Thiruvananthapuram, July 3: Veteran Malayalam director Priyadarshan is fresh from a full-fledged ayurvedic rejuvenation therapy as he gets ready to do two Hindi films this year. Priyadarshan said that the first one to roll is the Hindi remake of the Mohanlal blockbuster film ‘Oppom’.
“Saif Ali Khan, Bobby Deol and Samudrakani play the lead roles and the shoot will begin next month,” said Priyadarshan, who is now based out of Chennai. “We have made certain changes to the Malayalam version of the film and that’s to suit a wider audience, but the thrust of the film remains the same. Khan plays the role of Mohanlal,” said Priyadarshan, a three-time National Award winner.
He said the ayurveda break that he takes is a yearly affair but this time, it took place after a gap of three years on account of the Covid pandemic. “Look, I am getting old and my target is to reach 100 films. The upcoming film with Khan is going to be my 97th. The 98th film is also ready and it will be with Akshay Kumar, which is planned for the end of the year,” added Priyadarshan.
He shared that the plan is to do the 100th film with Mohanlal. “Of course, that’s what we have been planning for a while and though at the moment, there is nothing on the drawing board on what sort of film it’s going to be, one thing is decided: the century film of mine would be with Lal,” said Priyadarshan.
67-year-old Priyan, as he is popularly known, burst into the tinsel world with a slapstick Malayalam comedy 'Poochekoru Mukuthi’ in 1984 and has no reason to look back as he, along with Mohanlal, brought out some of the biggest blockbusters in the Malayalam film industry and hence, he has made elaborate plans for his century film but prefers to keep that under wraps.
