Mollywood Times Review

With Premalu (2024), Alappuzha Gymkhana (2025) & Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra (2025), Malayalam actor Naslen established himself as a young talent to watch. With three out of his last four movies, he gained a good reputation and following among the youth audience, not just in Kerala but in Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, as well. After being part of a Malayalam industry hit film, Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, he teamed with the director, Abhinav Sunder Nayak, Mukundan Unni Associates(2022) fame, for a dark comedy film, Mollywood Times. After creating enough curiosity with the trailer, the makers released the film in theatres today. Did, Naslen, continue his success streak? Did the director, Abhinav Sunder Nayak, come up with an engaging film? How did the music director, Jakes Bejoy, score music for the film? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Vineeth Madhavan(Naslen), aims to become the greatest & youngest Malayalam film director by making a horror film with a first-of-its-kind backdrop. Being an outsider, he faces challenges at every step he takes in becoming the director. What challenges did Vineeth Madhavan, face while trying to achieve his dream? Did he control his destiny and achieve greatness? Why did so many people try to stop him from becoming a director? Did he eventually become a director and make the film of his choice? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Naslen in the role of Vineeth Madhavan, delivered a superb performance. He emoted the struggles & frustrations of an aspiring filmmaker, very well without going overboard. We can see the finesse in his performance throughout the film. Sangeeth Prathap in the role of Arjun Hariraj, came up with a good performance. As a person who achieves his goals by hook or crook, he delivered a splendid performance. Alexander Prasanth in the role of Vineeth’s father was first-rate. He generated a few laughs with his dialogue delivery and subtle expressions.

Sharaf U Dheen in the role of Sachin Vaikom David, did a good job. His performance and body language, in the final sequence were very good. The film had at least ten other actors in crucial roles and almost all of them did their parts well.

Technicalities:

Like most Malayalam movies, Mollywood Times, too have a very superior technical values. Cinematography by Viswajith Odukkathil, music by Jakes Bejoy, editing by Nidhin Raj Arol & Abhinav Sunder Nayak and the production design, complemented the director’s vision and delivered a first-rate output. The only minor complaint is the runtime. A bit of chopping in the second half and the childhood episodes in the first half, could have made the film even more engaging.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠Original & Authentic Storyline
2.⁠ ⁠Subtle Humour
3.⁠ ⁠Direction
4.⁠ ⁠Naslen’s Performance

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠Overtly Stretched At Times
2.⁠ ⁠Not So Engaging Initial Portions

Analysis:

In 2011, Ram Gopal Varma made a film, Katha Screenplay Darsakatvam Appalaraju, which explored the harsh reality of the film industry. Though the film talked about the struggles of an upcoming filmmaker, it was made in a satirical tone and RGV took a dig at multiple people in the industry by making indirect references to those people he was targeting. Cut to 2026, Malayalam director, Abhinav Sunder Nayak, who seemed to have been heavily inspired by RGV’s finest works, came up with the film, Mollywood Times. This film too talks about the harsh realities that an aspiring filmmaker has to face to achieve his dreams. But, Abhinav, chose not to make it a satirical comedy film. He instead chose to make it as realistic as possible with utmost sincerity. It is a very difficult task to make an entertaining and engaging film that deals with the struggles of the people in the film industry, especially the upcoming artists & technicians. But the director, Abhinav, succeeded to a major extent in making ‘Mollywood Times’, an enjoyable film.

In an industry with just around five percent success rate, thousands, if not lakhs, of people every year, step in to make their dreams come true in the world of cinema. But, how many of them succeed eventually? Is talent alone enough to become a great filmmaker? Or is luck enough to become a great filmmaker? Is it possible to control your destiny in the film industry? Is success a random thing in the film industry? Is it possible to manifest greatness? Is it difficult to make it big in the film industry if you are honest and truthful to your self-imposed rules? Do people in the film industry really value relationships? Is achieving greatness important or achieving stardom by hook or crook? How far will the bigwigs in the industry go to destroy you if you act against their whims and fantasies? Why do corporate giants make movies? Do these corporate companies really make movies for the love of ‘cinema & art’ or is there any hidden agenda? The director, Abhinav Sunder Nayak, addressed all the above questions, through the character of an aspiring filmmaker, who dreams of becoming the greatest debutant filmmaker the Malayalam film industry has ever produced, with a first-of-its-kind horror movie. The good thing about ‘Mollywood Times’, at no point does it try to preach or take a dig at people. It has an original storyline, original screenplay, and original humour. The director should be appreciated for staying true to his plot without deviating and yet making the film entertaining for most parts.

Barring a very few, most of the aspiring feature film directors have to go through years of struggle before they get the opportunity to direct a film. In the process of getting the chance, they have to narrate their stories to multiple people. When you narrate your stories to so many people for years, there’s always a chance of plagiarism. And then, these aspiring filmmakers have to deal with ‘Coincidence’. There’s always a possibility of two or more people getting the same idea and wanting to make a film on that idea at the same time. So, getting a chance to direct a film as quickly as possible is as important as getting an original idea and preparing a great script out of that idea. While watching ‘Mollywood Times’, we understand the importance of getting the chance before everyone else and the director ends the film with the conclusion ‘You can’t control your destiny in the film industry. Everything is random and luck. And, luck doesn’t always favour talented artists and technicians. Being there at the right place at the right time and utilising the available opportunity at any cost, is the only way to survive in the industry.

There’s a sequence in the film where the director shows us how fake the people in the industry are. Read this – ‘A star hero dies in a car accident. The people from the industry visit the star hero’s residence to offer their condolences and instead of feeling sad for the loss of their fellow artist, all of them congratulate the director who made a yet-to-be-released film with the star hero. They congratulate the director on the potential blockbuster success of the film due to sympathy among the audience irrespective of how good or bad it is’. Using this particular sequence and quite a few other sequences, the director of the film, showed the true colours of most people in the industry. Yes, the idea of the film is original and a majority of the film is entertaining but, at times we get a feeling that the director is stretching the film a bit too far. At times during the second half, the film gives the feeling of watching ‘Never-ending cinema kastalu(struggles). Although the film starts well with an episode that talks about ‘Chase reputation and greatness will follow’, the film runs at a very slow pace with uneven narration until the sequence where the lead character attends a film festival.

Overall, Mollywood Times, is an honest and very original attempt in showcasing the bitter truth behind the show business. At two hours and forty-eight minutes of runtime, the film engages and entertain the audience in most parts, barring a few overtly dragged episodes. If you are close to the film industry circle or if you are enthusiastic in knowing the behind the scenes of film industry, the chances of you liking the film is more.

Final Verdict – ‘Reality’ of Cinema

Rating – 2.75/5

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