OTTplay, the Minnal Murali star said, “We have been friends since 2012. Whenever I go to Thiruvananthapuram, I stay at his place.” Tovino also says that Vishnu first told him the story of Vaashi in 2017. “He is a very close friend, but I told him ‘no’. That didn’t affect our relationship. He reworked the script and told me the story again two years later. I think saying ‘no’ had helped him too because he could revise the script and in the new version, there was more detailing in the characters and situations. That’s when I thought there was a good story in the film and agreed to come onboard.”

Vaashi marks the directorial debut of Vishnu, who had previously starred in films such as Pakida and Saaradhi. The movie also marks the return of Keerthy Suresh in Malayalam after a gap in a full-length role. The actress’ dad is also co-producing the movie, which was extensively shot in Thiruvananthapuram from November 2021.

Meanwhile, Tovino has wrapped up the shoot of Naradan, Vineeth Kumar’s mystery-drama, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s Vazhakku and is set to resume his portions for Khalid Rahman’s Thallumala, also starring Kalyani Priyadarshan.

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