Exclusive! Biju Menon: Was approached for Chiranjeevi’s Godfather and got other offers after Bheemla Nayak too

Biju Menon’s role as sub inspector Ayyappan Nair, with a violent past, in Sachy’s directorial Ayyappanum Koshiyum has made a huge impact in the veteran actor’s career. While he has acted in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada movies earlier, the offers from these languages seem to be pouring in again since the release of Ayyappanum Koshiyum in 2020.

In an exclusive interview with OTTplay, the Lalitham Sundaram actor confirmed that he was also approached for Chiranjeevi’s Godfather, the Telugu remake of Mohanlal-Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Lucifer. While he reveals the role that he was in talks for, Biju says, “There was a discussion, but they wanted a lot of dates. So, it was a bit difficult. Also, they didn’t get back after the discussions.”

Godfather, directed by Mohan Raja, has Nayanthara and Salman Khan essaying the roles played by Manju Warrier and Prithviraj, respectively, in the Malayalam political thriller which hit theatres in 2019.

This year, the Telugu remake of Ayyappanum Koshiyum, which starred Pawan Kalyan in the role essayed by Biju in the Malayalam version, was also released. This too had resulted in a lot of opportunities, the veteran actor tells us.

“Apart from Godfather, I have also got offers from several other films across industries, and I am in negotiations for some of these. I believe it’s the impact of Ayyappanum Koshiyum. After Bheemla Nayak released in Telugu too, a lot of people got in touch,” he says. Ask him if he has watched the Pawan Kalyan and Rana Daggubati-starrer, which is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar and aha, Biju says, “I could only watch the trailer. But I believe there have been a lot of changes.”

The actor, meanwhile, has completed shooting for Oru Thekkan Thalu Case, which is based on GR Indugopan’s novel Amminipillai Vettu Case. The period film, which also has Roshan Mathew, Nimisha Sajayan and Padmapriya, marks the directorial debut of Sreejith N, who had scripted Mohanlal and Prithviraj’s Bro Daddy. Incidentally, Chiranjeevi is also rumoured to star in the Telugu remake of Bro Daddy.

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