Director Girish AD has spoken about why ‘Premalu 2’ never took off, revealing that he and his team spent nearly a year developing the sequel before deciding to drop the project.

Speaking at the success celebration of ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ in Kochi, Girish explained that the team had been working on ‘Premalu 2’ for almost one year after the success of the 2024 romantic comedy. However, the sequel had to be dropped unexpectedly, leaving the filmmaker disappointed over the time invested in it.

“Bethlehem Kudumba Unit began a year after Premalu. Until then, we had been working on Premalu 2. We had to abandon it unexpectedly, and that affected us greatly. We ended up losing a year, and there was no real need for us to invest that much time,” Girish said.

Girish revealed that he had wanted to make ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ even before the idea of a ‘Premalu’ sequel took shape. However, the massive success of ‘Premalu’ led the team to focus on continuing that story.

“When the sequel had to be dropped, we thought about making Bethlehem. I had wanted to make this film even before that, but since Premalu had become such a big hit, the idea of Premalu 2 came up, and we pursued it,” he explained.

The director credited Bhavana Studios, co-writer Kiran Josy and his direction team for standing by him during the uncertain period. Their encouragement helped him complete the script for ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ much sooner than expected.

Girish also pointed out that the abandoned sequel would have been released around the previous Vishu season. ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ arrived in theatres three to four months later than that proposed release window. However, the team managed to move ahead without losing too much time because of the speed at which the new film was developed.

Despite its eventual success, the team had not anticipated that ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ would become such a major hit.

“We never thought the film would become such a big success or an industry hit. I see this as a personal victory. I am grateful to everyone who stood by me,” he said.

About Bethlehem Kudumba Unit

Produced by Fahadh Faasil, Dileesh Pothan and Syam Pushkaran under the banner of Bhavana Studios, ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ features Nivin Pauly as Justin and Mamitha Baiju as Ashley. The cast also includes Suresh Krishna, Sangeeth Prathap, Vinay Forrt and Bindu Panicker in key roles.

The film found an audience among both families and younger viewers during its theatrical run. It has continued to receive a positive response following its OTT release, adding to its success.