Shafi denies reports of directing Mohanlal film

Rumours were rife that director Shafi, who had helmed movies such as Kalyanaraman, Mayavi and Chocolate, is all set to team up with Mohanlal for the time with a film, scripted by Vishu Unnikrishnan and Bibin George. However, the filmmaker denies the reports.
“It’s true that we have a story in mind for Lalettan but we didn’t have any discussions with him so far. It seems the rumours are spread by people who don’t want the project to happen,” he says.
The filmmaker was set to produce a film on Suraj Venjaramoodu’s Chattambinaadu character, Dashamoolam Damu, this year, before the Covid-19 pandemic. However, Shafi says that he will only now start work once the pandemic is over.
Director Shafi, who has written the story for the film, had earlier told us, “Every time Suraj and I attended a function, people kept asking why not do a movie with Dasamoolam Damu as the central character because of the fan following he has acquired due to social media over the years? Earlier, we used to brush it off but the demand never died down and we decided to go ahead with the project.”
The upcoming movie will be directed by debutant G Sethunath and will be written by scriptwriter Benny P Nayarambalam, who had scripted films such as Chattambinadu, Kalyanaraman and Chotta Mumbai. Shafi said, “The setting of the film is different from the original. Dasamoolam Damu is travelling to another village and this story explores what happens when he arrives there.”