Jeethu Joseph: When we first narrated 12th Man to Mohanlal, he liked the concept but also found it confusing

An aspect that has always haunted director Jeethu Joseph since the stupendous success of Drishyam in 2013 has been the comparisons with the blockbuster and his subsequent films. Even for 12th Man, Jeethu, right at the outset, makes it clear that both movies are of different genres and patterns.

In a promo video shared by the film’s producers Aashirvad Cinemas, the Drishyam 2 director talked at length about the upcoming Disney+ Hotstar release, which will begin streaming from May 20.

“12th Man is the kind of film Lalettan hasn't done, at least not recently. The specialty of the film is that about 90% of it is shot in a single location, in a resort. So, it naturally lent itself to being shot during the pandemic,” said the director, adding that they had shot for 25 days with most of it being during the night.

On Mohanlal’s reaction after hearing the script, Jeethu said, “We first narrated the scene order to Lalettan. He liked the concept but it was confusing. It's difficult to convince people just by telling them the story; you either have to read the script or watch the film.” 12th Man falls under the mystery genre and is close to Agatha Christie's novel, he said.

“Consequently, the suspense is the film's highlight,” the director explained. For the feedback on the film, the makers had shared the script with a lot of people, discussed with them and then went back and made changes. “A good amount of background work has gone into the film and based on the feedback from the previews that we had held, it has come out well,” remarked Jeethu.

Apart from Mohanlal, the whodunit mystery film also has Unni Mukundan, Sshivada, Anu Sithara, Chandunath, Nandu, Leona Lishoy, Saiju Kurup, Anu Mohan, Anusree, Aditi Ravi, Rahul Madhav and Priyanka Nair.

Also read: Exclusive! Sshivada: The expectations are high while working in a Jeethu Joseph-Mohanlal film such as 12th Man