The Mohanlal starring ‘Bro Daddy‘ wrapped up its shoot, a few weeks back. The Prithviraj directorial has been widely anticipated by the Malayali crowd, especially after their previous collaboration, ‘Lucifer‘, went on to become the highest grossing Malayalam movie of all time. While theatres in Kerala have received a reopen date, the latest reports seem to suggest that this upcoming comedy-drama could actually get a direct-to-OTT release on Disney+ Hotstar. If ‘Bro Daddy’ manages to premiere on a streaming platform, Mollywood will reach another tier in Indian cinema (in the OTT space) which is currently being occupied by just three film industries – Bollywood, Tollywood and Kollywood.
The popularity of Bollywood is easy to understand – almost half the country treats Hindi as their second language and a lot more can understand the language. Tollywood and Kollywood’s popularity is mainly among the people who can speak Telugu and Tamil respectively, but if a film from any of the two industries is remotely popular, it can cross borders and instantly get views in other Southern states as well. Films like the Baahubali movie series, ’96’and ‘Soorarai Pottru’ have managed to garner pan-Indian attention as well.
While Mollywood films have released popular films such as ‘Drishyam’ and ‘Kumbalangi Nights’, they never managed to garner pan-Indian attention similar to the likes of the aforementioned South-Indian movies. However, with the rise of direct-to-OTT releases, Mollywood has been handed a lifeline, to release quality content which is available to a billion people (or rather, the people among the billion who have access to internet) with the help of Amazon Prime Video and other regional OTT platforms. But with ‘Minnal Murali’ now slated for a direct-to-OTT release on Netflix and ‘Bro Daddy’ possibly heading for an online premiere on Disney+ Hotstar, we are looking at major streaming conglomerates trying to create original Malayalam content (or buy their streaming rights) so as to be a part of Mollywood’s success.
There is no real reason for Bro Daddy to release directly for streaming; however, if the film does release on OTT as per these latest reports – we will be witnessing a change in Indian cinema. And ‘Bro Daddy’ wouldn’t even need to be a hit movie for the Malayalam film industry to get this “elevation” – especially with the feature film boasting a brilliant cast and crew.
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