Lailaa O Lailaa

Lailaa O Lailaa (abbreviated as LOL) is an upcoming 2015 Malayalam language Indian romantic action-thriller film directed byJoshiy starring Mohanlal and Amala Paul in the lead roles. Renowned Bollywood scriptwriter Suresh Nair debuts in Malayalam with the film. The film is produced by Santhosh Kottayi, Bijou Antony and Preeta Nair under the banner Finecut Entertainments in association with Aashirvad Cinemas. The soundtrack and background score were composed by Gopi Sunder. Mohanlal andSathyaraj play two business tycoons. Mohanlal's character is diplomatic known for his perceptions and precision.

The principle photography began at the end of August 2014. First schedule was in Kochi, Goa and Mysore. The second schedule went off in Bangalore. Final schedule underway at Kochi, Bangalore and Bellary. The film was originally scheduled for 110 days shoot and completed within a span of 7 months in 3 schedules.

The film is scheduled to release on May 7, 2015 in India and overseas.

Cast

·         Mohanlal as Jayamohan

·         Amala Paul as Anjali

·         Sathyaraj as Shaheed Khadar

·         Joy Mathew

·         Rahul Dev

·         Kainaat Arora

·         Ramya Nambeeshan

·         Junaid Sheikh

·         Abhijeet Paul

·         Kalakalyani

·         Ashvin Matthew

·         Kiran Raj

·         Vijay Menon

Production

Development

It is the second collaboration of the trio Joshiy-Mohanlal-Amala after the success of Run Babby Run (2012).

Earlier Suresh Nair met Mohanlal regarding doing a project together but shelved the idea due to Mohanlal's packed schedule. However in April 2013, Suresh confirmed that he is doing a Malayalam film with Joshiy and Mohanlal. The team met again in July to have further discussions on the project. On November 16, 2013, Mohanlal confirmed through his Facebook page about the project. He also announced the title as Lailaa O Lailaa and also stated it will have Amala Paul in the lead and will be produced by Finecut Entertainments. There were several reports in online news medias that Mohanlal will play an investigation officer in the film.

Crowd - equity funding

The film made a new concept in film financing in Malayalam cinema. The concept has been introduced by three NRKs based in the Middle East - Santhosh Kottayi, Bijou Antony and Preeta Nair. The trio formed the production company FineCut Entertainments Private Ltd. The funds for the film will be collected through a fund-raising technique known asequity crowdfunding, a popular idea in the west to raise funds for start-ups. The model permits anyone to invest in the production company who can expect preferential shares in return. The idea perceives film financing as a prospective investment venture. Unlike crowd funding, where fund is mobilised from the public, equity funding allows investors to own shares and remain investors for a longer period and they can even benefit from the future production and distribution projects of the same company. Dividends will be distributed to each investor based on the profitability of the company.

The model ensures that the movie sails through the break-even point prior to its release. The total budget of the movie is realized before the movie releases. Bijou Antony one of the directors said "We have moulded the concept of crowd-equity funding in such a way that our friends and colleagues, who are interested in our movie project, could be part of the venture by investing in it. The investments are capped at a maximum of Rs 5 lakh per investor, which is well within the risk appetite of the investor profile we have had so far".

Casting

Mohanlal is doing the lead role along with Amala Paul. Tamil actor Sathyaraj is doing a pivotal role in the film. Earliar there were speculations regarding the change in heroine as soon as actress Amala Paul announced her wedding. Several reports suggested Manju Warrier will replace Amala Paul and writer Suresh Nair is keen to cast Manju Warrier opposite Mohanlal in the project. Production team remained silent and no official confirmations came, leaving it as rumours. Later in an interview Amala Paul confirmed that she will be playing the lead opposite Mohanlal and the shoot of the film will begin in August 2014. In the films pre-production stage there were reports about actor Sonu Sood will play the antagonist opposite Mohanlal. However there is no official confirmations. In an interview Ramya Nambeeshan confirmed she will be a part of Lailaa O Lailaa and is happy to bag a role in a Joshiy project. And said she will be doing a guest role but a pivotal role in the movie. This is the first time she is working with both Mohanlal and Joshiy. On September 11, 2014. Times of India reported actor Ashvin Mathew is also cast in LOL. Reportedly actor Joy Mathew will be seen in the movie. It is the first time he is doing a film with Mohanlal. Bollywood actress Kainaat Arora is doing a pivotal role in the movie. "I really don't have the liberty to open up about my role. All I can say is that my character is pivotal to the story, and the central plot revolves around her. That's not all, I have a lot of combination scenes with Mohanlal," she says. Rahul Dev will play the antagonist opposite Mohanlal. Confirming the news scriptwriter Suresh Nair, "Rahul Dev has been roped in to play a villain. He has joined the set in Bangalore.".Amala Paul's brother Abhijeet Paul also have a role in the film. During final schedule, Junaid Sheikh joined the crew who acted in Salaam Kashmir with Joshiy is playing a villain, as an international don.

Filming

The filming of the movie has got postponed multiple times due to various reasons. On February 2014, it was heard the shooting will start on June 15, 2014. There were also reports that the shooting was shelved due to creative differences. But Joshiy clean off all the rumours and confirmed that the project is very much on board. Towards the middle end of 2014, official confirmations came as shoot is scheduled to start on auspicious day Chingam 1 (August 17), which was first postponed to 22nd of the same month, then later to 27th based on Mohanlal's unexpected illness which is has been advised to rest for a week. The film will be shot at different locations in Goa, Mysore, Bangalore,Ernakulam etc. The film started shooting on August 31, and it has a schedule for a long 110 days. In October 30, 2014, Mohanlal announced, the second schedule of shoot was over in Bangalore and Kochi and 80 percent of film is complete and the team will regroup after taking a break for filming the climax which is shot in an action mode.^[28] Laila O Laila was the Mohanlal film that was slated for release during Christmas. But, as the second shooting schedule is yet to begin, shoot will resume only after the completion of Sathyan Anthikkad film. In that case, Sathyan Anthikad film will be Mohanlal’s Vishu release. After a break the third schedule restarted at Ernakulam on December second week after Mohanlal returned from his Antarctican tour by the fifth of December. Mohanlal's part was completed first.^[30] The final schedule went of in February 2015, at Kochi and to Bangalore for the remaining action sequences. The last leg shooting of the climax was shot in Bellary, Karnataka for 5–7 days schedule.

Music

The soundtrack and film score were composed by Gopi Sunder. He has composed 5 songs in the film.

Release

The film is expected to hit theatres on the first week of May 2015 in India and in overseas.

Marketing

An official first look logo (title design) was unveiled on November 2013. A redesigned title look was revealed on April 5, 2015. The first look of the official posters were released on April 6, 2015, with the tagline The Biggest Risk of His Life...His Wife. On April 8, the production team announced the official trailer will be unveiled on the auspicious day ofVishu on April 15. The first look theatrical poster was released by Mohanlal on his Twitter and Facebook pages respectively on Friday, April 10. The poster featured Mohanlal and Amala Paul.