Viral Sebi, the upcoming Malayalam feature film helmed by Kerala State Award-winning filmmaker Vidhu Vincent, will be a road movie, the director told Silverscreen India.
Actors Fahadh Faasil and Manju Warrier announced the film’s title on Saturday while releasing the first look poster on their respective social media handles.
The film is produced by Badusha and Manju Badusha with Eldho Selvaraj serving as the executive producer. The screenplay of Viral Sebi is by Sajitha Madathil and Anand Haridas.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, director Vidhu said, “The film is about a day in the life of a taxi driver. As the tagline – Ride, Share, Subscribe – suggests, the protagonist is someone who also does social media vlogging in a bid to go viral.”
She added that they have roped in two newcomers for the lead roles. “The male protagonist will be played by a car reviewer and vlogger named Sudeep Koshy, who is based in Dubai, and the female protagonist will be played by an Egyptian woman named Mira Hameed, who is based in Ras Al Khaimah.”
“When the film’s writers and I were looking to make a car-based film, we chanced upon Sudeep Koshy’s car review vlogs and that sparked the idea for this film’s story. We later reached out to him to play the lead role and he sent us a few performance videos,” Vidhu said, adding that it took around six months to lock the final script.
The director also revealed that the film is currently in the pre-production stage and the team is doing the location recce. “We are planning to start filming on September 15, and the film will mostly be shot in Kerala and Bengaluru. Details about the rest of the cast and crew will be announced in the coming days,” she added.
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Vidhu, who is also a writer, journalist and activist, made her directorial debut with Manhole in 2016. The Malayalam film, which revolved around the life and struggles of a manual scavenger’s daughter, won her the Kerala State award. She became the first woman to win the Best Director Award in the history of the Kerala State Film Awards since its formation in 1969.
In 2019, she made her second feature film titled Stand Up, starring Nimisha Sajayan. She also directed a short film, Singers of Liberation, and the documentary film, The Rebirth of a River, in 2020.
Noting that Viral Sebi is “totally different” from her previous ventures, Vidhu said, “Manhole was produced by our home banner and working on that film was more of a trial-and-error experiment. After that, I have learnt a lot about cinema and the industry, and I believe every new project will redefine me as a filmmaker.”