10 Low budget Malayalam superhits with newcomer actors
Many directors would cast established actors in their movies to get better pre-release promotions and to make the shooting easy. But some others would make daring moves by casting new faces as lead actors. According to our analysis, star value is not the deciding factor of the movie’s box-office verdict. Here is the list of super hit Malayalam movies that had newcomers as lead actors.
1. Manjil Virinja Pookkal
As everyone knows, Manjil Virinja Pookkal, written and directed by prominent filmmaker Fazil, marked the debut of actors like Shankar, Poornima Jayaram and… Yes! Mohanlal. Even though it was a movie with a tragic end, it became a blockbuster and was one of the top grossing Malayalam movies of the year. The film has received six Kerala state film awards including best actress.
2. Aparan
Aparan written and directed by legendary filmmaker P. Padmarajan was the movie that launched Jayaram. He made a fantastic debut by playing the role to near perfection, and is still considered as one of the best performances ever delivered by the actor. The film, which deals with mistaken identity, was a superhit at the Kerala box-office.
3. Aniyathipraavu
Fazil made a revolution once again by casting newcomers Kunchacko Boban and Shalini as lead actors in the 1997 movie Aniyathipraavu. However, the movie, which ran over 250 days in many theatres across the state, was a phenomenal success at the box office and the lead actors later became one of the most celebrated celebrity pairs ever in Mollywood.
4. Nammal
Malayalam film industry has witnessed the entry of two star kids, Siddharth Bharathan and Jishnu Raghavan, through the 2002 Kamal movie Nammal. The movie, which tells the story of two orphans, Shyam and Sivan, was a superhit at the box office. Nammal, written by Kalavoor Ravikumar, was the debut movie of actors like Bhavana and Vijeesh as well.
5. Notebook
In 2006, Rosshan Andrrews has proved that, stars are not required to make a movie box office success, by casting newcomers Skanda Ashok and Mariya Roy as lead actors in the movie Notebook. The casting of the film was done through an open audition. Makers are praised for handling a bold subject, which was never discussed before in Malayalam movies.
6. Malarvaadi Arts Club
Malarvaadi Arts Club, which marked the directorial debut of multifaceted talent Vineeth Sreenivasan, is a movie that introduced many amazing talents including Nivin Pauly, Aju Varghese, Bhagath Manuel, Harikrishnan, Geevarghese Eappen, Malavika Wales and Apoorva Bose. The actors were selected through some talent hunts. It has collected over 6 Crores from the box-office.
7. Second Show
Who could forget the movie Second Show, directed by Sreenath Rajendran, which marked the grand entry of Dulquer Salmaan, son of Megastar Mammootty. Even though it is not marketed as the debut movie of Mammootty’s son, it was a huge success. The movie is also a debut to actors like Sunny Wayne and Gauthami Nair.
8. Da Thadiya
Talented director Aashiq Abu rewrote conventional concepts by casting a bulky actor, Sekhar Menon, in the lead role in Da Thadiya. This was the first movie in which Sekhar, who has played a cameo in the 2009 movie Ritu directed by Shyamaprasad. Furthermore, Aashiq has casted Nivin Pauly as the antihero in the movie. The movie had a good run at the box-office.
9. Aanandam
By turning the producer, Vineeth Sreenivasan has introduced a bunch of newcomers including actors and director, through Aanandam. The movie, directed by Ganesh Raj, who has worked as the assistant of Vineeth Sreenivasan, featured Arun Kurian, Thomas Mathew, Vishak Nair, Roshan Mathew, Annu Antony and Anarkali Marikar in vital roles. It has collected over 15 Crores from the box-office.
10. Angamaly Diaries
Angamaly Diaries, written by Chemban Vinod Jose and directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, is the latest entrant to the list. According to the makers, the film introduces 86 new actors including Antony Varghese, Reshma Rajan, Sarath Kumar, Kichu Tellus, Ullas Jose Chemban, Vineeth Vishwam, Bitto Davis, Tito Wilson, and Sinoj Varghese. It is one of the biggest hits of the year.
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