12th Man (2022)

Interesting facts

12th Man is a 2022 Indian Malayalam-language mystery thriller film directed by Jeethu Joseph and produced by Antony Perumbavoor under Aashirvad Cinemas, with a screenplay and story written by K. R. Krishna Kumar and Sunir Khetarpal. The film stars Mohanlal, with an ensemble cast consisting of Unni Mukundan,Saiju Kurup, Rahul Madhav, Anu Mohan, Chandhunadh, Anusree, Priyanka Nair, Anu Sithara, Sshivada, Aditi Ravi, and Leona Lishoy.

Production

On 5 July 2021, sharing a title poster, Mohanlal announced 12th Man as his consecutive and forthcoming association with director Jeethu Joseph following the release of Drishyam 2 earlier that year. Antony Perumbavoor of Aashirvad Cinemas was announced to be producing the film. The announcement came amid the suspended production of Ram, their unfinished project, which was put on hold indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

Sunir Khetarpal, who produced Jeethu's The Body gave the story idea of 12th Man to Jeethu, hence the film's story right has been given to Khetarpal. Jeethu and Kumar discussed the story in from July 2021. It took 18 months for Kumar to complete the screenplay, which he described as a mystery thriller. Even though, they decided on making Kooman first, Jeethu narrated the story to Mohanlal and Antony on the sets of Drishyam 2.

There are a total of 14 characters in the film. The final principal cast include Mohanlal, Unni Mukundan, Saiju Kurup, Rahul Madhav, Anu Sithara, Leona Lishoy, Anu Mohan, Anusree, Chandunadh, Aditi Ravi, Sshivada, and Priyanka Nair. Mukundan read the screenplay while he was filming for Bro Daddy. Shine Tom Chacko, Veena Nandakumar, and Santhi Priya were part of the initial cast but opted out.

Principal photography began on 17 August 2021 coinciding with the Kerala New Year on the first day of the Malayalam month Chingam. It commenced with a customary pooja ceremony in Ernakulam. Shooting then took place at GreenBerg Holiday Resorts in Kulamavu, Idukki district. Mohanlal joined the set on 15 September. The entire resort was booked for the shoot. Idukki was the primary location of the film.

Jeethu said "12th Man requires quite a bit of post-production work". In November 2021, Jeethu said that the post-production was going on which he expects to complete by January or February next year. Post-production was completed by late March 2022.

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