Kaanekkaane preview: All you need to know about Tovino and Aishwarya Lekshmi’s relationship drama

Be it Traffic, Nirnayakam, Mumbai Police or Uyare, every film scripted by award-winning duo Bobby and Sanjay comes with its set of expectations, excitement and most importantly insights. Their upcoming venture Kaanekkaane will be no different. 

Helmed by Uyare director Manu Ashokan, the movie is a multi-starrer with some of the best talents in Mollywood right now – Tovino Thomas, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Suraj Venjaramoodu and Shruthi Ramachandran. Apart from the four leads, the movie, produced by TR Shamsudheen under the banner of DreamKatcher, also has Prem Prakash, Binu Pappu, Rony David Raj, Dhanya Mary Varghese, Sruthy Jayan and Master Alok Krisha in pivotal roles. 

What is Kaanekkaane about?

The movie will mark Sony LIV’s entry into Kerala. The film’s teaser and trailer were released by the streaming platform last week, confirming that the OTT service will be embarking on its Malayalam journey with the thrilling relationship drama. The trailer hints that the relationships of the movie’s protagonists aren’t just what they seem. Manu had earlier said that the movie dealt with raw human relationships and emotions. 

Kaanekkaane was shot right after the pandemic restrictions were lifted in Kerala last year. The movie’s cinematography is by Alby Antony, editing by Abhilash Balachandran and Joseph fame Ranjin Raj has composed its music. 

Incidentally, the team of Kaanekkaane – Manu Ashokan, Bobby, Sanjay and its producer – were earlier set to work on another movie. However, the pandemic had delayed the project and it was Shamsudheen, who urged the creative team to work on a film that can be shot right after the lockdown restrictions were lifted in Kerala. 

The scriptwriters, who usually take several months to complete writing a film, finished work on Kaanekkaane at break-neck speed, according to the filmmaker. The movie went on floors in October last year but had to temporarily halted after Prithviraj Sukumaran had tested positive. Suraj, who was working with Prithviraj in Jana Gana Mana, had to be quarantined and tested along with the rest of the team of Kaanekkaane before they could resume filming. 

Why should you watch Kaanekkaane?

Manu Ashokan with his debut directorial Uyare proved his mettle as a filmmaker. The upcoming movie will once again delve deep into the frailty of relationships. The director, who comes from a theatre background, has stressed that he has tried to extract organic, realistic performances from his artistes. With a powerhouse of talents on offer, the job should have been easy. 

Incidentally, Kaanekkaane also marks the reunion of Tovino and Aishwarya after their brilliant performance in the Aashiq Abu directorial Mayaanadhi. In an earlier interview with OTTplay, Aishwarya had talked to us about working in the movie. “Manu sir was a mix of both Aashiq and Amal Neerad sir. When I did Kaanekkaane, effectively I was shooting after a gap of almost seven months because we started filming in November after the lockdown was lifted. Manu sir is one of those directors who wants the actors to perform as per the script because they want what they have conceived. It’s again something that I learnt from Varathan and it has helped me in another film too. But he is a very cool director. He might be shooting a serious subject but then he cracks all these jokes and I have actually asked him, ‘Were you the one who shot Uyare?’,” she told us. 

Was Kaanekkaane made for OTT?

Manu had earlier informed us that Kaanekkane is a performance-driven film. When we asked him if it organically lent itself to the OTT viewing sensibilities, he said, “Definitely. We planned it for an OTT release. We landed on the subject during the beginning of the pandemic and so we naturally took OTT into consideration. But after the output was ready, we thought it would also work out in theatres.”

When will Kaanekkaane release?

The movie is scheduled to release on Sony LIV on September 17. While the exact time of release is yet to be confirmed, Sony LIV has dropped their previous movies at 12am on the release date and Kaanekkaane too is expected to release the same time. The film’s trailer was shared by several celebs including Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathy and Manoj Bajpayee, raising the expectations of what is the OTT platform’s first major Malayalam release.