It's Mammootty vs Mohanlal this weekend

It's a mother of all battles that all Malayalis will love to watch!

It's not the first time but every time it happens, the viewers are in for a visual treat. Well, we are talking about the release of two high profile films -- Mammootty's Venice ile Vyaapaari and Mohanlal's Arabeem Ottakom P Madhavan Nairum in Oru Marubhoomikkatha, just days before Christmas.

Meanwhile, there are reports of a ban on film releases in Tamil Nadu after the ongoing Mullapperiyar dam controversy.

Evidently, all these add to the expectations as well. The advance booking has already started for both the films and here is a look at what to expect as sparks begin to fly.

Director: Shafi

Cast: Mammootty, Kavya Madhavan

Whenever Mammootty and Shafi come together, they make it sure that things are hunky dory for viewers and set the cash registers ringing just like their previous fims -- Thommanum Makkalum, Mayavi and Chattambi Naadu. 

In Venice ile Vyaapaari, scenarist James Albert of Classmates and Cycle fame joins the team with a storyline set in the 1980s. Kavya Madhavan and Poonam Bajwa play the female leads.

Mammootty's character, Pavithran, plays a police constable and there is a murder mystery that unravels between romance and humour.

"Usually when period films are narrated, the storyline takes a serious tone, but things move ahead with lots of humorous situations here," says Shafi.

Director: Priyadarsan

Cast: Mohanlal, Mukesh, Bhavana, Lakshmi Rai

He is the most successful Malayali director in Bollywood, but it has been a while since Priyadarshan churned out hits in Malayalam the way he used to. He hopes to do so with Arabeem Ottakom P Madhavan Nairum in Oru Marubhoomikkatha.

Mohanlal and Priyadarsan have been friends even before they started doing films together and there have been quite a number of laugh riots with the duo joining hands. Arabeem... has been shot extensively in the Gulf.

"I have been part of quite a number of films made by Priyadarsan with Mohanlal as the hero. Frankly, I didn't imagine my role in this film to be this big, initially. The whole shooting experience has been truly remarkable," says Mukesh.

Bhavana agrees and says "it is absolutely a dream come true for me to share the screen with such a superb team."