Oru Pakka Kathai, the Tamil film starring Megha Akash and Kalidas Jayaram, released on Friday on OTT platform Zee5, after a delay of four years. Speaking to Silverscreen India, director Balaji Tharaneetharan and co-producer KS Sivaraman said it was as if a burden had been lifted.
Balaji Tharaneetharan, who wrote the film (reviewed here) in 2014, said, “We started the schedule on December 14, 2014 and it ended on June 15, 2015. In a span of six months, we finished the movie with a few schedule breaks. Shooting took 48 days. And after that the post-production ended in 2016. So, practically, the movie was finished in 2016.”
KS Sivaraman said that there had been no major reason for the film’s delay, but the certification process itself took seven to eight months after the post-production ended.
Now that the film has finally released, he said, “I am proud of releasing this film irrespective of whatever damage it cost me, financially, emotionally, or mentally, because it is a good film. And now we are free of the burden because the reception has been good and there are good reports (about the film). We have no regrets. Ultimately, everyone’s work is being recognised.”
But, said Sivaraman, at the end it had to be a digital release. He said, “Who will bear the costs and what is the guarantee of return? It is not a star-studded movie that will have a 100% audience. It is more of a content-driven film. Because every film needs a distributor, who will have to buy the film from us.”
For director Balaji Tharaneetharan, the fact that the film hadn’t released did not sit well with him all these years. He said, “You make a film and it does not release and in my mind, I am attached to that film.”
Balaji wrote the film in 2014, inspired by something he had read in the news. However, he indicated that disclosing what that news was, would spoil “the first 10 minutes of the film”.
Balaji said Oru Pakka Kathai was “about normal people facing an abnormal situation”. He said, “How they will understand it and what all will they do?”
Unlike his earlier films, Oru Pakka Kathai “cannot be categorised in a particular genre,” he said. “There’s humour, there are social issues, so, we can say that it is a social drama.”
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His debut film, Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom, was a comedy drama. Although he worked on Oru Pakka Kathai after that, Seethakaathi (2018) ended up becoming his second release.
Balaji is also writing the dialogues for actor Vijay Sethupathi‘s upcoming film Tughlaq Durbar.
He said, “Actually, at the end of the day, I have to survive. So, I can’t keep on waiting. I have to do other work. After finishing Seethakathi also, my thought was still around Oru Pakka Kathai. So, finally my burden is relieved.”
Oru Pakka Kathai has been produced by KS Sreenivasan under the banner Vasan Visual Ventures.