Nivin Pauly was my first and last option for this big-budget film: Aaryan Ramani Girijavallabhan

Earlier this month, Malayalam star Nivin Pauly had told OTTplay that he will be focusing more on big, commercial entertainers for the time being. Last week, the Thuramukham star shared a post announcing “something big is on the way” with the debut film of actor-turned-filmmaker Aaryan Ramani Girikavallabhan.

On the upcoming movie, in an exclusive chat with OTTplay, Aaryan tells us, “A debut film is everyone’s dream; I have been inspired by so many big films that I have watched growing up. So, I want my first film to have those elements while also appealing to today’s set of audience. These days, big-budget films are usually happening in other industries and I think in Malayalam too, we should make such movies.”

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Aaryan, who had earlier worked in movies such as Tournament, Pranayam and The Great Father, says that he had first approached Nivin, after he had done a short film titled Burn My Body back in 2015. “I have always wanted Nivin to do this film, from the outset. There was never a doubt about that. He was the first and last choice for this movie. I remember I got Sai Pallavi’s message saying she liked the short film I did in 2015 and after that is when I bounced off the one-liner to Nivin.”

It took about five years for the project to materialise. “There was an organic process to the project to develop, and recently I went to Nivin with a bound script. We met a few times in between and also discussed the scene order. There was never any sort of hesitation from Nivin’s side from the start till now,” he explains.

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While Aaryan says it’s too early to reveal anything about the movie, he explains, “All I can tell you right now is that it will be a big project. Nivin has asked to immediately start with the pre-production. I am currently in Dubai and will begin work once I reach India.”

The filmmaker also adds that he feels he is ready to take up a big movie. “After Burn My Body, I thought I had learnt a lot about filmmaking but it’s only when you just go knee-deep into this craft that you realise there is so much to learn and update yourself. The past five years was just learning about the new techniques and how to execute using the new tools of filmmaking including mocobot cameras. I want to execute this project with great technicians and in a cost-effective manner for our industry,” Aaryan concludes.