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Mollywood in Vietnam?
B Unnikrishnan's next to be shot at locations that M-Town has never been to before...
Sanjith Sidhardhan
Continuing its quest for foreign locations, Mollywood's next outing abroad will be for director B Unnikrishnan's I Love Me. While several Malayalam films have been shot in the Far East, especially in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, the director will now add two more countries to the list — Vietnam and Cambodia.
Explaining why he chose the exotic locations for the film, Unnikrishnan tells us, "The story evolves in these two countries and the setting is an important part of the film." Unlike other films where just the songs are filmed abroad, the director tells us that extensive portions of the flick will be shot in these two countries; in addition to a few sequences to be filmed in Kochi.
The romantic thriller stars Asif Ali, Unni Mukundan and Anoop Menon and tells the story of three people who are in love with themselves and their transformation of their self love. The director also informs us that the film will feature two fresh faces as heroines — both will be chosen through auditions. The film is expected to go on floors by September.
Right after finishing the film, Unnikrishnan will start working on his next project with Mohanlal that he says will be 'a big-budget flick.'
Been there, done that: Malayalam films that were extensively shot in the Far East…
SINGAPORE
Varnapakkittu (1997): The 'foreign' portions form the crux of the story where Mohanlal, who plays a wealthy businessman based in Singapore, falls for Meena's character, who is actually a call girl hired by his business rival to spy on him.
Love in Singapore (2009): The flick has Mammootty's character travelling to Singapore after being conned by an NRI played by Nedumudi Venu, and hopes to return the favour by marrying his daughter.
THAILAND
Casanovva (2011): While Bangkok was just one of the many foreign locations in the film, it was the most noted because a motorbike stunt sequence featuring Mohanlal went horribly wrong with the actor reportedly falling from around 40 feet. Fortunately, everyone involved escaped unhurt. Bangkok Summer (2011): Featuring debutants Unni Mukundan, Rahul Madhav and Richa Panai, the flick was extensively shot in Bangkok with several Chinese artistess. It and was centered around Unni's character coming to the country in search of his brother.
MALAYSIA
Teja Bhai and Family (2011): The Prithviraj flick has the actor playing a feared underworld don in Malaysia who falls for a social worker and comes to Kerala to hire a family to impress the girl. Cowboy (2012): Shot mostly in Kuala Lumpur, the Asif Ali-starrer tells the tale of a purposeless youth whose life takes a turn after witnessing an event in his life. Happy Husbands (2010): The second half of the Saji Surendran-flick unfurls in the scenic locales of Malaysia with a resort in the backdrop to clear the confusion between the husbands and wives.
Four Friends (2010): This Saji film has the four friends, who are diagnosed with cancer, taking a trip to Malaysia to enjoy their last few days in life and strike few things off
their bucket list.
Casanovva
Teja Bhai and Family
Four Friends
OFF TO SHOOT: Unni Mukundan is ready to shoot for I Love Me in Vietnam
