Thankam: Girish Kulkarni joins Fahadh Faasil's Joji team for his Malayalam debut film, starring Biju Menon

Filmmaker Dileesh Pothan and Syam Pushkaran’s upcoming production venture Thankam just got bigger, with Marathi actor Girish Kulkarni being roped in to play a pivotal role in the Saheed Arafath directorial.

The shoot of the movie, which has Vineeth Sreenivasan and Biju Menon in the lead, is set to start soon in Tamil Nadu. The main location of the film is in Coimbatore and the makers had previously held audition to rope in Tamil talents for the movie.

While Girish’s casting has been confirmed, the makers are yet to reveal his role in the crime drama, which was first announced in 2019 with Fahadh Faasil and Joju George in the lead. The latter duo had dropped out earlier this year when the project was delayed, owing to their prior commitments that were pending because of the pandemic restrictions.

Girish, who had won the National Award for Best Actor for his role in Deool, was also part of Sacred Games, Sunflower and Guilty Minds that are streaming on Netflix, ZEE5 and Amazon Prime Video, respectively.

Thankam, which is produced under the banner of Bhavana Studios, will mark his South debut. The film is scripted by Syam Pushkaran, who had also written Joji, Maheshinte Prathikaram and Kumbalangi Nights. When the movie was first announced, Dileesh and Aparna Balamurali were also part of the cast, with Bijibal onboard as its music composer.

Meanwhile, Bhavana Studios is also backing another film that Basil Joseph, Indrans and Dileesh in pivotal roles. The movie, which has debutant Sangeeth P Rajan as its director, has a cow playing a central character. The film is scripted by Aneesh Anjali and Vinoy Thomas, whose story was also the base for Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Churuli that is available to stream on Sony LIV. The untitled film was shot extensively in Kannur.

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