Mohanlal: Fans have a concept that all films should be in a particular way, the onus is on us to break that

Mohanlal fans have been awaiting the release of B Unnikrishnan’s Aaraattu for some time now. The prime reason being it’s a movie tailored for the die-hard fans of the superstar with ‘mass’ action scenes and dialogues that play to the gallery.

In the past year, Mohanlal though has tried to prioritise ‘class over mass’, taking up movies such as Jeethu Joseph’s thriller Drishyam 2 , Priyadarshan’s period drama Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Bro Daddy . In that sense, a movie like Aaraattu is what his die-hard fans have been clamouring about for so long – ever since Pulimurugan broke all box-office records in 2016.

While Prithviraj’s directorial debut told a thrilling story without going overboard with the ‘mass’ moments, the superstar’s other such attempts haven’t quite replicated that success, despite the makers ramping up the expectations for films such as Odiyan and Marakkar.

In an earlier interview with OTTplay, Mohanlal cited the example of Marakkar to explain the need for changing fans’ expectations with the times. “You can never gauge expectations. With Marakkar, we have tried to tell a story and we had to look at emotions and its making. Fans too should understand. We can’t make every movie for fans; you can’t have Marakkar doing somersaults and sending the villains flying throughout the film. We have done those types of stunts in other movies. So, expectations should be based on the movie,” he said.

The actor also said that different people have different expectations now and that it will be tough to make films that “only cater to a small group”, referring to those who want ‘mass’ action sequences and larger-than-life characters. “Fans have a concept that all films should be in a particular way, the onus is on us to break that,” he said.

Mohanlal’s Aaraattu, meanwhile, judging from its latest trailer, could be a movie that caters to this section of the audience. The film has him playing a real-estate dealer named Neyyattinkara Gopan, who gets embroiled in issues at the place he purchases a piece of land. The movie, scripted by Pulimurugan fame Udaykrishna, also has Shraddha Srinath, Nedumudi Venu, Saikumar, Swasika and Johny Antony as part of the cast.

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