Pre-production began on 12 September 2024, with principal photography commencing under the working title Production No: 7, and was completed by 30 January 2025 lasting 94 days. The title Lokah Chapter One: Chandra was unveiled on 8 June 2025. Nimish Ravi, Chaman Chakko, and Jakes Bejoy formed the technical crew as the cinematographer, editor and music director respectively. Actress Santhy Balachandran was credited for additional screenplay and dramaturgy.
The film opens in a war-torn city, where Chandra fights a female assassin sent by Ishtar and escapes from a ruined building.
In the present, Chandra is summoned from Sweden to Karnataka by Prakash and learns that the summons came from Moothon ("the Elder"). She obtains a fake passport from Tom Isaac, an acquaintance, who also mentions about They Live Among Us, a book credited to the pen name Joseph Dominic and described as a detailed chronicle of supernatural beings similar to the Aithihyamala.
In Karnataka, Chandra lives quietly, working night shifts and is seen visiting the Holy Grail Café, owned by her ally Johny. Across the street live Sunny and his friends Venu a MBBS dropout student and Naijil. Sunny develops feelings for Chandra, though she remains distant.
Her powers are revealed when she intervenes to protect a co-worker from Sundar, a member of an organ trafficking ring led by crime boss Gajendran and supported by Inspector Nachiyappa. Nachiyappa becomes suspicious of Chandra after learning that she had attacked Sundar.
Sunny begins to suspect her after seeing Kumar, a criminal associate, regularly deliver sealed containers to her. His doubts increase when Naijil briefly disappears, though it is later explained he was detained by police. Chandra is later abducted by Gajendran’s syndicate but kills her captors to escape. Sunny, attempting to rescue her, witnesses her speed and strength. She confirms to him that she is a Yakshi, causing him to faint.
A parallel story follows Verghese Kurien, who tells his granddaughter the legend of Kalliyankattu Neeli: a tribal girl whose village was destroyed by a king enforcing caste segregation and who, after being bitten by a bat, developed supernatural abilities. After the king's men killed her parents, she killed them in revenge and became a guardian figure and a nightmare for wrongdoers. She was later recruited by Kadamattathu Kathanar to serve Moothon; Kathanar deceived the public into believing he had captured and subdued Neeli. Verghese is revealed to be Joseph Dominic, author of They Live Among Us, and Chandra is revealed to be Neeli herself, now immortal.
Sunny later wakes up in Chandra's room and discovers her vulnerabilities when he sees her burned by sunlight and healing by consuming packed red blood cells, the very contents of the containers supplied by Kumar. Later, Nachiyappa confronts Chandra while investigating the murders of the organ trafficking gang members, and during their fight, she bites him. Sunny and his friends arrive during the struggle, and Nachiyappa accidentally shoots Sunny before fleeing. Chandra then takes Sunny and his friends to the abandoned Michael’s Clinic. Subsequently, media reports label Chandra and Sunny as terrorists due to the attack on Nachiyappa and the deaths of the gang members. Chandra tells Sunny to inform the media and police that Sunny had nothing to do with it, and it was all Chandra's fault, if he is arrested.
Nachiyappa begins mutating into a yaksha as a result of Chandra’s bite. Verghese visits him, warns him of Chandra’s true identity, and collects a blood sample. At the clinic, Chandra explains her weaknesses—sunlight and her heart, which is fatal if directly attacked—and clarifies that her bite can transform only healthy individuals into yakshas, while others succumb to a rabies-like illness. As a teetotaller in good health, Nachiyappa is able to survive and adapt to the transformation.
Two policemen raid the clinic, during which Chandra is shot in the head. She is rescued by Michael, revealed to be a Chathan living in a low profile as a street magician, who uses hallucinatory magic to disorient one officer and deflects a surgical knife into the other’s leg. Michael leads them back to the Holy Grail Café, where he reveals a basement safehouse. Chandra shows Sunny a photograph of her lover Michael Joseph, a British officer from 1905 who resembles him. It is also revealed that Johny is a descendant of Kathanar. Meanwhile, Nachiyappa begins to enjoy his newly acquired powers and develops a god complex. He attempts to bite his mother in an effort to make her immortal, but she dies.
In the climax, Chandra is attacked by the government’s Garuda Force and defeats them. She is then targeted by Gajendran’s men, who aim for her heart, but heals by consuming a blood packet provided by Sunny and defeats them. She confronts Nachiyappa, who has fully transformed into a yaksha, and kills him by stabbing his heart with a dagger. Afterwards, she retreats underground, promising Sunny that she’ll return if needed.
In a mid-credits scene, Charlie, an Odiyan, eliminates the remaining traffickers. A post-credits sequence shows Michael being questioned by a man about a group of archaeologists who disappeared inside a cave after traveling with a monk; the monk went only partway, while the archaeologists ventured deeper and never returned. Only a camera was recovered, containing a photograph of a violent-looking man identical to Michael, who reveals the figure is one of his 389 siblings.
Lokah Chapter: 1 Chandra is the seventh production venture of Dulquer Salmaan's Wayfarer Films.[10][11] It is intended as the beginning of a full-fledged Malayalam superhero cinematic universe titled Lokah, a project being mounted on a large scale with a possibility of multiple chapters.[10] Dulquer Salmaan aims to build an indigenous cinematic universe rooted in local culture, folklore, and mythology.[12][13]Kalyani Priyadarshan and Naslen joined as the main cast. Kalyani had practiced martial arts for the film.[14]
The film is written and directed by Dominic Arun, known for Tharangam (2017).[15] Dominic Arun revealed that the idea for the film was discussed as early as 2020 and developed organically, emphasizing that creating a female superhero was not a deliberate attempt to break the mold.[15]Santhy Balachandran has contributed to the additional screenplay and dramaturgy.[15][16] The technical crew includes Nimish Ravi as the cinematographer,[16]Chaman Chakko as the editor,[16]Jakes Bejoy for music,[16] Banglan as the production designer,[16] and Yannick Ben handling action choreography.[16] Melwy J. handled the costume design, collaborating with Archana Akhil Rao for specific sequences, including Kalyani Priyadarshan's looks.[15] Jom Varghese and Bibin Perumballi served as executive producers.[11][10]
The film's pre-production began on 12 September 2024,[17] and the principal photography commencing with a muhurat pooja ceremony on the same day under a working title Production No: 7, marking Kalyani's first film with Naslen and her second feature with Dulquer Salmaan's production banner.[17][18] The shooting for the film was completed by 30 January 2025.[19] Shooting lasted for 94 days.[20] The film's title Lokah – Chapter One: Chandra was unveiled on 8 June 2025,[21] with the cast including Chandu Salimkumar, Arun Kurian, Vijayaraghavan, Raghunath Paleri, Sarath Sabha, Nithya Shri, and Nishanth Sagar.[22]
The film's promo song, titled "Thani Lokah Murakkaari", sung by Jyoti Nooran of the Nooran Sisters in her Malayalam debut. The track, composed by Jakes Bejoy with rap portions by Reble, carries lyrics penned by writer-filmmaker Muhsin Parari, credited under his pseudonym "Mu.Ri".[23]
Controversy
Some dialogues by the character of Inspector Nachiyappa Gowda received outrage for negatively portraying the residents of Bangalore. The dialogue referred Bengaluru as the "the hub of parties and drugs" and equating women in the city to prostitutes. Later the production house Wayfarer Films issued an open apology for hurting the sentiments of the people.[24][25][26] It was also clarified that the story was not set in Bangalore, but rather a fictional city in India, and that the filming took place in Bangalore due to the right conditions for script.[27]
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra opened to ₹2.71 crore in Kerala and ₹6.66 crore worldwide.[31][32] The film went on to collect ₹65 crore in its first four day weekend run worldwide.[33][34] Within seven days of release, the film's worldwide gross crossed ₹100 crore.[35][36][37]
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra received generally positive reviews from critics.
Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 4/5 stars, noting that "What makes the Kalyani Priyadarshan and Naslen-starrer far better than other massive-budget fantasy spectacles is that its magnificence extends beyond visual brilliance to include impeccable writing".[39] Vivek Santhosh of The New Indian Express gave the film 3.5/5 stars stating that " A bold, imperfect but unforgettable step into Malayalam cinema's first mythic universe, where Kalyani Priyadarshan's Chandra embodies folklore, fire, and neon spectacle in a world still finding its full shape".[40] Manjusha Radhakrishnan of Gulf News rated 4/5 and wrote, "Superhero saga done right blending Indian folklore with Hollywood swagger."[41]
Roopa Radhakrishnan of The Times of India gave the film 3.5/5 stars and noted that while Lokah Chapter: 1 Chandra has its flaws, such as a slow start, overstretched feeling of cameos, and some jokes that don't land, its positives outweigh the negatives. The review praises the film for its commendable and ambitious world-building, strong cast performances, striking cinematography, and "is more about consistent world-building rather than instant payoffs."[42]
Swathi P. Ajith of Onmanorama praised Lokah Chapter: 1 Chandra for its "bold" visual design and "immersive" world-building, noting its unique blend of Kerala folklore and the modern-day superhero genre. While the review commended Kalyani Priyadarshan's physical performance, "her portrayal falters slightly" in her emotional range. The film was described as a "visual treat" with its bold colour scheme and a technically well-rendered design. However, it was also noted that the momentum dropped in the second half of the film. She wrote: "Lokah – Chapter One: Chandra may not rewrite the superhero rulebook, but it earns full marks for effort."[43]
Athira M of The Hindu noted that Lokah Chapter: 1 Chandra handles the superhero genre with expertise, praising its "catchy" cinematic quality, visual effects, production design, and background score. The review highlighted Kalyani Priyadarshan's performance as "the first female superhero of Malayalam cinema", stating she "steals the show" with her confidence and poise, while also commending the "well-structured flashback" and supporting cast. The review concluded that the film lays a solid foundation for a bigger cinematic universe and wrote: "The film is not without flaws, but they are minor ones that can be ignored."[44]
Sequel
On September 27, the sequel was officially announced. Titled Lokah Chapter 2, the film stars Tovino Thomas in the lead.[45] A special promo featuring Dulquer Salmaan and Tovino Thomas was released by Wayfarer Films, Dulquer Salmaan is also expected to reprise his role.[46]
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