‘Malik’ is a work of fiction, but people can have their own interpretations: Mahesh Narayanan

The editor-filmmaker on Fahadh Faasil-starring Malayalam film ‘Malik’, releasing on Amazon Prime on July 15

Editor-filmmaker Mahesh Narayanan has mixed feelings about the release of his film Malik. While he is pleased that the much-anticipated movie is reaching the audience after a year-long wait, he is equally disappointed that it has to skip a theatre release. The big-budget movie, written, directed and edited by Mahesh with Fahadh Faasil in the lead, will release on Amazon Prime on July 15. Mahesh, who made a mark with his directorial debut, Take Off, and then his experimental OTT-project C U Soon, admits that they had no other go but to opt for a streaming platform. “Malik deserved a theatre release. But for the pandemic, it should have been released last year. Even when, there was pressure on the producer [Anto Joseph] to give it to an OTT platform; he didn’t budge and we were all set to bring it to theatres this year, on May 13, during Ramzan. But now, we don’t know when theatres will reopen. It would have been gross injustice on my part if I did not stand with my producer who invested in such a big project,” adds Mahesh.