Tharun Moorthy reveals why Jyotika backed out of Mohanlal’s Thudarum, paving the way for Shobana’s entry: ‘Jyotika, Suriya were very excited, but…’

“Shobana was always on our mind for Lalitha. But we weren’t sure how to get in touch with her. So we began exploring alternatives. We were looking for someone who hadn’t acted with Mohanlal before. That’s when we thought of Jyotika,” Tharun shared during a chat with Red FM. Jyotika had previously worked in Malayalam movies such as Rakklippattu (2007), Seetha Kalyanam (2009) and Kaathal – The Core (2023). Tharun added, “Jyotika and Suriya were very excited when I narrated the story, but her dates clashed with a planned family world tour.”

Mentioning that he went ahead and contacted Shobana soon afterwards, the director said that things soon started falling into place, as she too was waiting for the right opportunity to make a comeback. “That question kept lingering in my mind: Wouldn’t Mohanlal and Shobana be the combination that Malayali viewers want to watch? We decided to contact Shobana, and she was also interested in coming back to movies. She said if the script and space were right and if I made her feel comfortable, then she would do the film,” he added. Thudarum will hit the screens on Friday.

Watch Thudarum trailer here:

Having worked together in several movies, Mohanlal and Shobana’s last appearance as an on-screen couple was director Joshiy’s Mampazhakkalam (2004). Although they appeared together in Amal Neerad’s Sagar alias Jacky Reloaded (2009) too, the two weren’t paired opposite each other.

While Mohanlal was last seen in Prithviraj Sukumaran’s L2: Empuraan, Thudarum marks Shobana’s return to Malayalam cinema after five years since Anoop Sathyan’s Varane Avashyamund. Her last movie appearance was in Nag Ashwin’s Telugu epic mythological sci-fi film Kalki 2898 AD (2024).