Unni Mukundan’s Malikappuram sets theatrical date for Kannada version

The film has been on OTT for over a month, but is available in Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil audio only.

A still from Malikappuram

Malikappuram is Malayalam actor Unni Mukundan’s biggest release to date. When it came out, there were widespread comments about the film’s ‘religious’ content and supposed right-wing leaning narrative. And yet, despite that, Malikappuram went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2023, drawing largely family crowds. The film eventually had a stellar theatrical run of about 40 days in its Malayalam version, while some dubbed versions – in Tamil and Telugu – were also released a few weeks after the original film came out. A Kannada version was also meant to be in theatres, subsequently, but before that could happen, Malikappuram dropped on OTT.

The film’s digital rights had bee scooped up by Disney+Hotstar, which made Malikappuram available with Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi audio only. There’s no Kannada version, which is probably why the makers are confident enough to bring this to theatres now. Malikappuram’s Kannada version releases in theatres on March 24. Bookings for the film are expected to open in a day or two. Given that there are no other big-ticket Kannada releases in the week and that Kabzaa has not had the desired opening it was hoping for, Malikappuram stands a good chance at the box office in the state, if the team gives it a widespread outing. When we reached out to leading man Unni Mukundan, he said that the team was looking at releasing the film in 50+ screens across the state.

Read our review: Malikappuram movie review: Unni Mukundan's 'divine act' is the saving grace in this timepass entertainer

and

Unni Mukundan: I’m not a propagandist, Malikappuram worked as it was accepted by people of all religions | Exclusive

The film, meanwhile, revolves around an eight-year-old girl named Kalyani’s (Devananda) relationship with Lord Ayyappa. Her repeated attempts to visit Sabarimala fail due to some family emergency or the other. After a tragedy, she undertakes the pilgrimage with classmate-neighbour Piyush (Sripath) for company. A stranger (Unni) then joins them to ensure they reach the temple safely, while also thwarting the attempts of other malevolent forces along the way. The film also stars Renji Panicker, Saiju Kurup, Ramesh Pisharody, Manoj K Jayan, Sampath Ram, TG Ravi and Sreejith Ravi, among others.

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