Peoducer Antony Perumbavoor of Aashirvad Cinemas has revealed that a planned Mohanlal project with a debutant filmmaker was shelved after the director reportedly backed out just a month before filming was scheduled to begin.

Speaking during an interaction with Mohanlal fans on X (formerly Twitter) Spaces, Antony recalled how the newcomer panicked ahead of production and eventually became unreachable. Although he did not mention the project by name, fans on social media were quick to connect his comments to the Mohanlal film earlier announced by producer Ashiq Usman, with debutant Austin Das Thomas attached as director.

“The film we are currently doing was initially supposed to be directed by a newcomer. One month before the shoot, he disappeared,” Antony said. “We get scared to take such risks. He was so afraid that he stopped answering phone calls. He panicked and went away. You can’t really blame them, but it becomes difficult for us to move forward with such people.”

Ashiq had earlier announced a Mohanlal-starrer written by Ratheesh Ravi with actor Austin set to make his directorial debut. However, the producer later stated that the project had been shelved and that the currently progressing Mohanlal film with Tharun Moorthy is an entirely different venture. Interestingly, Ratheesh continues as the writer for Tharun’s film, titled Atimanoharam, which marks the filmmaker’s second collaboration with Mohanlal after the success of Thudarum.

During the same interaction, Antony also confirmed that Mohanlal will collaborate with acclaimed filmmaker Dileesh Pothan for a new project backed by Shibu Baby John.