Romancham: Soubin Shahir, Arjun Ashokan’s horror-comedy, inspired by true incidents, to release on this date

After months of delay, Malayalam actor Soubin Shahir’s horror-comedy has finally locked in a release date. The Jithu Madhavan directorial, which was initially set to hit theatres in October 2022, was postponed just days leading up to its release due to technical reasons.

Produced by Soubin, Guppy director Johnpaul George, cinematographer Girish Gangadharan, the movie has a bunch of newcomers as part of its cast apart from Soubin, Chemban Vinod and Arjun Ashokan.

The horror-comedy is reportedly based on true incidents that the filmmaker and his friends had experienced during their stay in Bengaluru. Set in 2007, the film revolves around a bunch of roommates who live in Bengaluru. “The characters are all from different districts of Kerala and hence speak different dialects,” said Jithu, in an earlier interview. “Also, because the film is set 15 years ago, we have used the different aspects of that period including in the costumes as that was the time when bell-bottoms made a comeback.”

The movie had wrapped up shooting in early 2022 and the team had initially approached composer Sushin Shyam, who at that time was looking to take a break after Bheeshma Parvam. However, after watching the rushes of the movie, the music director agreed to come on board, not just to compose music but also to co-produce it. Soubin too agreed to produce the movie after he had shot for it.

Romancham’s trailer hints that the film revolves around the hilarious experiences that roommates face after a Ouija board brings an uninvited guest to their house. Arjun Ashokan reportedly plays the spirit in the movie, which is a fictional take of an incident that Jithu had faced. The filmmaker had previously worked as an assistant director in movies such as Guppy and Maradona.

Romancham is currently set to hit theatres on February 3. The movie will clash with Vishnu Unnikrishnan and Bibin George’s Vedikettu, Joju George’s Iratta and Momo in Dubai. Meanwhile, Soubin is currently shooting for Chidambaram’s Manjummel Boys, which he is also producing.