Lijo Jose Pellissery Says He Felt Sad When Mohanlal’s 'Malaikottai Vaaliban' Was Called 'The Worst Malayalam Film Ever Made'

'Malaikottai Vaaliban' starring Malayalam superstar Mohanlal released on January 25. Mohanlal played a wrestler in it. Post the release, the film was criticised a lot. Director Lijo Jose Pellissery has now opened up on the sharp criticism the film received from audiences and critics.

In a recent interview with Galatta Plus, Lijo said that a section of people treated the Mohanlal starrer as the 'worst Malayalam film ever'. He also mentioned that they could have provided a ''broader trailer that would explain the pace of the film''. 

Lijo, in the interview, said that they have included several references from different art forms from all across the globe, including 'Amar Chitra Katha, 'Panchathantra' stories and other comic books.

He further said, "When such an effort has been taken... I am not saying it should be celebrated... Criticisms are also totally welcome... But during the first two days since the film released, the discussions were in the totally wrong direction."

On the comments by people, the director said, "The comments that came out in the first two days sounded like, ‘I did not like it, so nobody in this country should watch it’ — that’s the attitude some had".

''Suddenly, all the people and all the work they did for the film for one and a half years disappeared and there only remained discussions about the worst Malayalam film ever made. That made me really sad. That’s why I stepped forward and addressed the media, which I had never done before, explaining why people should watch the film. I did not want people to throw stones at each other over a film. It’s all yours, if you don’t want to watch it, that’s also okay, but don’t compel others not to watch it,'' he added. 

Apart from Mohanlal, 'Malaikottai Vaaliban' also featured Sonalee Kulkarni, Hareesh Peradi, Danish Sait and Manoj Moses in pivotal roles.