Following the OTT success of Bharathanatyam, a sequel, Mohiniyattam, is set to release. Director Krishnadas Murali shifts the genre to dark humour, continuing the story of Shashi’s family in a new locale. The film features a mix of returning and new actors, promising a theatrical, event-filled entertainer for families.
When the 2024 film Bharathanatyam proved a sleeper hit on OTT, lead actor Saiju Kurup felt it had the potential for a sequel and approached its director Krishnadas Murali. While the director felt that the first film’s ending did not lend itself to a sequel, he suggested that they could instead do another movie with the same set of actors.
Saiju shares that he and his production partner still asked him to give the sequel a thought.
“We told him if it doesn’t work, we’d let go of the idea,” he says. However, Krishnadas came back with a story narration in a week and Saiju loved it. Mohiniyattam continues the story of Shashi (the protagonist) and his family, but moves from being a feel-good family drama to dark humour. “In about 10 days, he had a one-line ready.
It was superb. He’s shifted the genre, and we pick up from after the 40th-day funeral rituals of Bharathan Nair, the father,” says the actor. While the first film was set in Thrissur, the new one is located in Sreekandapuram, in north Kerala, where Sashi and his family help his stepmother and half-brother settle back in their hometown. With this change, the makers have roped in a new set of faces, including Suraj Venjaramoodu, Jagadish, Vinay Forrt and rapper Baby Jean, who play the locals in the village.
Saiju says that it was thrilling to reunite with the earlier film’s principal cast, including Divya M Nair, who plays his sister, Kalaranjini and Sreeja Ravi, who play the mothers, among others. “It was like a family coming together after two years. It was really enjoyable shooting together again. Also, I have worked with most of the actors who have joined the sequel at some point in my career, so there was a comfort level on sets,” says the actor about the nearly two-month long shoot.
Saiju says that based on audience feedback, they have improved the sequel. “Apparently, there were two issues with Bharathanatyam — it lacked a theatrical feel and it was only about half an hour into the movie that the story took off. This time, Krishnadas designed it for theatres. Also, I told him that the thrills should start at the 15th minute, but he’s done one better and it takes off in a few minutes from the start. This will be an entertainer for the whole family” says Saiju.
To enhance the theatrical feel, the team has roped in Electronic Kili to compose the music. Krishnadas says that he was also keen about not making it a feel-good film, because doing a “repeating the genre would get too boring”. “With the new movie, it was exciting to get the same characters to now do dark humour,” he says. “This film has a lot more happening in the story; it is more event-filled. The shoot was a bit hectic, because we were keen to make sure that it will click with audiences in theatres.
Bharathanatyam was made for streaming, so it was a smaller film, but this has been made to keep audiences excited throughout,” he says. Mohiniyattam is set to hit theatres on April 10.
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‘Jagadish is a professional; Suraj Venjaramoodu has great aura’
The director says that it was exciting to work with the fresh set of actors in the sequel. “Jagadish sir is a pucca professional. He arrives early for his scenes and clears his doubts. His experience was evident on set. With Suraj chetan , we can see how he elevates his character from script to the scene, and then, we see why he is a National Awardwinning actor. He has such an aura. And he is also entertaining, doing mimicry and beatboxing on location,” says Krishnadas.
