Mammootty gets hat trick

While Mammootty's Vishu release Annan Thampi continues to be a crowd-puller that grossed an impressive Rs.30 million in a mere 17 days, Mammootty has hit a hat-trick with Annan Thampi. His last two releases (Renji Panicker's Roudram and Katha Parayambol where he played a cameo), also turned out to be huge grossers.

Earlier, Annan Thampi, a complete entertainer with Mammootty playing a double role, had fetched an opening record collection of Rs. 2 crores from its four-day run from 75 centres. Mammootty attributed the movie's success to the fact that it was released even in small towns and cities.

Now it is becoming a new trend in the industry that any big film should be released in the maximum number of screens possible, since the B&C theatres are bringing in additional audiences to theatres. This will also cause a dent in the piracy market, because people watch latest films in the theatre itself, Mammootty said.

The superstar is currently working for four movies -- Vande Matharam (a Tamil-Malayalam bilingual film with Arjun), Parunthu, Twenty:20 and Pazhassi Raja. He is confident of the success of these forthcoming movies. But the most-awaited project by the actor himself is Pazhassi Raja, where he plays the title role of the 18th century king who fought the British in the jungles of Wayanad in Kerala. "I am really excited about Pazhassi Raja. The film is expected to be released late this year," he said.