Kasargold OTT version will have an alternate ending that was shot 4 days before release: Mridul Nair

It’s not often that Malayalam movies have different tail-end portions based on the reaction of the theatre audience in the initial few days. Asif Ali’s Kasargold, which is now gearing up for its OTT release on Netflix on October 13, will have a different tail-end segment in the end as compared to its initial theatrical release.

In an exclusive chat with OTTPlay, the film's director Mridul Nair, who has co-scripted Kasargold with Sajimon Prabhakar, confirms that Kasargold will have a different ending than what they had first used.

"This tail-end portion was shot just four days before the movie’s release. However, when the movie was initially released in theatres, we went with another end segment. But after the response, we decided to use the alternate ending, which was also screened in theatres 3-4 days after the film's release," says Mridul, adding that the OTT version will have the new tail-end portion.

Also read: Kasargold director Mridul Nair: It took me 5 years to get Asif Ali’s dates even though he’s my best friend 

Kasargold, which is a crime thriller about two men fleeing after smuggling gold, didn't quite create a stir at the box office. Mridul attributes this to the expectations and comparisons of Kasargold with his debut venture BTech, which also had Asif in the lead.

"The initial reaction that I gauged from social media was people comparing this to my first film B Tech, and Kasargold falling short of their expectations. B Tech was a different movie; it was an emotional thriller and Kasargold was more about two people running for their lives," he says.

Also read: Before Kasargold OTT release, Mridul Nair says, ‘The film I shot wasn’t the one that hit theatres’ 

The mixed reviews also didn't help. "Right now, a lot of the audience depend on certain vloggers to decide whether to watch a film or not. Even the nephew of my film's co-writer said that a certain reviewer had only negative things to say about the film and so, he decided not to watch it," says Mridul. "The negative reviews also helped the film in a way because there were people who had watched it and said it wasn't that bad as the reviewers had claimed."

Mridul says that he is hoping the film's OTT release helps the movie reach a wider audience and they get to appreciate the film for what it is.