Padmini on OTT: Is Kunchacko Boban-starrer’s humour a precursor to Deepu Pradeep’s Hotstar web series?

Padimini writer Deepu Pradeep has also written the script for an upcoming web series starring Sunny Wayne and Nikhila Vimal

A poster of Padmini

Anyone who has watched Kunchacko Boban’s Padmini when it released in theatres, amid all the controversy would have been bowled over by its comedy – especially in it s first half. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that it is helmed by Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam director Senna Hegde and written by Kunjiramayanam writer Deepu Pradeep.

While Senna’s films have always come packaged with his quirky sense of humour, Deepu’s writing marks a special rootedness to the story. Be it Basil Joseph’s Kunjiramayanam or Padmini, both films had characters and a tale that the common man could easily relate to and hence, even the misery of its characters becomes hilarious for the audience.

Also read: Padmini movie review: Kunchacko Boban and team are delightful in this charming film, blotted only by a terse final act

In Kunjiramayanam, it was a motley crew of youngsters pining after a girl and in Padmini, it’s a man, who was left heart-broken on the night of his wedding, and just can’t seem to find the perfect match.

Also read: Kunchacko Boban: I used to read Padmini’s script to relax when I was emotionally drained during Ariyippu’s shoot

Kunchacko, in an earlier interview with us, said that he would read the script of Padmini during the gruelling shoot of Mahesh Narayanan’s Ariyippu , which had physically and emotionally exhausted at the end of the day. “There is a lot of situational humour and it will also be a film that would let the audience relax and enjoy,” he said, calling it a “chilled-out script” that helped in melt away from the intensity of his previous characters including Nayattu and forthcoming roles as Chaaver.

Credit for this, to a large extent, also goes to Deepu – who not only made enough room for Kunchacko to relive his “romantic hero” era , but also gave space for other characters such as Aparna Balamurali, Madonna Sebastian, Vincy Aloshius and Saji Cherukayil to leave their indelible mark with Padmini, which is set to begin streaming on Netflix from August 11.

It’s also a formula that Disney+ Hotstar could be cashing in, with Deepu scripting an upcoming web series featuring Sunny Wayne, Nikhila Vimal and Aju Varghese, for the platform. Aju, who had starred in Hotstar’s Kerala Crime Files, told us that the upcoming series is a feel-good comedy that the Malayali audience would enjoy and laugh – pretty much what Deepu’s previous two scripts have also delivered.

Also read: Kerala Crime Files actor Aju Varghese on web series debut: Format has never bothered me, my job is to act

Why it is a good formula for Hotstar is because the platform successfully introduced the format to the Malayalam audience with a tricky genre in a crime thriller by watering it down for the new section of viewers it is trying to attract. With a comedy in Deepu Pradeep and Praveen Chandran’s web series, they might actually strike gold as it would appeal to a much larger audience.

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