In August, we had reported that Priyadarshan is reuniting with Akshay Kumar and, for the first time, with Saif Ali Khan for his next Hindi feature Haiwaan. The Hera Pheri director had shared stills of shoot commencement in Kochi, Kerala. The film is said to be remake of Priyadarshan's 2016 Malayalam hit, Oppam, starring Mohanlal. Now the speculations of Mohanlal's character from that film making a cameo in Haiwaan has been confirmed after Priyadarshan shared an on-set picture of the Malayalam superstar in the same outfit as his character Jayaraman from the original, along with Saif Ali Khan.
Priyadarshan recently wrapped up the shoot of the horror-comedy Bhoot Bangla, with Akshay Kumar.
Haiwaan has Saif playing a visually impaired character, based on the character Mohanlal played in the original, parts of which were reportedly inspired by the 2011 Korean thriller Blind and the 1991 Martin Scorsese thriller Cape Fear.
Akshay Kumar is believed to be playing the antagonist character based on Samuthirakani's character in Oppam. Priyadarshan earlier said that the script of Haiwaan has been written to make it accessible to Hindi audiences.
Cinematographer Divakar Mani, who worked Priyadarshan in Corona Papers, is handling the camera for Haiwaan. The film is bankrolled by KVN Productions and Thespian Films.
KVN has been recently in the news for being attached to upcoming big-budget releases such as Yash-starrer Toxic, Vijay's Jananayagan, and the Malayalam project Balan directed by Manjummel Boys-fame Chidambaram. The banner is also associated with Lokesh Kanagaraj's Kaithi sequel.
Heartfelt congratulations to my dearest friend Lal on being honoured with d #DadasahebPhalkeAward. No one deserves this recognition more. Proud2 see the nation celebrate ur extraordinary talent. Grateful to d Jury for recognising n honouring a most deserving legend. @Mohanlal pic.twitter.com/XAvLld2MAB
— priyadarshan (@priyadarshandir) September 20, 2025