Ashwiny Iyer Tiwary, Nitesh Tiwari to co-produce Malayalam social comedy, co-scripted by Minnal Murali writer

Bollywood filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwary and Nitesh Tiwari are set to venture into Malayalam cinema with a social comedy, which will be co-produced by Sangeetha Janachandran’s Stories Social. The movie, which is expected to go on floors soon, will mark the debut Mollywood venture of Earthsky Pictures.

The upcoming movie is scripted by Justin Mathew, who had co-written Tovino Thomas’ desi superhero entertainer Minnal Murali and Paulson Skaria, who has written Neymar, another coming-of-age comedy drama featuring Mathew Thomas and Naslen.

Ashwiny took to her social media page to make the announcement on Onam, writing that the production house will be collaborating with Stories Social to produce films in Malayalam. “This is an ode to my roots and for my mother who made me watch so many Malayalam films while growing up,” she wrote, adding that the upcoming film is a “slice of social comedy”.

The team is yet to divulge the film’s director or its cast and crew. Ashwiny has directed movies such as Bareilly Ki Barfi, Panga and Ankahi Kahaniyan, while Nitesh scripted and helmed popular movies such as Aamir Khan’s Dangal and Sushant Singh Rajput’s Chhichhore.

Ashwiny’s debut film Nil Battey Sannata was remade in Malayalam as Udaharanam Sujatha, starring Manju Warrier and Anaswara Rajan. Nitesh, meanwhile, had previously expressed his interest in collaborating with Fahadh Faasil.

Incidentally, several Bollywood production houses are looking to produce films in Malayalam. John Abraham’s production house recently backed Mike, a coming-of-age drama that has Anaswara Rajan and debutant Ranjith Sajeev in the lead. Several leading Bollywood stars too have expressed their wish to work in Malayalam film recently, after the industry and its content was thrust to the spotlight during the pandemic.

Earthsky’s recent productions included the Netflix anthology Ankahi Kahaniyan, Break Point and upcoming movies such as Harla and Bawal.