The movie, which has Aishwarya Lekshmi playing a school teacher, marked the debut directorial of Akhil Anilkumar
Malayalam actress Aishwarya Lekshmi’s first film as a solo lead – Archana 31 Not Out – is all set to get a digital release. The movie, which marked Akhil Anilkumar’s directorial debut, is a comedy-entertainer that has Aishwarya playing a 28-year-old school teacher.
Archana 31 Not Out, which is co-produced by Nayattu and Charlie director Martin Prakkat, had hit theatres in February and opened to mixed reviews. The movie revolved around the titular character, who is under pressure to get married from society. After meeting 30 prospective grooms, she finally decides to get married to the 31st one, an NRI played by Operation Java fame Lukman Avaran. On the eve of the wedding, Archana’s world is shaken after an unexpected news. How she navigates this, without disrupting the wedding festivities, form the plot of the film.
Set in Palakkad, the movie was shot entirely during the pandemic. Apart from Aishwarya and Lukman, the film also has Hakkim Shajahan, Indrans, Rajesh Madhavan and Ramesh Pisharody in pivotal roles. The film is set to drop on Manorama Max on March 26.
In an earlier interview with OTTplay, Aishwarya said, “The aspirations of the character were different from my earlier roles. I haven’t played a character who is worried about money. The struggles of this character are different from the previous roles I have done.”
Aishwarya also said she had fun shooting the movie in Palakkad, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The actress also completed shooting for Nirmal Sahadev’s mythological horror film Kumari, which also has Giju John as part of the cast.
Meanwhile, Akhil, who directed Archana 31 Not Out, had earlier helmed Rajisha Vijayan’s segment Geethu Unchained in the anthology Freedom Fight, which dropped directly on Sony LIV on the same day the Aishwarya-starrer had released in theatres in February.
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