It was in 1998 that ‘Summer in Bethlehem’ that starred Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Mohanlal, and Manju Warrier hit the screens all across Kerala. The film directed by Sibi Malayil and penned by Ranjith, became a huge hit, and even after 22 years of its release, the film is popular. Now, Sibi Malayil and Ranjith are again joining hands for a new movie titled ‘Kothe’.

‘Kothe’is expected to be a high-voltage political thriller, and it will have Asif Ali playing the lead role. Sibi Malayil is returning as a director after a hiatus of five years, while Ranjith will be bankrolling this project.

Hemanth Kumar has written the script. Nikhila Vimal will be doing the role of the lady lead in this film, while the supporting star cast includes Roshan Mathew and Ranjith.

Sibi Malayil, after launching the project, revealed that in the movie Asif Ali will portray a political worker. The makers are planning to shoot interior portions inside a studio now. The director revealed that the shooting was under way with a limited crew, and everyone has tested negative for coronavirus.

This is not the first time that Asif Ali and Sibi Malayil are working together in a movie. The duo initially joined up for the movie Apporvaragam which emerged as a sleeper hit at the box-office. Later, they worked together in movies like Unnam and Violin, but both films failed to make any impacts at the box-office.

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Now, in a recent interaction with Manorama News, Sibi Malayil has revealed some exclusive details about Devadoothan. During the talk, Sibi revealed that Devadoothan was originally planned in 1983 as his debut movie with Nasaruddeen Shah and Madhavi in the lead roles. However, the film failed to take off, and Sibi made his debut through Mutharamkunnu PO.

After establishing himself as a bankable filmmaker in Mollywood, the director once again revived this project in the late 1990s and planned the film with Kollywood romantic hero Madhavan. As the project did not work out due to Madhavan’s commitments, Sibi Malayil finalized Mollywood superstar Mohanlal to play the lead role in this film.

Sibi Malayil revealed that the film was made with a top technical team, and they had made sure that this romantic fantasy was being made with an uncompromising cinematic language. Despite all these efforts, the film bombed at the box-office, and it literally shattered the filmmaker.

“Mohanlal at that time had emerged as a mass hero through movies like Narasimham and Aaram Thampuran. Audiences who entered the movie halls to see Devadoothan might have expected Mohanlal in an extreme mass avatar, and that commercial package was lacking there. I believe this was one of the reasons behind Devadoothan’s failure at the box-office. I still feel sorry for producer Siyad Koker who is also my best friend who bankrolled money for this film,” said Sibi Malayil during the interview.

Sibi Malayil also added that he is now quite happy about the fact that Devadoothan is now getting recognition among young audiences in the state.

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