Malayalam film Lokah Chapter 1 Chandra, starring Kalyani Priyadarshan in the lead, is the talk of the town. The superhero film, which introduces Kalyani’s Chandra as India’s first female superhero, has become a sensation at the box office in just a week of release. In a new interaction with Mana Stars on their YouTube channel, Kalyani was all praise for producer Dulquer Salmaan for stepping up and backing a film like Lokah, which was headlined by a female actor and centred on a female superhero. (Also read: Lokah Chapter 1 Chandra marks the arrival of a powerful female superhero and a landmark win for Malayalam cinema)

What Kalyani said

Talking about the success of the film, Kalyani said, “Honestly, hats off to somebody like [Dulquer]. There has always been stories but there aren’t many people to back them and the thing is we had someone like Dulquer back this with the vision that he had.”

‘Not many producers would back this project’

She continued, “Even for a Malayalam film, for a regular Malayalam film, this is a high budget ( ₹30 crore). It is not just for a female-centric film… so for him to say, ‘Let’s do it with a woman.’ This entire series could have started with a male superhero, but the fact that he chose, that no, let it be a woman… we will start by saying her story… Not many producers would back that. I am so happy that he is reaping the benefits of this because someone who takes the first step like this needs to be rewarded, and I am really happy for that.”

Lokah has shattered box-office records, becoming South India’s highest-grossing female-led film, crossing the ₹100 crore mark globally within its first week. The film also stars Naslen, Sandy, Arun Kurian, Chandu Salimkumar, Nishanth Sagar, Raghunath Paleri, Vijayaraghavan, Nithya Shri and Sarath Sabha.