Nivin Pauly says LCU villain role will surprise fans; calls it dark and cruel

Picture Credit: Instagram

Malayalam actor Nivin Pauly led Mollywood’s ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ starring alongside Mamitha Baiju, directed by Girish AD. The film became Mollywood’s highest-grossing release minting over Rs. 331 crore, surpassing the 2025 blockbuster Lokah: Chapter 1.

The actor shared his take on how the film achieved such success.

He also spoke about playing an antagonist in Lokesh Cinematic Universe and about other projects and shared updates about his upcoming projects.In a recent conversation with Variety India,

Nivin

Pauly shared that he did not expect the simple, small-town story to achieve such a major theatrical success. He said the film’s emotional connection with audiences played a key role in its performance.

Nivin Pauly on Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’s Box Office success

“People often assume that a film needs a huge budget, big sets, foreign locations, and a grand scale to break box-office records. This simple film has done that and I think it surprised everyone, including us. The truth is that when a film connects with people emotionally and is made with sincerity and honesty, audiences respond. They want something they can relate to—something that helps them relax and disconnect from stress for a few hours.

The biggest compliment I received was that the film took away people’s stress for three hours,” he said.

Nivin Pauly talks about his chemistry with Mamitha Baiju

‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ explores an unconventional age-gap romance between the lead characters. Nivin said his long-standing friendship with Mamitha Baiju helped them build a natural emotional connection on screen.“Mamitha and I have been good friends for years, so we already knew each other well. We used to talk about our dreams, cinema, family, scripts, and career choices.

If she had doubts about a script or a film, she would call me and I would share advice from my experience. Because of that friendship, we did not approach the relationship in the film as two people separated by age. We approached it as two close friends working together, and that comfort helped the dynamic feel natural,” he explained.

Nivin Pauly on joining the Lokesh Cinematic Universe

Nivin Pauly is now part of the Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU) and will take on an antagonistic role, marking a change from the relaxed romantic characters audiences have often associated with him.“It is always good to surprise the audience. After doing two back-to-back feel-good romantic comedies, it felt like the right time to offer something different. Playing an antagonist will surprise them. The film is big in scale, with large sets and high-quality production, and I hope it does well. Although the villain is dark and cruel, he also has a touch of dark humour, which made the role exciting to explore,” he said.

Nivin Pauly’s new film with Rukmini Vasanth

Nivin is also working on his upcoming romantic comedy, ‘NP51’, which pairs him with Rukmini Vasanth for the first time.The actor said they had spent only a few days together on the sets and were still getting to know each other. The team then took an Onam break, followed by a period of mourning after the death of a colleague.