PremiumNeelavelicham: Tovino Thomas, Rima Kallingal begin shooting for Aashiq Abu’s period film in Kannur
The film, which also has Roshan Mathew and Shine Tom Chacko as part of the cast, is based on Vaikom Mohammed Basheer’s novel of the same name
Last Updated: 08.46 AM, Apr 27, 2022
Tovino Thomas is shuttling from sets to sets. The actor, who is easily one of the busiest actors in Malayalam today, began shooting for his fourth collaboration with director Aashiq Abu, after Mayaanadhi, Virus and Naradan.
Titled Neelavelicham, the movie is an adaptation of Vaikom Muhammed Basheer’s novel of the same name. The story was also the base for Malayalam’s first horror movie Bhargavi Nilayam, which hit theatres in 1964. The film, helmed by A Vincent, had Prem Nazir, Madhu and Vijaya Nirmala in the lead.
Aashiq’s film has Tovino, Roshan Mathew and Shine Tom Chacko as part of the cast, with Rima Kallingal playing the female protagonist. In an earlier interview with OTTplay, Aashiq told us, ““It’s not a contemporary retelling. It’s set in the 1960s and is based on Basheer’s text, but it will be our version of the story.”
The film had its pooja function that was attended by its main cast members including Tovino and Rima, and went on floors in Thalassery, Kannur. Tovino, whose most recent release was Aashiq Abu’s contemporary thriller Naradan, was seen sporting a 60s-style moustache for his role in the movie.
Neelavelicham has Girish Gangadharan as its cinematographer while Rex Vijayan and Bijibal will be handling its music department. The film was initially announced in 2020 with Prithviraj Sukumaran and Kunchacko Boban in the lead. The duo, however, had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with their ongoing projects. Prithviraj is currently shooting for Aadujeevitham, while Kunchacko is set to join Godfy Babu’s fantasy entertainer Enthaada Saji, which also has Jayasurya and Nivetha Thomas as part of the cast.
Meanwhile, Neelavelicham also has Rajesh Madhavan, Uma KP, Pooja Mohanraj and Devaki Bhagi as part of the cast of the film, which is edited by Saiju Sreedharan. The film is produced under the banner of OPM Cinemas.