The first look of Prashantettante Meesha came out on October 18. Actor and caricaturist Jayaraj Warrier plays the lead, and Sreejith Poyilkavu directs the film with the help of AI. The makers have not said how AI is being used.
Film: Prashantettante Meesha
Lead: Jayaraj Warrier
Director: Sreejith Poyilkavu (AI-assisted)
Story: Mansoor Palloor
Producer: Dr Mathew Samuel (Sams Productions)
Music: Nikhil Mohan
Lyrics: Sathyachandran Poyilkavu
Editor: Hemanth Kumar
Release: Not announced
What AI-assisted can mean
The term covers a wide range. Filmmakers use AI tools for things like concept art and storyboards, previsualisation of scenes, visual effects and backgrounds, clean-up and de-ageing, dubbing and voice work, and parts of the edit and colour process.
Some productions use it for a single stage, while others lean on it across the film. Prashantettante Meesha's team has not specified which of these, if any, applies here.
From character roles to the lead
Jayaraj Warrier, from Thrissur, started out in theatre in the early 1980s after training in Ottamthullal, and spent seven years with Jose Chirammel's Root Theater Group. He is equally known as a caricaturist, and in 2003 he became the first to stage a caricature show for members of the Kerala Assembly.
In 2010, he received the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award for drama and caricature. On screen, he has built a long run of character and comic parts, including Suresh Babu in Mammootty's Pranchiyettan and the Saint and Kaattalan Jose in Jayasurya's Punyalan Agarbattis.
His other films include Anarkali, the Dulquer Salmaan film Charlie, Porinju Mariam Jose and One. Prashantettante Meesha puts him at the centre of the frame.
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