2018 (2023)

Interesting facts

2018 is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language disaster film based on the 2018 Kerala floods. Directed by Jude Anthany Joseph, who co-wrote the screenplay with Akhil P. Dharmajan, the film is produced by Venu Kunnappilly, C.K. Padmakumar, and Anto Joseph under the banners of Kavya Film Company and PK Prime Production. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Tovino Thomas, Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Narain, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Tanvi Ram, Aparna Balamurali, and Lal.

Production

The film was officially announced in September 2018 tentatively titled 2403 Ft.: The Story Of Unexpected Heroes, later being changed to 2018. Jude Anthony Joseph intended to make a film about the 2018 Kerala floods in 2018 with a major part of the film revolving around the rescue operations undertaken by the fishermen community.

Jude Anthony Joseph had conceived the film when he was approached by an NGO to document the heroic acts of thousands of people throughout the flood. As a part of his extensive research, he met with fisherman from Kollam who went for rescue missions in Chengannur during that time. He also had spoken with the police officers, volunteers, army personnel and fire force workers who had assisted in those rescue operations.

"We all witnessed what happened during the floods. We saw the visuals through the news report. I began to conceptualise the film around the lives of ordinary people, and this is how the narrative began." – Jude. Jude Anthony said that Tovino's character was inspired by a news report that cited the incident of a man drowning during the rescue operations.

In October 2019, Manju Warrier, Indrajith Sukumaran, Jayasurya, Kunchako Boban, Asif Ali, Indrans, and Tovino Thomas were all reported to be part of the cast. Jude had earlier mentioned in an interview that there would be Tamil actors in the film. However, Jayasurya dropped out of the project due to conflicts with Rojin Thomas’ Kathanar. Tovino was cast to play a former soldier who had gone AWOL with Tanvi Ram cast to play an important role.

Principal photography commenced in October 2019. The first schedule of the film was shot in Kalady. The schedule progressed in Thodupuzha. The first schedule was wrapped on 21 October 2019 which featured scenes with Tovino Thomas and Tanvi Ram. Shooting was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and was expected to resume in June 2022. Shooting resumed on 28 May 2022 with Kunchako Boban joining the set.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.