Prithviraj Sukumaran's Kaaliyan to begin before Empuraan, only a few portions to be shot in Kerala | Exclusive

After almost five years since Prithviraj Sukumaran-starrer Kaaliyan’s first announcement, the epic period thriller is finally gearing up to go on floors. The movie, which is set in the 17th century, in fact, is set to go on floors, even before Prithviraj’s much-anticipated directorial Empuraan.

In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, S Mahesh, who is helming the movie, tells us, “We are currently planning to begin the first schedule by July. Prithviraj too is keen to do that. Discussions on Empuraan starting around that time are also happening. So, we are planning accordingly.”

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Kaaliyan will have Prithviraj essaying the role of a warrior and confidante of Venad kingdom’s commander-in-chief Iravikutti Pillai. It’s also touted to be one of the first Malayalam movies to be based on folktales from South Kerala.

The movie, however, wouldn’t have too many portions set in the State. “We haven’t scheduled any portions to be shot in Kerala yet. For the first few sequences to be shot in the first schedule, we are looking at a completely different space. In fact, only a few portions of Kaaliyan will be filmed in Kerala,” says Mahesh.

Initially, Tamil star Sathyaraj was attached to the project, but the delay meant that new actors had to be approached for pivotal roles in the movie. “We have talked to a few leading actors and they have expressed interest. Now, we have to confirm the dates and get back to them. We will be announcing the cast when everything is locked,” explains the director. “It’s been four years now. We lost two years due to the pandemic and lockdowns, and after that Prithviraj also got busy with his commitments. It’s also not a project which you can immediately start because it’s a big project that also needs some preparation.”

Ask him if the pandemic delay allowed the team to further increase the scale of the movie and he says, “From the outset itself, it was conceived as a massive project as far as the Malayalam film industry was concerned. So, the pandemic didn’t make too much of a difference.”

Meanwhile, Prithviraj's Empuraan, which has Mohanlal in the lead, is set to go on floors in August. The actor is scheduled to complete his portions of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Salaar and Ibrahim Ali Khan's debut movie in the next two months.