Mohanlal was approached to be part of Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Kaduva: Shaji Kailas

If everything went according to plan, Shaji Kailas’ Kaduva would have seen two of Mollywood’s biggest stars – Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran – sharing screen space again in a ‘mass’ action thriller.

Director Shaji Kailas, who had collaborated with Mohanlal in films such as Narasimham and Aaram Thampuran, recently confirmed that the superstar was approached by the makers to be part of the film, which has Prithviraj and Vivek Oberoi in the lead.

Also read: Prithviraj Sukumaran: With Kaduva, I have now completed a trilogy on male ego 

“We had tried to get Mohanlal to also be part of the film but due to various reasons, it didn’t happen,” said the veteran filmmaker, adding that he decided against the plan after it didn’t work out. The director also confirmed that Mohanlal is not part of even a single scene in Kaduva.

Incidentally, Shaji Kailas was set to director Mohanlal in a similar subject two decades ago with a film based on Renji Panicker’s script. The movie, however, didn’t work out. The story was based on the life of Jose Kuruvinakunnel. While the filmmaker had agreed there were plans to do a film and Renji had also met Jose, the script of Kaduva is entirely different from that movie.

The character of Kaduvakunnel Kuruvachan, whom Prithviraj will be playing in the movie, is entirely fictional, the director had earlier told Kochi Times. The upcoming movie, which will release in theatres on July 7, revolves around the ego tussle between a young planter and a high-ranking police official, who go to the same parish in Pala and grew up knowing each other.

Meanwhile, Shaji and Mohanlal’s latest collaboration Alone, which is a single-actor movie, will be a direct-to-OTT release. The thriller, which revolves around a man who travels from Coimbatore to Kerala and gets stranded during the lockdown, is set to drop on a leading streaming platform in August. The film will have other characters, who will only be featured through voices.