A few days ago, many of us received the news that the first-ever Malayalam superhero film, ‘Minnal Murali‘, is going to premiere on Netflix, directly for streaming. Even though it may have come as a surprise to some – an OTT premier was always happening, in hindsight. While the movie was highly anticipated and would have done well in theatres, the “production hell” behind this film’s shooting is quite well known in the South Indian film society and the direct-to-OTT release might have been a blessing in disguise.
A year ago, or more like 18 months ago, things were going good for the production of ‘Minnal Murali’. The shooting was going well and they were a month or so away from releasing their first teaser. However, a couple of months later, their huge film set, which was painstakingly made over a period of months gets destroyed by right-wing groups. The cost of creation of the film set was close to Rs. 50 Lakhs and now the location is unusable as it has become a part of a vandalising case. And to add to their misery – the coronavirus is rampaging around the country – which means no shooting or finding a new set location until the pandemic has been managed. On the bright side, the teaser for ‘Minnal Murali’ was well received.
The production went on to face more delays – the recreation of the set at a new location, adhering to Covid-19 rules and regulations and being mindful of the second wave of the coronavirus. Just when things were turning around for the film production, they were stopped from shooting by the police, for apparently filming in containment zones without proper shooting permits.
So with these delays and distractions, the best option for the production company behind ‘Minnal Murali’ would be to release it as soon as possible. Since we do not know when theatres in Kerala will open, direct-to-OTT streaming was their next best option. And Netflix is a big platform for the Malayalam film to premiere in. Now, all we are waiting for is the release date.
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