Last year, filmmaker Mani Ratnam announced that he was backing the Tamil anthology, Navarasa, to raise funds for Tamil film industry workers who were hit hard by the pandemic. Each of the nine short stories in the Netflix film, helmed by nine directors, represents a different emotion—anger, love, compassion, courage, peace, fear, disgust, laughter and wonder. It is now learnt that Priyadarshan’s film, tentatively titled Summer of ’92 and featuring well-known Tamil actor-comedian Yogi Babu and child artistes, draws inspiration from Innocent Vareed Thekkethala’s life. The filmmaker apparently procured permission from the famous Malayalam actor-politician for the story.

Speculations are rife that the film focuses on ‘hasya’ or humour, but Priyadarshan only elusively shares, “My short film is along the lines of Malgudi Days. It’s a challenge to make a humorous movie in 35 minutes.” The National Award-winning filmmaker wrapped up the shoot in seven days. The project is currently under post-production.