Prithviraj Sukumaran reveals Mammootty was the first choice for Mohanlal’s Bro Daddy

Despite Mammootty evincing interest in Prithviraj's Bro Daddy, they couldn't go ahead because the actor had already allocated dates to another producer.

By: Entertainment Desk

Chennai | Updated: March 18, 2025 08:46 PM IST

3 min read

Prithviraj opens up on the Mammootty project that almost happened during COVID times.

Actor-filmmaker Prithviraj Sukumaran has directed three films so far — Lucifer, Bro Daddy, and L2: Empuraan — and all three were headlined by Mohanlal. Since the time he directed his first film in 2019, Prithviraj has been bombarded with one question: When will he direct Mammootty? In an recent interview, ahead of the release of his much-awaited sequel, L2: Empuraan, Prithviraj opened up about how that question should have found its answer in 2022.

Prithviraj revealed that the first choice for his sophomore directorial, Bro Daddy, was Mammootty and not Mohanlal, who eventually played the role of John Kattadi. In an interview with Galatta Plus, he said, “The initial idea for Bro Daddy was about John Kattadi, a wealthy patriarch of a Christian plantation family. So, I wanted him to play a role that was reminiscent of his Kottayam Kunjachan. Imagine him playing a love-struck husband… it was something he hadn’t done before, right?”

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Despite Mammootty evincing interest in the project, they couldn’t go ahead because the actor had already allocated dates to another project, and Prithviraj wanted to go on floors almost immediately. “The reason why I picked up Bro Daddy is that I had already planned it as a quick film made during COVID with limited crew, social distancing, etc… And if I had to wait for Mammukka, then I knew the COVID-19 rules would be relaxed by the time we started the project,” said Prithviraj, who added that if not for Bro Daddy, he wanted to make a really big scale Mammootty film.

“I told him that if these times get over, and we are in an open market where any kind of films are possible, I want to do a big ticket film with you. Not something small like Bro Daddy,” said Prithviraj, who shared that he then changed the character sketch to suit Mohanlal.

ALSO READ | When Prithviraj Sukumaran said male lead actors should have a say in casting decisions: ‘Not just the heroine, we should decide…’

Bro Daddy was a direct-to-OTT film, which starred Mohanlal, Meena, Lalu Alex, Kalyani Priyadarshan, and Prithviraj. Now, the filmmaker-actor is awaiting the release of Empuraan, which is set to hit the screens on March 27. On the acting front, Prithviraj has an interesting lineup of films, including SS Rajamouli-Mahesh Babu’s upcoming film titled SSMB 29.

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