Anurag Kashyap praises ‘Mollywood Times’; Calls it ‘filmmaker’s dream’; Lauds Abhinav Sunder Nayak’s storytelling
‘Bandar’ director Anurag Kashyap has expressed admiration for the Malayalam film ‘Mollywood Times,’ starring ‘Premalu’ actor Naslen in the lead. Sharing his thoughts on the platform Letterboxd, Anurag Kashyap praised director Abhinav Sunder Nayak for presenting a story that combines realism with optimism.
Anurag Kashyap reviews ‘Mollywood Times’
Anurag Kashyap’s read: “A post Internet/social media’s cinephile filmmaker’s wet dream is this film. A lot of truth and a lot of idealism. The articulation of it all from the filmmaker that Abhinav Sunder Nayak is only going to get sharper with time. This is how it all is but the wee bit of romanticism of it all is what we wish. Loved the film.”
Naslen’s film now streaming on OTT
‘Mollywood Times’ is currently available to stream on OTT. Directed by Abhinav Sunder Nayak, the film has been receiving good feedback from viewers since its release.The story follows Vineeth Madhavan, a teenager from Kuttikkanam who dreams of becoming a filmmaker. As he works toward that goal, he encounters several challenges that test his patience, determination and commitment to his principles. Even though he faces each struggle with confidence, he gets into further traps—something a new filmmaker will have to face in the industry.
Opening day box office performance
‘Mollywood Times’ also made a decent start at the box office. According to Sacnilk estimates, the film collected Rs 1.80 crore in India net collections on its opening day across 954 shows.Its India gross collection stands at Rs 2.09 crore, while the overall India net collection also remains at Rs 1.80 crore after Day 1.ETimes awarded ‘Mollywood Times’ 3 out of 5 stars. Our exclusive review reads, “Abhinav, who co-wrote it with Ramu Sunil, gives a refreshingly real take on the struggles in life. Refreshing because, while it could have easily slipped into bleakness, the writers keep the narrative upbeat and the hero never considers giving up on his dreams or really compromising on his principles.So the ideas are compelling, but the storytelling begins to feel muddled, particularly in the second half. The several hurdles that come in the way of Vineeth’s dreams are solely from Mollywood’s peculiar manner of functioning and it gets tiresome. The bits on SC/ST privilege feel surprisingly tone-deaf and needless.”
