Girish AD says shelving of ‘Premalu 2’ was a major setback, calls ‘Bethlehem’ a personal victory

Director Girish A D has revealed that he spent a year working on ‘Premalu 2’ before the project was shelved, describing the decision as a major setback. He credited Bhavana Studios and screenwriter Kiran Josey for standing by him during the difficult period and supporting him in bringing ‘Bethlehem’ to the screens sooner than expected.

Speaking at the success celebration of ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ in Kochi, Girish said the team had to abandon ‘Premalu 2’ unexpectedly after spending a year working on it.

“Work on this film began after a year. Until then, I had been working on ‘Premalu 2’. We had to abandon the project unexpectedly, and it was a huge setback for us. We lost an entire year because of it. There was no need for us to lose that much time,” he said.

Girish said the idea of making ‘Bethlehem’ came up after the setback, although he had wanted to make the film even before the success of ‘Premalu’ prompted him to pursue its sequel. “Since ‘Premalu’ had been a huge hit, the idea of ‘Premalu 2’ came along, and we decided to pursue it,” he added.

Had ‘Premalu 2’ gone ahead as planned, it would have hit theatres during Vishu last year. ‘Bethlehem’ was released three to four months after that, with Girish noting that the team managed to complete the film quickly.

“We never imagined that it would become such a huge success or an industry hit. I consider this a personal victory. I thank everyone who stood by me,” he said.
‘Bethlehem’ marks a comeback for Nivin Pauly and continues the successful collaboration between Bhavana Studios and its creative team. The film brings together Girish A D, screenwriter Kiran Josey, cinematographer Ajmal Sabu and editor Aakash Joseph Varghese, with producers Fahadh Faasil, Dileesh Pothan and Syam Pushkaran also featured prominently in the film's promotional material.

The film has reportedly set a record as the fastest Malayalam film to cross the Rs 300-crore mark at the worldwide box office.