Comedian and actor Ramesh Pisharody is done with his silence on the matter and stands by director Aashiq Abu on his film Gangster starring Mammootty. The movie which released on April 11 to an extremely eager audience, largely due to the movie’s unique promotional tactics and Mammootty’s star value, has been a disappointment at the box office.

Though it opened with a bang on more than 190 screens internationally, the film started getting negative comments from the fans for some of its over the top content and “ridiculous” moments.

Aashiq himself has stood firmly by his creation and even argued that the movie did make its money back via sales of rights to various entities. He even went so far as to say that he would make another movie with Mammootty soon, hoping to shut up the detractors.

Now, Ramesh Pisharody has taken up the fight too, over what he claims is a huge overreaction to a movie – good or bad. He feels the movie being made a punch line to jokes is unnecessary and unfair.

His message to the so called critics which went viral across the social media stated that “Aashiq Abu’s Gangster is a work of art not Endosulphan.”

An indignant Ramesh also reminded the fans and the public at large that these critics are the same people who made a big deal, though unintentionally, of Santhosh Pandit’s laughable attempt at film making – Krishnanum Radhayum while ignoring award winning movies like Aadaaminte Makan Abu.

Comedians are often the best observers off society’s frivolous and callous behaviour – is he right in this case? Is the bad press surrounding Gangster just a case of fans expressing their discontent to a product or is it an attention seeking populace taking something too far for spurious reasons?

You be the judge…

Aashiq Abu’s Gangster, starring Mammootty, which released in over a 120 theatres in India alone has been a disappointment box office wise. The movie, which had unique promotional tactics, started off with a bang; bringing in record collections on the release date but started getting mixed reviews from the fans after the first viewing.

The movie’s over the top gunfights, lack of dialogues from the Megastar and sometimes “laughable” ones are the reasons according to some fans. Though the movie must have definitely made a profit by selling its rights, it fell far short of the expectations after being polled as “The Most Awaited Movie of 2014”.

Gangster also reportedly landed in some legal trouble with the Regional Censor Board over certain uncertified posters of the movie.

Aashiq however, seems unfazed and maybe even a little annoyed by the harsh criticism from the audience though he thanked those who took the time to write unbiased reviews.

His confusing response, with many possible explanations, to the ‘haters’ was: Danger is real, fear is a choice!

While this ambiguous statement seems to have left the fans with a confused look on their faces, Aashiq has also added that he doesn’t care to respond to comments that “don’t deserve one”.

In fact, according to Aashiq himself and the ever running rumour mill, he is already planning another movie with Mammootty – a family thriller of sorts. This is in addition to his previously announced movie with his wife Rima based on the viral amateur song ‘Maahile pennugale kandikka’ which caused some furore by itself too.
Mammootty, on the other hand, is busy with his movie Manglish in which he plays a fish merchant who has trouble with the English language but chooses to use it whenever he wants, leading to hilarious outcomes. Caroline Bach co stars with him though not opposite to him.

Mammootty posted this selfie of himself trying on the ‘Google Glasses’, from the location yesterday:

Aashiq Abu’s Mammootty starrer mega flick Gangster seems to have landed in some serious legal trouble because some of its posters did not bear certification by the censor board! No, the movie’s posters were not offensive in any way but it is the law none the less, especially since the movie had been given an ‘A’ certificate by the board for graphic violence and obscene language.

The movie, which released in over a 190 theatres worldwide, is also struggling at the box office with lukewarm responses from the audience after the initial overwhelming rush. This was in no small part due to the promotional antics of the movie which included an animated teaser trailer, a royalty free song release and an android game based on the movie! Aashiq sure left no stone unturned and yeas, the movie made a profit selling the rights to various entities nationally and internationally. There was even a rumour flying around of Hindi remake with Aamir Khan in the future!

However, the problem they face now is serious if proved to be true. The law states it thus:

As per Rule 38 of Cinematograph Rules 1983, any person advertising a film shall indicate the category of certification. Violating the rule is a non-bailable offense under section 7 of Cinematograph Act, 1952.

Mr. Jacob, an executive officer at the Regional Censor Board, says that it has come to their attention that most of the posters of the movie did not bear their certification.

Aashiq Abu and the producers of the movie are yet to respond to these allegations. If they are proved liable, one has to wonder why such a rookie mistake happened under the watch of veteran film makers, especially with the stakes so high..

The rumour mills are in full swing with this supposed news: Aamir Khan already has or shortly will, buy the remake rights of the movie Gangster in Hindi!

Mammootty starrer Gangster, directed by Aashiq Abu, just came out on Friday the 11th and has been doing phenomenal business so far, in spite of mixed reviews from the critics. The movie’s promotional tactics, which involved a royalty free song release, an animated teaser trailer and an android game, seems to have paid off as the theatres are packed and the movie is bringing in record breaking collections.

The first day, according to the Megastar’s fan community, brought in roughly Rs. 6.2 crores and the second day, again, more than half that.

The satellite rights have sold for Rs. 5 crores and overseas and other state release rights have sold for Rs. 3 crores and Rs. 1 crore respectively.

But no – Aashiq Abu’s mega flick wasn’t done with the big bucks – video rights went for Rs. 2.8 crores and now comes the rumour that Aamir bagged the Bollywood remake rights for, that’s right, for another Rs. 5 crores!

Whatever the truth maybe, it’s safe to say that Gangster might wind up one of the year’s biggest hits without breaking a sweat. With Mohanlal’s Mr. Fraud in the finishing stages of production and Prithviraj’s 7th Day out already, the year seems tailor made for big budget action/suspense thrillers.

‘Different looks in one movie’ is also starting to be a running theme this year with Mr. Fraud claiming the caption ‘One man, Many faces’ and Prithviraj sporting a mature look in 7th Day as a 42 year old policeman.

Mammootty appears in five distinct looks in Gangster as Akbar Ali Khan – the deadly underworld don on an unforgiving quest for vengeance against those that murdered his wife.

Finally, after all the hype and a tedious wait, Aashiq Abu’s Gangster, starring Mammootty, came out today to eager fans around the world and the reviews are looking good so far.

Megastar Mammootty plays the character of underworld don, Akbar Ali Khan, to perfection with the supporting cast pulling their weight as well.

The stylishly taken movie has all the essential aspects including suspense, action and is visually unique thanks to the amazing cinematography by Alby and editing by Saiju Sreedharan.

Aashiq posted his thanks today to his ‘Gangster’ friends for all their hard work.

The movie released in 190+ screens in India alone to packed houses. Prithviraj’s 7th Day being postponed for release till tomorrow meant that Gangster had virtually no competition in Mollywood and fans, apparently, were ready to pay any price for a ticket.

The first response from the day’s enthusiastic crowd gives the movie positive reviews and proclaims it ‘definitely worth a watch’. The film is also being described as nail bitingly tense and directed with vision.

It seems that all the pre release, promotional gimmicks have paid off and Gangster, which was polled as the ‘Most Awaited Film of 2014’ in Malayalam, is here to stay and maybe set the tone – box office wise- for the rest of the year for Mollywood.

Guess what? Mammootty’s movie Gangster which is set to release tomorrow has pulled another promotional wonder –its own android game! In fact, it is said to be a game series called ‘Gangster Race’ which will be supported by all android devices.

The game was developed by two Kochi based developers, Mobio and Coppra.

The film seems to be doing all the right trendsetting things before the big release day, including, releasing two compelling teaser trailers – one of which was an animated one, a royalty free song release on Facebook and now this!

Director Aashiq Abu’s visionary approach seems to be working as the international release of the movie is set to thrill eager fans around the world.

The plot has not been leaked so far and even the shoot and post production works remained sealed to the media and the fans. This is turning out to be quite the Hollywood style flick, in its execution and pre release gimmicks.

All the fans have been privy to so far is that Mammootty will be playing a gangster named Akbar Ali Khan and that he will be appearing in five distinct looks throughout the movie.

Mollywood fans everywhere wait eagerly for tomorrow – April 11th.

Mammootty’s Gangster has been certified as only for Adults Only audiences. Not to worry, the certification is not about vulgar sexual content; it’s more about the violence and profane language used by the criminal element in the plot.

Since the daring and rather different flick by Aashiq Abu, with a moderate runtime of 137 minutes, could not be made without the so called ‘rude’ stuff, the board has not asked that any of it be cut from the movie.

Kairali TV has bagged the satellite rights for the film and this is an interesting development because Mammotty, the star of the movie, is also the Chairman of the channel network.

The film also has none of the usual aspects of a normal action/crime drama like item numbers –in fact the only song in the movie is more of a devotional song, which was released on the director Aashiq Abu’s Facebook page a few days back and has gone viral since.

The very current and popular Malayalam band, Thaikkodam Bridge did the promotional music of the film and with that feather in its cap too, this motion picture just seems to be raising the bar high in trendsetting in Mollywood.

With its release in over 120 screens worldwide, the movie has already won half the battle with fans eagerly on the wait for the big day –April 11th.

Malayalam Superstar Mammotty’s Gangster movie official first look animated teaser. The movie will hit the big screens on April 11th.

Aashiq Abu’s mega motion picture Gangster, starring Mammootty, is soon to hit the big screens on April 11th and the flick is in no short supply of creative promotion. Recently, Aashiq posted song from the movie on his Facebook page, royalty free. Now, the second teaser promo of the movie has come out just two days before the big, international, 120+ screen release – and not just that, it’s animated!

Yes, the second teaser which is more like a confusing but intriguing shot by shot segment showing what looks like a kidnap and rescue scenario is done in the style of Japanese anime.

It’s stylish, without dialogues, relying completely on the visuals and just plain cool!

It seems Aashiq is leaving no stone unturned in his pursuit of the most memorable release in recent years. Let’s just hope that the movie doesn’t get too over hyped and lead to disappointment, although it’s looking awesome so far.

Check out the animated teaser of the eagerly anticipated Gangster below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mucgPkp_ww8

Against all accepted norms, director Aashiq Abu has posted a song from his much anticipated new movie ‘Gangster’, starring Mammootty, on his Facebook page -completely royalty free.

The song ‘Allahu Akbar’ is a qawwali like song with a touching, heart warming feel to it and has gone almost viral among fans. It’s sung by Javed Ali and Deepak Dev, to Deepak’s own tune. The lyrics are in Hindi, written by Raqueeb Aaalam.

It’s unprecedented in Mollywood to release a song online as promotion for the movie. If rumours are to be believed, the movie will have few songs if not just one.
Apart from the Megastar, who appears in five different looks in the movie as the don Akbar Ali Khan, Shekhar Menon as the antagonist, Nyla Usha and Aparna Gopinath form the rest of the main cast.

Kudos to all those who worked on the project, including Kokkachi and Dreamcatcher studios, for setting what is soon shaping up to be a new benchmark in style and just plain ‘cool’ factor among Mollywood movies!

Check out the song and official trailer of the movie below

The song – ‘Allahu Akbar’:

Official Trailer:

April 11th is set out to be a big day for Mollywood fans with the release of three major motion pictures. That’s right the much hyped and much awaited Mammootty starrer Gangster will have a worldwide release that day and so will the eagerly anticipated Prithviraj starrer 7th Day. Last but not the least the day also marks the release of the Kunchako Boban and Bhavana comedy flick Polytechnic.

Mammotty usually has a good box office record in the Gulf-Middle Eastern countries too and the fans are excited about the stylish, big budget movie Gangster in which Mammootty plays Akbar Ali Khan – the badass gangster.

Prithviraj’s new crime thriller which already caught the eye of the fans with his cool, mature look of an older cop named David Abraham and was in the news recently because of the firing of Ajmal Ameer from the project will also bring fans to the theatre.

The main concern among the producers given the big budgets and the international release, remains that of piracy. Let’s hope the movies are seen on the big screen the way they were meant to be seen and brings in the big bucks for the ambitious producers.

The day therefore officially becomes the one for this year’s Vishu releases and makes it a happy Vishu for Mallus everywhere!