Actors Nithya Menen, Vijay Sethupathi, Indrajith Sukumaran and Indrans are coming together for a new Malayalam film called 19(1)(a), to be directed by debutante Indhu VS. The film will be produced by Anto Joseph. This will be the second time that Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi acts in a Malayalam film, a year after Marconi Mathai, in which he played an extended cameo alongside actor Jayaram.
Indhu VS has released the poster of the new film, seemingly a take on Freedom of Speech and Expression - the fundamental right guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. She wrote on Instagram, "And the film begins. Not writing anything more now. Thank you."
Indhu has also written the script of the film. She has a strong team with her – composer Govind Vasantha, who created the beautiful music of 96, Sameera Saneesh, an award-winning costume designer, award-winning cinematographer Manesh Madhavan and film editor Vijai Sankar, among others.
Nithya Menen, who has been prolific in all four south Indian languages, last acted in a Malayalam movie in 2019. She played the single character of the horror thriller Praana, directed by VK Prakash. She has another Malayalam movie in the pipeline, as an artist in TK Rajeev Kumar's Kolaambi. She is also part of the crime thriller web television series Breathe, available on Amazon Prime Video.
Watch: Trailer of Praana
Indrajith had a recent Malayalam film release on Amazon Prime Video -- Halal Love Story -- in which he plays one of the lead characters as an actor of the film within the film. Indrans, who has in recent years won recognition and awards for his acting skills (coming much too late, in critics' view), was part of the recent Netflix release Maniyarayile Ashokan.
With such a powerful order of actors, and a curious title like 19(1)(a), Indhu's film announcement is already getting a lot of attention online.