Mohanlal and Dileesh Pothan to team up, Shibu Baby John to produce; Antony Perumbavoor confirms L3

Actor Mohanlal is set to collaborate with acclaimed director Dileesh Pothan. The news was officially confirmed by producer Antony Perumbavoor, who also revealed that the film will be bankrolled by Shibu Baby John. Antony shared these details during an interactive session with fans ahead of the release of Drishyam 3.

"We are doing a film produced by Shibu Baby John, which will be directed by Dileesh Pothan. It has been finalised," Antony Perumbavoor said in response to a fan's query.

He further added, "We are actively trying to avoid projects that fans have no interest in watching. Good films are on the way."

Antony also provided key updates on other major projects. The shooting for legendary director Priyadarshan’s 100th film, starring Mohanlal, is scheduled to commence this December. Furthermore, he explicitly confirmed that the third instalment of the Lucifer franchise, directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, is definitely happening.

"L3 (Empuraan's sequel, Azrael) is 100 per cent on the cards. We need a massive entertainer to recharge the box office, don't we? It’s only when films of that scale arrive that the industry experiences a real buzz. We just need a small gap for things to align. Let the current situation settle down first," Antony explained.

Addressing the controversy surrounding the recent directorial change in an ongoing Mohanlal film, Antony opened up about the challenges faced. "The film currently under production was originally supposed to be helmed by a debutant director. However, a month before the shoot began, he went missing. To be honest, we are afraid of taking such risks now. He got panicked and stopped answering his phone. We can't entirely blame them, as they get overwhelmed. But it makes us hesitant to work with people who panic under pressure," he said.

Rumours regarding a collaboration between Mohanlal and Dileesh Pothan have been doing the rounds for quite some time. Shibu Baby John’s maiden production venture was Malaikottai Vaaliban. Although a two-part project was initially announced, Shibu Baby John has clarified multiple times since that the idea of a sequel has been dropped.

Meanwhile, the first instalment of Lucifer, directed by Prithviraj and written by Murali Gopy, had achieved both critical acclaim and massive box-office success. However, its high-budget sequel, L2: Empuraan, became mired in major controversies, triggering intense speculation that the third part had been shelved indefinitely. Antony's latest statements have now put those rumours to rest.

Currently, Mohanlal is filming ‘Athimanoharam’, directed by Tarun Moorthy and bankrolled under the banner of Ashiq Usman Productions. Interestingly, the production house had initially announced a project starring Mohanlal as a police officer, to be directed by actor Dhyan Sreenivasan. That project was eventually shelved in favour of Tarun Moorthy's film, where Mohanlal is still essaying the role of a police officer.