Malik to be Fahadh’s fourth consecutive direct-to-OTT release

At a time when most actors have been hesitant about releasing their movies directly on OTT platforms, Fahadh Faasil has been a trend-setter of sorts. The Malayalam star’s big budget film Malik will soon hit a streaming service, making it his fourth consecutive direct-to-OTT release.

While there are reports of the movie being sold for Rs 22 crore, a source close to the production house informs OTTplay, “The talks have been going on and the deal will be signed today or tomorrow. There have been a lot of false reports.”

Fahadh, whose previous films C U Soon, Irul and Joji also released on OTT platforms, will be playing the role of Sulaiman, from the age of 20 to 57 in the period film. Malik marks the third collaboration between director Mahesh Narayanan and Fahadh after Take Off and C U Soon.

The film, set in a coastal town, is inspired by real-life events. In an earlier interview with Kochi Times, Mahesh said, “At its core, Malik is a political thriller. The story is relevant because in Kerala, there has been an increase of land acquisition cases, especially in sensitive coastal areas. This film revolves around a place where there was a resistance against this constant threat of displacement of a minority community, and a person who was responsible for making his people rise up… Fahadh’s role is based on a real-life person who passed away in 1986. Through the movie, we represent how the community would have shaped up if he had lived till 2018 after the coastal regions were ravaged by the Ockhi cyclone.”

Malik was initially scheduled for a theatrical release in April 2020, and this was later pushed to May 2021 due to the first nationwide lockdown. However, with the second wave of COVID-19 once again forcing shut the theatres, the producers have decided to opt for an OTT release, especially it being a big-budget film, which is also the most expensive project in Fahadh’s career yet.