Neelavelicham, 2018: Tovino Thomas to have two big releases on Vishu, Eid weekends in April?

After a lull of seven months, Malayalam superstar Tovino Thomas will be back with two releases in April. The Minnal Murali star’s previous theatrical release was Thallumaala, which hit theatres in August. He will be following up the superhit with Aashiq Abu’s Neelavelicham and Jude Anthany Joseph’s 2018.

While the release dates of both movies are yet to be announced, we hear that the makers of both films are looking the festive weeks of Vishu as well as Eid. April is already a crowded season in Malayalam with several movies eyeing the Vishnu and Eid weekends beginning on April 14 and April 21 for their releases.

Director Jude Anthany Joseph’s 2018 might have an edge over all other films, which are scheduled to hit theatres in April including Soubin Shahir’s Ayalvaashi and Basil Joseph’s Kadina Kadoramee Andakadaham, as it features an ensemble cast and most importantly, is based on the 2018 Kerala floods that had united the entire State to face the natural disaster and gave rise to new heroes.

Also read: Exclusive! Tovino Thomas: Being an ardent Vaikom Muhammed Basheer fan, it’s a blessing to work in Neelavelicham 

The movie, which has been made on a big budget, had completed shooting last year and features leading actors such as Tovino, Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Lal, Narain, Aparna Balamurali and Tanvi Ram in pivotal roles. This will be Jude’s fourth directorial and his biggest project yet.

Meanwhile, Neelavelicham, which is the remake of the classic horror-drama Bhargavinilayam, is a period film set in the 1960s and is based on Vaikom Muhammed Basheer’s eponymous story. The songs from the movie have already become chartbusters with composers Rex Vijayan and Bijibal giving their contemporary twist to the evergreen tracks such as Ekanthathayude Mahatheeram and Anuraga Madhuchashakam.

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Neelavelicham has Tovino, Rima Kallingal, Roshan Mathew, Shine Tom Chacko and Abhiram Radhakrishnan in pivotal roles. In an earlier interview with us, Tovino, who will play the character Madhu had portrayed in the original, said, ““To get to play a character in a film based on Vaikom Muhammed Basheer’s work is a huge blessing and I don’t think it’s an opportunity that a lot of people get. My main challenge was to perform well and I put in a great amount of effort for the movie.”