After years of speculation, Major Ravi has confirmed that his military drama Pahalgam: OP Sindoor, starring Mohanlal, is moving into production. Speaking to the digital channel Make Sense Media on June 12, 2026, the former army officer turned director said the project is now a certainty — comparing its progress, pointedly, to the long-delayed K-Rail project associated with former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Major Ravi said the script had been in quiet development for about four months, and that he deliberately held off discussing it with Mohanlal until the groundwork was solid. During the recent legislative election cycle — in which he stood as a candidate — his team finalised the screenplay and obtained the clearances and permissions from Indian Army headquarters needed to shoot in sensitive areas.
A Kannada studio comes on board
The main thing holding the film back had been finding a producer able to back a project of this size. Major Ravi recalled advice from Mohanlal, who had warned him not to begin shooting without a strong producer in place, citing the kind of delays that have stalled other multilingual films such as Vrusshabha. After months of vetting, the director said he signed an agreement in the past week with a well-known production house from the Kannada industry.
With financing settled, the film is being planned on a large, multilingual scale for big-screen formats. The story centres on a terrorist attack in the Pahalgam region and the retaliatory military operation, codenamed Operation Sindoor, launched in response. Major Ravi said he wants to keep the grounded, realistic style of his earlier work rather than a polished studio look.
The sixth Major Mahadevan film
The film marks the sixth collaboration between Mohanlal and Major Ravi and brings back the fictional officer Major Mahadevan. The pairing began with Keerthi Chakra in 2006 and continued through Kurukshetra (2008), Kandahar (2010), Karmayodha (2012) and 1971: Beyond Borders (2017).
The revival comes amid some pushback online, where sections of Mohanlal’s fanbase had run a “#BoycottMajorRavi” campaign when early word of the script leaked, voicing concern about the director’s recent commercial track record and urging the actor to work with newer filmmakers. Major Ravi responded by saying the film avoids old jingoistic formulas and is intended as a more grounded survival drama. With location teams already in Jammu and Kashmir scouting winter shooting spots, the unit is aiming for a release next year.
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