Preity Mukhundhan to play a reserved girl in her Malayalam debut

Tamil actress Preity Mukhundhan is set to make her Malayalam debut alongside All We Imagine As Light fame Hridhu Haroon in Maine Pyar Kiya. “I noticed Preity first in the film Star. I wanted the character of Nidhi to be played by a Tamil actress — someone who speaks in a specific way, is beautiful, but with eyes that are slightly melancholic,” shares Faizal Faziludeen, the director of this romantic comedy thriller.

“Preity and Hridhu portray characters who are at two different ends of the spectrum in this film which has mostly been shot in Kottayam and Madurai. Hridhu is the boy next door while Preity plays a more reserved girl. What happens when people of different wavelengths, raised in very different circumstances, fall in love? However, it’s not purely a romantic film," he says.

Kaathal – The Core director Jeo Baby also plays a crucial role in the film, he adds.

While the title brings Salman Khan's Bollywood film to mind, Faizal says, "It was initially a working title, but we couldn’t find anything more apt. Since the film explores what happens after two people fall in love, the name suits it well.” It’s also not based on Ready or Not, as is widely being speculated based on the poster, he clarifies.

When asked about the Malayalam industry experimenting with content and genres, he says, “When we travel outside Kerala, people speak highly of Malayalam cinema. Ours is more of an entertainer — a campus film. Almost half the story is set on a campus.”