Major Ravi is one of Mollywood's most polarising personalities. It is not often that retired Army officers seamlessly transition into the film field but he has been able to make that switch, even if the results are a mixed bag. Mohanlal, who has endured a stellar 2025 at the box office, recently announced his upcoming film with Major Ravi, reportedly based on Operation Sindoor. This, however, hasn't gone down well with the actor's fans who have reacted strongly on social media.
Major Ravi's film career
While the off-beat drama film Punarjani was Major Ravi's first directorial venture, he shared the directorial credits for that film along with Rajesh Amanakara. The duo also split the writing credits between them. It was the Mohanlal starrer Keerthichakra that officially became Major Ravi's solo directorial debut and the military action drama went on to become a blockbuster.
Since then, Mohanlal and Major Ravi have collaborated on four more films with none of them working at the box office. Not only did the films become commercial failures, they were also panned by critics and fans of Mohanlal. Kurukshetra, Karmayodha, Kandahar and 1971: Beyond Borders were all films that tanked at the box office.
Criticism against Major Ravi
The general criticism against Major Ravi's film has been his jingoistic pattern of narration and outdated scripts that haven't connected well with the masses. Ironically, his best works in terms of artistic values have been Picket 43 and Mission 90 days, both of which didn't feature Mohanlal. It is another matter that neither of the films were box office successes.
Why is Major Ravi disliked by Mohanlal's fans?
When Empuraan, Mohanlal's 2025 release directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, released in March, Major Ravi was extremely vocal against the film on the opening day. However, after initially praising the film for its technical brilliance, the former Army officer then took a potshot against the film once it became a national controversy.
The major development happened when Major Ravi tried to balance his attack on the film by saying that Mohanlal hadn't seen the film. When the whole country was trying to make Prithviraj the scapegoat, Major Ravi tried his bit at cashing in but also knew that he couldn't afford to upset Mohanlal's camp.
“He (Mohanlal) never interferes with the script. He listens to the story once and does not ask for corrections," said Major Ravi in a Facebook live session in March.
"I swear he hasn’t watched Empuraan yet, just like he hadn’t seen Keerthichakra before its release. You should trust me when I say he is deeply pained by this controversy."
However, Mohanlal's long-time friend and co-producer of Empuraan, Antony Perumbavoor, vehemently denied Major Ravi's claims just days later, making it clear that the latter was simply trying to hog the limelight. Clearly, Major Ravi's attempt at damage control had backfired.
“Mohanlal knew the story, as did all of us. None of us have ever denied that," said Perumbavoor in a live session The decision to make the edits was mutual—there was no external pressure,” Antony said. He also reassured that actor Prithviraj Sukumaran would not be left to face the backlash alone.
“We are all together in this. We discussed the film extensively and firmly believed in its release. The edits were not made due to threats, and there should be no controversy, as audiences worldwide have accepted the film.”
Statement by Mohanlal's Fans Association
The actor's official Fans Association lashed out at Major Ravi during the Empuraan episode through social media posts. Judging from Major Ravi's actions during this incident, there was clearly a pattern to his behaviour.
“Does he think the people of Kerala are foolish enough to believe everything he says?” the post read. “Mohanlal deeply values his friendships, which is why he chooses to ignore the mudslinging against him."
This is not all, there was another incident involving charity where Major Ravi was allegedly trying to milk Mohanlal's goodwill for Viswasanthi Foundation, by pretending that the actor's charitable acts were actually his.
“Years ago, we trusted a promise he made under the pretense of Mohanlal’s good deed. It was only much later that we realised it was a false claim meant for his own self-glorification. Even Mohanlal himself was unaware of it at the time,” the statement alleged.
After all this, it is not a surprise that a majority of Mohanlal's fans are upset with the actor's decision to do a new film with Major Ravi.