Oru Naal Varum lost its opening?

His eagerly awaited Oru Naal Varum, which released on July 9 in 71 stations in Kerala, did not take the kind of opening one would associate with a Lal ettan film.

The film also carries mixed reports and the blame is on Sreenivasan whose script looks jaded, and somehow it lacked the magic of the duo’s earlier combination films.

From the trade point of view, the film had a “cold start”, as the fans could not fill up the theatres and on Monday and Tuesday the collections have nosedived.

In Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram where Mohanlal films open in multiple screens, it released in a single screen. In Ernakulam, the bigger 1180 seater Sarita was only showing it for noon show while matinee, evening and night shows were screened at the 540 seater Savitha.

At the 909 seater Sreekumar in Thiruvananthapuram, traditional Mohanlal citadel with a small balcony (168 seats), there was no pressure on advance booking, and the hall was struggling to get houseful on a weekend.

At Kottayam Abhilash, another big screen the film has taken only a 85 percent opening.

The alarm bells are ringing in the trade. Oru Naal Varum, was said to be the comeback vehicle of Mohanlal, after the disastrous Alexander the Great.

It had a hit team of Mohanlal-Sreenivasan a combination that has never failed still the film has taken only an average opening.