‘Lost an entire year on Premalu 2’: Girish AD opens up about shelving sequel

Director Girish A.D. has revealed that he spent an entire year working on Premalu 2 before the project was eventually shelved, adding that the decision to abandon the film affected the team badly.

Premalu was a major hit not only in Kerala but also in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Although a sequel was announced, the project was subsequently dropped. Girish opened up about the experience while speaking at the success celebration of Bethlehem Kudumba Unit in Kochi.

“Bethlehem Kudumba Unit began a year later because we had spent all that time working on Premalu 2. We had to drop it unexpectedly, and that affected us badly. We lost an entire year because of it. There was no need to lose so much time,” Girish said.

He explained that the idea of making Bethlehem Kudumba Unit came up during that period, although he had wanted to make the film even before Premalu 2 entered the picture.

“I had wanted to make this film even before that. But then the idea of Premalu 2 came along, and we pursued it. However, it did not work out. That was a difficult time,” he added.

Girish credited Bhavana Studios, screenwriter Kiran Josey and his direction team for supporting him during that period. He said their backing enabled him to complete the screenplay of Bethlehem Kudumba Unit very quickly.

The director also said that the team had not expected the film to achieve such a big success or become an industry hit.

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