Director Manu Anand had a strong emotional reaction to the cinema satire Mollywood Times, directed by Abhinav Sunder Nayak and starring Naslen in the lead role. Taking to his Instagram Stories space, Manu recommended the film to all filmmakers and cinema lovers. He wrote, "Every filmmaker should watch this film. Every cinema lover should experience this movie to know the pain, trials, betrayals and agendas hidden behind a movie!"
The filmmaker also said that watching the film made him reflect on his own experiences in cinema. "Sometimes it felt that someone stole my own mind voice and experiences while making the two films I made and made this film. Strongly recommended," wrote the director, known for helming the 2022 action thriller FIR and this year's Mr X.
As caption for the post, he wrote, "A filmmaker's inner voice! The trials, the struggles and betrayals of cinema is beautifully engraved in every frame." It is not clear exactly what Manu is alluding to with regard to his appreciation post for Mollywood Times in relation to his experience. It could very well be a general appreciation post for the film, which deals with the themes he mentioned in his post of appreciation. For the unversed, the film stars Naslen as a wannabe horror filmmaker, who finds it difficult to make it big in the film industry due to corruption and internal politics.
The filmmaker also expressed his appreciation for director Abhinav Sunder Nayak and actor Naslen for their efforts behind the cinema satire. "Hats off," he wrote, referring to Abhinav, before adding that Naslen delivered a "brilliant" performance in the film.
Mollywood Times hit theatres in June this year, and it earned around 20 crore from theatres, according to data from Sacnilk. The film is now streaming on JioHotstar.
