Joju George's Paripadi Gets a First Look and a Yuvan Song

Joju George's second film as a director has shown its face. On Friday, Oct. 23, Kavya Film Company released the first-look poster of Paripadi along with its first single, Paatt Paripadi, according to Cinema Express, Manorama Online and the Tamil daily Dinamani. Joju wrote and directed the Malayalam film and also plays the lead. The song carries a second piece of news: it is composed and sung by Yuvan Shankar Raja, who makes his debut as a Malayalam film composer with Paripadi. The makers say the film will reach theatres in December.

What came out on Oct. 23

Cinema Express reports that the production banner dropped the poster and the song together. Paatt Paripadi has music and vocals by Yuvan Shankar Raja, with additional vocals by Ishaan Dev, Samad Sulaiman, Ameen Afridi, Vipin Xavier and Ashee S, and lyrics by Dr Parvathy. The makers describe the track as "electrifying", the outlet notes, and have also released it in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Telugu.

Manorama Online describes the video. It opens with a title card announcing that Kavya Films presents Paripadi and that the programme is about to begin, a play on the title, which means "programme" or "event" in Malayalam. Yuvan and the singers appear on screen in what the outlet calls a stylish mass avatar. Dinamani reports that the poster and song went out on Friday evening.

Cinema Express adds that the film is now in post-production. It had no fixed release date, but the makers revealed in the song video that Paripadi is set for theatres in December. Dinamani describes it as a Christmas release this year. Manorama Online reports that it will open in five languages: Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada.

Yuvan Shankar Raja's first Malayalam score

Yuvan Shankar Raja is one of Tamil cinema's best-known composers, but he had not scored a Malayalam film before this one. Cinema Express points out that he did sing in the language earlier, on the song Kadal Pole from the 2024 film Kummattikali, but Paripadi is the first time he is credited as composer in Malayalam cinema.

His involvement was not a surprise. When Joju announced Paripadi in April, The Hindu reported that Yuvan's presence had already built interest in the project, and that this would be his first Malayalam film in the role. Manorama Online calls his arrival one of the film's main attractions. According to that outlet, Yuvan and Ishaan Dev lead the vocals on Paatt Paripadi, and the song opens with the line "Kannadichirakil kaanatha vazhiyil". For a film that is being released in five languages, a composer with a large following outside Kerala is an obvious asset.

A director's second film, and 100 newcomers

Paripadi follows Pani, the 2024 action thriller that marked Joju's debut as a director. The Hindu wrote in April that Pani earned box-office success and critical praise. Dinamani reports that Pani was made for Rs 15 crore and collected more than Rs 30 crore. In May 2025, Joju had announced a sequel to Pani and said he planned to make it a three-part franchise, The Hindu noted.

Paripadi is not that sequel, as far as the record goes. Times Now reported in April that social media users had speculated about a link between the two films, but that there was no official confirmation of any connection, and that Paripadi appeared to be a standalone story. Cinema Express, citing a Mathrubhumi report, says the new film is in the same genre as Pani but on a much bigger canvas.

The casting is the unusual part. Joju leads a cast that includes more than 100 newcomers, Cinema Express reports. Onmanorama wrote in April that these newcomers had been training for three months at that point, while pre-production was under way. Times Now reported that the film was launched with a pooja in Chalakudy, and listed Vineeth Thattil David, Saiju Kurup, Bitto Davis, Aiswaria Chandran, Dilshanaa, Rithu Manthra, Jaya Kurup and Shibin S Raghav in the ensemble.

Thrissur, Chalakudy and the crew

The story is set in Thrissur, Joju's home district, according to Cinema Express, which cites Mathrubhumi as saying the film is set mainly in Chalakudy. In April, Onmanorama reported plans to shoot at several locations across Kerala, Europe and beyond. No outlet has yet reported which foreign locations made it into the final schedule.

The crew behind the camera is a strong one. Rajeev Ravi is the cinematographer, Manu Antony the editor and Sabu Mohan the production designer, per Cinema Express. The stunt choreographer duo Anbariv, better known for their Tamil work, handle the action; Cinema Express counts Paripadi as their 13th Malayalam film. Times Now and Manorama Online name Ajayan Adat as sound designer, and Onmanorama lists Jayan Nambiar as creative producer.

Venu Kunnappilly is producing under Kavya Film Company. Times Now notes that the banner is behind 2018, Rekhachithram and Aadu 3, and Manorama Online adds Malikappuram to that list.

From junior artist to a busy actor-director

Joju George, born Joseph George in Mala in Thrissur district, began as a junior artist in the 1995 film Mazhavilkoodaram and spent years in small and supporting roles before his breakthrough as the lead of Joseph (2018). That film received a special mention at the 66th National Film Awards. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his work in films including Nayattu, Madhuram and Freedom Fight, and has also produced films such as Charlie and Joseph. Outside Malayalam, he has acted in Jagame Thandhiram with Dhanush and in Karthik Subbaraj's Retro with Suriya.

This year he has stayed busy as an actor. The Hindu reported in April that he was last seen in Jeethu Joseph's crime thriller Valathu Vashathe Kallan with Biju Menon, which Times Now says released on Jan. 30 to mixed reviews. The Hindu also listed Shaji Kailas's Varavu and Manu Antony's Aja Sundari among his acting projects.

The next steps are a firm release date and a trailer. The makers have said December, and Dinamani has reported Christmas, but no exact date has been announced in the reports so far. For now, Paripadi has a face, a song and a composer making his Malayalam debut, and Joju is set to return as director about two years after Pani.

Sources

Cover photo: Suryadev VR, Wikimedia Commons, [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joju_George_Latest_November_2025.jpg](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joju_George_Latest_November_2025.jpg) (CC BY-SA 4.0).