Hari Hara Veera Mallu had a tough time in theatres. The film starring Pawan Kalyan was trolled heavily for its delays, patchy execution, and disastrous box office run. Many wrote it off as a failed magnum opus that utterly failed to live up to its grand scale. Yet, the story took a surprising turn when the film landed on Prime Video. In its debut week, it clocked 3.1 million views, giving the film a new lease of life on OTT.
The most striking part of this debut is the films it managed to surpass. Pawan Kalyan’s historical actioner went past two Mohanlal films, L2: Empuraan and Thudarum. Both films had solid buzz and opened strongly on JioHotstar with 3 million and 2.9 million views. Yet Hari Hara Veera Mallu edged past them, proving that digital platforms can sometimes rewrite a film’s fate.
This is not to say the film has suddenly turned into a blockbuster. The criticism and trollings still stand, but the numbers show that curiosity and Pawan Kalyan’s star power continue to draw audiences once the barrier of theatrical ticket pricing is removed. OTT platforms allow viewers to watch at their own pace, and people watched the film just to troll the heck out of it.
With this result, Hari Hara Veera Mallu has turned into a small success story in the streaming space. Despite all the trolling, the film has shown it can hold its own and even surpass big Malayalam titles backed by a star like Mohanlal.
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