Kattalan
Theatrical Release Poster
Directed by	Paul George
Written by	Paul George Joby Varghese Jero Jacob
Dialogues by	Unni R.
Produced by	Shareef Muhammed
Starring	Antony Varghese Sunil Jagadish Kabir Duhan Singh Dushara Vijayan Hanan Shah
Cinematography	Renadive Additional Cinematography: Chandru Selvaraj Sudeep Elamon
Music by	Songs: B. Ajaneesh Loknath Ravi Basrur Nihal Sadiq Score: Ravi Basrur
Production company	Cubes Entertainments
Distributed by	Cubes Entertainments (India) Phars Films (Overseas)
Release date	28 May 2026 (2026-05-28)
Running time	120 minutes [1]
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	₹50 crore[2]
Box office	₹9.02 crore

Kattalan (transl. Forest dweller) is a 2026 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film written and directed by Paul George, and produced by Shareef Muhammed under the banner of Cubes Entertainments. The film is a standalone spin-off and the third installment in the Mikhael Extended Universe, following Mikhael (2019) and Marco (2024) and stars Antony Varghese, Sunil, Jagadish, Kabir Duhan Singh, Dushara Vijayan and Hanan Shah.^[3] The music is composed by Ravi Basrur, B. Ajaneesh Loknath, and Nihal Sadiq,^[4] with the background score composed by Basrur, cinematography by Renadive, and editing by Shameer Muhammed.^[5]

The film was officially announced on 2 March 2025.^[6] Principal photography began on 28 September 2025 in Thailand,^[7] with additional shooting taking place in Vagamon, Kollam, Colombo, Dhanushkodi, Tirunelveli and Rameswaram. It was released on 28 May 2026 in standard, Dolby Cinema, IMAX, and EPIQ formats and received mixed to negative reviews from critics.

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The film is set against the rugged and unforgiving landscape of Aanakolli, a remote hamlet situated along the dense forest border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Initially plagued by recurring, fatal wild elephant attacks that leave the local population entirely terrified, the desperate villagers seek the assistance of a notorious hunter named Maari. While Maari successfully hunts down the rogue tuskers and positions himself as the village’s saviour, he uses the opportunity to seize absolute control over Aanakolli. He cuts off the settlement's ties with the outside world, relocates other hunters and their families into the territory, and establishes a brutal criminal syndicate centred around illegal elephant poaching and ivory trafficking.

Two decades after seizing the territory, Maari rules over Aanakolli as the feared kingpin of a massive ivory smuggling cartel, commanding a vast network of henchmen to enforce his will. However, total dominance over the lucrative "white gold" market remains elusive due to a bitter, long-standing rivalry with his primary competitor, Eddy. Following a severe fallout between the two rival cartels, Eddy and his influential associates launch a violent campaign to dismantle Maari's empire. To protect his turf and strengthen his syndicate's armed resistance, Maari forms an alliance with George D'Peter—the head of the Adattu family and elder brother of the famous gangster Marco—who sends Antony, a highly skilled and fearless ruffian, to reinforce Maari's operations.

Upon entering the Aanakolli syndicate, Antony quickly earns the trust of the local hunting families and aggressively rises through the criminal ranks by leading high-stakes counter-operations against Eddy's faction. As the turf war escalates into brutal, blood-soaked clashes deep within the wilderness, Antony witnesses the severe exploitation and suffering inflicted upon both the local villagers and the forest ecosystem. It gradually becomes evident to the syndicate that Antony harbors his own hidden, alternative agenda for infiltrating Maari's inner circle.

The narrative builds toward a series of massive, hyper-stylised combat sequences as Antony navigates betrayals from within the cartel. Antony systematically dismantles Maari's operations from the inside, revealing that his true allegiance lies with the preservation of the land and a personal vendetta against Maari's tyranny. In the film's climax, a final, violent confrontation leaves Maari's empire in ruins, exposing Antony's direct structural connection to the broader Mikhael Cinematic Universe, setting up a larger war over the control of the forest's illicit trade.

• First Mid-credits Scene: The sequence addresses the immediate narrative continuity of Marco. It unravels the underlying mystery behind the kidnapping of Marco's nephew^[a], establishing the exact timeline bridge and narrative connection that links the events of Kattalan directly to the plot of Marco and that to Mikhael. The film sets up a new larger and broader Mikhael Cinematic Universe, connecting Marco, Kattalan and Mikhael.
• Second Mid-credits Scene: The sequence features a cameo by Tamil film director Lokesh Kanagaraj, making an acting appearance as Leo Cabral. Operating in the shadows of the neon-drenched criminal underworld, Cabral is introduced as a gritty and enigmatic figure seeking to seize control of the power vacuum left behind by the collapsed Aanakolli ivory cartel.
• Post-credits Scene: The final scene, which plays after the completion of the rolling credits, leaves the narrative open-ended. It reveals that Antony's structural disruption of the forest's illicit ivory trade has triggered a massive domino effect. His actions position him as a direct target for the deep-rooted forces of the D'Peter crime family, laying the foundation for an impending, larger-scale war over territory.

On 22 August 2025, the production of Kattalan began with a traditional pooja ceremony held at Chakkolas Pavilion in Kochi, Ernakulam. The event was attended by the film’s cast and crew, as well as members of the film industry.^[8]

The principal photography began on 28 September 2025 and wrapped on 24 February 2026. Majority of filming took place in Thailand^[9] and Kothamangalam. The film was shot entirely with Sony's VENICE 2 8K cameras.

Antony Varghese plays the lead role in Kattalan. The marketing for the film began with the release of the first look poster on 11 October 2025. Further promotional activities and updates about the cast and production continued in the following months leading up to the scheduled release.^[10]

The film's songs were composed by B. Ajaneesh Loknath, Ravi Basrur and Nihal Sadiq while the background score was composed by Ravi Basrur, under the label of T-Series. The first single "Majako Mallika" was released on 14 February 2026 in which the original Malayalam version received an average response while the Telugu version became a hit.^[11]

Kattalan was released on 28 May 2026 in its original Malayalam language alongside versions in the Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil languages in the standard, IMAX, Dolby Cinema, and EPIQ formats.^[12]

• Kattalan at IMDb