Sunny Wayne has signed debutant Prince Joy’s Anugraheethan Antony, which will be most likely the actor’s next after Jishnu Sreekandan’s Pidikittapulli which is currently in production. A first look digital sketch, in which Sunny was seen alongside a canine, was released by the makers recently.
The big-budget venture, produced by Thushar S under the banner of Retconn Cinemas, will be a blend of realistic drama and fantasy.
According to Prince Joy, Anugraheethan Antony has a family-oriented love story with universal themes. “It’s an emotional subject which will find a connect with audiences everywhere, not just in Kerala. We all have an Antony within us. The situations he goes through...I’m sure we all have gone through similar experiences in our lives,” says Prince.
He also added that a dog will have equal prominence in the film as the protagonist. The canine appearing in the film will be trained for around 50 days. “It’s going to be quite challenging as the story is told from the POV of the dog. And we are not going to resort to CGI, not even for a single shot, for those portions.”
The female lead is played by Gouri Kishan, who got noticed for her performance in the recent Tamil hit 96 starring Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha. Gouri played the younger version of Trisha’s character in the film. Anugraheethan Antony marks her Malayalam debut. Saiju Kurup, Indrans, and Biju Sopanam are the rest of the cast members.
Naveen T Manilal has penned the script from a story by Jishnu R Nair and Aswin Prakash. Selvakumar is handling the camera and Arjun Ben the editing. Arun Muraleedharan is the music director.
Prince previously worked as an assistant of director Midhun Manuel Thomas (Aadu-fame) whom he calls his “godfather”. He has directed two short films Ettukali and Njan Cinema Mohi.