THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: V A Shrikumar Menon, the director of the Mohanlal-starrer ‘Odiyan’, said the overt and covert attacks against his movie was part of the animosity towards actor Manju Warrier. “I am being targeted on various platforms, including social media, because I cast Manju in my movie. The attacks show animosity towards her and I would like her to come out in public and respond to such attacks,” said Menon here on Sunday.
There is a paid gang behind the orchestrated attack against the movie, he said, adding ‘Odiyan’ would survive such attacks. “I do welcome genuine criticism, but many are targeting us without any reason. Now, social media is used as a weapon and they do so due to some psychological disorder.”
When asked about the allegation that too much hype affected Odiyan, he said super hero movies have to be marketed devising new strategies. “And I did my best to market it both within and outside the country. The movie is expected to fetch around Rs 50 crore in three days. There is nothing wrong employing such marketing strategies. But, I never tried to make it a sequel of ‘Pulimurugan’. In my perspective, I still feel ‘Odiyan’ is a mass movie,” he said.
On the row over ‘Randamoozham’, he said he had moved a petition in HC challenging lower court’s decision. “If I get a favourable decision, I will move ahead with the project,” he said.