No Onam 2009 for Malayalam Cinema

Malayalam film industry will not be celebrating Onam this year! It is not because some of the finest performers and creative people like Murali, Rajan.P.Dev and Lohitadas passed away in the last 45 days, but due to commercial reasons! This year Onam falls on September 2, at a time when Muslims in the state will be observing Noyambu or fast as part of the holy month of Ramzan. In Malabar area, the highest collecting territory for films in Kerala, theatre attendance normally falls during this period, so it does not make sense to release new films which may not take an opening. There will not be any new releases, from Malayalam superstars like Mammootty, Mohanlal, Dileep and Pritviraj. Kalabhavan Mani s Black and White may be the only release during the festival season. All the biggies like Mammootty s Pazhassi Raja, Mohanlal s Angel John, Prithviraj s Robinhood has now been postponed to Id-Ul-Fitr day when the Ramzan fasting ends on September 18 or 19.