Pretham

<p>Three young men — Denny Kokken, Shibu Majeed and Priyalal, have been friends since college. Together, they work till they hit their 30s and start their own business so that they can enjoy life in a semi-retired manner. They get together and invest all their money in a resort in Kerala. However, their happy beginning is thwarted by paranormal activities, and they approach John Don Bosco, an , who works as a in cruise ships and the entertainment industry. John Don Bosco also assists the police as a human lie detector with his techniques. John informs the three hoteliers that their resort is haunted by a ghost who is seeking answers as to who killed her, why was she killed, and what did they gain from her death. Through his investigations, John reveals that the ghost is Clara, a bright and intelligent student from National Law College. Amrita, the college principal’s daughter was jealous of Clara’s popularity and the fondness of her father towards Clara. Amrita secretly films Clara’s nude scenes while bathing in the same resort owned by the three hoteliers and leaks it online. Unable to bear the shame, Clara commits suicide, by jumping of the building. John brings justice to Clara by answering her questions. He asks Amrita to see Clara by touching his hand. She falls down in shock, cringing away from the ghost glaring at her. This proves her guilt and she gets arrested for the crime. In 2000, Ranjith Sankar wrote the script for the TV serial, , “probably the first horror serial” to premiere on Malayalam television. Citing it as an inspiration for the film, he said, “(I) have thought of umpteen subjects to explore the genre in movies all these years before arriving on this. Pretham is a horror comedy,” on his Facebook profile. Jayasurya played a named John Don Bosco alongside and . Initially, was considered for the lead role but didn’t materialize. , known for his work in the Telugu film and the Bollywood film , did the . The filming began on 24 May 2016 in the small town of in . Music: Lyrics: . was released on 12 August 2016. The film had over 40% hike in collection from day 1 to day 2 at the Indian box office. It grossed 6.7 crore in three days. It remained in more than 185 screens in Kerala in its third week. The film grossed 18 crore in 23 days at the Indian box office. The film collected $4,650 from UK box office. The film collected ₹25 lakhs from USA box office in its third weekend. It was a commercial success. The sequel to the film was titled and was released on 21 December 2018 during the Christmas season.</p>