Mohanlal’s Drishyam 2 gets a theatrical release in the Middle East

Mohanlal’s Drishyam 2 is now the first direct-to-OTT release in Malayalam to hit theatres. The Jeethu Joseph directorial released in theatres in the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar on July 1. 

The film, which was critically acclaimed after its Amazon Prime Video release in February this year, is the sequel of the 2013 blockbuster Drishyam, which narrates the tale of Georgekutty (Mohanlal) who is trying to protect a secret and his family. Drishyam 2 begins right where the first movie ended, with the police intensifying their investigation, trying to trap the prime suspect Georgekutty. 

The sequel, which also has Meena, Murali Gopy, Ansiba Hassan, Siddique and Esther Anil, was released in 27 theatres in the UAE, eight in Qatar and two in Oman. The box office draw from this experiment will also reveal the potential of movies finding its way to theatres after their OTT releases. It’s significant for an industry like Mollywood, which was only beginning to widen its horizons by exploring markets outside India before the pandemic. 

Meanwhile, Mohanlal and Jeethu will be teaming up for another mystery thriller soon. Jeethu tells OTTplay, “Lalettan will complete my film before he begins work on Bro Daddy. It’s a movie that can be shot keeping in mind the pandemic restrictions. We are currently awaiting the permission of the government to start the shoot.”

The superstar also has Priyadarshan’s magnum opus Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham and B Unnikrishnan’s Aaraattu set for theatrical release later this year.