Fahadh Faasil, Urvashi, Mohanlal, Prithviraj, Suraj Venjaramoodu and Tovino Thomas are all brilliant Malayalam actors, all with a varied acting portfolio under their belts. However, what they all have in common is that they are well recognized OTT superstars as well. Their direct-to-OTT released films have attracted many non-Malayali viewers and that has been a huge part of their pan-Indian success. And it looks like the Mollywood megastar, Mammootty, will be joining them soon with his upcoming film, ‘Puzhu‘, getting ready to release directly for streaming.
Many expected this upcoming Mammootty starrer to release in theatres, especially after the actor’s previous two films – ‘The Priest’ and ‘One’ released in theatres in 2021, before the second wave of the coronavirus shut down cinema halls across the state. Still, it is not an unwelcome surprise for many Keralites, who would prefer to stay at home during these trying times than venture out to a crowded cinema hall. We expect the recent rise in Omicron and Covid-19 cases to have influenced this decision and with many big-budget films already postponing their theatrical release for now – this decision can’t really be faulted.
The Malayalam film industry has been thriving on the digital platform, especially after the release of ‘C U Soon’, back in mid-to-late 2020. Various OTT platforms such as Netflix, ZEE5 and SonyLIV have all found success while releasing Malayalam films – but none have been as successful as Amazon Prime Video. While the OTT platform made a blunder earlier in 2022, by not opting to buy the streaming rights of the Suraj-Nimisha starrer, ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’, the streaming platform has redeemed itself with some brilliant films such as ‘Joji’, ‘Malik’, ‘#Home’, etc.
Mammootty’s ‘Puzhu’, however, will be released on SonyLIV with the OTT platform having already premiered to small scale, yet brilliant films – ‘Kaanekkaane‘ and ‘Madhuram‘. We are now waiting for the official release date announcement.
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