PremiumAsif Ali to star in big budget Malayalam web series helmed by Janeman director Chidambaram | Exclusive
Asif Ali had made his OTT debut with Jis Joy’s Innale Vare, which is streaming on Sony LIV, last year
Last Updated: 11.44 AM, Feb 10, 2023
Young director Chidambaram, who had previously helmed the superhit Jan.E.Man, is reportedly in talks to helm a Malayalam web series for a leading OTT platform. The web series will also feature Asif Ali in the lead.
OTTplay has exclusively learnt that the team has been working on the series for the past few months and the OTT platform has also earmarked a budget exceeding Rs 15 crore, the highest yet for a Malayalam web series. This will mark Asif Ali’s first ever web series, even though he had made his OTT debut last year with Jis Joy’s Innale Vare, which is streaming on Sony LIV.
Chidambaram and Asif have been friends for a while, and though the actor didn’t star in Jan.E.Man, he did lend his voice for the climax portion. In an earlier interview with OTTplay, Asif said, “I was associated with the film from its very initial stage. But there was no space for me in that movie and all of us realised that there was no need for me to appear in it. At no point did we think it needed a marketable actor. That’s one of the qualities of Chidambaram. We used to discuss about the film at every stage of its development and he was so confident it would work.”
Chidambaram and Asif Ali’s web series is among the many other Malayalam web series that OTT platforms including Sony LIV, Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are in discussions with. Earlier this month, a production company had put out the casting call for a Malayalam series starring Sunny Wayne and Nikhila Vimal too.
Meanwhile, Chidambaram is expected to start work on the series only after he completes shooting for Manjummel Boy, which has Soubin Shahir, Balu Varghese, Ganapathy, Sreenath Bhasi and Jean Paul Lal. “The movie is not a comedy even though it has humour. It’s more about travel and friendship. It will have a few portions in Kochi but most of the shoot will be in Tamil Nadu,” Chidambaram had earlier told us.