'Drishyam' director Jeethu Joseph opens up on impact of Kalyani Priyadarshan starrer 'Lokah Chapter 1 Chandra': 'Most stars are chasing larger-than-life roles'

The success of Kalyani Priyadarshan's superhero flick 'Lokah' has indeed turned out to be a milestone in Malayalam cinema, but the 'Drishyam' director Jeethu Joseph recently opened up on some major concerns. Jeethu Joseph mentioned in a recent interview that majority of the actors are now looking for a 'Pan-Indian' style project and are avoiding realistic movies, in fear that it may affect their image.

Actors chasing larger-than-life roles

Talking to PTI, director Jeethu Joseph said that Malayalam cinema is beginning to mirror Bollywood in the way actors choose their roles. He explained that performers now fear stepping outside their carefully polished images, particularly when it comes to negative or unconventional characters. He said, "Not only Bollywood, even in Malayalam, many actors are trapped in their own image. They fear that audiences will hate them if they play negative roles. As a filmmaker, I am interested in making different kinds of movies. So I believe actors should be capable of playing all kinds of characters. Now, because of the current pan-Indian cinema trend, most stars are chasing larger-than-life roles."

Lokah’s success and Jeethu Joseph's take on it

Jeethu Joseph revealed that Lokah’s blockbuster run has increased this pressure. Many well-known actors, he said, are now deeply anxious about the kind of projects they take up. Shockingly, he shared that a leading actor recently dropped as many as five films due to doubts about whether they would succeed commercially. The filmmaker said he personally asked what those movies were like and the actor admitted that they were all realistic stories, including a comedy, without any larger-than-life hero. That fear has now pushed him to consider only films targeting pan-India markets.

Box-office pressure

The director made it clear that he does not blame actors for reacting this way, especially when their success and relevance are increasingly tied to box-office numbers. But he also pointed out that if Malayalam cinema starts repeating the same formula endlessly, audiences will eventually get bored. For Jeethu Joseph, versatility remains essential; he believes actors must be ready to play any type of character, not only heroic ones shaped for a national spotlight.

On the work front, Jeethu Joseph's previous outing was 'Mirage'.

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