Of around 90 Malayalam films released in 2010, films with a multistar ensemble did well at the box-office compared to many others.

Last year’s hits include, Mammootty-Prithviraj starrer Pokkiri Raja, Jayaram-Jayasurya-Indirajith combination’s Happy Husbands and Mukesh—Siddique-Ashokan troika’s In Ghost House Inn. Of the 30 films released in the first quarter of 2011, the most successful ones were multistarrers, stories of which revolved round more than one superstar.

Joshi’s Christian Brothers, Santhosh Sivan’s historical thriller Urumi, Rafi Mecartin’s blockbuster China Town and Shafi’s Makeup Man, which had Jayaram in a lead role and Jayasurya and Prithviraj in special appearances, are some of the films that drew in the audience.

While, Christian Brothers had a huge star cast ranging from superstars like Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Dileep to Tamil hero Sarath Kumar, Urumi, touted as the first ‘global film’ from Kerala, has given the audience a chance to see a host of top actors from different languages together.

Rising superstar Prithviraj essayed the protagonist in the historical saga dealing with the arrival of Europeans to the Indian sub-continent, while Tamil actors Prabhu Deva and Arya and Bollywood actresses Genelia D’souza, Tabu and Vidya Balan, did significant roles.

China Town, which has the combination of Mohanlal, Dileep and Jayaram, is running to packed houses now. Many film personalities feel the new trend will help ‘Mollywood’ regain its past glory.

“It is of course a new trend in Malayalam and the result is positive so far. The audience always like to see their favourite actors together in films. Most superstars were not interested in combination movies before,” said Mecartin. “That may be the reason for the absence of such movies in the last decade. But, the situation has changed and all are now willing to appear together if there is a good script and story line,” he said, referring to his multistarrer China Town.

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http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Multistarrers--new-trend-in-Malayalam-filmdom/789514/