{"id":396894,"date":"2026-04-25T10:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T10:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/396894\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T10:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T10:57:13","slug":"told-baby-jean-hed-be-the-talking-point-if-mohiniyattam-worked-director-krishnadas-murali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/396894\/","title":{"rendered":"Told Baby Jean he\u2019d be the talking point if \u2018Mohiniyattam\u2019 worked: Director Krishnadas Murali"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Malayalam cinema rides a strong wave of sequels this year, Mohiniyattam<\/a> director Krishnadas Murali sees himself at the centre of a moment that is reshaping audience trust in franchise filmmaking. In a conversation with Onmanorama, the filmmaker spoke about the film\u2019s growing box office response, the choices that worked, and why 2026 feels like a turning point for sequels in the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a moment of great happiness to have a hit film that is accepted across Kerala,\u201d Murali said. \u201cUsually, when a movie works, it connects with a certain section of the audience. Reaching family audiences has always been difficult. But with Mohiniyattam, we are seeing that change. Day by day, the film is growing in terms of bookings and overall response.\u201d<\/p>\n

A sequel to Bharathanatyam, Mohiniyattam has found traction not just through its familiar narrative base, but also through the addition of new actors who brought a distinct energy to the story. Murali credits much of the film\u2019s appeal to these casting decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe film essentially revolves around Sasi\u2019s family, played by Saiju Kurup, and Baby Jean\u2019s character Subhash,\u201d he explained. \u201cThere is a uniqueness to Baby Jean\u2019s performance. I had told him that if the film becomes a success, his character would be the most talked about. That is exactly what is happening now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The director also highlighted the contribution of Vinay Forrt, noting that the humour in the film was a calculated element. \u201cWith Vinay, we were confident that the humour portions would work, and they did. Similarly, having actors like Suraj Venjaramoodu added to the overall strength of the film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murali places Mohiniyattam within a larger industry trend that has defined Malayalam cinema in the first half of 2026. \u201cIt is definitely a time of sequels,\u201d he said. \u201cIt started with Aadu 3, then came Vaazha 2, followed by Mohiniyattam. And next month, we have the biggest among them all, Drishyam 3.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the filmmaker, the success of these films signals a shift in how sequels are perceived. \u201cAll these films have brought goodwill to Malayalam cinema,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was always a notion that sequels are just a way to cash in. But now, people can see that a lot of work is going into these projects. They are being made with care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being part of this phase, Murali said, is deeply satisfying. \u201cTo be part of such a moment is something I am extremely happy about,\u201d he added, as Mohiniyattam continues its steady run, finding new audiences with each passing day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Malayalam cinema rides a strong wave of sequels this year, Mohiniyattam director Krishnadas Murali sees himself at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[205079,205081,205076,205082,122633,156,205083,205074,205073,205071,205072,409,111,139,69,205084,205075,205078,205080,205077],"class_list":{"0":"post-396894","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-aadu-3","9":"tag-audience-trust-in-sequels","10":"tag-baby-jean-performance","11":"tag-box-office-response-malayalam-films","12":"tag-drishyam-3","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-family-audiences-malayalam-cinema","15":"tag-franchise-filmmaking-success","16":"tag-krishnadas-murali-director","17":"tag-malayalam-cinema-sequels","18":"tag-mohiniyattam-film","19":"tag-movies","20":"tag-new-zealand","21":"tag-newzealand","22":"tag-nz","23":"tag-reshaping-industry-trends","24":"tag-saiju-kurup","25":"tag-suraj-venjaramoodu","26":"tag-vaazha-2","27":"tag-vinay-forrt-humour"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}