Kerala theatres haven’t been doing so well. The rise in Covid-19 and Omicron cases mean curfews on Sundays and no more night shows. The hype behind films like ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ and ‘Kurup’ has died down as well, so a lot of theatre fans are staying at home currently. Well… Except for the recently released Vineet Srinivasan written and directed coming-of-age feature, ‘Hridayam’. During times when major film production companies are shifting their release date for a favourable date, this little-known, under-marketed Malayalam feature has taken the state by storm… and their theatres as well.
‘Jersey’, ‘Salute’ and ‘RRR’ are examples of major films that had to postpone their release dates due to the aforementioned rise in Covid-19 cases. These films were supposed to be the boost that the Indian film theatres needed to help them deal with the Covid related losses, especially for the Kerala theatre owners – since their theatre halls were shut down for over 16 months. However, the postponement of these films have caused many major theatre chains to shut down – many unable to withstand the incurring losses.
This is where ‘Hridayam‘ comes in. As mentioned before, this under-marketed Pranav Mohanlal–Kalyani Priyadarshan starrer has become a mass favourite overnight. This coming-of-age feature film has earned praise for its music, story, lead performances (particularly Pranav Mohanlal) and direction. This movie was expected to stream on a major OTT platform this month, but with how well the film has done in theatres, we do not expect this movie to release on a streaming platform till March at least. Films like these help theatres in the long run, and after a near 10-month wait, the minds behind ‘Hridayam’ are more than willing to push the OTT premiere for a few more weeks in theatres.
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