Lijo Jose Pellisery opens up about the low response they received for Mohanlal starrer Malaikottai Vaaliban; reveals some persuaded others to not watch it

In an interaction, Lijo Jose Pellisery maintained that the discussion totally went into the wrong direction when some set out to discourage others from watching the film.

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

February 1, 2024 - 1:36 PM IST

Bringing together a potent combo of filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellisery along with Malayalam superstar Mohanlal in a magnum opus like Malaikottai Vaaliban was bound to create buzz. Yet right before the film’s release, it failed to make a noise and also, it did not fare as expected post its release too. Addressing these challenges, filmmaker Lijo Jose, in an interaction, opened up about how certain people who disliked the film even went to the extent of persuading and discouraging others from watching the film.

Lijo Jose Pellisery opens up about the low response they received for Mohanlal starrer Malaikottai Vaaliban; reveals some persuaded others to not watch it

In an interaction with Galatta Plus, Lijo Jose Pellisery revealed that the reviews which came out in the first couple of days may not have been in favour with the film but some went to the extent of asking others to not watch it. “When such an effort has been taken, I am not saying it should be celebrated. Criticisms are also totally welcome, but during the first two days since the film released, the discussions were in the totally wrong direction,” Lijo told the portal. He continued, “The comments that came out in the first two days sounded like, ‘I did not like it, so nobody in this country should watch it’ — that’s the attitude some had.”

Followed by that, the director revealed how every crew member who put in their blood, sweat, and time became inconsequential when others were being asked to not watch the film. “Suddenly, all the people and all the work they did for the film for one and a half years disappeared and there only remained discussions about the worst Malayalam film ever made. That made me really sad. That’s why I stepped forward and addressed the media, which I had never done before, explaining why people should watch the film. I did not want people to throw stones at each other over a film. It’s all yours, if you don’t want to watch it, that’s also okay, but don’t compel others not to watch it,” he shared.

Apart from this, Lijo Jose Pellisery mentioned that the other thing that impacted the response for the film was the trailer because he believed that it was too stringent in revealing the details of the plot and that it was too slow paced.

Also starring Sonalee Kulkarni, Danish Sait, Hareesh Peradi, among others, the epic drama released in multiple languages on January 25.

Also Read: Malaikottai Valliban Trailer: Mohanlal is a rebel, messiah for the oppressed and wages a war against the British Raj