Sunny Wayne, Nikhila Vimal to team up for a Malayalam web series by Pada and Ishq makers? | Exclusive

While in the past few years, there have been rumours of several Malayalam web series featuring lead actors such as Dulquer Salmaan and Prithviraj Sukumaran, it seems that the first OTT venture to have mainstream Mollywood stars will be backed by the producers of Ishq and Pada.

E4Entertainment had earlier this month, put out an announcement, seeking aspiring actors for roles in their upcoming web series. A source tells OTTplay that the series will have Sunny Wayne and Nikhila Vimal in the lead. Official announcement about the platform, director and cast is still awaited.

Incidentally, OTTplay has also exclusively learnt that another Malayalam web series that could go on floors later this year will have Asif Ali in the lead and will be helmed by Jan.E.Man director Chidambaram. The series is also expected to have Ganapathy and Balu Varghese as part of the cast and is set to be made on a budget exceeding Rs 15 crore, the highest yet for a Malayalam web series.

Several top directors including Aashiq Abu and Mahesh Narayanan have been in talks with various OTT platforms including Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video for Malayalam web series. Some of these projects are also in advanced stages of development.

Prithviraj, incidentally, was roped to helm and star in a web series about Biscuit Baron Rajan Pillai. The series’ pilot episode will be directed by the Lucifer filmmaker. However, there’s still no clarity on when the series will go on floors. Netflix, meanwhile, had earlier worked with several top filmmakers such as Priyadarshan, Jayaraj, Ranjith, Mahesh Narayanan, Rathish Ambat and Santosh Sivan as part of an anthology series based on MT Vasudevan Nair’s short stories. The latest, we hear, is that the project has been stalled, despite it completing the shoot of all nine featurettes. Mammootty, Mohanlal and Fahadh Faasil are also part of the anthology, which wrapped up shooting last year.