Nine years after the release of his directorial debut Tamaar Padaar, Dileesh Karunakaran has started work on his next. Titled Lovely, the film has Mathew Thomas as the lead. Produced by Western Ghats Productions LLP in association with Neni Entertainments Pvt Ltd, the film started rolling on Thursday in Thodupuzha.

Lovely has filmmaker Aashiq Abu debuting as a cinematographer. It must be noted that Dileesh has co-written Aashiq's films like Salt N' Pepper, Da Thadiya, Idukki Gold and Mayaanadhi. Aashiq was earlier supposed to crank the camera for scriptwriter Harshad's directorial debut, Hagar, but the project didn't take off.

Lovely also stars Manoj K Jayan, KPAC Leela, Appan-fame Radhika, Ashwathy Manoharan, Prashanth Murali and Ganga Meera. Vishnu Vijay and Kiran Das will handle the music and editing, respectively.