Chaos follows closely on the heels of a college fest in Basil Joseph and Tovino Thomas's upcoming Malayalam film Athiradi. The film's trailer, which was recently launched, is set against the backdrop of the revival of a beloved college festival, which intersects the lives of a student (Basil Joseph) and a sweet-voiced goonda (Tovino Thomas).
The film directed by Arun Anirudhan, co-stars Zarin Shihab, Riya Shibu and others. The Malayalam film will be released on May 14. In an exclusive conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, filmmaker-actor Basil Joseph and star Tovino Thomas recently opened up about the future of Minnal Murali, the much-anticipated sequel, and a quietly brewing collaboration that has sparked speculation around Allu Arjun.
Joseph, who directed the original 2021 Netflix-backed superhero film, was cautious about committing to a timeline for Minnal Murali 2. “I’m not sure about Minnal Murali 2 right now. I’m working on something else at the moment, and that’s taking quite a bit of time,” he said, adding that the project currently in motion remains in “discussion and planning” stages. When nudged about whether this unnamed project involves Allu Arjun, Joseph laughed it off: “I can’t talk about it right now.”
What he did confirm, however, is that the return of the homegrown superhero is inevitable. “Yeah, for sure. Eventually. We need him back,” he said.
Tovino will next be seen in a film with Nazriya. In a surprise poster and title release that was unprecedented for Malayalam cinema, the stars of Gracias El Clásico, launched the film’s poster by unravelling it during a football game in Barcelona. According to reports, both Tovino Thomas and Nazriya Nazim, unfurled the poster during one of world football’s most watched rivalries, El Clásico, between Barcelona and Real Madrid. The announcement was made live on several social media handles, to coincide with the high-profile La Liga fixture.
The movie is being directed by Muhsin Parari who had last directed KL10 Patthu. He had also written Tovino’s action-comedy Thallumaala.