Malayalam actor-producer Dulquer Salmaan announced his fourth production, Adi, which will star actors Shine Tom Chacko, Ahaana Krishna and Dhruvan. The film will be directed by Prasobh Vijayan.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Pramod Vijayan said that Adi would be a “fun-filled movie” with some social mockery. He said, “Adi means ‘slap’ in Malayalam. So in our film ‘Adi’ stands for a tight slap to the kind of society that says everything is in a man’s control while his wife has to accept his (male) ego. In Adi, we try to show that there are no specific responsibilities for the husband and for the wife. [Things are okay] as long as everything is dealt with as a family and not as an individual.”
He added, “The film will deal with emotions, ego, and even caste privilege in Kerala. But in a fun way.”
Adi will be very different from his previous films, Lilli and Anveshanam, said the director. “In this film, no one will kill anyone,” he joked.
Vijayan said Shine Tom Chacko had been his first preference for the lead. He said, “We went to Shine and told him the story. He said ‘okay’ immediately. I then called Ahaana and told her I want the Ahaana from Njan Steve Lopez movie and not the Instagram Ahaana. She agreed.”
The Adi team filmed for 50 days during the lockdown in Aluva. Vijayan said it had been “very tough” to shoot in conditions where a team of 80-84 people had to work with strict safety protocols set by the production house, Wayfarer Films.
There was minimal publicity during the shoot. While announcing that shooting had wrapped up in mid-December, Dulquer Salmaan had said that he did not want to attract any attention as there were strict protocols and measures in place.
“I’m very happy to share that we managed to finish the entire film with no cases or any danger to our team or to the public. Now that its safely wrapped we feel we can share things about the film,” he wrote in his post.
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While a release date has not been announced as yet, Vijayan said that the team was hoping for a theatrical release. He said, “I will finish my work on the film by the end of February. The production company has said that if the situation improves in four or five months, the film will be released in theatres.”
However, there was a 10% chance of an OTT exclusive as the production company may have a deal with some OTT platforms, he said. Although his preference would be for a theatrical release, he said, “I feel films should be released in theatres first and they can then go on to OTT platforms or other channels. That model worked for my previous film (Anveshanam) as well.”
The film’s crew includes writer Ratheesh Ravi (Ishq), music director Govind Vasantha, cinematographer Faiz Siddik, costume designer Stefy Xavior, art director Subhash Karun, and Ranjith R handling the makeup.
Adi will be Wayfarer Films’ fourth production after Maniyarayile Ashokan, Varane Avashyamund, and Kurup.