JioHotstar has announced that the Naslen-starrer Mollywood Times will stream on the platform on July 3. The digital premiere comes less than a month after the film’s theatrical rezlease on June 5.
Directed by Abhinav Sunder Nayak, Mollywood Times is a coming-of-age drama about an aspiring filmmaker. Billed as a “hate letter to cinema”, the film pivots around a youngster who, inspired by Hollywood director Manoj Night Shyamalan, obsessively pursues his dream of becoming the finest maker of horror films in Malayalam cinema, and the numerous obstacles he encounters. According to Abhinav, it is the second film in his planned trilogy on ‘success’, with his directorial debut Mukundan Unni Associates being the first.
Upon its theatrical release, Mollywood Times opened to largely positive reviews from critics, with many praising Naslen’s performance and Abhinav’s conviction in telling a dreamer’s story from a fresh perspective.
In CE's review of the film, Vivek Santhosh called it an “unabashedly cynical take on cinematic aspirations that offers an impressively provocative, if overstuffed, examination of how success often depends on far more than talent.”
Despite the positive talk, Mollywood Times could not translate it into big numbers at the box office. As per trade analysts, the film grossed around ₹20 crores globally.
Written by Rekhachithram co-writer Ramu Sunil, Mollywood Times also stars Sangeeth Prathap, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Sharaf U Dheen, Roshan Shanavas, Basil Joseph, Appunni Sasi, and Gopika Ramesh, among others. It is produced by Ashiq Usman.