Mahesh Narayanan: 46 Malayalam movies were screened for censors in December 2020

Just a week of work was pending of director Mahesh Narayanan’s

Malik

, which has Fahadh Faasil in the lead, when the lockdown was announced. The movie now has locked in on a theatrical release date in May 2021, more than a year after it was initially intended to hit theatres.

“We were set to release the movie in April 2020. So, it’s been a long wait. We screened the film for the censor board on Tuesday and after that decided to announce the release date in May,” says Mahesh. “Malik was never meant for a digital release; it was made keeping in mind a theatrical release. The film’s producer stood with us and that’s what made this possible. Right now, provided the circumstances are favourable, the general view in the industry is that the audience will start coming to theatres by April and May looks like a good time for Malik’s release.”

While Fahadh and Mahesh have collaborated in two movies after the lockdown and is set to work in Malayankunju again, the filmmaker says they were never keen on releasing Malik on digital platforms. Fahadh had lost close to 20kg to play Sulaiman, a leader of a coastal community, in the political thriller.

“Fahadh too was always sure that Malik was meant for theatres. We have done two movies for digital platforms because it was necessary for the sustenance of the industry; Malayalam movies had to come out during this phase when theatres were closed. But the thing is when you make a movie for theatres, that’s the only platform of release that is viable for such a project, taking into account the recovery figures. We are hoping for a global release for Malik in May,” says Mahesh.

In their next collaboration, Malayankunju which is directed by Sajimon Prabhakaran, Mahesh will be donning a new role – as a cinematographer. “I have scripted the movie and I am also doing the cinematography for the film. Sanu John Varghese was supposed to shoot the film but then all of us are just trying to do stuff that we are interested in. During the Covid-19 phase, there is now a need to reduce the number of people on the sets. I have to be on the sets in my capacity as an editor or scriptwriter, so I might as well help out in other ways too. Right now, everyone has to do everything because of the restrictions,” says the filmmaker.

Mahesh also shares a positive outlook about how this year has been for the industry. “If you look at it, the number of films are increasing and that means more people are getting work. When I talked to the censor board official a few days ago, he told me that 46 movies were censored in December alone. So, that means 2020 wasn’t a bad year for Malayalam cinema,” he says.