A few hours ago, Malayalam actor, Fahadh Faasil penned an emotional letter talking about the on-going Covid-19 situation, his shooting accident before the pandemic started last year and his relationship with his wife. He acknowledged that this Coronavirus “climate” is a difficult time for all of us and we have to move forward with our lives. And with that he announced his upcoming movie ‘Malik’ will be released directly onto a digital platform for streaming. When ‘Malik’ releases, it will be this year’s most expensive Malayalam production to release directly on an OTT platform. If timed right, it could also be the most expensive Malayalam movie to release in 2021.
But that will not be the only record broken once ‘Malik’ releases on an OTT platform. Once the movie premieres, Fahadh Faasil will become the first Malayalam male superstar to have starred in 4 direct-to-OTT released Malayalam movies. The record of being the first Malayalam male actor to appear in three direct-to-OTT releases is also held by him. But wait, that’s not all. If ‘Malik’ ends up releasing on Amazon Prime Video, then Fahadh Faasil will become the first Malayalam male actor to have three direct-to-OTT released films on said digital streaming platform. While the letter may be emotional, the records that will be set by this film will be a reason to be happy, for the film crew as a whole.
‘Malik’ has been waiting for a theatrical release for over 15 months now (at least), so the producer, director, cast and crew have made peace with ‘Malik’ taking the streaming decision. Anto Joseph had also sent a letter earlier, to Film Exhibitors United Organization of Kerala (FEUOK) and Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation (KFEF) informing them of his plan to release both ‘Malik’ and ‘Cold Case’ directly on an OTT platform, so Fahadh’s letter is just more confirmation.
We hope the Covid-19 cases in Kerala will subside soon, which will help in slowly removing the lockdown around the State. With time, we should hopefully have theatres running in a month or so.
Here is the link to the letter that Fahadh uploaded:
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