Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra

Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Dominic Arun
Written by	Dominic Arun
Produced by	Dulquer Salmaan
Starring	Kalyani Priyadarshan Naslen Sandy Chandu Salim Kumar Arun Kurian
Cinematography	Nimish Ravi
Edited by	Chaman Chakko
Music by	Jakes Bejoy
Production company	Wayfarer Films
Distributed by	Wayfarer Films[1]
Release date	28 August 2025 (2025-08-28)
Running time	150 minutes[2][3]
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	₹30 crore[4]
Box office	est. ₹304 crore[a]

Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra is a 2025 Indian Malayalam-language superhero action film written and directed by Dominic Arun and produced by Dulquer Salmaan for Wayfarer Films. It stars Kalyani Priyadarshan (in the title role) and Naslen, with Sandy, Chandu Salim Kumar and Arun Kurian in other significant roles. In the film, Chandra, a mysterious woman, comes to Bengaluru to fight the evil. Her life changes after she meets young Sunny and his friends, and gets entangled with a corrupt cop Nachiyappa and an organ-trafficking ring associated with him.

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 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. Santhy Balachandran is credited for additional screenplay.

Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra was released theatrically on 28 August 2025. Upon its release, the film received widespread critical acclaim. The film was a box office success, becoming the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever, surpassing Empuraan (2025), and the first Malayalam film to cross the ₹300 crore mark globally. It was among the highest-grossing Indian films of 2025 and the highest-grossing female-led Indian film.^[10]

In a war-torn city, 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 lives 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-turned-politician Gajendran and supported by Inspector Nachiyappa, a corrupt man. Nachiyappa becomes suspicious of Chandra after learning that she had attacked Sundar violently. Later she also saves Sunny from an accident and is subsequently invited to Naijil's birthday party. Their cat is scared of her presence and Chandra is visibly uncomfortable with the sight of blood.

Sunny begins to suspect her after seeing Kumar, a known 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 Sundar and his men but she manages to kills them and escape. Sunny, attempting to rescue her, witnesses her agility and strength. She confirms to him that she is a Yakshi, causing him to faint.

Somewhere in the city 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 witnesses her skin being 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 of his. 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, who is revealed to be a Chathan keeping a low profile as a street magician. He 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 that has been bloodied by a mysterious person in one of the rooms. 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.

Meanwhile, the cafe is surrounded by the government’s Garuda Force, who try to appeal to Chandra in surrendering; unwilling to do so, the Garuda Force barges in to the cafe. Chandra successfully takes them down but is quickly targeted by Gajendran’s men, who shoot her heart, fatally injuring her. However, she heals herself by consuming a blood packet provided by Sunny and defeats them. Nachiyappa, who has fully transformed into a yaksha, confronts her in front of Sunny, Naijil, and Venu. After a bloody fight, she kills him by stabbing his heart with a dagger, though Venu is injured in the back by Nachiyappa. Afterwards, she retreats underground, saying Sunny that he is unable to contact her.

In the mid-credits scene, Charlie, an Odiyan, is revealed to be the mysterious person in the basement of the cafe. He previously eliminated traffickers from the syndicate who came for a parley. In the post-credits scene, Michael is 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, He is Michael's identical twin brother Maathan , who is revealed to be an Evil Chathan is the figure is one of his 389 siblings.

The film features several other cameo appearances throughout, including Anna Ben as Anu, Sunny's ex-girlfriend, and Abraham Vadakkan as Scaria, Anu's boyfriend.^[11] Vishak Nair appears as a man at the pub, and Soubin Shahir, Santhy Balachandran, Ahaana Krishna, Balu Varghese, and Vijay Menon appear in cameo roles.^[12] An arm is shown for Moothon with Mammootty's voice-over.^[13]

Lokah Chapter: 1 Chandra is the seventh production venture of Dulquer Salmaan's Wayfarer Films.^[14][15] 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.^[14] Dulquer Salmaan aims to build an indigenous cinematic universe rooted in local culture, folklore, and mythology.^[16][17] Kalyani Priyadarshan and Naslen joined as the main cast. Kalyani had practiced martial arts for the film.^[18]

The film is written and directed by Dominic Arun, known for Tharangam (2017).^[19] 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.^[19] Santhy Balachandran has contributed to the additional screenplay and dramaturgy.^[19][20] The technical crew includes Nimish Ravi as the cinematographer,^[20] Chaman Chakko as the editor,^[20] Jakes Bejoy for music,^[20] Banglan as the production designer,^[20] and Yannick Ben handling action choreography.^[20] Melwy J. handled the costume design, collaborating with Archana Akhil Rao for specific sequences, including Kalyani Priyadarshan's looks.^[19] Jom Varghese and Bibin Perumballi served as executive producers.^[15][14]

The film's pre-production began on 12 September 2024,^[21] 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.^[21][22] The shooting for the film was completed by 30 January 2025.^[23] Shooting lasted for 94 days.^[24] The film's title Lokah – Chapter One: Chandra was unveiled on 8 June 2025,^[25] with the cast including Chandu Salimkumar, Arun Kurian, Vijayaraghavan, Raghunath Paleri, Sarath Sabha, Nithya Shri, and Nishanth Sagar.^[26]

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".^[27]

Some dialogues by the character Inspector Nachiyappa Gowda received outrage for negatively portraying the residents of Bengaluru. The dialogue referred to Bengaluru as "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.^[28][29][30] It was also clarified that the story was not set in Bengaluru, but rather a fictional city in India, and that the filming took place in Bengaluru due to the right conditions for script.^[31]

Lokah was released theatrically in India on 28 August 2025.^[32][33] It was dubbed and released in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil and Kannada. Sithara Entertainments distributed the film in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. AGS Entertainment distributed the film in Tamil Nadu, while Lighter Buddha Films distributed the film in Karnataka. Pen Studios acquired the distribution under Pen Marudhar Entertainment, in North India.^[34] Suraya Filem acquired the distribution for Malaysia.^[35]

The film began streaming on JioHotstar from 31 October 2025 in Malayalam and dubbed versions of Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi languages.^[36][37]

Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra opened to ₹2.71 crore in Kerala and ₹6.66 crore worldwide.^[38][39] The film went on to collect ₹65 crore in its first four day weekend run worldwide.^[40][41] Within seven days of release, the film's worldwide gross crossed ₹100 crore.^[42] In 9 days, the film grossed ₹145 crore.^[43] In 12 days the film had grossed ₹198 crore,^[44] and crossed ₹200 crore on its 13th day.^[45] In 19 days, the film crossed ₹250 crore at the worldwide box office.^[46]

The film has grossed over ₹300 crore globally, making it the highest grossing Malayalam film of all time, highest grossing film in Kerala of all time, highest-grossing Malayalam film in India, second highest-grossing Malayalam film overseas, one of the highest-grossing Indian superhero films and one of the highest-grossing Indian films featuring a female lead.^[a]

The film is also the eighth highest grossing Indian film of all time in the Gulf Countries and second highest grossing Malayalam film in the Gulf Countries. In Malaysia, the film opened at tenth place at Malaysian Box office.^[47] Most of the Malaysian collection come from Tamil version.

The film has completed 100 days of theatrical run on 6 December 2025.

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".^[48] Vivek Santhosh of The New Indian Express gave the film 3.5/5 stars, terming it "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".^[49] Manjusha Radhakrishnan of Gulf News rated 4/5 and wrote, "Superhero saga done right blending Indian folklore with Hollywood swagger."^[50]

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".^[51] 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".^[52] 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".^[53]

On 27 September 2025, the film's sequel was officially announced, titled Lokah Chapter 2, the film stars Tovino Thomas in the lead.^[54] A special promo featuring Dulquer Salmaan and Tovino Thomas was released by Wayfarer Films, and Dulquer Salmaan is expected to reprise his role.^[55]

• List of Indian superhero films

• Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra at IMDb 
• Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra at Rotten Tomatoes