![\"Untitled](\"https:\/\/img.onmanorama.com\/content\/dam\/mm\/en\/default-images\/default-image.jpg?w=845&h=440\" "\\"Untitled")
<\/p>\nWhen director Vijesh Panathur first reached out to Sagar Surya for ‘Prakambanam’, the response was not an immediate yes. In fact, it was hesitation, followed by a polite backing out. Two days later, Vijesh\u2019s phone rang again. Sagar had changed his mind. He wanted to do it.
That moment, Vijesh says, quietly shaped what would later become one of the most talked-about horror comedies in recent Malayalam cinema.<\/p>\n
Starring Ganapathi, Sagar Surya and Al Ameen, ‘Prakambanam’ has struck a chord with audiences since its release, earning strong word-of-mouth and favourable reviews. Built around an absurd yet oddly emotional premise, the film follows three college friends, Sidhu, Punyalan and Shankaran, whose lives spiral into chaos when they find themselves dealing with the ghost of Sidhu\u2019s grandmother.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Onmanorama, Vijesh admits that while the team believed in the film, the scale of the response still took them by surprise. \u201cWe expected it to work, but not to this extent,\u201d he said.
Casting, according to Vijesh, was instinctive in some cases and unexpectedly difficult in others. Ganapathi was always his first choice. \u201cOne of the characters is from Kannur, and we needed someone who could handle the accent naturally. Ganapathi fit that perfectly,\u201d he said. Punyalan\u2019s role, however, proved trickier. Several actors were approached and even liked the part, but eventually walked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was only later that I realised why,\u201d Vijesh said. \u201cPunyalan is a very difficult character to pull off. It can easily go wrong.\u201d When Sagar was approached, he too hesitated and initially stepped back. \u201cThen, after two days, he called me and said he would do it. He saw it as a challenge and stood by us completely. Looking back now, I can\u2019t imagine anyone else in that role.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\t \tSince portions of ‘Prakambanam’ are set inside a college hostel, comparisons with the cult hit ‘Adi Kapyare Kootamani’ were inevitable. Photo: Special Arrangement<\/p>\n
Mallika Sukumaran\u2019s presence adds another emotional layer to the film, and Vijesh credits music director Shankar Sharma for that casting decision. \u201cHe was the one who suggested we reach out to her, and it worked beautifully,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Since portions of ‘Prakambanam’ are set inside a college hostel, comparisons with the cult hit ‘Adi Kapyare Kootamani’ were inevitable. Vijesh, however, is unfazed. \u201cI\u2019m honestly happy about it,\u201d he said. \u201cJust because two films share a setting doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re the same. If people are comparing them, it\u2019s probably because they enjoyed both. Anyone who has watched ‘Prakambanam’ will know it\u2019s very different.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\t \tStill from ‘Prakambanam’. Photo: Special Arrangement<\/p>\n
For Vijesh, the true hero of the film is the script. Co-written with Sreehari Vadakkan, the story stayed with him for over a year before it finally took shape. \u201cThis was conceived as a small film,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t written for any one actor. A lot of work went into shaping the screenplay, and that\u2019s what held everything together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Vijesh never imagined he would make a horror film at all. The seed for ‘Prakambanam’ was planted during a casual conversation after a funeral near his home. Someone mentioned immersing ashes in the Ganga to bring peace to the soul. \u201cMy wife joked, \u2018Ennittu venam atheduthu angerkku thinnaan\u2019,\u201d he recalled, laughing. \u201cWe both burst out laughing, and that was it. That\u2019s where the idea came from.\u201d<\/p>\n
That offhand joke eventually evolved into one of the film\u2019s most bizarre plot points, including the now much-discussed scene involving Punyalan and the grandmother\u2019s ashes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\t \tInterestingly, Vijesh never imagined he would make a horror film at all. Photo: Special Arrangement<\/p>\n
As for a sequel, Vijesh says the possibility exists, but nothing has been finalised. \u201cThe producers are interested, but no decisions have been made yet. There\u2019s another big-budget project in the works, so maybe after that,\u201d he said.
For now, ‘Prakambanam’ stands as proof that sometimes, a risky character, a strange idea, and one actor\u2019s second thought can make all the difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When director Vijesh Panathur first reached out to Sagar Surya for ‘Prakambanam’, the response was not an immediate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[188185,188181,188190,188183,49,48,75,188180,188187,188189,188186,188177,337,188182,188188,188176,188184,188178,188179],"class_list":["post-460242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-ai-in-malayalam-cinema-trends","tag-al-ameen-actor","tag-behind-the-scenes-prakambanam","tag-best-malayalam-horror-movies","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-ganapathi-actor","tag-horror-comedy-malayalam","tag-influential-malayalam-films","tag-llm-for-script-analysis","tag-malayalam-horror-comedy","tag-movies","tag-new-malayalam-film","tag-prakambanam-audience-reaction","tag-prakambanam-movie-review","tag-prakambanam-plot-explained","tag-sagar-surya-prakambanam","tag-vijesh-panathur-directorial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}