With director Adithyan Chandrashekar’s Pluto, which hits the screens on Thursday, July 30, Malayalam cinema is set to explore the science fiction (sci-fi) genre once again. Despite the industry’s popularity for its experimentation and for traversing territories that many of its counterparts across the country don’t often tread, Malayalam cinema has produced only a handful of sci-fi movies, and even fewer are truly genre films. One of the major reasons is that Malayalam is significantly smaller than other Indian film industries and typically makes movies on shoestring budgets. Since sci-fi films require significant investment and elaborate preparation, the industry has largely overlooked the genre, preferring to avoid half-baked or mediocre works. Don’t Miss | Jana Nayagan: Vijay’s propaganda film makes even Sura and Villu look like masterpieces Besides, even if a producer or production company stepped forward to make a genre film, ensuring the absolute realisation of the director’s vision, the box-office returns for Malayalam movies were quite low until recently, and the industry opened the Rs 300 crore club only in 2025 with Lokah …