Mollywood in 2018: Here are 22 ambitious projects lined up for next year or later

The year 2017 is all set to end on a grand note for Mollywood viewers with many Christmas releases. Moviegoers in Kerala are also eagerly awaiting for the release of some of the most anticipated movies of 2018 or later.

Here's the list of much awaited Malayalam movies to be released in 2018 or later:

• Poomaram

"When is Poomaram getting released?" is a common question faced by Kalidas Jayaram, Abrid Shine and all other team members of the campus entertainer. Its two songs — Poomaram and Kadavathoru Thoni — have raised the expectations of viewers from Abrid Shine's third directorial. Rumours had it that the flick would hit the screens in December 2017, however, the makers seem to have no plans for that.

• Aadhi

With Jeethu Joseph's directorial venture Aadhi, superstar Mohanlal's son Pranav Mohanlal is all set to make his acting debut in Malayalam. Anusree, Aditi Ravi and Lena also appear in the main roles in the action thriller, bankrolled by Antony Perumbavoor under the banner of Aashirwad Cinemas. The movie is expected to hit the theatres on January 26.

• Odiyan

The magical realism thriller Odiyan is doubtlessly the most anticipated movie in Malayalam. From the interesting promo videos to Mohanlal shedding 18 kg to get into the shoes of Odiyan Manikyan, the movie has been in the news ever since it was announced. The superstar's toned avatar for the VA Shrikumar Menon movie has garnered both amazing and negative reactions from the audience.

• Moothon

Another exciting project of Nivin Pauly is Moothon, directed by Geetu Mohandas. The young actor appears in an unrecognisable look with an earring and a nose ring in the film, which narrates the story of a teenager who goes on an adventure to find his brother. The bilingual movie, made in Malayalam and Tamil, also has Sobitha Dhulipala, Shashank Arora and Harish Khanna in pivotal roles.

• Bilal

The biggest movie announcement made in 2017 was doubtlessly when director Amal Neerad shared the first-look poster of Bilal, the sequel of Mammootty's cult classic Big B. The megastar portrays Bilal John Kurishingal in the action thriller, which is expected to explore his life before he became Big B.

• Kayamkulam Kochunni

Nivin Pauly's first period drama Kayamkulam Kochunni is based on the life of famous the Kerala highwayman who lived during early 19th century. The movie, helmed by Rosshan Andrrews and scripted by Bobby and Sanjay, has Priya Anand as the heroine along with Priyanka Thimmesh, Babu Antony, Sunny Wayne, Manikandan R Achari and Thesni Khan in significant roles.

• Hey Jude

With Shyamaprasad's musical romance film Hey Jude, Tamil actress Trisha Krishnan makes her acting debut in Malayalam opposite young star Nivin Pauly. Siddique, Neena Kurup, Vijay Menon and Aju Varghese are also part of the movie.

• Kunjali Marakkar

Mammootty and Santosh Sivan are joining hands for a movie based on the life of Zamorin (Samoothiri) naval chief Kunjali Marakkar IV. However, Priyadarshan had also planned a movie on the same historical character with Mohanlal in the lead.

Though the filmmaker had claimed dropping his project not to duplicate the theme, recent reports had it that Priyadarshan would go ahead with his version of Kunjali Marakkar if the Mammootty-starrer doesn't go on floors within six to eight months.

• Aami

The biopic of controversial poet Kamala Das aka Madhavikutty has been making headlines ever since Bollywood actress Vidya Balan was approached for Kamal's directorial venture. However, the actress backed out of the project, giving way to Manju Warrier. The movie also has Murali Gopy, Tovino Thomas and Anoop Menon in significant roles.

• Mohanlal

Another exciting project of Manju Warrier is the movie titled Mohanlal, in which the actress will be seen as an ardent fan of the superstar. Indrajith Sukumaran is also part of the Sajid Yahiya directorial. 

• My Story

After enthralling the audience with Ennu Ninte Moideen, Prithviraj Sukumaran and Parvathy are sharing the screen space again in Roshni Dinaker's movie My Story. The musical romantic entertainer is mainly shot in the beautiful locales of Portugal. Ganesh Venkatraman, Roger Narayan, Sunny Wayne, Nandhu, Manoj K Jayan and Maniyanpilla Raju also appear in important roles in it.

• Anjali Menon's untitled movie

After the blockbuster Bangalore Days, filmmaker Anjali Menon's fourth directorial is one of the most anticipated movies of 2018. The film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran and Parvathy, while Nazriya Nazim makes her comeback to acting with the project.

• Captain

In the Malayalam biopic Captain, actor Jayasurya plays VP Sathyan, who took Indian football team to greater heights. Prajeesh Sen helms the big budget entertainer, which has Anu Sithara is the female lead role.

• Lucifer

Expectations are sky high from Lucifer as it is the debut directorial venture of young star Prithviraj Sukumaran with superstar Mohanlal portraying the title role. The mega-budget entertainer has been scripted by Murali Gopy and is being bankrolled by Antony Perumbavoor. Prithviraj had earlier revealed that its script had come out amazingly well and that he was roping in a team of world-class technicians for the film. 

• Kammarasambhavam

After Ramaleela, fans of Dileep are now eagerly waiting for his next Kammarasambhavam, directed by Ratish Ambat. Interestingly, the movie, scripted by Murali Gopy, marks the Mollywood acting debut of Tamil actor Siddharth. 

• Oru Bhayangara Kamukan

Dulquer Salmaan will be associating with director Lal Jose, scriptwriter Unni R and producer Shebin Backer for the romantic entertainer Oru Bhayangara Kamukan.

• Sukumara Kuruppu

Sukumara Kuruppu is the most-wanted criminal in the history of Kerala Police for murdering film representative Chacko to fake his own death to claim an insurance amount of Rs 8 lakh. In the most ambitious film by Srinath Rajendran, young star Dulquer Salmaan will play the criminal.

• Trance

Anwar Rasheed is back after four years with his directorial venture Trance, in which Fahadh Faasil will be seen as a priest. The movie is indeed a biggie as it marks the association of the duo with hitmaker Amal Neerad and Oscar winner Resul Pookutty.

• Maamaankam

Maamaankam, another historical drama of megastar Mammootty, has been announced. Set in the the late 17th century, it is said to be based on the popular Maamaankam festival that was celebrated on the banks of Bharathappuzha once in 12 years. Mammootty is expected to play the role of one of the warriors who competed in the festival with his group of soldiers to establish power.

• Aadu Jeevitham

Aadu Jeevitham is one of Prithviraj's most ambitious project, and is based on Benyamin's popular novel of the same name. There were rumours recently about the Blessy film being shelved. However, Prithviraj clarified that the news was fake as he had alotted dates from November 1, 2017, to March 31, 2019, in phases for his dream role. The film will be shot in schedules and the actor will go through multiple physical transformations to portray Najeeb Muhammad.

• Karnan

The epic historical fiction, Karnan, starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, is the second movie of director RS Vimal after Ennu Ninte Moideen. Though the movie, which will be made simultaneously in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, was said to have been shelved, the duo had clarified that the reports were inaccurate.

• Mahabharata - Randamoozham

The most expensive Indian movie, Mahabharata, apparently being made with a whopping budget of Rs 1,000 crore, is the dream project of VA Shrikumar Menon. Produced by BR Shetty, the movie will be based on MT Vasudevan Nair's novel Randamoozham, in which the epic is narrated through the mythological character Bheem. Many Indian and international biggies are expected to be part of the mega-budget project.