Mollywood movie ‘No.20 Madras Mail’, released in 1990 was a huge hit at the box-office. The major highlight of the movie was Mohanlal’s impeccable comic timing and Mammootty’s extended cameo appearance. And now, after 30 years of the movie’s release, director Joshiy has revealed that Mammootty was originally not a part of this movie.

In a recent interview given to Vanitha, Joshiy revealed that Mammootty’s role in this movie was originally planned with another prominent actor. However, it was Mohanlal who recommended Mammootty’s name to this role.

Joshiy was initially hesitant to approach Mammootty to play an extended cameo in a movie that features Mohanlal in the lead role. But surprisingly, Mammootty accepted the offer without any hesitation, and the rest is history.

Upon the release of this film, audiences were surprised to see Mammootty and Mohanlal sharing the screen space in full swing. Even now, the train scenes that feature Mammootty and Mohanlal enjoy huge repeat-watch value.

On the work front, Mohanlal is currently busy with the filming of his new movie Drishyam 2, a sequel to the 2013 blockbuster Drishyam. The shooting of this movie is currently progressing steadily in Thodupuzha. After completing the shooting, Mohanlal will join the filming of his next film that will be directed by B Unnikrishnan.

Mammootty is currently awaiting the release of his new movie One, directed by Santhosh Viswanath. The film penned by Bobby-Sanjay is a political thriller, and it will feature Mammootty in the role of Kerala Chief Minister Kadakkal Chandran. An official announcement regarding the release date of the movie will be made soon.

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It is a Friday that will decide the fate of every movie. However, some movies, even if made with impeccable quality and all the elements needed to impress audiences will fail to make it big at the box-office.

The Gulf Indians presents you with the list of five Mollywood movies that surprisingly flopped at the box-office, and later became classics.

Azhakiya Ravanan

Azhakiya Ravanan is a real gem of a film, that follows the life of Shankar Das (Mammootty), a billionaire who tries hard to reclaim his lost love. From classic comedy sequences to heart touching emotional moments, the film has all the ingredients to satisfy audiences. However, upon its release, the film bombed at the box-office, but the songs became chartbusters.

Mammootty, in several interviews, had revealed that no other failures have made him as sad as the failure of this movie at the box-office.

Later, when the film had its television screening, it was well-received by audiences. The comedy scenes featuring Sreenivasan and Mammootty are considered the epitome of natural humor, and television channels still used to screen the movie in prime time, considering the acceptance of viewers.

Mithunam

Yes, you heard it right. Mohanlal’s evergreen family drama Mithunam was not a super hit at the box-office. Even though the film had all the elements needed to impress audiences, the film failed to make it big at the box-office.

Years later, television gained popularity, and the film successfully achieved cult status among family audiences. Directed by Priyadarshan, this film featured Urvashi playing the role of Mohanlal’s wife, and it narrated the story of a struggling small scale businessman. The film is loaded with several natural humor-filled scenes, and by the end, it also gives a powerful message.

Guppy

Guppy released in 2016 was a masterpiece from director Johnpaul George. However, the film bombed at the box-office, despite receiving positive reviews from all corners.

In 2016, Tovino Thomas was not a highly popular name among Mollywood audiences, and it is considered one of the major reasons behind the film’s bad run at theaters. However, upon the release of its DVD, the film became a hot pick among young audiences in the state.

Chandrolsavam

At the time of Chandrolsavam’s release, Mohanlal was continously doing mass characters, and audiences expected the same from this film, penned and directed by Ranjith. However, the film narrated a touching love story, and due to this single factor, this classic movie emerged as a box-office flop.

Later, upon the release of its DVD, Chandrolsavam gained a classic status, and the dialogues penned by Ranjith is still considered evergreen by many.

Thoovanathumbikal

Surprised to see Thoovanathumbikal in this list? But you should know that this touching love story of Jayakrishnan and Clara was a box-office bomb, as this film was much ahead of its time.

Now, every monsoon reminds us of Clara, but in 1987, audiences turned their face against this movie, as they believed that a love story between a call girl and a farmer was so weird, and against the pseudo morality of Keralites.

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Netflix bags theatrical rights of One

The recent news about this movie is regarding the sale of its OTT rights. According to the latest updates, online streaming giant Netflix has bagged the OTT rights of this film. However, the exact amount for which the online platform acquired the rights of ‘One’ still remains unknown.

According to close sources to the movie, more than 90 percent shooting of ‘One’ is already completed. The crew is expected to resume the filming once the coronavirus lockdown measures get relaxed in the state.

All you need to know about Mammotty’s One

In ‘One’, Mammootty will be playing the role of Kadakkal Chandran, the chief minister of Kerala. Earlier, it has been reported that Mammootty’s role in this film will share a resemblance to Pinarayi Vijayan, the reigning Kerala chief minister. The movie is expected to a high voltage political thriller, and it will be loaded with some powerful dialogues which will be rendered by the megastar.

Apart from Mammootty, ‘One’ also stars Joju George, Nimisha Sajayan, Siddique, Murali Gopy, Ranjith, Salim Kumar, Madhu, and Mamukkoya in other prominent roles.

The script of ‘One’ is written by Bobby-Sanjay. The music for this upcoming movie is composed by Gopi Sundar, while Vaidy Somasundaram is cranking the camera. ‘One’ is bankrolled by Sreelakshmi R in the banner of Ichais Production.

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Suresh Gopi is widely considered the third biggest Superstar in Mollywood, next to Mammootty and Mohanlal. However, during the late 1990s, Suresh Gopi refrained himself from doing action roles, after several people criticised the star for doing extreme violent roles with firebrand dialogues on screen.

Later, Suresh Gopi did some family-oriented roles, but none of these films succeeded in making impacts at the box-office, and this hit brought compelled Suresh Gopi to take a small hiatus.

In the absence of Suresh Gopi, many action thrillers hit the screens in Mollywood, but none of these flicks made the impact of films such as Commissioner, Pathram, and Lelam. To end this drought of mass entertainers, Renji Panicker announced Bharathchandran IPS, a sequel to the blockbuster Commissioner in 2004.

Renji Panicker made this decision after Suresh Gopi requested him to bring back Bharathchandran, the daredevil cop who questions the injustices in society.

It should be noted that Renji Panicker had initially announced a film named Nari with Mohanlal in the lead role. However, the film was stalled due to unknown reasons. Upon Suresh Gopi’s request, Renji Panicker made some slight changes in the scripts of Nari and made it suitable for the action king.

After months of anxious wait, Bharathchandran IPS hit the screens on August 4, 2005, as an Onam release. The film, upon its release, broke several collection records and emerged as one of the biggest hits of the year. In several centers, the film enjoyed a theatrical run of more than 100 days, and with the success of this movie, Suresh Gopi once again proved that his stardom is intact in Mollywood.

The success of Bharathchandran IPS literally revived Suresh Gopi’s career, and it helped him to rack up some memorable characters in movies like Chinthamani Kolacase, and The Tiger.

As Suresh Gopi and Renji Panicker are celebrating 15 glorious years of Bharathchandran IPS, Nithin, Renji Panicker’s son, is now busy with the works of his new movie Kaaval. This movie too has Suresh Gopi in the lead role, and is expected to be a high voltage action thriller, with elements of family sentiments. Renji Panicker is also playing a crucial role in this movie. The official teaser of Kaaval was released recently, and it succeeded in impressing both audiences and critics alike.

According to sources close to the movie, the shooting of the movie is almost completed, and there are only a few outdoor sequences remaining. The shooting of the film is expected to resume after the end of coronavirus lockdown measures.

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The ‘Joseph’ actor took to social media to show his huge vegetable garden set up at his house. Rows and rows of green leafy vegetables can be seen in his space. The actor was evidently thrilled to see the outcome of his work and shows off green tomatoes, chillies, bittergourd, and spinach ready to be harvested in his home garden. He also found joy in cattle rearing and poultry farming.

The actor’s ultimate aim is to become self-sufficient and never to buy fruits and vegetables from outside. He also encouraged his followers to try their hands on organic farming.

Joju is currently at an ayurvedic center in Wayanad. He went there before the coronavirus lockdown and has been undergoing treatment for weight loss. Earlier, the actor had talked about steering clear of cigarettes and drinking and starting a healthy lifestyle. He was last seen in Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s Chola.

Joju has movies like `Kilometers and Kilometers’, ‘Pada’, ‘Malik’ and Thuramukham in the pipeline. He has also signed for Karthik Subbaraj’s directorial Dhanush- starrer movie ‘Jagame Thandhiram’.

Top actors like Mammootty and Srinivasan already have a tryst with agriculture and trying to inspire people to grow their own vegetables and thus encouraging healthy eating habits. Bollywood stars like Salman Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Juhi Chawla has been doing organic farming ventures to produce clean and organic vegetables. South Indian star R Madhavan, Samantha Akkineni also started their own terrace garden at their homes.

Apparently the actors love their rendezvous with organic farming, away from the red carpets and glittering galas amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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