Kumbalangi Nights makers' next is Thankam, a crime drama

After Kumbalangi Nights, the winning combination of writer Syam Pushkaran, producers Dileesh Pothan and Fahadh Faasil are back for another project titled Thankam. The Saheed Arafath-directorial will be bankrolled by Syam and Dileesh under their Working Class Hero banner in association with Fahadh Faasil and Friends.

The film’s central characters will be essayed by Fahadh, Joju George, and Dileesh. Saheed tells us the film will be a crime drama, an idea borne out of a discussion between him and Syam. “It will be different from what Syam has written so far, and that’s very exciting for me,” says Saheed, who adds that the film will be shot in Mumbai, Palakkad, and Coimbatore. “We are planning to start shooting by the beginning of December and wrap it up in 45-50 days.”

Saheed made his directorial debut with a small experimental film called Theeram two years back. Thankam, he says, will be much bigger in scope. Gautham Shankar, who shot Theevandi and Kalki, has been roped in to handle the camera. Gautham was the cinematographer of Theeram as well.

Fahadh is currently working in Take Off-director Mahesh Narayanan’s second film Malik. The actor will join the sets of Thankam once he completes shooting for Malik. His upcoming release is Anwar Rasheed’s Trance, which will be hitting theatres soon.

On the other hand, Joju, who recently impressed everyone with his scene-stealing performance in Joshiy’s Porinju Mariam Jose, has a bunch of interesting projects lined up. Aside from Thankam, he will be seen next in Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s Chola, Kamal KM’s Pada, Dimal Dennis’ Valiya Perunnaal, and Martin Prakkat’s yet-to-be-titled Kunchacko Boban-starrer. He will be also making a brief appearance in Lijo Jose Pellissery’s next, aside from his Tamil debut in the upcoming Karthik Subbaraj-Dhanush project.