When Mohanlal said, “We are trying to take Malayalam cinema to another level with Odiyan”

Mohanlal had high hopes for ‘Odiyan’, envisioning it as a film that would elevate Malayalam cinema to new heights.



During a promotional event in Dubai, he expressed his excitement, stating that Odiyan was special enough to warrant his first-ever film launch in the city. “We are trying to take Malayalam cinema to another league with this film,” Mohanlal remarked.




Directed by Sreekumar Menon, ‘Odiyan’ featured a stellar cast, including Prakash Raj, Innocent, Siddique, and Narain, and was set for a grand global release on December 14. However, despite the immense pre-release buzz, the film failed to live up to expectations upon hitting the big screens.

Later Prithviraj Sukumaran’s directorial ‘L2: Empuraan’ turned out to be a game changer for the superstar as it marked his comeback.


ETimes rated the film with 3.5 stars out of 5 and our review reads, “Director Shrikumar has ably executed Harikrishnan's script that doesn't have mass dialogues or scenes but goes for grounded storytelling. It's quite contrary from all the hype and buildup the film had pre-release and might leave the fans wanting more. Mohanlal as the shape shifting Odiyan is on top form, both during the scenes that require to do action and also emote. Mammootty's narration about how Odiyans strike fear to those they are paid to scare by taking the form of animals and Shrikumar's use of graphics to execute the concept has helped the film to a great extent. Manju Warrier aces her scenes with Mohanlal, with a meaty role after quite some time. Prakash Raj too puts on a decent performance, however, the dubbing does take away the impact from his villainy.”
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