Odiyan

<p>On 4 February 2017, reported that a titled starring and , written by Harikrishnan and to be directed by in what will be his debut, was in development. Bachchan was reported to be playing the father of Mohanlal’s character, and Prakash Raj and Manju Warrier were in substantial roles. The film is based on the legends of the “Odiyan” clan—mythical with the ability to by using a trick called . The mythical clan, which supposedly Inhabited the of North Kerala, were said to terrorise people to death by appearing in animal forms called at night. This story was based on folk tales of Odiyan; Harikrishnan did not undertake any additional research. On 26 March 2017, Mohanlal confirmed the project officially via . He wrote that would produce the film through , and that —who was later replaced by Prashanth Madhav—and would serve as production designer and cinematographer. Warrier would play the female lead role—though he did not mention Bachchan, Raj or the 3D format. According to Menon, is a “rustic thriller” and the story is based on the tribes of Odiyans and their myth. Odiyans are said to have been the first “quotation gangs” (hired criminals) in Kerala, who went disguised as animals during night hours to attack their enemies. Menon described the film as a thriller. Both Menon and Harikrishnan originate from Palakkad (Malabar) and grew up hearing the legends of Odiyans during their childhood. It was Harikrishsnan’s long-time dream to write a story on Odiyans. The film is also set in rural Palakkad. Menon and Harikrishnan initially planned a children’s film titled , which was set in the of . Before filming, however, the happened, turning the film location green and lush, making it unsuitable for the film and their plans to shift the location was unsuccessful. The two met again for a follow-up discussion. originated from a conversation between Menon and Harikrishnan. Menon liked a one-line story narrated by Harikrishnan, who later wrote a single scene for , which he intended as the introduction of the title character. He showed it to Menon, who sent it to Mohanlal and the project got underway. The scene remains in the film’s final cut. Earlier, writer-director had proceeded with a story based on an Odiyan with Mohanlal in the lead role, but it was not made into a film. Director also contemplated making such a film, but later abandoned the idea. Evaluating these unsuccessful attempts, Harikrishnan said they may have failed because they might have directly followed the myth of the Odiyans rather than making a novel attempt. Harikrishnan wrote devoid of myth. Antony Perumbavoor suggested a major change in the first draft of the screenplay, which introduced a villain into the film. The script was completely rewritten, after which Menon described Antony as an ace . Mohanlal suggested two minor changes in the second draft and in the second sitting approved the screenplay. Harikrishnan got the plot idea when he was lecturing journalism classes; he asked the students to write a feature story to test their creativity. The subject was “if Hollywood director Steven Spielberg comes to Palakkad to meet the last Odiyan”. The word “last” was registered in his mind and became the plot point in his screenplay. His story is about the last surviving Odiyan and the reasons his clan is almost extinct. The story spans 50 years and three generations of the last Odiyan lineage; it is set in the village in Palakkad, where Odiyans were most popular. It is based on folktales prevalent in the Malabar region, chiefly in Palakkad. The screenplay was registered with the ; producer Antony Perumbavoor gave them freedom to conceive the film as big as possible, giving the film an open budget. The initial plan was to shoot the film in 3D but the plan was later dropped. In March 2017, it was reported that would be the film’s editor (he was later replaced by ), as music director, as sound designer, as stunt coordinator and Gokuldas (replaced by Prashanth Madhav) as art director. Menon said is likely to release in 2017, but is uncertain as the film requires an extensive post-production with a large chunk of time need to be spent for . Filming was then scheduled to begin on 25 May 2017. In June 2017, the film crew convened for a script discussion session at an outdoor location in Kava, . The film was then scheduled to begin on 1 August. The official function of the film was held at hotel in on 5 July 2017. The venue was shared by Aashirvad Cinemas’ puja as well. In July, Menon said filming would begin by mid-August, “we will be shooting in locations such as Thasarak, , , , and , where it is believed that Odiyans lived”, additionally it will also have as a location. He said many would be utilised in the film and the post-production would last close to six months. It was also revealed the plan is to simultaneously release the film in Tamil and Telugu languages along with the original Malayalam version. In August, Prashanth Madhav began the film’s set work in Palakkad by creating the Thenkurissi village which pass through three eras in the story. The crew went for location in Palakkad and Varanasi in the month. Menon said that Odiyan Manikyan’s journey starts from the holy , where he spend 15 years before returning to Thenkurissi. For the climax fight sequence set inside an tree, the team traveled across India to find a suitable tree, in places such as , , and almost finalised a tree called in . However, they were unable to obtain permission for night shooting there. The team finally able to find a tree in Kerala itself, in Palakkad. Both Harikrishnan and Menon wanted Mohanlal in the lead role from the film’s initial discussion itself and the screenplay was later tailor-made with Mohanlal in mind. His character Odiyan Manikyan has two stages, one at present and the other 30 years ago. Describing him, Menon said: “Manikyan is considered the greatest Odiyan that ever lived. He has mastered the skills that have been passed down by his forefathers of the clan”. Soon after the film’s confirmation by Mohanlal in March 2017, Menon revealed to media outlets that Raj would be portraying the antagonist and Warrier will have an equally important role as that of Mohanlal, while a leading actor would also play a pivotal role. Raj plays the character of Ravunni. The characters of Mohanlal, Warrier and Raj pass through three stages of their life. Warrier portrays the character of Prabha. In the film, Prabha is shown in her late 20s, at 35 and in her 50s and so will have three looks. In April, Menon confirmed and in the cast. In the same month, it was reported would be part of the cast, but was not present in the final cast. Negotiations were going on with actor for a role. However, close to filming it was reported actor had replaced Bachchan. It was for the role of Manikyan’s grandfather, for which Hindi actor was ultimately cast. Writer Harikrishnan said, Bachchan had indeed agreed to work in the film, but was unable to join for personal reasons. Since the film would have been delayed if they waited for Bachchan, they move on to other actors. In June, a casting call was released seeking children and teenagers for playing the younger versions of Mohanlal, Warrier and Raj. It also invited youngsters for other undisclosed roles. In September, confirmed he is part of the cast. In November, confirmed he is part of the cast and would join the film in its final schedule, which will shoot Odiyan Manikyan’s younger age. He plays the husband of Prabha and his scenes are with Mohanlal, Raj and Warrier. From the teaser trailer released in December, more of the cast was revealed confirming , , and Sreejaya Nair. Sana plays Warrier’s sister and Kailash’s wife in the film. She said it was a difficult role to portray. The character has less screen time but is important in the script. Her character has transitioned from a young girl to an aged woman. Including Sana, many of the artists were prepared through a week long . served as the acting workshop director. began on 25 August 2017 in , . Mohanlal joined the film three days later. Some scenes were shot at the with Mohanlal. Underwater action scenes were filmed in the . In Varanasi, the film was extensively shot at the , the lanes, and . Sreejaya Nair was also part of this schedule. In the film, Odiyan Manikyan spent 15 years in the sacred lands of Varanasi before returning to his native village, . This period of his life, his older age, was filmed there. After completing, the crew left Varanasi by the end of the month and remaining was the scenes in Thenkurissi. Since the film wanted a period setting, the modern-day Thenkurissi was unsuitable for filming. Hence, the village was recreated in a 20-acre land in Mucheeri, . The second schedule in Palakkad was scheduled to begin on 6 September. Raj joined the film with Mohanlal and Warrier in the banks of on 9 September. A champion goat named Madurai Machadaiyan was used in the film. The film’s climax portions was filmed from 6 October in Palakkad, which was scheduled to last for 25 days. It was completed in 22 days on 27 October. By this schedule, Odiyan Manikyan’s sexagenarian scenes were over and younger scenes were remaining to be shot. Climax scenes were shot in four locations. The climax fight sequence was filmed inside an tree beside the base of empty . Action choreographer Peter Hein had around 60 days work in . Hein later commented that is his best work to date. The film contains five action scenes. After the second schedule, Mohanlal took break from filming for his physical transformation to become the younger Odiyan Manikyan. He began weight loss training under the supervision of a 22-member team from France. After 51 days, he lost 18 kilograms (40 lb). In meantime, the third schedule began by filming night scenes on 12 November in the absence of Mohanlal. The film completed 50 days shooting by 20 November. Mohanlal was to join the sets in December for the fourth schedule. However, the schedule had to be postponed for two more months due to scheduling conflicts with Raj’s dates. Finally, the schedule commenced on 3 March 2018. Scenes featuring the younger ages of Odiyan Manikyan, Prabha and Ravunni were filmed in this part. Sana Althaf, Kailash, Narain, Siddique, and Innocent also joined the sets. It was also the final schedule, during which 1960–1970 period was filmed in Palakkad. Odiyan Manikyan’s house was created in , which is also the native place of screenwriter Harikrishnan. Olappamanna Mana, an situated in , served as a location in March. The song sequence featuring Mohanlal and Warrier was filmed at the towards the end of the month. A temple-like set was created for the song under the waterfall. In early April, the scene where Odiyan Manikyan swam underwater across the Thenkurissi river was filmed. Manoj Joshi joined the sets in the month. Filming also took place in , . Principal photography was completed by 25 April after 123 days of shooting. Final schedule alone lasted 50 days. Filming was held in during the final . Later, some footage was shot in May. After four months and post-production, an additional three-day brief schedule took place from 18 to 20 October in . Mohanlal also joined. The film in its entirety was completed in 145 days shooting. The film’s post-production took place in , and Kochi. Mumbai-based company provided the visual effects for the film. was the . An early estimate for the cost of visual effects during pre-production was 7 crore. The film without the computer graphics and actions scenes were used during the process. The film was edited by . The length of the screenplay matched with the runtime of the film and none of the scenes in the screenplay were to be removed while editing. The of the songs was undergoing in August 2018. Final cut was 167 minutes long. The for the film was composed by , making his debut in Malayalam cinema. The film also features five songs composed by , the lyrics were written by , Lakshmi Shrikumar, and . “Kondoram”, a duet from the film was sung by and , and written by Ahamed. The other four songs were sung by Ghoshal, , , and each. Jayachandran began composing the songs in June 2017. Composing took place at GreenPark hotel in . Mohanlal was also present during the time. Jayachandran composed the film’s five songs in five days. For the song “Kondoram”, lyrics were written after the tune was composed. Ahamed wrote the lines in a style resembling dialogue writing. Recording took place at Chennai (Musik Lounge Studio) and . Shankar Mahadevan recorded the song “Nenjile” in August 2017. For scoring, Menon chose Sam after he was impressed by his work in (2017). Sam joined the film after the songs were already composed. Scoring began in January 2018. Following his usual method, Sam composed the score beforehand based on the screenplay, contrary to the conventional method of scoring the filmed scenes during post-production. The musical score was then played while filming. Since the film had a period setting, old ethnic musical instruments of was utilised in the score. The film’s theme music was chosen from four themes composed by Sam. was released worldwide on 14 December 2018, released simultaneously with its dubbed versions in and languages. It was released in 42 countries via , the film had the largest release in Malayalam film history. The film met with mixed reviews. The of the younger Odiyan Manikyan was revealed through a digital motion poster in July 2017. The official marketing campaign of the film began in October 2018 by unveiling a life-size statue of Odiyan Manikyan at in . Statues was later distributed to various releasing theatres in Kerala. The team invited entries from public for a video making contest conceptualised on , with prize money ranging from ₹25,000 to ₹1 lakh for the finalists. , the mobile application of the film was released. Aashirvad Cinemas partnered with telecommunications service provider for merchandising branded sim cards and would also conduct other offers and contests through various Airtel services, including free access to in Airtel TV application. A “global launch” function for the film was held on 8 December 2018 at . earned the highest opening-day collection for a film at box office and for a Malayalam film at worldwide box office. It grossed a total of around ₹18.3 worldwide on day-1, with ₹9.76 crore from India (Kerala – ₹7.25 crore, – 90 lakh, and – 85 lakh, – 51 lakh, other states – 25 lakh) and ₹8.5 crore from overseas markets from all three languages. registered the highest opening weekend (14 – 16 December) collection for a Malayalam film at domestic and worldwide box office, earning ₹21.5 crore from India, with a global total of ₹38 crore. The film had the highest opening weekend for a Malayalam film at (₹25.6 lakh from 66 shows ) and (₹1.33 crore). It is estimated to have grossed ₹14 crore from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) territories in first three days. It grossed £44,479 (₹40 lakh) from 56 sites in the United Kingdom in its opening weekend. As of 27 December, the film has grossed more than ₹54 crore from worldwide ticket sales. As of December 2018, was the second highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year, behind . with a gross collection of ₹1.26 crore, became the third highest-grossing Malayalam film in , behind and .</p>