12th Man starts rolling. Can Jeethu-Mohanlal repeat Drishyam magic?

More than a month ago, Malayalam superstar Mohanlal had announced the title and poster of his new film, ’12th Man’, touted to be a mystery thriller by his ‘Drishyam’ director, Jeethu Joseph. On Tuesday (August 27), an auspicious day in the Malayalam calendar, the film went on the floors with a pooja ceremony.

Mohanlal, who is in Hyderabad shooting for Prithviraj’s directorial venture, ‘Bro Daddy’, did not attend the puja but he shared a few pictures from the launch on Twitter. Director Jeethu Joseph, producer Antony Perumbavoor and actor Unni Mukundan however are seen in the pictures shared by the actor.

’12th Man’ will be the veteran actor’s fourth collaboration with Jeethu Joseph.

Jeethu Joseph made a small-budget crime thriller, ‘Drishyam’ of a video cassette shop owner, played by Mohanlal, whose life turns awry when his daughter accidentally commits a crime. The movie went on to set the cash registers ringing at the box office and was remade in four languages. The film catapulted the director into the big league and he became Kerala’s highest paid director.

Also read: After blockbuster Drishyam series, Mohanlal-Jeethu combo back with 12th Man

The duo teamed up again for the sequel ‘Drishyam 2’, which was released earlier this year directly on Amazon Prime Video. It was received well by critics, who called it a superb and well-crafted sequel. Before ‘Drishyam 2’, Mohanlal and Joseph were shooting for a psychological thriller titled ‘Ram’ with Trisha as the heroine.

However, that project has come to a standstill since the crew is waiting for a safer time to travel abroad to resume the film shooting.

Besides ‘Bro Daddy’, the actor is also awaiting the release of his buddy Priyadarshan directorial ‘Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simha’. A historical war drama set in the 16th century, The film was originally scheduled to release on March 26, 2020, but has been postponed multiple times due to the pandemic.

In June, Mohanlal had tweeted that the film will release on August 12 but there is no sign of the film with theatres still firmly shut in Kerala.

The film has already won three national awards in the following categories – Best Feature Film, Best Special Effects and Best Costume.

‘Marakkar’… narrates the story of Kunjali Marakkar IV, naval commander of the Samoothiri and stars Mohanlal, Manju Warrier, Keerthy Suresh, Arjun Sarja, Suniel Shetty, Prabhu, Siddique and Nedumudi Venu in pivotal roles. It is the most expensive Malayalam film made on a budget of ₹100 crore.

Once Mohanlal and Priyadrashan churned out many comedy hits which are still appreciated and loved by Malayalam cinema lovers.

The production work on Mohanlal’s directorial debut ‘Barroz’ is also underway.