KOCHI — Fresh off the success of Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, director Girish AD has spoken candidly about the challenges of preserving the close-knit working culture behind his films, revealing that growing ambitions and blurred professional boundaries have sometimes created friction within his team.

The Nivin Pauly and Mamitha Baiju-starrer has reportedly crossed the Rs 100-crore mark, giving Girish another major box-office success following Premalu, which starred Naslen and Mamitha Baiju.

In an interview with Cue Studio, Girish said he has traditionally preferred working with a team that shares a similar creative wavelength and understands the collaborative environment he wants on set. But as careers grow and individual ambitions change, he said maintaining that dynamic can become difficult.

Without identifying anyone, the filmmaker suggested that some people who were once closely associated with his team had gradually moved away from its original working culture as their personal ambitions grew.

“We usually try to bring the people we work closely with onto our wavelength. Even if one person deviates from that, it becomes a huge problem,” Girish said.

He added that ambition itself was not the issue, but that it became problematic when another person’s aspirations began turning into someone else’s responsibility.

“Everyone is ambitious. I am ambitious too. But when their ambitions become excessive, they end up becoming our responsibility,” he said.

Girish also made it clear that he believes individuals should pursue their own career goals rather than expect his projects to accommodate them.

“I am doing this for my own ambition. They can go somewhere else to pursue their ambitions. That’s how I look at it,” he added.

His comments offer a rare glimpse into the changing dynamics behind a filmmaking team that has become closely associated with a distinct, youthful style of Malayalam cinema and a string of commercial successes.