Kalyani Priyadarshan And Santhy B. On Lokah

Official poster for Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, starring Kalyani Priyadarshan and Naslen Gafoor.

Wayfarer Studios

“I’m a little dazed right now,” Kalyani Priyadarshan (pronounced Kal-yah-nee Pree-ya-dar-shan) tells me.

I’m at a remote church camp in India, she’s about to speak to a packed auditorium in Dublin. One of us has just starred in Malayalam cinema’s highest grossing film of all time.

“When we made [Lokah], I don’t think the weight of this and what it could do had sunk in for us. All we wanted to do was tell an interesting story,” says Priyadarshan.

“Something like this is like winning the lottery, honestly.”

She is of course, talking about her character Chandra, eponymous lead of Dominic Arun’s blockbuster hit Lokah Chapter One: Chandra.

More than Bollywood

For audiences outside of India, the film’s significance cannot be overstated. While Hollywood has superhero franchises like the DC and Marvel Cinematic Universes, Lokah (meaning ‘world’ or ‘universe’, pronounced Loh-ka) is the ambitious, folklore-rooted launchpad for the first major superhero franchise in the Malayalam language film industry (often referred to as ‘Mollywood’).

Indian cinema goes far beyond Bollywood; in fact, India is the world’s most prolific film producer, creating up to 2,000 films annually across more than 20 languages, with regional industries like Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam regularly outperforming Hindi cinema.

The Malayalam film industry, based in the southern Indian state of Kerala, is generally globally celebrated for its deeply realistic dramas and tight storytelling.

Lokah, however, is a large-scale fantasy spectacle. It reimagines the terrifying Yakshi—a mythical, oftentimes malevolent, female spirit in Kerala folklore (often likened to a vampire) —as a contemporary superhero.

Breaking Records

The film’s record-breaking global box office success proves that highly localized stories can become universal hits. Kalyani notes massive support even outside India, albeit primarily among the diaspora. “I think apparently the film has collected the highest in Dublin in all of the UK,” she says, attributing it to the “huge Malayali community” there.

The delicate balance between this ancient mythology and a glossy, modern cinematic approach was key to its cross-cultural success, according to co-writer and dramaturg Santhy Balachandran (pronounced Shan-thi Ba-la-chuhn-dren).

“In terms of just aesthetics—the look, everything—I think that is a good balance between the folk elements plus a very urban feel to it. I think that’s probably helped it connect to different generations as well,” she says. “It was definitely an experiment, but it looks like Part One has been a successful experiment.”

Successful is a bit of an understatement. As of 10th October, multiple reports placed Lokah’s box office as having crossed the ₹300 crore (~$33 million) mark, a hitherto unheard of feat for Malayalam cinema. Although it is far from being India’s highest grossing film ever (Baahubali 2, at ₹1,429.83 crore), Lokah Chapter One is also one of India’s highest grossing films starring a female lead.

This statistic is even more impressive when considering Lokah was made on a budget of ₹30 crore (~$3 million) — a pittance compared to general Bollywood budgets but still a significantly high number for the industry. “It being a small industry, the fact that our producers decided to invest that much money in a film that is this experimental was quite a bold choice,” says Balachandran.

The film’s budget came from Mollywood veteran Dulquer Salmaan, who produced it under his company Wayfarer Films. “We were just hoping he would make one rupee out of this,” smiles Priyadarshan. “And to bank that on someone like a woman is not—nobody will do it. I can guarantee you that. My own father [legendary director Priyadarshan Nair], called up Dulquer and was like, “How are you doing this? How are you taking such a big risk?”

In all the uncertainty about whether the film would work at all, the team was more focused on making a good film than leaning into the weighty title of “first female superhero,” Priyadarshan says. “Only after the film came out, we realized what actually we were doing. I’m really glad we didn’t because I think that would have been a lot of pressure for us.”

Born Out of the Pandemic

Balachandran and director Dominic Arun had been collaborators long before the film started work. “We’ve been working together since my debut,” she says. “During the pandemic, we were all creatively frustrated, so we just wanted to create something.”

That creative restlessness led to Oblivion, a short music video that was later launched by A.R. Rahman. “It was about a man caught between life and death, travelling through his memories,” Balachandran recalls. “Everyone just came together to make it happen with almost no resources.” That same team — cinematographer Nimish Ravi, National Award-winning production designer Banglan, and Arun — would reunite for Lokah, applying the same collaborative ethos to a much larger canvas.

Balachandran says the experience of Oblivion proved to them that if they could make something that ambitious on a shoestring budget, they could scale that same energy up for a feature. But it also taught them discipline. Every detail of Lokah was planned down to the frame. “Every penny had to count,” she says.

Reimagining the Yakshi

At the heart of Lokah lies its reinterpretation of the Yakshi, a figure deeply ingrained in Kerala’s folklore and popular culture—often depicted as a bloodthirsty seductress who preys on men. “The legend goes that she’s a woman betrayed in love who seeks revenge,” Balachandran explains. “For me, it was important that her decision to be a force for good comes from herself—not from a man.”

According to Priyadarshan, director Arun was clear about Chandra’s character being different from existing female superheroes like Scarlet Witch or Black Widow. “He was very clear that he didn’t want Chandra to be emotive in any way,” she explains. “He didn’t even let me frown or blink,” she continues, adding that they would have to redo a take if she blinked without realizing.

“Even during the entire process of when we were making the film, we never spoke of her as a superhero, just as a character.”

Global Inspirations, Local Lens

Though Lokah’s roots are unmistakably regional, its creative inspirations draw from across the world. “Dominic’s initial inspiration was The Man from Earth,” says Balachandran, who also cited Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther as references she drew from for the script.

“Black Panther is a spectacular film in terms of scale and production value and everything, but it’s also subversive in terms of presenting alternate history,” Balachandran expands.

Those influences shaped Lokah’s subdued tone: more meditative than bombastic, yet expansive in scope. To achieve that realism, Arun’s team leaned heavily on pre-visualization and detailed storyboarding.

A New Kind of Malayalam Cinema

Beyond its numbers, Lokah’s success represents a shift in what Malayalam cinema can aspire to. The film is neither arthouse nor purely commercial, instead sitting somewhere in between, grounded in folklore but styled like contemporary fantasy.

“This is just one version of these myths,” Balachandran says. “Our legends are fertile ground for new imaginations, and Lokah is one interpretation among many.”

For Priyadarshan, that multiplicity is what makes the film so rewarding. “All we wanted was to tell an interesting story,” she says. “The fact that it’s found an audience around the world—that’s more than we could have hoped for.”

Sequels and the Future

Production has already begun for Lokah Chapter 2, which was teased at the end of the first film. It will be led by Tovino Thomas and Lokah producer Dulquer Salmaan, reprising their roles as Michael the Chathan (goblin/demon, pronounced chaa-then) and Charlie the Odiyan (mythical shapeshifter practicing black magic, pronounced o-di-yen). A short film of the two characters having a conversation has 6.3 million views on YouTube at the time of writing.

Per the Hollywood Reporter India, Salmaan’s father and venerated Malayalam legend Mammootty will make an appearance as Moothon (the Elder), leader of the supernaturals.

Priyadarshan confirmed exclusively in our interview that her character Chandra will return in future installments (full report here).

Lokah Chapter One: Chandra is directed and written by Dominic Arun, produced by Dulquer Salmaan and stars Kalyani Priyadarshan, Naslen Gafoor, and Sandy Master. Additional screenplay & dramaturgy is by Santhy Balachandran, cinematography by Nimish Ravi, editing by Chaman Chacko and soundtrack by Jakes Bejoy.