Kumari, the upcoming Malayalam film starring Aishwarya Lekshmi, has stepped into the post-production phase after the completion of its shoot earlier this month.
“We completed the filming on February 6 and have begun the editing process,” director Nirmal Sahadev tells Silverscreen India.
Kumari is produced by music composer Jakes Bejoy, editor Sreejith Sarang, Giju John, and the director himself, under The Fresh Lime Sodas banner, and it is presented by Prithviraj Productions. Bejoy is also composing the film’s music, while Sarang is handling the editing.
In conversation with Silverscreen India, director Nirmal says, “Kumari is a mystical-mythological film. It is completely fictional and is inspired by folklore. We picked up an old folklore and developed the story of Kumari with that as a base.”
Nirmal adds that the film showcases multiple time periods and has been shot in places across Kerala in different terrains. The filming, with cinematographer Abraham Joseph helming the camera, took around 50-55 days in all.
Aside from Lekshmi, the female-centric film features several women in the cast, such as actors Surabhi Lakshmi, Swasika, Sruthi Menon and Tanvi Ram. The director also reveals that actor Roshan Mathew was roped in earlier to play a significant role in the film, but was eventually replaced by Shine Tom Chacko.
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Talking about how the project took off, Nirmal says, “In 2020, Supriya Menon told me that an OTT platform was planning to do a series of eight shorts and wanted a story based on a myth from Kerala. I began to work on it, did a fair amount of research, and came up with a concept, which everyone liked. Unfortunately, the project was dropped by the OTT platform. Later, I revived this story and pitched it to Aishwarya Lekshmi. She immediately agreed to be a part of the film after listening to the story.”
The film’s script is co-written by Nirmal and Fazal Hameed, with renowned author Manoj Kuroor stepping in as a script consultant.
The director mentions that it was always a dream for him and his friends to eventually start their own production company. When Kumari was revived, they thought it would be a good first project for their banner as it “had the potential for brilliant technical output.”
Nirmal made his directorial debut with the Prithviraj Sukumaran and Rahman-starrer Ranam in 2018. He also co-wrote Nivin Pauly’s Hey Jude along with filmmaker Shyamaprasad.