How young directors are redefining the Mollywood landscape and box office: 'Problem always lies in the...'

Time of India

30-04-2025

Fans and well-wishers of
Mollywood
were initially sceptical about the entry of new filmmakers with unique storytelling styles, especially in an industry where it was hard to imagine their beloved stars without over-the-top action scenes, instead portraying realistic, everyday struggles as ordinary people.
Audiences longed to see their favourite stars,
Mammootty
or
Mohanlal
, collaborate with the veteran filmmakers they had grown up watching, as they were accustomed to their familiar style of storytelling. However, things began to shift when debutant directors took bold risks—introducing fresh faces and new crew members—while opting for simple yet deeply relatable narratives. Have you ever wondered why the 2019 Malayalam film 'Kumbalangi Nights' received such widespread acclaim from movie enthusiasts? That's precisely when the scepticism surrounding newcomers started to fade.
The conversation around young filmmakers gained momentum when Mammootty began delivering performance-oriented films such as 'Kannur Squad', 'Puzhu', 'Unda', and more. Many Mohanlal fans started urging him to collaborate with emerging directors, as they felt his signature charisma—something his die-hard fans had missed for years—was no longer being effectively showcased. It took some time for Mohanlal to move away from working exclusively with veteran filmmakers and open up to the new wave of talent. Films like '
Drishyam
', 'Neru', '
Lucifer
', and 'Malaikottai Vaaliban' eventually addressed those concerns. However, the real turning point came with
Tharun Moorthy
's 'Thudarum' in April 2025, which reignited hope among Mollywood fans that their favourite stars—and the industry itself—are in safe hands with debut directors.
Pallotty 90s Kids | Song - Maalle Maalle
In the past, many films struggled to find box office success despite receiving glowing reviews from both audiences and critics. However, movies like 'Vaazha', '
Manjummel Boys
', '
Rekhachitram
', 'Premalu', 'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil', and several others have changed the narrative by managing to achieve both critical acclaim and commercial success.
But is it easy to break into the tough world of filmmaking, especially as a newcomer? How much can your network of friends in the industry help you carve out your own space as a filmmaker? After all, isn't the filmmaking journey also about striking the right balance between commercial viability and audience approval?
Let's explore how young directors are navigating their paths in this competitive industry.
'Problem always lies in the time of the actor…' - Jithin Raj
Filmmaker Jithin Raj joined ETimes for a discussion where he shared his insights about the changing landscape of Mollywood and the struggles he faced as a young filmmaker. Jithin's 2024 release Pallotty 90's Kids went on to win the Best Children's Film at the 53rd Kerala State Film Awards. His movie graced numerous film festivals and was presented by one of the finest directors of Mollywood, Lijo Jose Pellissery.
When asked how he feels this shift has impacted Mollywood and the way audiences perceive legends like Mohanlal and Mammootty today, Jithin shared, 'As we know a lot of movies coming in the recent times are based on content driven format. I believe script plays a vital role in any movie's success. When we take director Tharun Moorthy as an example, he got the opportunity to do 'Thudarum' with Mohanlal only after proving his ability with the unique kind of story telling he had in 'Saudi Vellakka' and 'Operation Java'. Currently, a lot of opportunities are there for such ambitious filmmakers and I do not believe this barrier still exists in the industry to reach out to big stars if you have a good story with you.'
He believes that the real problem arises when a newcomer filmmaker can't take the risk of casting a big star and completing the shoot within a limited time, as it makes the process stressful. 'But the problem always lies in the time of the actor. The dates that have been given to different projects lead filmmakers to complete the movie within a bounded time. Due to this reason, the majority of young filmmakers hesitate to cast a lot of stars in their movies in the beginning. We have to spend a lot of time doing a movie for a big star with a commercial aspect. It is a director's choice to decide how much time he needs to make a film.'
He also spoke about the tensions and challenges while making Pallotty as a debut director. 'I was only worried about the marketing strategy. As a director I was sure about
Pallotti
's acceptance and success. But all I was worried about was its marketing side. In the current scenario there is this classification that people created, theatre releasing cinema, OTT designed cinema and all, but i believe cinema is for big screen no matter what genre and what kind it is. According to me every movie has a unique design given by its maker with sound design, background score, and some particular element created for theater. These elements , we will not get on small screens.'
Jithin added that the marketing strategy always bothers a young director or crew, 'When it comes to Pallotti the movie was led by two kids (child artists). It is a rare concept in Mollywood after a long time where two kids lead the narration. Even if we have familiar faces like Arjun Ashokan, Balu Varghese,
Saiju Kurup
, and Sudhi Koppa in the movie, Davinchi Santhosh and Neeraj Krishna, these two kids lead the narration, so were curious to know whether people would come to theaters to watch a movie done by two kids. That was truly challenging for me to make people come and watch the movie in the theater.'
But Pallotty won three state awards, and Lijo Jose Pellissery is presenting the movie with Sajid Yahiya backing it. A great director like Lijo has taken on the role to present this film for the first time. Jithin believes the movie became a success because many people found the story relatable and nostalgic. At the same time, several good reviews and articles helped it to find its audience. On social media, many people labelled it as one of the most underrated movies released in 2024, which he feels very happy to hear.
The movie's success relied completely on its content. So, Jithin was never worried about the making stage of the movie but rather the marketing part. It completed the censoring process in 2022 and went for several awards. However, it took more than a year to reach out to distributors and convince them to release it in theatres. Many distributors said that without a star face and star value, people would not come to the theatre to watch the movie. They were worried about the business. That, he admits, was the toughest time in his film career, but he believes he has to overcome it with his next movie.
He also shared some of his takeaways with upcoming talents: 'A cinema as an art form would also have some commercial value to become a business. There are two kinds of movies, where people purely rely on artistic and realistic aspects while some depend on commercial aspects. I designed 'Pallotti' to keep a balance between commercial and artistic. It had its own aesthetic story but it also had some commercial elements to reach out to people. The demarcation is a thin line which should not move here and there. I could do it with 'Pallotti'.'
'If we take 'Rekhachithram' and 'Thudarum' as examples , both of those are completely different. Thudarum took advantage of the star value Mohanlal has. But Rekhachithram could excite people with the rare genre which is experiment with alternative history. I do not have a proper definition for it but the movie is all about magic. In the current times it is all about how good a movie is. So if we do a movie for commercial success the mark should be able to make the producer safe with it. Then only the movie could reach the point called, 'success'. The producer should not face any loss due to the movie even if he does not get tons of money than he invested. I believe movies should be there to make the producer safe without loss.'
'But if we are making a movie purely for artistic values, then the producer should also be on the same page with the filmmaker that they just want to deliver the realistic theme rather than getting monetary benefits. I enjoy both kinds of movies and I love to do both kinds of movies. But it is completely up to the producer and director.'
There are many movies that could not become successful at the box office for unpredictable reasons.
'We cannot predict that the movie will become a blockbuster while writing the story. The real happiness for a filmmaker relies on the point where his/ her film overcomes all the barriers and becomes a good movie. Every movie has different hit formulas. 'Rekhachithram', 'Thudarum', 'Manjummel Boys' all these movies had different approaches and formats to be successful. If we target a small group of people then it cannot make it big to the box office. We have to make it acceptable for at least 6 in 10 people.'
At the same time, Jithin also addressed the importance of framing different promotion plans for the movie according to its cast, scale, and targeted audience.
'Promotions can really help movies to get into a larger audience. A movie with no big star cast needs promotion for sure. Currently we have a lot of mediums to promote films like, social media and all. All these platforms help a filmmaker to find the right audience. The marketing strategy should be perfect in that case. During the promotion we should clearly communicate the genre and mood of the movie so that people will not be disappointed at the end.'
Thudarum - Official Teaser
'It had two sides as promotion can either make a film better or it can kill it with over hype. I really liked the promotion pattern the makers of 'Thudarum' followed. As the movie was carried by Mohanlal they made it sure there will be no over hype. They could execute the marketing strategy too well.'
'With Pallotti we had to move to a great extent to make it succeed. As a movie with fresh cast, makers and all and as a debut filmmaker there should be a hook point in the movie that drives people to the theater. For big movies promotion can impact in both negative and positive ways while small movies are advised to do proper promotion campaigns.'
'There are some times when just the song became a hit which led to the success of films. The same happened with Girish AD 's Thanneer Mathan Dinangal in 2019. The song 'Jaathikkathottam' became a hit and people went to watch the movie without bothering about the new cast crew and filmmakers. Jomon T. John was one of the people who had much experience in the industry in that film. So people should design their promotion strategy according to the scale, cast and genre of the movie.' he concluded.