Exclusive! Tovino Thomas on Minnal Murali 2: Don’t want to rush the sequel, now that we have a responsibility

Even as Tovino Thomas’ superhero movie Minnal Murali continues to trend in several countries across the world with its dominant run in Netflix’s Global Top 10 (non-English) movies, the actor and its filmmaker Basil Joseph are in no rush to work on its sequel.

While the team has confirmed plans for a franchise revolving around the tailor-turned-superhero, it would take a while before Minnal Murali 2 goes on floors. In an exclusive interview with OTTplay, Tovino talked about the plans for the franchise and why neither he nor Basil wants to speed-track the film.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to rush into doing a sequel. We took our time to do Minnal Murali and we will take time to do the sequel too,” he says. Basil had first bounced off the idea of a Malayalam superhero film to Tovino in 2018 and the team had begun shooting the film by the end of 2019. Due to multiple delays due to the pandemic and vandalism of the sets, shooting had concluded after over 110 days of filming by mid of 2021.

On the timeline of when a possible sequel could go on floor, Tovino says, “It might be after I have worked on 4-5 films or after Basil has directed 2-3 other projects. We believe it should be done at the right time, especially now that we have a responsibility. Also, physically and mentally, I have to put in a lot of effort to play Minnal Murali again.”

Tovino, meanwhile, has his hands full with several big projects. The actor, who recently wrapped up a schedule of Vishnu G Raghav’s Vaashi, will next resume filming for Khalid Rahman’s entertainer Thallumala. He also has Jithin Lal’s big budget movie Ajayante Randaam Moshanam, which will have him in a triple role, set to go on floors later this year. The film, which has him playing three different characters from three eras, will be released in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.

His upcoming release is Aashiq Abu’s Naaradhan, which has him playing a journalist. The movie, which also has Anna Ben and Sharafudheen, is set to hit theatres on January 28.

Read the entire interview: Exclusive! Tovino: Minnal Murali introduced me to a wider audience and with that comes great responsibility