Many Malayali filmgoers know this already – the Dulquer Salmaan starter, ‘Kurup’ will premiere in theatres next week, on November 12th 2021. This crime thriller has been “waiting in the wings” for almost 18 months now and we are finally going to see the feature film in theatres, just as the movie was intended to be viewed. But did you know that Netflix had already bought the streaming rights for ‘Kurup’ for Rs. 40 crores. And Netflix had the digital rights for almost a month before the film producers listened to megastar Mammootty, who advised them to release the film in theatres instead.
This upcoming crime thriller doesn’t just star Dulquer Salmaan, the film is also produced by him through his production company, ‘Wayfarer Films’. Because of this, his father, the Malayalam megastar Mammootty, got a chance to see the film before Netflix announced a release date for the film. Upon viewing the film, Mammootty said that ‘Kurup’ is a film that has to be watched in theatres, not on an OTT platform.
Mammootty further stated that the film will be able to draw in a lot of film-loving crowds, and this will help the theatre associations around the state. The actor wants the Malayalam film industry to maintain a good relationship with the various theatre associations so that they can continue to work together in the future. The filmmakers behind ‘Kurup’ agreed with this assessment and broke off their contract with Netflix. They have also not asked for any guarantees from the theatre associations; meaning asking for assurances like providing an advance on the profits, only running their film in theatres for a set duration, etc. The production company has a lot of faith in their product as well as the filmgoing crowd.