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India’s first female superhero film, Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra, has taken the box office by storm, earning a whopping ₹165 crore worldwide in just 10 days since its release on August 28. But before this record-breaking run, lead actor Kalyani Priyadarshan, producer Dulquer Salmaan, and the entire team had no idea the film would strike such a chord with audiences.

In a recent interview with Post-cut Clarity, Kalyani opened up about the tense moments ahead of the film’s release, including a heartfelt call from Dulquer the night before.

Kalyani on Dulquer’s Emotional Call Before Release

Kalyani shared that before Lokah hit the screens, the team was uncertain about its commercial prospects.

She revealed,“He (Dulquer) called me and said, I don’t care if I lose money on this film. I’m just glad we made a good film. Because we were sure we made a good film, whether it worked for the audience or not was not in our hands. He was like, ‘Don’t even look at the numbers. Just know, I am really happy as a producer. I think this is why we got into cinema. Whatever is said and done, even if it’s a small audience, the film will find it’.”

Why Dulquer Chose to Begin With Chandra’s Story

The film marks the beginning of a five-part cinematic universe, but Dulquer insisted on launching it with Chandra’s story despite having other, more ‘commercial’ characters at hand.

Kalyani explained, “Considering it’s a universe and they could have gone with anyone. It started off a small film and it was supposed to be just Chandra’s story. When Dulquer came in, he saw it as something bigger. He saw the potential. They were like, ‘So we got all these characters now, maybe we can start with someone else’. But he said no, this is Chandra’s story. Let’s start with her. This is the window into the rest of the world. Let’s not change parts just because we thought of something a little more commercial.”

About Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra

Directed by Dominic Arun, the film stars Kalyani as Chandra, a yakshi (vampire) known in folklore as Neeli. The cast includes Naslen, Sandy, Arun Kurian, Chandu Salimkumar, Nishanth Sagar, Raghunath Paleri, Vijayaraghavan, Nithya Shri, and Sarath Sabha. Tovino Thomas and Dulquer Salmaan make cameo appearances, while Mammootty lends his voice to the character of Moothon.