Director responds to sequel chatter around 'Anjaam Pathiraa,' 'Abraham Ozler'
What's the story
Midhun Manuel Thomas, the acclaimed director of the recently released Malayalam film Aadu 3, has confirmed that sequels to his earlier investigative thrillers Anjaam Pathiraa and Abraham Ozler are not in the works. In an interview with Variety India, he said he is currently focused on a new big-budget action thriller.
Sequel speculation
'In a similar vein, I am aware of what...'
Thomas said, "I'm not working on any of this right now. I wrote a script for Anjaam Pathiraa, but it didn't work out as I expected." "In a similar vein, I am aware of what happened to Abraham Ozler's missing family, which is the primary gripping point by the conclusion of the Jayaram-starring investigation thriller, but I don't yet have a solid script for it." "Therefore, I have left it that way and moved on to fresh projects."
Failures
On box office failures
The director also revealed plans to make his OTT directorial debut with a Malayalam web series titled Anali, set to release on JioHotstar soon. Thomas added, "I learned that I could handle this genre (comedy) when writing for Ohm Shanthi Oshaana." He also opened up about the disappointment of box office failures, citing Abraham Ozler as an example. "Taking on a new project is the only way I can get over this disappointment," he said.
Franchise success
'Aadu 3' exceeded expectations
Thomas also spoke about the success of Aadu 3, which became one of the fastest Malayalam films to enter the ₹100cr club within a week of its release. He said, "Initially, the genre shift in Aadu 3 was tricky for me, and I am now confident for the next part, Aadu 3: The Last Ride (Part 2), seeing the audience's rave response for the third instalment."