Fans of Mohanlal have been in despair since BJP’s announcement of a strike today, the day of Odiyan‘s release. The strike has been called because a man committed suicide in front of Kerala Secretariat, where the party has been protesting against police restrictions at Sabarimala.
According to an IE report, Venugopalan Nair, a native of Peroorkada, Trivandrum set himself ablaze during the early hours of Wednesday. He self-immolated by pouring petrol and ran to the party tent on the opposite side of the road where workers had been protesting.
Party workers and police put out the fire and rushed him to Trivandrum Medical College, but he was admitted with 90% burns. He succumbed to his injuries at around 3.30 pm yesterday.
Latest reports question Venugopalan’s allegiance with BJP, even though BJP has called for a state-wide hartal from 6 am to 6 pm, exempting Sabarimala devotees. Following this, Kerala DGP Loknath Behra assured that daily life won’t get affected, but reports say that exams have been postponed.
And Mohanlal’s fans have been frustrated that release of the much-awaited Odiyan has been stopped.
Kerala is infamous for frequent hartals, but this is the first in recent times that a hartal is happening on the day of a big movie release.
Certain theatres have gone ahead with early morning shows as scheduled. But some will start screenings only after 6 pm today.
#InoxThrissur Morning Shows Cancelled.. #Odiyan pic.twitter.com/SgACWuLUkx
— MollywoodBoxOffice (@MollywoodBo1) December 13, 2018
In other parts, police have asked people to go back home instead of crowding in front of theatres. Fans of Mohanlal have come together against the hartal.
#BJP hartal in Kerala…@Mohanlal fans defying the hartal, reach theatres for #Odiyan. Cars and bikes on the road…buses and taxis though stay away. @ndtv pic.twitter.com/YKJC2RHJHg
— Sneha Koshy (@SnehaMKoshy) December 14, 2018
BJP has called for a hartal in Kerala tomorrow. Hoping essential services like water, milk, electricity, hospital and #Odiyan would be exempted.
— Fahir Maithutty (@fahir_me) December 13, 2018
Shows in other states with dubbed versions of the movie have not been affected.
Odiyan was set to release in over 3500 screens today. Everything about the film, from Mohanlal’s on-screen transformation to him starring opposite Prakash Raj after a gap of 20 years, created immense hype. Directed by debutant Shreekumar Menon, the movie stars Manju Warrier, Innocent, and Nandhu in other roles.
Here’s the trailer of Odiyan:
Image Courtesy: IB Times
