The Prithviraj Sukumaran-Manju Warrier starrer Odiyan: The Age of Illusion, directed by Rahul Sadasivan, has commenced production with a traditional pooja ceremony held in Kochi on Monday. Members of the film’s cast and crew attended the function.
Odiyan marks Rahul’s fourth consecutive outing in the horror genre after Bhoothakaalam, Bramayugam and Dies Irae. The new film also marks the Malayalam debut of Bollywood banner Dharma Productions, which is backing the project in association with Prithviraj Productions. Karan Johar, Adar Poonawalla and Apoorva Mehta are producing the film for Dharma Productions, while Supriya Menon oversees it on behalf of Prithviraj Productions.
Rooted in Kerala folklore, Odiyan refers to a mythical practitioner of odividya, traditionally believed to possess the ability to assume different forms and use illusion as a weapon. The upcoming Malayalam film is targeting a multilingual release, with dubbed versions planned in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. Rahul’s regular collaborators Christo Xavier and Shafique Mohamed Ali are part of the technical team as music composer and editor, respectively.
Odiyan: The Age of Illusion shares its title and a similar thematic premise with VA Shrikumar Menon’s 2018 film Odiyan, led by Mohanlal. More recently, Dulquer Salmaan played an Odiyan in the Kalyani Priyadarshan-starrer Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra.
Meanwhile, Prithviraj will next be seen in the Hindi film Daayra, directed by Meghna Gulzar and co-starring Kareena Kapoor Khan in the lead. The crime thriller is scheduled to hit screens worldwide on September 18. The Aadujeevitham actor also has SS Rajamouli’s Varanasi, headlined by Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, in the pipeline.
On the other hand, Manju's upcoming slate also includes debutant Renjit Varma's Nere Chovva, alongside Kunchacko Boban, and Anand Menen's Happiloop.
