'Odiyan' is not 'Pulimurugan', says Shrikumar Menon

'Odiyan' director Shrikumar Menon said he cannot be cowed down by the cyberattack against the movie and would proceed with his next big venture 'Randamoozham'. Mohanlal-starrer 'Odiyan', which was released on Friday, has reportedly received mixed response at the box office and has been targeted by cyberbullies apparently with vested interests.

Referring to the unexpected reception for the film, Shrikumar said 'Odiyan' is his kind of entertainer for the masses.

"If people are expecting a 'Pulimurugan' instead, it won't happen from me," Shrikumar said. "This is the story of a normal man."

'Pulimurugan' is a 2016 blockbuster starring Mohanlal in the title role.

Shrikumar also justified the pre-release hype around 'Odiyan'. "One of the major criticisms is that I marketed the film a little too much. But it was a conscious decision to market it that way. The film could be released in so many centres in various metro cities in the country and outside too only because of that kind of marketing. We collected Rs 39.14 crore from across the world just on the first day. It is an achievement worth celebrating for Malayalam cinema. But, instead of celebrating, people are attacking me and the film,” he said.

The filmmaker justified the pre-release hype around 'Odiyan'. "One of the major criticisms is that I marketed the film a little too much. But it was a conscious decision to market it that way. The film could be released in so many centres in various metro cities in the country and outside too only because of that kind of marketing. We collected Rs 39.14 crore from across the world just on the first day. It is an achievement worth celebrating for Malayalam cinema. But, instead of celebrating, people are attacking me and the film,” he said.

The filmmaker also revealed the work on his ambitious project 'Randamoozham' could commence by mid-2019. Recently, eminent writer M T Vasudevan Nair had demanded the return of its screenplay. The Rs 1,000 crore multilingual film to be directed by Shrikumar is based on MT's epic novel 'Randamoozham'.

"There is no clash between MT and I. It's just a misunderstanding," Shrikumar clarified, while adding the writer had made the demand as the project was getting delayed.

Shrikumar had claimed the other day that he became a victim of cyberbullying, soon after the release of 'Odiyan' as he stood by its lead actress Manju Warrier. He had urged her to speak out against the defamation campaign against the film.