If you guys follow us or read our articles, you guys should probably know about the release of ‘Minnal Murali‘ on Netflix already. The Malayalam superhero film (the first one ever, in fact) has had a lot of positive responses so far and has taken over Netflix India by storm. In fact, multiple social media platforms of Netflix India have a lightning symbol behind the world-famous “N” symbol – signifying the film’s success and popularity. And after a dreadful year for Malayalam non-Amazon Prime (and SonyLIV to an extent) OTT releases, ‘Minnal Murali’ is exactly the film that streaming platforms have been waiting for.
Don’t get us wrong. There have been some brilliant direct-to-OTT Malayalam films released so far. However, most of them have been Amazon Prime Video released films. These include ‘Drishyam 2’, ‘Joji’, ‘Malik’, ‘Kuruthi’, ‘#Home’ and much more. However, the other two major OTT platforms in India – meaning Disney+ Hotstar and Netflix, have not been releasing much direct-to-OTT streaming Malayalam films. While all three of these platforms do feature some brilliant Malayalam films that were released in 2021, the aforementioned two platforms had only dropped one Malayalam direct-to-OTT film each (before December).
Disney+ Hotstar’s ‘Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham’ and Netflix’s ‘Irul’ did pretty badly on their respective digital platforms. But the recent release (and success) of ‘Minnal Murali’ has shown that Amazon Prime Video is not the only platform that releases quality Malayalam films. While SonyLIV and Neestream managed to release a few good Malayalam films – ‘Kaanekkaane’, ‘Madhuram’ and ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’; they are not as popular as the previously mentioned three platforms.
Still, the success of ‘Minnal Murali’ will hopefully be the validation that Netflix has been waiting for. This will not only help Netflix in attracting more accomplished Malayalam filmmakers, but it should also attract creative Mollywood artists towards the OTT field as well. For now, we have to wait and see.