The much-awaited trailer of Moothon was released on Friday, Nivin Pauly's birthday, and by the looks of it, the film promises to be an dark, intense crime thriller, not for the faint-hearted.

Starring Nivin Pauly, the film is directed and produced by actor-turned-director Geetu Mohandas. It is about a 14-year-old boy who leaves his home in Lakshadweep to go to Mumbai in search for his elder brother.

The trailer captures the innocence of the boy, who, when asked by his friend how he will get to Mumbai, simply says, “The tide will take me to Bombay.” The film, it appears, will show the teenager navigating through Kamathipura, Mumbai’s red light area, as he attempts to find his elder brother.

In a departure from his other roles which portray him as the likeable boy-next-door in Mollywood, Nivin Pauly’s character in Moothon is violent and menacing. Referred to as “bhai”, the colloquial for a goon, in the red light area in the film, Nivin is shown yelling and raining blows at others.

The bilingual film to be released in Malayalam and Hindi also stars Bollywood actors Shashank Arora and Shobitha Dhulipala, both of Amazon Prime’s Made in Heaven fame, and Harish Khanna, who has acted in films like Gangs of Wasseypur and Midnight’s Children.

Moothon created quite a buzz when it had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2019 – making it the second Malayalam film to be screened at TIFF.

It has also been chosen to open the 21st edition of the Jio MAMI festival held in Mumbai from October 17 to October 24.

Moothon, which translates from Malayalam to ‘the elder one’, is produced by Vinod Kumar, Ajay G Rai, Alan McAlex and noted Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap, who also wrote the Hindi dialogues.

The trailer was released by actors Nivin Pauly, Dhanush and Vicky Kaushal on their social media accounts. 

Watch the trailer here: