Malaikottai Vaaliban producer says Mohanlal is hurt by Barroz’s failure: ‘Audience tore apart the film’

Mohanlal recently made his directorial debut with the Malayalam film Barroz. However, to his disappointment, the film failed to attract an audience and eventually flopped at the box office. In a recent interview with Mathrubhumi, Malaikottai Vaaliban‘s co-producer Shibu Baby John revealed that Barroz’s failure deeply hurt the superstar.

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Mohanlal ‘deeply hurt’ by Barroz’s failure

Shibu Baby John stated that Barroz suffered due to negative expectations and explained, “I have not gone into its details. But I can say one thing — he’s really hurt by it. The audience, including Mohanlal’s fans, did not approach Barroz with any interest. I don’t blame them for that. While Malaikottai Vaaliban’s problem was excessive hype, Barroz suffered from negative expectations. As part of this, comments about the movie surfaced from people who hadn’t even watched it. Those who attended Barroz’s first show acted like they were the director — using cell phones and cameras — to tear apart the film,” as translated by Indian Express.

Shibu Baby John says Malaikottai Vaaliban was not a complete failure

Shibu Baby John further clarified that despite Malaikottai Vaaliban underperforming at the box office, it wasn’t a complete failure; it just didn’t reach the expected level. He added, “Our assessment was that it’s a classic. Its visualization, craft, and technique were brilliant. Unfortunately, an opinion emerged that it didn’t have the pace people wanted. Expectations were generally high for the Lijo-Mohanlal combo. However, people forgot that, in the end, it would be a Lijo film. Because of that, there was disappointment. Yes, the film does have some issues, particularly due to the changes we made to the original concept to pave the way for a sequel. But we are happy with the final product.” Shibu confirmed that there are no plans for a sequel to Malaikottai Vaaliban.

Mohanlal’s directorial debut, Barroz, collected only ₹15 crore at the worldwide box office and was considered a box-office failure. Lijo Jose Pellissery’s directorial Malaikottai Vaaliban, starring Mohanlal in a dual role, managed to collect ₹29.75 crore worldwide at the box office.