Saiju Kurup is ecstatic. With Bharathanatyam 2: Mohiniyattam, which he acted in and co-produced,trending on streaming after raking in crores at the box office, the actor says he is still not able to process it. “I ask myself if this is all for real. I have been waiting for this — a theatre hit — since my debut, which means the last 21 years,” says Saiju.

The success is special since the film’s prequel, Bharathanatyam, released in 2024, did not do well in theatres but was loved on OTT [Prime Video]. “We collected just under ₹30 lakh in all for Bharathanatyam. Now we are talking in crores, and that is crazy!” says the actor with a laugh.

All in the family

Both films directed by Krishnadas Murali revolve around Sasindran Nair (Saiju) and his predicament, thanks to his family comprising his parents, siblings and co-brothers. While in Bharathanatyam, he had to deal with the brouhaha that erupts when his father reveals he has another wife and son, in Mohiniyattam, he pulls out all stops to cover up an accidental homicide committed by his family.

The stupendous success of Mohiniyattam is everything that he could have asked for as an actor, says Saiju. “I had new targets at every stage of my career when my debut film [Mayookham], that too as the protagonist, didn’t work. After that, my first goal was to work in a film that ran for 100 days at the box office, irrespective of my screen time. Hallo and Chocolate (both released in 2007) did that for me. As time went by, I wanted the audience to trust me as an actor. Trivandrum Lodge (2012) became a milestone and since then I started getting good roles.”

However, once the trend shifted from longevity of films in theatres to the box office collection, he eyed the same. “Malikappuram (2022) put me in that list and, recently, Aadu 3.” Saiju has been part of the Aadu film series as Arakkal Abu, the affable local goon.

Theatre hit

However, the films in which he played the lead never emerged as hits in theatres. “They either had an okay run at the box office or did well on OTT platforms,” he says, referring to movies such as Janamaithri (2019), Upacharapoorvam Gunda Jayan (2021), Janaki Jaane (2023), Bharatanatyam (2024) and Abhilasham (2025). Guardian (2021) and Antakshari (2022), both direct OTT releases, got a good response in between. “I was in a happy space but was waiting for the so-called theatre hit until Mohiniyattam.”

Saiju says that it was his co-producer, Thomas Thiruvalla, who wanted the sequel. “Neither Krishnadas nor I were keen. But Thomas chettan insisted. His argument was that Bharathanatyam was a blockbuster on OTT as per the pay-per-view parameter and if at least 25% of those viewers came to theatres, the film would do well. ”

It was a confident Saiju that everyone saw at the pre-release interviews of Mohiniyattam. “I had seen it thrice by then. It was the script that gave me the confidence. Of course, there was apprehension about whether people would come to theatres. But what happened post-release was unbelievable. It reminded me of what Paulo Coelho wrote, ‘When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it’.”

Reflecting more on the script, Saiju says that it was so well-written that they just had to shoot it. “Das is an excellent filmmaker. And we had an efficient crew to support his vision. Electronic Kili’s music elevated the movie in many scenes. So, all of us were sure that the film will work for the audience.”

Cult status

Saiju adds that it was surprising to see viewers celebrating the dialogues and coming up with multiple movie references after its OTT release. “All credit to Krishnadas. Just like people talk about ‘Pothettan brilliance’ [referring to the filmmaking of actor-director Dileesh Pothan], we now pull his legs saying ‘Dasettan brilliance’. He is not someone who always cracks jokes. But there is a lot of humour inside him. He went around with the script of Bharathanatyam for nearly three years before we took it up. It was as if I was destined to do it. I am proud that I was instrumental in getting him into the industry.”

Saiju mentions that they gave YouTube rights for Bharathanatyam one and a half months before the release of Mohiniyattam, and it fetched 2.3 million views in a month. Now it has crossed seven million views on YouTube and is also trending on Prime Video.

“When Aadu 3 released, its first day worldwide collection was ₹18.75 crore. Das and I told each other that it would be great if Mohiniyattam collected that amount altogether. Now we have crossed ₹50 crore.”

Saiju is elated that some of his non-Malayali friends in Nagpur, where he had his schooling and college, have messaged him for the first time after the film’s OTT release. “I think they are finally convinced that I am an actor.”

Talking about the set of accomplished actors in both movies, he says that they managed to pull off the scenes without cracking up each time. “Since most scenes had all of us, we would all sit in a line before the shot. Our chief associate, Samson Sebastian, would read out the scene. We would laugh our heart out as we rehearsed, and by the time we started the shoot, we would have laughed enough.”

His only grief is the loss of one of the actors, Santhosh Nair, who passed away in an accident a few days after the release. “I was the one who suggested him for the role. I have never worked with him before. We got acquainted after he sent me a message congratulating my performance in the web series Jai Mahendran. I wish I had not met him at all. Otherwise, the loss wouldn’t have hurt me this much.”

Supporting roles

Saiju admits that there was a time when he decided to stick to supporting roles after his films as the protagonist did not do well. Krishnadas himself had approached him a few times with such projects, including the initial script of Bharathanatyam, which had a different storyline. “That was the time when my films as the protagonist were not doing well at the box office. So I decided to stick to supporting roles.”

Has that changed now? “I think my confidence has elevated as I do lead roles.I believe if the content is good, people will come to theatres.”

So is comedy his comfort zone since he has done a lot of such roles? “Not at all. It is difficult to do humour. The timing and my ease in such roles, what people talk about, came from experience. Otherwise, I love to do serious roles.”

Next, Saiju would be seen playing lead in films such as Aaram and The Third Mother. He is also in Premaptta, Lurk and Bafana United, a children’s film.

Will there be a next part for Mohiniyattam? “As of now we have no such plans. But a possibility cannot be ruled out.”

Mohiniyattam is streaming on Netflix