Mohanlal and Nivin Pauly films have clashed twice at the box office, both times during Onam. And both times, it’s Nivin who was the victor. However, can Nivin repeat the magic this time too? We say the upcoming Mohanlal is going to give him a worthy opponent.
Mohanlal’s much-awaited Vysakh directorial ‘Monster’ is set to release on October 21. The crime thriller will see the superstar playing a Punjabi character for the first time in his career. With Telugu actress Lakshmi Manchu making her Malayalam debut and also co-starring Honey Rose and Sudev Nair, the film is touted to be a content-driven film instead of belonging to the expected mass genre. The actor-director duo had given us ‘Pulimurugan’ and the expectations for this reunion are sky high.
Clashing with ‘Monster’ will be Nivin Pauly with his biggie ‘Padavettu’. After much delays, the film is finally set to release on the same date; Oct 21. The film will be produced by popular music label Saregama’s movie division called Yoodlee Films alongside actor Sunny Wayne under Sunny Wayne Productions. The action thriller will depict the oppressions faced by one section of society in North Kerala. One of the biggest of Pauly’s career, the movie also costars Aditi Balan, and Shammi Tilakan with stalwarts like Manju Warrier, Meera Jasmine, and Indrans rumored to appear in cameos.
Mohanlal and Nivin Pauly as stated before have clashed twice at the box office till now. In the 2017 Onam season, Nivin’s smaller but content-driven ‘Njandukalude Nattil Oridavela’ won over Mohanlal’s ‘Velipadinte Pusthakam’, and in 2019, it was Pauly’s ‘Love Action Drama’ that survived and set the cash counters ringing over biggies like Mohanlal’s ‘Ittymaani: Made in China’ and Prithviraj’s ‘Brothers Day’.
It is to be noted however that these Mohanlal films were some of the worst received films of his career while the two Pauly films were some of his biggest grosser hence a direct comparison is unfair. What’s also different is that unlike then, Mohanlal is this time coming with a content-driven release and not just another family release, and after the success of ‘Drishyam 2’, alongside fans, even neutral audiences are also excited to watch ‘Monster’ in theatres.
While both stars have a dedicated fan base and the buzz seems decent, no earnest opinion can be given unless the teaser or trailer for ‘Monster’ releases. The teaser of ‘Padavettu’ was well received. At the end of the day, it seems however good the promotion is, only good content will prevail. And as fans of good cinema, what else should we hope for?
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