Jude recently said that he had initially planned to rope in Nivin Pauly for a role in 2018 – Everyone Is A Hero. He, however, scrapped the idea during script editing. (Image: Nivin Pauly/Facebook)
Director Jude Anthany Joseph, whose recently released film 2018 – Everyone Is A Hero is on its way to becoming one of the most successful movies in the history of Malayalam cinema, has made a significant announcement.
Taking to social media, Jude revealed that his next project will be with star actor Nivin Pauly, who played the lead role in Jude's directorial debut Ohm Shanthi Oshaana (2014). Sharing a picture of him with Nivin, Jude wrote on Instagram: "Rolling soon with my brother ❤️😍 @nivinpaulyactor"
Posting the same picture, Nivin Pauly wrote on his Instagram wall: "Together again 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻 Heading for a great blast this time ❤️❤️❤️🔥🔥 @judeanthanyjoseph".
Jude's first film as a director, Ohm Shanthi Oshaana, featuring Nivin Pauly and Nazriya Nazim, achieved remarkable success in 2014 and significantly contributed to Nivin's ascent to stardom. The film also won in three categories -- Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value, Best Actress (Nazriya Nazim) and Best Editor (Lijo Paul) -- at the 45th Kerala State Film Awards.
On the other hand, Jude kickstarted his career as an actor in Nivin Pauly's blockbuster hit film Premam (2015, Dir. Alphonse Puthren). He also appeared in small roles in other Nivin films such as Action Hero Biju (2016, Dir. Abrid Shine), Kayamkulam Kochunni (2018, Dir. Rosshan Andrrews) and Love Action Drama (2019, Dir. Dhyan Sreenivasan).
According to film trade analysts and industry trackers, 2018 – Everyone Is A Hero raked in Rs 5.15 crore on Saturday, on the ninth day since its release. While the film has collected a whopping Rs 34.5 crore from Kerala theatres, it has earned over 80 crore worldwide. Experts say that the movie is heading towards becoming an all-time blockbuster in both overseas and Kerala markets.
During an interview with The Cue recently, Jude said that he had initially planned to rope in Nivin Pauly for a (small) role in 2018 – Everyone Is A Hero. He, however, scrapped the idea during script editing. "Nivin Pauly had a mass entry in this film. I changed it. It was because the said character would be limited to only one scene," he said.
Nivin was last seen in the historical drama film Thuramukham directed by Rajeev Ravi.
* This article was originally published here