No Onam for Malluwood?

There is going to be no 2008 Onam releases in Malayalam! It has never happened before as Onam is the biggest festival season in Kerala, when biggies release. The long Onam weekend falls between September 10 (Wednesday) to 14 (Sunday). However the month long Noyambu (Ramzan fasting period) starts on September 2 and will go on till Perunaal day (Ramzan) either on October 1 or 2. During the Noyambu season collections plummet, as people mostly in Malabar keep away from cinema. So as of now the Onam releases that are being planned are Mohanlal's off-beat art film Aakasha Gopuram (in pic) on August 29, Jayaram's long delayed Paarthen Kanda Paralokam on September 5 and a few other small films waiting to get playing time. Meanwhile the holiday weekend starting from October 1 (Ramzan) and Oct 2 (Gandhi Jayanthi) , will be the bumper weekend followed by Pooja holidays October 7 to 12. All biggies are targeting this huge holiday season. In Malayalam there will be a clash between the old warhorses Mammootty with his Maya Bazaar (tentatively on Oct 1), and Mohanlal's Kurukshetra (tentatively on Oct 2). Pritviraj's Thirakatha ( likely on Oct 9) is also scheduled during that time.