Biju
Menon
has
replaced
Mammootty
as
the
lead
actor
of
Ranjith's
much-awaited
upcoming
project
Leela.
The
movie
is
based
on
Unni
R's
short
story
of
the
same
name.
Unni
himself
pens
the
screenplay
and
dialogues.
The
project,
which
will
be
released
under
the
title
Leela-The
Never
Ending
Play,
was
initially
offered
to
Mohanlal.
But
he
turned
down
the
offer
due
to
personal
reasons.
Later,
Shankar
Ramakrishnan
was
considered
for
the
lead
role.
But
later,
the
team
finalised
Mammootty
to
play
the
central
character
Kuttiyappan;
to
the
much
surprise
of
the
audience
and
media.
It
is
because
Kuttiyappan
is
an
extra
bold
character,
which
lies
outside
Mammootty's
comfort
zone.
Earlier,
Ann
Augustine
was
roped
in
to
play
the
title
character,
Leela.
But
the
actress
opted
out
due
to
the
controversial
nature
of
the
character.
Leela
is
all
about
the
unique
relationship
between
the
mahout
Kuttiyappan
and
an
orphan
girl
named
Leela.
Later,
the
team
went
on
to
cast
Karthika
Nair
for
the
role;
but
later
replaced
her
with
Rima
Kallingal,
as
they
were
unimpressed
with
Karthika's
screen
test.
Even
Rima's
association
with
the
project
has
not
been
finalised.
Ranjith
is
directing
a
movie
based
on
another
writer's
screenplay,
for
the
first
time
in
his
career.
Reportedly,
the
highly
anticipated
project
will
start
rolling
by
the
end
of
2015
and
hit
the
theatres
by
mid
2016.