‘We lost an entire year because of it’_ Girish AD says ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ made up for ‘Premalu. Malayalam director Girish AD has opened up about the challenges that led to the making of ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’, which emerged as a major box-office success.The filmmaker revealed in a recent success meet that happened on the last day, that he and his team lost nearly a year while working on ‘Premalu 2’, which was eventually dropped. He said the setback prompted them to revisit an earlier idea and move forward with ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’, starring Nivin Pauly and Mamitha Baiju. The film has since enjoyed a successful theatrical run and continues to receive positive responses following its OTT release.
Girish AD reveals how ‘Premalu 2’ was dropped
Girish AD said work on ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ began after a year spent developing ‘Premalu 2’. The sequel was planned following the success of ‘Premalu’, but the team eventually had to abandon the project unexpectedly. He described the decision as a significant setback that affected everyone involved.As quoted by Reporter website, the director said, “It was only after a year that we started this film. Until then, we had been working on ‘Premalu 2’. We had to drop it unexpectedly, and that was a major problem for us. We lost an entire year because of it. There was no real need for us to lose that much time. That was when the idea of making ‘Bethlehem’ came up. We had wanted to make this film even before that.“But since ‘Premalu’ had been such a big hit, the idea of ‘Premalu 2’ came along, and we pursued it.”The director admitted that the period following the cancellation was difficult. However, he credited the production house, co-writer Kiran Josey and his direction team for standing by him during the uncertain phase. Their support helped the team complete the screenplay for ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ within a relatively short period.
‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ exceeded expectations
Girish AD said ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ reached theatres a few months later than ‘Premalu 2’ would have, had the sequel proceeded as planned. Despite the lost year, the team managed to finish the new film quickly enough to limit further delays.“If ‘Premalu 2’ had happened, it would have been released during the last Vishu season. ‘Bethlehem’ arrived three to four months after that. We did not lose that much time because we completed the work on this film so quickly. Even then, we never expected it to become such a huge success or an industry hit. I see this as a personal victory. I am thankful to everyone who stood by us,” Girish said.
Nivin Pauly and Mamitha Baiju lead the cast
‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ stars Nivin Pauly and Mamitha Baiju in the lead roles. The ensemble also includes Sangeeth Prathap, Suresh Krishna, Bindu Panicker, Vinay Forrt, Roshan Shanavas, Shyam Mohan, Shameer Khan, Sreenath Bhasi, Parvathy Ayyappadas and Meenakshi Raveendran.