Neymar on OTT: How an indigenous dog and two youngsters cracked the Mollywood box office

Though Mollywood this year had its biggest hit ever in director Jude Anthany Joseph’s 2018: Everyone Is A Hero, it’s been a rather forgettable year till now for the industry as far as box office earnings are concerned. But one thing that stands out is that there are certain films that have managed to earn big and surprise the audience as well as industry insiders.

Apart from Soubin Shahir’s Romancham, the chief among these is a small f ilm titled Neymar, which had Mathew Thomas and Naslen K Gafoor in the lead along with an indigenous dog essaying its titular character. What makes the movie’s success phenomenal is that it not withstood the largely mixed reactions from the critics, but also went on to run for over 50 days in theatres and collect about Rs 10 crore – something that only a select few films featuring the biggest stars in the industry can also stake claim to in 2023.

In an earlier interview with OTTplay, the film’s director Sudhi Maddison told us, “It’s the dog that struck the chord with the audience, and it’s emotional tale that tugged at their heartstrings.” Frankly, there’s more to that. But the dog did help bring the family audience in theatres during the months when there were few films that catered to the group, which most directors target for a larger return at the box office during these trying times.

Also read: Neymar movie review: Naslen, Mathew Thomas' dog movie doesn't have any tricks up its sleeve 

“The producers are happy with how the movie has turned out,” said Sudhi, who had earlier explained that the movie was made on a considerable budget with the makers even planning releases in multiple languages. While those plans didn’t work out, the team will have an opportunity to sample that formula when Neymar does release on Disney+ Hotstar on August 8.

Neymar is also a big example of how Malayali filmmakers are now trying to renew the ‘mass’ appeal of yesteryear actors. In this case, it was Shammi Thilakan and Vijayaraghavan, who go to show a bit of their younger selves in the film with a rather over-the-top action sequence set in Tamil Nadu in the movie. That the movie is also made, keeping in mind the Tamil audience, could also help it get more views when it releases on OTT.

Also read: Neymar director Sudhi Maddison: We had our work cut out while shooting with an indigenous dog