Not just the Malayalam audience, but avid fans everywhere are curious to see the upcoming release, Mollywood Times. The teaser introduced viewers to a journey of a boy who dreams of making it big in the industry as a filmmaker. In an exclusive interaction with Hindustan Times, director Abhinav Sunder Nayak took some time to talk about the making of the film, casting Naslen as the lead, and how Malayalam cinema is in its golden phase now.
A few fans were surprised to see that there was no Mollywood Times trailer ahead of the film’s release. Only a couple of songs and a teaser have been out. “No pre-release trailer for Mollywood Times. Watch the film without knowing too much about it. If possible, don’t even watch the teaser,” the director posted on his X account.
On Mollywood Times
With expectations running high ahead of the release, I ask Abhinav about the pre-release jitters. He keeps it succinct and says, “I am just very excited and curious to see the reaction of the audience.”
The director goes on to address how there were some trolls who had asked the team to prepone the film’s release. “I was a little annoyed because we had announced the date beforehand, and they are not supposed to ask us. There was no release date delay.”
He adds that more people need to understand that a film takes time to be ready for the screen. “They think once you shoot the film, you can release it. There is a lot of work put into the film’s post-production aspect which cannot be explained in words. It takes at least six months to properly finish a film after the shoot,” he says.
‘This is a movie that came out of my life experiences’
Talking about Mollywood Times, Abhinav admits, “This is a movie that came out of my life experiences. My writer, Ramu Sunil, and I were discussing ideas… he is a longtime friend of mine and a college junior. We have had a long journey together, and when we met up after Mukundan Unni Associates, we were speaking about our lives in the film industry. We ended up making a plot and thought this would work as my second film.”
Naslen was always the first choice for the director, from the very beginning. Talking about the actor, he reasons, “He is charming and very likeable, and I personally cannot write a script unless I am captivated by an actor’s performance. So, this time it was Naslen that captivated me and therefore I wanted him to be part of my film.”
Talking about the collaboration with Naslen, Abhinav adds, “He is better than I expected. He is very hardworking, grounded and very talented.”
On the golden phase of Malayalam cinema
The teaser of Mollywood Times ends with Naslen’s character announcing, ‘I am coming to save Malayalam cinema!’ The director says that at present, it is quite the contrary: Malayalam cinema does not need any saving now. “The events in this film are set in 2005-06, when Malayalam cinema was going through a lull. Right now we are going through a golden phase in the industry and I don’t think it needs any saving!”
In the last few years, Malayalam cinema has delivered some of the best, most definitive films in Indian cinema. The industry has proved time and again that it is open to experimentation, breaking free from expectations and also surprising audiences with its range. What does Mollywood do differently that no other industry can replicate? “We do it differently because our stories are grounded,” he says.
“We operate and function in a very personal way. We do not work with film stars, we work with people,” he signs off.
Mollywood Times is produced by Ashiq Usman Productions in collaboration with Ting Productions. It is set to release in theatres on June 5.