With only days to go for the release of Kalamkaval, directed by Jithin K Jose, Mammootty spoke about the film at a promotional event. The actor said that he first received an offer to play the police officer in the film, and that he turned it down and suggested Vinayakan for the role instead because he found the latter to be better suited for it. "Vinayakan is the hero in the film, and I play the antagonist," Mammootty said to big cheers from the audience. The recently released Kalamkaval pre-release teaser highlights Vinayakan's name, with different colours for the first two letters and the rest of the letters in it. Mammootty said that it was a creative choice to present his name thus in order to highlight his co-star's role in the film.
The actor revealed that his character in the film is "experimental" and that the film itself is not experimental. "You might find it difficult to like my character in the film, but you cannot forget him after leaving the theatre," said Mammootty. In a recent conversation with screenwriter and actor Santhi Mayadevi, Mammootty dismissed speculation about whether his character in the film being based on serial killer Mohan Kumar, more notoriously called Cyanide Mohan.
