After Drishyam 2 , another Malayalam film is poised to speak several languages. The rights of Ayyappanum Koshiyum , one of the biggest box office hits in Malayalam cinema in recent times, have already been sold to Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi.
According to the producer of the film, Ranjith, the discussions are on about the Kannada remake, too. “We will finalise it soon,” he told The Hindu on Monday.
The shoot of the Telugu version, featuring Pawan Kalyan and Rana Daggubati, has already begun. The Hindi remake too is set to take off soon.
“John Abraham had brought the Hindi rights,” Ranjith said. “I hear that John and Abhishek Bachchan will do the main roles, and I think that's a good choice.”
Ranjith said it was unfortunate that Sachy, who wrote and directed Ayyappanum Koshiyum , died before any of the remakes took off. “He had wanted to direct the Tamil version,” he said. “And I gladly agreed.”
Ranjith said the Ayappanum Koshiyum attracted the interest of filmmakers from other languages because of its universal theme. The film is about the enmity between a police officer and a retired army-man, whose paths crossed unexpectedly.
Biju Menon and Prithviraj gave superb performances in the titular roles of Ayyappan and Koshi. The coronavirus had raised its frightening head while the thriller was drawing big crowds in cinemas.
One recalls director Sachy speaking over phone his disappointment that his film could not reach as many people it normally would have. He died, following complications after a hip-replacement surgery, at the age of 47, a few weeks after that call last year.
