Pazhassi Raja released in 130 cinema houses in Kerala

Pazhassi Raja, Malayalam film industry’s most costliest film, was released simultaneously in 130 cinema houses in Kerala on October 16
The Rs 27 crore film, which tells the tale of the legendary warrior king and freedom fighter of the Malabar region who locked horns with the British 50 years before the Sepoy mutiny of 1857, has 2000 artists, including some from abroad in various roles, with Malayalam superstar Mammootty in the lead role of Pazhassi Raja.
While the Malayalam version was released today, the Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu releases would be released by the end of this month, Sri Harilal, General Manager of Sree Gokulam Movies, the makers of the film, told PTI. There was a huge crowd in front of theatres across the state as the first show began at 0930 hrs.

Huge cut outs of Mammootty had been put up in front of various theatres at Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Thrissur and ecstatic fans poured milk on cut outs signifying the release. Fans started queuing up in front of theatre halls from 7 am for the first show at 9:30 hrs.

In Kochi, Mammootty fans, clad in white ‘Mundu’ and shirt, traditional Kerala attire, thronged the Savitha-Sangeetha threatre complex to view the first show. Some artistes, including Padmapriya also came to view the show. In Thrissur, a cut out of Mammootty was placed atop a caprisoned elephant and amidst the beating of drums and other percussion instruments, the first show began.
The film has Tamil superstar Sharat Kumar and popular artistes like Manoj K Jayan, Padma Priya and Kaniha in prominent roles.

The Mammootty Fans association also distributed Payasams (a sweet delicacy) throughout the day to express their happiness about the release of the film which took nearly three years in the making.
The Kerala Government has slashed the entertainment tax by 50 per cent for the film which has Oscar winner Resul Pookutty debuting as the sound recordist in a Malayalam film. Noted actor Mohanlal has introduced the film’s subject in Malayalam, while Kamal Haasan does it in Tamil version and Shah Rukh Khan in Hindi.

The film, scripted by Jnanpith award winner M T Vasudevan Nair and directed by Hariharan, has Ilayaraja as the music director.
The Nair-Hariharan pair is teaming up in Malayalam after Oru Vadakkan Veeraghadha-a Mammootty starrer – released some 20 years ago.