2009 - Mixed start, hopeful also

A month has passed since the newyear of 2009. Everybody from jyothishis to economists were skeptic about the year, and unfortunately the recession blues have joined in hands with poor quality in Malayalam film industry. 4 major films were released in the year, and 2 of them might recover the cost: Makante Achchan and Hailesa. A recovery percentage of 50% is not too bad, but the quality factor is a concern. For Mammootty the year has started poorly, with the disastrous 'Love in Singapore'. The film is also the first commercial failure of the director duo Rafi-Mecartin. Dileep, who got a good run into 2009 with his December 2008 release 'Crazy Gopalan' had to meet with very bad response to 'Colours'. The film has been described as one of the worst films in his career. Actually the failure of LIS and 'Colours' is the main drawback; if either of them was okey-dokey kind, then the situation would have been much better off. Sreenivasan duo's 'Makante Achchan' is doing well, and might turn out to be a sleeper hit. Suresh Gopi's 'Hailesa' is getting below average collections, and might break even.

Come the Valentine weekend, and Mohanlal will debut in 2009 with the Shaji Kailas directed thriller 'Red Chillies'. The promo looks decent with trade mark angle shots of the ace director, but the film seems to be a costly production and has some preachy dialogoues by Lal. The film will face-off with Srinivasan's family drama 'Katha Samvidhanam Kunchakko'. It will be interesting to watch them at work in the BO, as Sreenivasan has grown into a bankable star. Lets hope they hit the bull's eye at the BO, and prove the jyothishis and economists wrong.