Nomadland, the American film, won big at the National Society of Film Critics’ (NSFC) annual awards, bagging four awards, including the Best Picture Award, on Saturday. The film is also an official entry for the 93rd Academy Awards.
While Chloe Zhao won the award for the Best Director, Frances McDormand took home the Best Actress Award.
The film, which revolves around the life of a nomadic woman living in the American West, also bagged the award for Best Cinematography.
Nomadland won the Best Picture Award with 52 points. No other film that was contesting this year, won in more than one category.
The 55th annual awards was decided through a weighted ballot system, where the members voted for their top three choices.
The first, second, and third choices were allotted the points 3, 2, and 1, respectively. As per the association, if no winner is declared on the first ballot, the category goes to a second ballot, this time without proxies. Voting continues with as many rounds as needed until a nominee receives the most points and appears on a majority of ballots.
Among other films, Delroy Lindo won the Best Actor Award for Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, while Maria Bakalova and Paul Raci won the Supporting Actors’ awards for their performances in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and Sound of Metal, respectively.
Eliza Hittman won the Best Screenplay Award for Never Rarely Sometimes Always. Romanian film Collective won the Best Foreign Film Award, while Time won the Best Non-fiction Film Award.
Last year, director Bong Joon Ho’s Korean film Parasite won the Best Picture Award.
Initiated in 1966 by Joe Morgenstern, the NSFC comprises over 60 film critics from several American publications, like The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Christian Science Monitor, to name a few.
Voting had commenced on Saturday and results were announced on the same day. While the award ceremony is usually held at the New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center, the event was held virtually this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sundeep Kishan, star of the Telugu sports film, A1 Express, unveiled the first look of the movie on social media on Saturday.
The film, a partial remake of the 2019 Tamil film Natpe Thunai, marks the first ever Telugu hockey film, said Kishan.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Kishan said that he plays a character who becomes a hockey player due to circumstance. “It is a very interesting role for me because a major transformation is required in both portions of the film for my character. That was something really exciting,” he said.
The film is a partial remake of Natpe Thunai, which was helmed by Parthiban Desingu and starred Adhi, Anagha and Karu Pazhaniappan in the lead. Natpe Thunai was about a former international hockey player who has to help a local team save their ground. He trains them to win a match against the Pondicherry team.
A1 Express has the same core idea but the treatment is different from Natpe Thunai, said Kishan. “The emotion, the vibe, and the mood of the film will be similar. But that apart, in terms of treatment it is a completely different film. Almost 50% of the script and treatment is completely different,” he said. Kishan said that Adhi and Jeeva from the Natpe Thunai team had been very supportive .
A1 Express, directed by Dennis Jeevan Kanukolanu, is Kishan’s twenty-fifth film. Kishan has said that A1 Express would the most ambitious films he has worked on till date.
Talking about why he chose to do A1 Express, he said, “I have done a lot of films and I wanted to do something I have never done before. The only time I did something close to a sports film was in my Hindi film Shor in the City, where I payed a cricketer. But that also did not go too much into the sport.”
The script was originally written for a boxing film. “We were working on it and at that point someone chanced upon Natpe Thunai and showed it to us and we were like this is the kind of film we want to make. Hockey is a sport that nobody has seen before – it is a first for Telugu films,” he said.
Kishan had to practice hockey for six months before shooting for the film.
After the Covid-19 pandemic, the team did not get permission to shoot at any stadiums. “For this film, for the transformation, I had lost a lot of weight and I had to maintain it. All the actors had to stay in touch with hockey as a sport. We couldn’t even go practice anywhere because the stadiums were shut. We had to create a place for us which had a marble flooring and we practiced the basics there,” he said.
According to Kishan, the film will most likely release in theatres in February or March this year.
“Vivaha Bhojanambu was an OTT film. The content will work on OTT. A1 Express is a theatrical experience. It is a sports film. You need the auditorium cheering when there is a goal and they should be sad when somebody falls down or there is a foul. Sports films are very interactive,” he said.
A1 Express stars Lavanya Tripathi in the lead and also features Rao Ramesh, Murali Sharma, Posani Krishna Murali, Priyadarshi, Satya, Mahesh Vitta and Parvateesham in prominent roles.
TG Vishwa Prasad, Abhishek Aggarwal, Sundeep Kishan and Daya Pannem are jointly producing it under People Media Factory, Abhishek Agarwal Arts, and Venkatadri Talkies banners.
Hiphop Tamizha, who starred in Natpe Thunai, has scored the music for A1 Express. Kavin Raj has done the camerawork and Chota K Prasad has done the editing.
The morning shows of Krack, the Telugu film directed by Gopichand Malineni and starring actors Ravi Teja and Shruthi Hassan, were stalled on the day of its release, on January 9, because of settlement issues between the film’s financiers and its producer, B Madhu.
While the film’s US shows were cancelled, the morning shows in India in both multiplexes and single-screen theatres were delayed, the film’s publicity manager told Silverscreen India. Financiers have demanded that B Madhu settle their dues before releasing the film.
Krack is the first major Telugu film up for release, after Solo Brathuke So Betterreleased on December 25, 2020. While Solo Brathuke So Better has done well so far, many theatre owners were already considering permanently shutting down after facing significant losses in 2020, despite a line-up of new releases in 2021, headed by Krack.
According to Krack‘s publicity manager, the film’s financial issues have now been resolved. “The movie will be releasing today,” he said.
However, theatre owners say that there is still uncertainty about the film’s release.
Anupam Reddy, owner of the multi-screen Sudha Theatre at Hyderabad, told Silverscreen India, “Subsequent shows will continue provided everything is cleared. But, as of now, there is no clearance.”
He said, “As a theatre owner, I would say bad luck is continuing since the theatre business was in a lull all this time, and now when this big movie is supposed to release, it did not come.”
The cancellation of the morning has added to the looming uncertainty for theatre owners, who say that it will have an adverse impact, even on future shows.
Reddy said that a local distributor told him at around 8.30-9 am that the show would stay cancelled, even though the screening was to begin at 10.30 am. He said, “Tickets will be refunded since they were booked online and that is a monetary loss. But the problem is also that word-of-mouth spreads so fast. Even before the movie’s release, there will be a buzz that will affect future shows. Fewer people will come to the show and it will mean a big loss for us.”
Gopal Reddy, owner of Ranga 70mm single screen theatre in Hyderabad, also felt that future shows would be impacted. He told Silverscreen India, “When the first show is disappointing, people don’t turn up for the next show. So, we incur losses. We are not sure about the subsequent shows either since we did not get any information.”
He said, “I got the information that were some settlement issues between producers and distributors. It is really disappointing because it was house full for the morning show today [Saturday]. This kind of thing has not happened in a very long time.” Ranga 70mm seats 1329 people at full capacity.
Apart from Krack, a number of Telugu films are scheduled to release around Pongal. These include Red, Alludu Adhurs, and Zombie Reddy.
At present, theatres in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are running at 50% occupancy.
On Saturday evening, makers of the film announced on social media that the financial issues have been resolved and that Krack will run in theatres starting from 9 pm
Directed by R. Ajay Gnanamuthu
Produced by S.S. Lalit Kumar
Music – A. R. Rahman
Edit – Bhuvan Srinivasan
DOP – Harish Kannan
Production Design – A Amaran
Action Choreography – Dhilip Subbarayan
Dance Choreography – Satish Krishnan
Audiography – Tapas Nayak
Co Writers – Neelan K Shekar, Kannan Sreevasthan, Innasi Pandiyan, Bharath Krishnamachari
Costumes – Komal Shahani
Lyrics – Thamarai, Pa. Vijay, Vivek
VFX supervisor – H. Monesh
Chief co Director – Mugesh Sharma
Co Directors – Venkatesh VS, VG Balasubramanian
Executive Producer – Ramkumar Balasubramanian
Production Manager – RS Venkat, M Kasilingam
Make up Preethisheel Singh, Karandeep Singh
Sound Design – Sync Cinemas
CG – Unify Media
DI – Igene
Stills – D Narendran
PRO – Yuvaraj
Publicity Design – Kabilan
Music Label – Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd.
The Tamil Nadu government on Friday scrapped its order allowing single screen theatres and multiplexes in the state to run at 100% capacity. The occupancy will continue to be capped at 50% at all cinema halls in the state, until further orders are issued, the Tamil Nadu government said in a press release issued on Friday.
However, theatres in the state have been permitted to run additional shows.
After the Tamil Nadu government issued orders on January 4 permitting theatres to run at full capacity, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) wrote to the Tamil Nadu chief secretary, asking the state government to withdraw its previous order since it was a dilution of the MHA’s guidelines. On Friday, the Madras High Court, while hearing petitions challenging the government order allowing full occupancy in cinema halls, also asked the state government to not permit more than 50% occupancy in theatres. Following this, the Tamil Nadu government withdrew its previous order on Friday evening.
While Tamil Nadu was the first state in India to allow theatres to run at full capacity, the West Bengal government on Friday followed suit. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made the announcement of permitting all halls to run at full capacity during the inauguration of the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival.
The Telugu Film Producers’ Council wrote to the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments to consider the same. A response is awaited.
Emerging as an exception, the Kerala Film Chamber on Wednesday decided against reopening theatres in the state until their demands of seeking exemption from entertainment tax and extension of show timings were met.
In addition to the spate of requests to get cinemas function fully, the Film Federation of India (FFI) on Friday wrote to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to increase the seating capacity of theatres across India to 100%. In the letter, FFI president S Thanu emphasised the “liberty of 100% capacity at least during the holiday season”.
On Friday, while the Madras High Court ruled that cinema halls cannot be permitted to run with more than 50% seating capacity until January 11, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that all theatres in the state can be allowed to have 100% seating capacity, while inaugurating the 26th International Kolkata Film Festival.
The high court order came after Tamil Nadu became the first state to increase theatres’ seating occupancy to 100% since the Covid-19 pandemic measures were enforced. While fans of actors Vijay and Silambarasan were overjoyed with the decision, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday asked the state government to withdraw its full theatre capacity order, stating that it dilutes the MHA’s guidelines.
Health officials said that the outcome of 100% occupancy in a closed space will be alarming.
“There’s a high possibility that at least one or two will be positive and asymptomatic among the people who are coming for one show. That one person will be able to spread it to at least 10 sitting near them and even to the people coming for the next show,” says L Ravivarman, state surveillance officer, Integrated Disease Surveillance Project.
The call to allow 100% occupancy has become louder in other states as well. After the Tamil Nadu government’s announcement, the Telugu Film Producers Council and Film Federation of India’s president, S Thanu, requested permission to increase the seating capacity in cinema halls.
Tamil Nadu’s decision to return to full seating capacity came weeks ahead of the Pongal festival, which will be seeing the theatrical releases of some big-budget films, including Vijay-starrer Master on January 13, and Silambarasan’s Eeswaran on January 14. After the state government’s announcement, a Facebook post by Aravinth Srinivas, a junior resident doctor of JIPMER in Puducherry, went viral on Tuesday where he addressed actors Vijay, Silambarasan, and the state government saying that a 100% occupancy was “a suicide attempt” and that healthcare workers like him were “tired”.
While research by Celluloid Junkie has found that “not a single outbreak of COVID-19 anywhere across the globe can be traced to a cinema, multiplex or public screening venue”, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says going to a theatre is considered a high-risk activity.
Talking to Silverscreen India, Dr Ravivarman said that since a theatre brings many people indoors together at the same time and they are all exposed to the virus for at least two-three hours, it’s riskier than schools or restaurants. He says that the reason no cases were traced to theatres could be because they have just started re-opening.
“The nature of the disease is that it spreads by saliva droplets. If it is an enclosed space, the possibility of those droplets staying in the air is more. In the current situation itself, at least 1,000-2,000 people are testing positive for Covid-19. But surely another 10,000 people around them are positive without having any knowledge of the same. So, if these people turn up in a movie theatre, there’s a 100% chance that at least two out of 100 will be positive. And these two people can spread it to at least half of the theatre capacity because just recording the temperature of the person won’t tell us whether they are positive or not. So I definitely do not recommend going to a theatre and watching a film,” he says.
According to a study by the Hermann-Rietschel-Instituts der Technischen Universität in Berlin, Germany, undertaken on behalf of German cinema trade body HDF: “If you only breathe in the cinema, the number of inhaled aerosols is still well below that in an office where people are speaking, even with an excessively long film. According to the study, this is also related to the type of ventilation in the cinemas.”
However, Srividya, state epidemiologist, Directorate of Health, Puducherry, says that no health worker will recommend anyone to visit a theatre with full occupancy.
“As of now, we did not discover a cluster from movie theatres. But in the past, we have seen social gatherings leading to huge clusters. Capacity of 50% is recommended and that is the way for things to gradually open up. There will be no social distancing and no doubt the euphoria of watching a full theatre film will be huge. So, we anticipate the first-day first-show will be uncontrollable, if the situation comes up,” she says.
According to both Dr Srividya and Dr Ravivarman, carrying masks, sanitisers, and following strict social distancing are the only ways to manage the situation. They also recommend people to eat healthy food to increase immunity.
The crowd outside AVM Rajeswari theatre in Vadapalani, Chennai
Rakesh Gowthaman, managing director of Vettri Theatres, said while SOP’s are being followed, no additional guidelines have been issued.
“We are waiting for the final order, regarding the occupancy numbers. If 100% is allowed, we will have bouncers and we will make sure the audience doesn’t remove masks and maintain decorum inside the theatre. We will make sure no unruly celebrations happen inside the theatres,” he says.
He says that he hasn’t heard of cases being reported from theatres in Tamil Nadu, and added that there were many other places which were functioning with full capacity.
“If you look at political gatherings, restaurants, people are there without masks eating, talking, etc. My opinion is if are you asking theatres to perform with 50% capacity, other industries should also follow suit. Tamil Nadu government studied the drop in cases and only then took this decision, it is not because Vijay went and asked for it,” Gowthaman said.
The CDC recommends that anyone who participates in a higher-risk activity, like visiting a cinema hall, should spend the next 14 days staying at home as much as possible, avoiding contact with people who have underlying conditions that put them at risk for Covid-19, and getting tested for the virus.
The West Bengal government on Friday permitted 100% seating capacity in cinema halls and multiplexes across the state from now on.
West Bengal government’s decision comes after the Eastern India Motion Picture Association and Telugu Film Producers Council wrote to their respective state governments- Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal- seeking to raise the occupancy of seats in cinema halls from 50% to 100%.
“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, cinema halls were asked to function with 50% capacity. I will ask my state chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay to issue a notification allowing 100% capacity in cinema halls [in West Bengal] from now on. But I will request cinema hall owners to ensure that audiences wear masks and use hand sanitisers. Halls must be sanitised after every screening,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.
She was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) at state secretariat Nabanna.
Welcoming the decision, Arijit Dutta, owner of Priya Cinema in Kolkata told Bengali news channel News18 Bangla, “It’s the right decision. We were facing a lot of problems. At normal situations, the average occupancy is anyway around 50%. This decision will dispel audiences’ fear about contracting the disease in cinema halls. We thank the state government for this decision.”
The inauguration of the 26th edition of KIFF was attended by Thappad director Anubhav Sinha, KIFF chairman Raj Chakraborty and a host of Bengali film actors and filmmakers.
Hindi actor Shah Rukh Khan, who is also the state’s brand ambassador, virtually addressed the gathering.
Screenshot of live video shared by AITC on YouTube
Expressing regret at being unable to attend the inaugural ceremony in person, Khan said: “I have been coming to Kolkata for the inauguration since 2011. This time, however, I could not come due to the [Covid-19] pandemic… This year, we all have to try and make our families happier. So whatever we do from today onwards it has to be for our families, it has to be for the country. You don’t have to pay a lot of surcharge for entertainment. Tickets are expensive sometimes, OTT platforms are expensive, but I think we should dedicate this year to entertaining all our families throughout the world. We should work harder. ”
He urged everyone to share and contribute “beyond the consideration of money and finances”.
“I think this year it is time to do some social work, actually. Whether it is through our own entertainment, whether it is going on ground helping great leaders like didi [Mamata Banerjee] and everybody else near our houses to put forth the message of peace, happiness, harmony and love,” he said.
In the 26th edition of KIFF, 131 films (including feature, short and documentary formats) are being screened across eight government-run cinema halls in Kolkata. The film festival, which is being held from Saturday till January 15, will have special centenary tribute screenings in honour of filmmakers Federico Fellini, Eric Rohmer, sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, singer Hemanta Mukhopadhyay and Bengali actors Bhanu Bandopadhyay and Soumitra Chatterjee.
Cast: R Madhavan, Shraddha Srinath, Sshivada, Moulee, Alexander Babu
A palimpsest is an interesting device for a remake/adaptation. In Dhilip Kumar‘s Maara – remake of Martin Prakkat’s Malayalam film Charlie – we meet Velaiyya (Moulee) who used to be a postman working in the Returns department. He has a letter with him – professing love for his first and only love which remains unfulfilled to the day – with its words corroding every day and to preserve this memory he rewrites the same letter over the original. Like a palimpsest. That forms Velaiyya’s story.
Stories and the instrument of storytelling are central devices in Maara. Written by Bipin Ragu and Dhilip, adapting Unni R’s original story, Maara begins like a frame narrative, a folktale retold to a little girl, with a near mythical connect (though this prologue ends with a myth that could have been avoided – placing a metal object in the hands of a person having a seizure). But Maara concerns itself with different tales coming together and threads neatly tied up, every tale reaching its logical or romantic conclusion. It was Velaiyya’s job to help the letters, a repository for stories, reach their destination. The palimpsest survives, restored to its original glory.
Enter Paaru (Shraddha Srinath), who works in restoration, taking a natural interest in history and heritage. Paaru in Charlie is a graphic designer, likely to have her charmed by the interiors of Charlie’s part art museum, part toy store home. One of the major selling points of the original is Jayashree Lakshminarayanan’s art direction. Ajayan Chalissery does the artwork here and some of it comes off as artificial and touristy. Maara’s (R Madhavan) home has vintage posters and his own artistic endeavours.
In Charlie, Paaru is impressed by what she sees, but here Paaru is besotted by a welcoming familiarity, something that has stayed within her for decades only to be excavated by the folksy Maara she hasn’t even met. The location is once again Kerala and I could not help but wonder about a Tamil Nadu setting, something that wasn’t directly lifted and superimposed. The accent of the guy who shows houses for rent to Paaru is neither Tamil nor Malayalam. This translates to Maara being neither here nor there, with the middle portions a frame-to-frame remake of Charlie that only adds flab to a narrative that began with promise. It is tiring to see an unauthentic recreation of the Malayalam film’s hippie energy instead of finding a way to place it in an already multicultural potpourri that Tamil Nadu can be.
Dhilip makes some curious choices with his alterations. It is in his hands that the first thread – Maara’s unfinished graphic novel on his midnight adventure with a thief – becomes a semaphore that guides other smaller subplots. He even gives wings to the origin of Maara, a backstory on where and how he came to be, something that is not present in Charlie. And this too has a neat connect to Paaru’s story, the scene compelling enough on its own to rekindle our interest in the film after watching one too many frames of the source material.
These are necessary choices, because one of the issues with Charlie is that the most uninspiring character in the film is the eponymous character. Dhilip does away with the aura and mystery around Maara and rewrites him as someone who is jolly and happy-go-lucky but is human, nonetheless. And Madhavan plays him straight and loose. He’s not a wizard or enchanter the way Dulquer Salmaan played him. In case we don’t get it, the film takes a dig on Maara’s saviour complex and allows him to fail.
Maara does not retain the fantasy elements and instead goes for a mumblecore aesthetic as it chugs along which makes the latter half more impactful. That’s why the tonal shift in the end is not a dealbreaker. Little details, like the folk tale in the prologue sharing elements with Velaiyya’s letter, add colour to the film in ways the painfully constructed bohemian locations never could. This is probably not intentional, but storytelling and the transient nature of memory is further solidified by watching actors like RS Sivaji, Moulee, Junior Balaiah who have been part of Tamil cinema consumers’ consciousness for decades.
One of Dhilip’s wisest decisions is to place the leads on equal footing and make them two peas in a pod – Paaru and Maara are both slaves to the idea of finding stories, which is why when the roles are reversed, the end feels like a beginning.
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Maara is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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The Maara review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Silverscreenindia.com and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.
Produced by Sravanthi Ravikishore, whose nephew is Pothineni, the film is helmed by filmmaker Kishore Tirumala. Red is a remake of the 2019 Tamil action thriller film Thadam, starring Arun Vijay in a double role along with Tanya Hope, Sonia Agarwal, and Yogi Babu.
Kishore, who has also written the dialogues for Red, speaks with Silverscreen India about directing a remake and how his experiences of working in dubbed films help him understand the pulse of Telugu audiences.
The shooting of Red commenced in November 2019 and finished in February 2020. While the team planned to release the film on April 9, 2020, it was delayed to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. Kishore, a native of Tirupati, said that he was avid watcher of Tamil films.
“When Dhanush’s Velaiilla Pattadhari was dubbed as Raghuvaran B Tech, I wrote the dialogues since I knew Tamil well and we made changes in the dubbing to suit the taste of the Telugu audiences. Instead of translating, I worked on it keeping in mind that it was a straight Telugu film and it was a hit here as well,” Kishore said.
Still from the trailer of ‘Red’
For the filmmaker, when he first watched Thadam, it was not just a thriller film, he said.
“While most of the thrillers will have a singular tone and a unidirectional narrative, the plot of Thadam had several dimensions to it. It had the story, drama, entertainment, love story, and commercial value to it. That was new to me,” he said.
Talking about remaking the film, Kishore said, “The process of remaking the film started in May 2019 after the producer discussed with me. I talked to Magizh Thirumeni [director of Thadam] during the scripting stage and tried to make Thadam relate to the Telugu audience. I tried to own the story and worked on the script for five months.”
He said that they did not “disturb the story, since it is gripping” but worked on the screenplay for the film.“I took the content of Thadam and worked in such a way thinking how would I deliver it.”
Kishore said that Magizh was happy with how the film turned out in Telugu and praised a particular scene, that is vital in the film.
Still from Red movie trailer
Red marks Kishore’s third collaboration with Pothineni after the 2016 romantic comedy Nenu Sailaja, and the 2017 coming-of-age drama Vunnadhi Okate Zindagi.
Speaking about his third venture with Pothineni, Kishore said, “After working with Ram on films centering love and friendship, we thought the thriller genre will be fresh. This is the first time he will be playing a dual role and we did not try to give forceful variation in his characters. We took behavioural characteristics of people in mind and I worked for three months on it before narrating the film to him. He liked it and did his homework too. The result has come out good and the dual characters look as if they are acted by two different people.”
Talking about the screen space of the actors, Kishore said that he wrote the story from the point of view of all the characters and not just the protagonist.
“In all my films, I have around six to seven characters. Just like I work with my male characters, I have written for the female characters too by giving their backstories, their perspective and have given them the necessary screen time for all the characters,” he said.
Talking about the film’s editing, editor Junaid Siddiqui said: “We treated this film as fresh content and have adopted any editing pattern of Thadam. Since Ram is a big star here, we tried to give a mass appeal to the film. If you see Thadam, they will have some lag and the story would be told in a slow manner, but here, the entire film has a fast pace.”
Calling the editor as the “first audience of the film”, Siddiqui said that the team tried to give a commercial spin to the film and said that the storytelling pattern of Red is different from Thadam by using wider frames. “It was a big challenge to edit the film since we tried to keep the storytelling crisp and narrate the content in less time and we did not want to have a lag,” Siddiqui concluded.
Red will release in theatres simultaneously in Telugu and Kannada on January 14. While the Malayalam dubbed version will release on January 22, the makers are also planning to release a dubbed version in Hindi towards the end of the month. The film’s Tamil version will, however, skip the theatrical release and instead be available on an OTT platform.
Red will also have theatrical releases in Bengali, Marathi, and Bhojpuri. The release dates are yet to be announced.
The Kerala Film Chamber on Wednesday decided against reopening single screen theatres in the state until their demands of seeking exemption from entertainment tax and extension of show timings are met.
The decision was taken after a meeting convened by the Kerala Film Chamber, that was attended by producers, distributors and exhibitors in Kochi on Wednesday.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced on January 1 that cinemas in the state can reopen from January 5, with 50% seating capacity and proper regulations in place.
None of the cinema halls, however, reopened on January 5. After the meeting on Wednesday, cinema halls are expected to remain shut until the state government announces a relief package for the industry.
K Vijayakumar, president of the Kerala Film Chamner, said at a press meet after the meeting, “It is very difficult to revive theatres that have remained shut for nearly 10 months and have paid fixed electricity charges, building tax among other charges, without a financial package or financial aid from the government.”
As per Cover Fox, entertainment tax in Kerala stands at 30%, along with the Goods and Services Tax of 28%. The former comes under the purview of state governments.
“We did some calculations of the revenue we would earn under the current situation and have come to the conclusion that running theatres is not viable. Theatres that will reopen will, in fact, incur more losses than theatres that remain closed, as per our calculations. Until there is a solution to all our demands, we are currently not planning to open theatres. This is the Kerala Film Chamber’s decision,” Vijayakumar said.
George, whose Anand theatre in Kottayam is shut for over nine months now, told Silverscreen India, “There has been no income and only expenses, but we are still paying the minimum electricity charges. So, we are asking for a reduction in that and I think they will consider it.”
While some other states reopened cinemas with 50% seating capacity from October 15, 2020, Kerala did not permit the same due to increasing cases of Covid-19.
“At 50% capacity, with show times between 9 am and 9 pm only, which results in two or three shows in a day, theatres cannot run and producers cannot release their films,” George said.
“Mostly, people come for late night shows. So, if we shut at 9 (p.m.) then I don’t think we will be able to run beyond the second show. But if there is no other option, then we will have to,” George said.
Richa Chadha, the Hindi actor, on Tuesday shared the first look poster of her upcoming film Madam Chief Minister and received backlash for the same on Twitter. Several users on the social media platform called out Chadha and the film’s director, Subhash Kapoor, for being “casteist” and “stereotypical”.
The poster, which shows Chadha in tattered clothes holding a broom, has been criticised for several reasons.
Social media backlash against the poster
While many pointed out the lack of Dalit representation and casting upper caste actors to represent Dalits, users also opposed to the image of her holding a broom.
The producer to the photographer be like “How’s the audience gonna know this film is about a dalit? Well hand her a broom would ya? Yes. That’s it. NOW she’s looking a Dalit.”
By his logic Nehru’s bipoic poster should be wearing janeu and mala in his hand wearing saffron cloth.
Over the years, Bollywood in the guise of breaking caste barriers and making progressive cinema has furthered caste prejudices and solidified symbols associated with discrimination.
What does a Dalit leader going on to become CM have to do with holding broom?#MadamChiefMinisterhttps://t.co/43ela4S78A
The poster has also been called out for its tagline- “Untouchable, Unstoppable”. However, the tagline was missing in the second poster, which Chadha released on Wednesday.
Jyotsna Siddharth, who runs a digital platform called “Project Anti-Caste, Love”, wrote: “What does Untouchable Unstoppable means? Why was this tagline used at all? Untouchable is not the word to be used, as the commmunity itself doesn’t represent themselves like that. How long the industry directors & producers continue to create such shameful taglines & misrepresent.”
I loved Kaala, and watched it in Tamil the day it released.
In solidarity with those pointing out the stereotyping in Madam Chief Minister’s poster. I also hope there’s space for apologies, unlearning, and conversations here, and avoidance of personal attacks and pile-ons. https://t.co/fTbWbzSsnY
Dalit oppression roots go back to the origins of the caste system in India. Manusmriti, a sacred Hindu text from the second century BCE, holds all the philosophies of this caste system and “untouchables” or the Dalits. Treated as an outcast, Dalits were forbidden to participate in religious and social gatherings. They were confined to petty jobs such as sweeping, animal slaughtering, etc.
According to Mission India, brooms were tied behind Dalits “to sweep away their unclean footprints”. Commenting on the poster, a Twitter wrote, “To people who don’t find this problematic: Dalits used to have a broom attached to their backsides so they wouldn’t pollute the land they were walking on.”
“Here, the broom is not a symbol. It is manipulated as a simile when it is coupled with the idea ‘Dalit’. The broom in the hands of Kejriwal doesn’t create such simile, likewise, brooms with Harry Potter or any other western witches are not such. Then, the problem is not with the broom, but with the idea of bringing broom and Dalit in a single frame,” Prof. Dr. T. Dharmaraj, writer of the book Why I am not even a Dalit?, told Silverscreen India.
“I don’t think that a Dalit should be played by a Dalit. I would also say that it is ridiculous to claim such. Because, an untouchable experience is not so unique, far away from the imaginations of non-Dalit. Hence, the problem is of giving an opportunity to a Dalit actor at least in a film on Dalit than of acquiring the ‘Dalitness’,” he added.
Prakash Kashwan, a professor at the University of Connecticut wrote, “The broom! You may want to have this poster changed. You should have known how this reinforces the dehumanizing image of an “untouchable” Chief Minister. And, no, the Prime Minister’s jhaadu photo-ops do not count!”
There is levels and layers and layers of the UC eye/ worldview that went into this film and the poster just shows it, let alone the UC casting, the obvious brown face, the bruised face, as if disheveledness is inherent to non-Savarnas, havent we moved past this already https://t.co/kjhPf0J3R1
Things took a sour turn when Chadha replied to a few comments and defended the film, asking people to watch the trailer and the film before judging it.
“Am so sorry to have failed your woke agni-pariksha. Sorry to disappoint you, that me of all people can disagree with you on certain aspects of cancel-culture. Again, watch the film or at least the trailer? For we do become what we hate quite easily sometimes…,” she wrote in reply to a Twitter user.
Richa you need to take a step back and reflect on the valid criticism the movie poster is receiving. Really listen to what Dalit people are saying instead of getting defensive.
You really expect me to turn down rewarding, meaningful work? That’s just absurd… You’d rather this kind of story not be told at all? Sir, you may live in a perfect Boston world, we live in Bombay, where progress > perfection. Humein casteist keh diya, ab kya baaki. 👋🏾 gbye https://t.co/TQDbgXvEsY
So cute😂It’s not mud,it’s blood. See what I mean, you’re assuming stuff.This isn’t some pre-meditated photoshoot, but a still from a scene.Or just cancel me, you can watch nubile starkid play this part with brownface and Bandra-accented Hindi and outrage properly next time https://t.co/dJZnu9kdeB
Richa Chadda is the prime example of UC feminists who conveniently use terms like “cancel culture” to dismiss any valid criticism about taking up spaces not meant for them, insensitive representation of marginalized communities and performative wokeness. Do better.
The trailer of Madam Chief Minister was released on Wednesday, and while the first poster received much backlash, the trailer was well-received on all social media platforms.
Jignesh Mevani, Gujarat MLA, wrote on Twitter that while the poster was “problematic”, Chadha has always been an “ally” in the “movement against caste system”.
What a stellar trailer, @RichaChadha!
While the stereotypical representation in poster is problematic, but a very few artists like you have always been allies in our movement against caste system, often at a personal & professional cost.
My best wishes! https://t.co/6mcUKbzc38
Thank you Jignesh ! I assure you, the film will not let you down 💙🙏🏽 I am and will always be an ally, irrespective of bouquets or brickbats.
Jai Bhim ! https://t.co/rfFdPzWWPz
It’s a new year and a bunch of new movies, shows and documentaries have lined up to release on streaming apps.
Here’s a list of movies and shows that are releasing on OTT platforms this week.
1. Maara – Amazon Prime Video (January 8) Maara has been adapted from the 2015 Malayalam film, Charlie, that starred Dulquer Salmaan and Parvathy. The story is about Paaru (Shraddha Srinath), who finds a diary full of sketches and paintings in her new apartment and begins her search for the artist, Maara (R Madhavan),
2. Pretend It’s a City – Netflix (January 8)
A biographical documentary, Pretend It’s A City features wry writer, humorist and raconteur Fran Lebowitz, the author of Metropolitan Life, as she sits down with Martin Scorsese, the director of Goodfellas and The Wolf of Wall Street.
3. Marvel Studios: Legend – Disney+ (January 8) Marvel Studios: Legends, a new series that will exclusively stream on Disney+ from January 8, will showcase individual characters whom people have come to know and love over the years and revisit some of their most iconic moments. The first two episodes will feature Wanda and Vision, ahead of the release of WandaVision on the streaming platform.
4. Lupin – Netflix (January 8)
The first part of Lupin, a crime-based television drama, will premiere on Netflix on January 8. The show is inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin, a fictional gentlemanly thief and master of disguise created by French writer Maurice Leblanc. Lupin will focus on Assane Diop, who sets out to avenge his father’s death for an injustice inflicted by a wealthy family.
5. Pieces of a Woman – Netflix January 7
Starring Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf, Pieces of a Woman is an emotional rollercoaster about motherhood and loss. The film tells the story of a Boston couple Martha (Kirby) and Sean (LaBeouf) as they lose their newborn child. Martha is left grappling with the profound emotional fallout, isolated from her partner and family by a chasm of grief.
6. Crack, Cocaine, Corruption and Conspiracy – Netflix (January 11)
This documentary series explores the complex history of crack in the 1980s. A cheap and powerful drug had emerged during the recession which ignited a moral panic fueled by racism.
7. American Gods – Season 3 – Amazon Prime Video (January 11) American Gods is about a recently released ex-convict, named Shadow, who meets a mysterious con man, called Wednesday. Wednesday offers Shadow a job as his bodyguard and soon the latter learns of a hidden America, where magic is real and fear grows over the ascending power of New Gods like Technology and Media.
8. Herself – Amazon Prime Video (January 8) Herself is a story about a single mother, Sandra, who escapes her abusive partner with her two children, only to find herself trapped in temporary accommodation. Struggling for months, she decides to build a home herself.
9. Kaagaz – Zee5 (January 7)
Inspired by true events, Kaagaz is a satirical drama about a man who is declared dead as per official records because of his extended family, and who decides to fight the system to prove his existence. The film stars Pankaj Tripathi, Monal Gajjar and Amar Upadhyay.
In a blow to the Tamil Nadu government, which recently allowed theatres to function in 100% seating capacity, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday asked the state government to withdraw its full theatre capacity order, stating that it dilutes the MHA’s guidelines.
On Monday, Tamil Nadu became the first state to increase the theatre occupancy to 100% in theatres since the Covid-19 pandemic measures were enforced. The decision came weeks ahead of the Pongal festival, that will be seeing theatrical releases of some big-budget films, including Master starring Vijay on January 13, and Silambarasan’s Eeswaran on January 14.
The order, which also stated that theatres should screen precautionary measures for Covid-19 to create awareness, came as a response to the Theatre Owners Association, which sought an increase in the seating capacity, in light of the decrease in the number of Covid-19 cases in the State.
However, a letter from the Centre’s Home Secretary to Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu Shanmugam stated that according to the MHA’s guidelines, that are to be followed until January 31, 2021, cinema theatres and multiplexes outside containment zones can function only in 50% seating capacity.
“The Government of Tamil Nadu has permitted to increase the seating capacity of cinema theatres/multiplexes from the existing 50% capacity to 100% by following the Standard Operating Procedures. This amounts to dilution of MHA Order dated December 28th, 2020 issued under the DM Act,2005,” the letter read and further went on to request the Tamil Nadu government “to immediately issue necessary order to bring their guidelines in line with the MHA guidelines”.
Representative image
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However, experts, theatre owners, and producers have a different view from the Centre.
Srither S, joint secretary of the Tamil Nadu Theatres Association said, “We are at the mercy of the Central government. We want 100% occupancy for the theatres since that will fetch a good collection during the first three days of the films’ releases. The president of Film Federation of India Kalaipuli S Thanu will talk with Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar, and we are expecting a favourable response from the Centre.”
Balaji Kapa of Madhav Media, which is producing Eeswaran, also advocated for 100% seating capacity.
“It is confirmed that we will be releasing the film in theatres on January 14. As a producer, only when there is 100% occupancy, we can make a profit from from the money we invested. With the Centre’s move, the risk has increased. However, there will be no changes in the release of the film, despite the Centre’s order affecting us adversely,” he said.
He wondered why only theatres were still maintaining restrictions when all the industries had returned to normalcy.
“Eeswaran is one of the biggest films to release in Tamil after the lockdown. We shot the film in three months and though it had been a hard journey, we have done it and the film has come out well. We are hoping for a good release in theatres on the 14th with social distancing in place,” he said.
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Speaking to Silverscreen India, former director of Public Health Kolandasamy said: “In closed places like theatres, they should avoid recirculating the same air. Fresh air has to come in regularly. The Centre has allowed air conditioning subject to this condition, but unfortunately, people blindly believe that AC is not permitted,” Kolandasamy said.
He said that doors can be kept open and exhaust fans may be used as it is winter now.
According to reports, Tamil Nadu’s order to allow 100% occupancy came after Vijay met state Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and requested him to permit cinema halls to run in full capacity. In December 2020, the makers of the upcoming Tamil film Katteri, which was set t have a theatrical release, announced that the film will not be released as per schedule on December 25, 2020, amid fears of a “new threat of a second wave” of Covid-19.
The film also stars Murali Gopy, Manikandan R Achari, Navas Vallikkunnu, Srindaa, Naslen, Sagar Surya, and Mammukkoya.
Speaking with Silverscreen India, Shine said, “I play the role of a Panchayat-level politician, a ward member from Wayanad in the film. My character’s name is Karim. Apart from me, there are several characters from the town that are part of the film. Roshan Mathew’s character is named Ibrahim, Srindaa plays a character named Suma, Mammukoya plays a character named Moosa. Prithviraj plays the role of a young man from Wayanad, he’s not a politician.”
Shine said that the entire shooting schedule spanned 24 days.
“It was a very planned and fast-paced shooting schedule. The shooting started on December 9 and wrapped up by January 4, with a break in between. I joined the set on December 13 for shooting my portions. I was shooting for two films- Adi and Kuruthi– simultaneously. Most of the shooting for Kuruthi happened inside a house in Erattupetta. For the outdoor scenes, we were shooting in a forest in Vagamon between December 25 and January 1,” he said.
Taking to social media to talk about the film on Monday, Prithviraj wrote that it had a fast-paced shooting schedule.
“Kuruthi has to be one of the most intense, fast paced shooting schedules I have ever been a part of. To make a full length feature film that has songs, thrills, suspense, high risk scenes, choreographed action and chase sequences and stunts in the deep forest…all this in such a short span of time, and yet achieve top quality technical finesse is incredible,” he wrote.
Manu Warrier, the film’s director, also made the announcement on social media.
Kuruthi marks Warrier’s debut Malayalam directorial. The film’s script has been written by Anish Pallyal (The Summer of Miracles). Jakes Bejoy will be composing music, while award-winning lyricist Rafeeq Ahammed will pen the lyrics.
The teaser of KGF Chapter 2, the upcoming Kannada period drama, will release on January 8, announced the film’s makers on Tuesday. As per a press release, actor Sanjay Dutt‘s character Adheera, the antagonist in the film, is inspired by the Vikings.
Dutt said in the press release, “Adheera is one of the craziest characters I have played so far, it is fearless, powerful and ruthless inspired by Vikings. There was a lot of physical prep required to become Adheera, about 1.5 hours to do the make-up to get the look and a lot of prep mentally to get into the skin of the character. The character required a lot from me in terms of these attributes.”
Dutt’s first look was unveiled in July 2020.
KGF Chapter 2 is a sequel to the 2018 film KGF Chapter 1 and is directed by Prashanth Neel. It will release across India in five languages- Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi.
Dutt, who famously played the villain Kaancha Cheena in the 2012 Hindi film Agneepath, said that KGF 2 would be “high on action”.
Dutt said, “Every character has its own journey, I enjoy playing characters of this shade. Every role expects different things from you and Adheera did too.”
Calling her character “complex”, “powerful” yet having “shades of grey”, Tandon said, “You cannot predict the movement of my character.”
Both actors said that they could not refuse the script because of the roles they had been offered. While Dutt said it had been a while since he played an antagonist, Tandon said that not only was her character interesting, but that she was drawn to the first installment’s “new-age cinema approach”.
She said, “I had been very impressed with the storyline of the film and was in talks with the team. Prashanth (Neel) had narrated me the script even before I’d watched the first part. And when I saw it, I found it was absolutely mind-blowing. It was a new-age cinema approach.”
This is Dutt’s first film with director Prashanth, and Dutt called the experience “smooth sailing”. He said, “His work style is different and his direction has helped me learn a lot.”
While Tandon is no stranger to working in films from the South, having already worked in films like Ratha Sarathi, and Upendra, this will be Dutt’s first full-fledged lead role in a movie from South India. He had a cameo appearance in the 1998 Telugu film Chandralekha.
‘Shani’ Mahadevappa, the veteran Kannada actor, died on Sunday night at a hospital in Bengaluru due to Covid-19. He was 88.
Mahadevappa, who has appeared in over 300 Kannada films, was suffering from age-related ailments before testing positive for Covid-19 a week ago, reported The Hindu. He is survived by his wife and two children.
As reported by Deccan Herald, his son M Gurukumar said that he was suffering from liver and kidney ailments for almost a year and was completely bed-ridden.
“Due to severe cold and cough, he complained of breathing problems a week ago and was admitted to the ICU of KC General Hospital. Initially, he tested negative for Covid, but a day later, he tested positive. He was subsequently treated for the disease at the hospital,” Gurukumar told Deccan Herald.
Born in 1933 in Mandya, Karnataka, Mahadevappa was a theatre actor who worked closely with Gubbi Veeranna’s theatre company. His role as Lord Shani, in the play Shani Prabhava, brought him recognition and he came to be known as ‘Shani’ Mahadevappa.
He later became a close friend of actor Dr Rajkumar and the duo acted together in several films, including Shankar Guru, Kavirathna Kalidasa, Bhaktha Kumbara, Sri Srinivasa Kalyana, Thrimurthy, and Prema Kanike.
Mahadevappa mainly played the role of a supporting actor.
He often appeared in films in which Dr Rajkumar and actor Vajramuni paired up as the main leads, such as the 1975 Kannada suspense film Thrimurthy. He also collaborated with V Somashekhar, who directed him in both Shankar Guru (1978) and Premadi Kanike (1976), P Vasu who directed him in Jeevana Jyothi and Jayasimha (both in 1987), and many other directors including, Renuka Sharma, HR Bhargava, and Veerappa Maralavadi.
He won the Varadaraju Award in 2009, which is an annual prize for theatre personalities.
Following news of his death, Kannada actors Puneeth Rajkumar, son of actor Dr Rajkumar, and Kichcha Sudeep paid tribute to Mahadevappa on social media.
ಅಪ್ಪಾಜಿಯವರ ಜೊತೆ ಭಕ್ತ ಕುಂಬಾರ, ಶ್ರೀನಿವಾಸ ಕಲ್ಯಾಣ, ಕವಿರತ್ನ ಕಾಳಿದಾಸ, ಮೂರೂವರೆ ವಜ್ರಗಳು ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ ಅನೇಕ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಟಿಸಿದ ಹಿರಿಯ ನಟರಾದ ಶನಿ ಮಹದೇವಪ್ಪನವರು ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಅಗಲಿದ್ದಾರೆ. RIP
However, speaking to Silverscreen India, Maara director Dhilip Kumar said that the film was not about remaking Charlie, but about capturing its feel-good mood.
According to its scriptwriter Unni R, Charlie was the story of a man who drifts from one person to another, spreading love and kindness. According to Dhilip, Maara was not about recreating Charlie frame-by-frame, but about delivering the essence of Charlie with a different recipe.
In 2017, producers Pramod Films bought the rights of Charlie to make a Tamil remake. According to Dhilip, what they wanted was to retain the feel-good emotion that the film evoked in them, the emotion they really enjoyed.
Dhilip said, “That was the brief given to us.”
Maara, as its trailer shows, follows Paaru (Shraddha) as she stumbles across a diary full of sketches and paintings in her new apartment, and embarks on a journey to find the artist – Maara (Madhavan). Dhilip said Madhavan had been signed first, and then finally Shraddha was zeroed in to play Paaru.
Shraddha was also Madhavan’s co-star in the 2017 Tamil action thriller film Vikram Vedha.
Maara is Dhilip’s first film as a director. He was originally the film’s writer and said that the transition from director to writer was smooth.
He said, “When you are writing for a film, you are already speaking about making it at some level. You always try to put a face to the character you have written. So, in some form or the other, you have already come into the making.”
In 2017, Dhilip had directed the short film Kalkiwritten by film critic Baradwaj Rangan.
“When Kalki happened, I was more interested in reading short stories. Usually only novels or novellas can be made into feature films, but at that time short stories interested me,” said Dhilip.
Dhilip said he was always interested in feature writing, and so when Maara came along, he was prepared to direct a full-length feature film.
Actors Madhavan and Shraddha Srinath
Dhilip said his advertising background helped in the making of Maara.
“In advertising, every single shot and the length of the film is figured out before the shoot. It was hard to adapt that for a feature-length film, but it helped me be really prepared,” he said.
“I tried to keep it right – in all the shots, characters, and stages of Maara. When you have written the characters, the rhythm is what is going to give you the cue for how they need to speak the dialogues. That rhythm needs to be kept in mind and it defines the emotional quotient – what scenes to underplay, when to go overboard,” he said.
Following the example of films like Soorarai Pottruand Mookuthi Amman, which released on streaming platforms,Maara will also be a straight-to-streaming platform release.
By the time Maara completed shooting and the film was in post-production, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the film industry had lessened. Dhilip said, “By then a new normal had been established. We realised that the sweet spot is now, when the paradigm shift has happened in terms of releasing films.”
According to Dhilip, films releasing on OTT platforms are not less important. “In fact, it feels good to be part of the initial bunch of films that will be the forerunners in terms of opting to release on such platforms.”
Maara was initially scheduled to release on December 17, but was postponed to January 8 to ensure that the team had time to promote the film, said Dhilip. Describing Maara as a “holiday film”, Dhilip said that the film would bring in the new year on a “happy note and with positive hope”.
Maara is is produced by Prateek Chakravorty and Shruti Nallappa, with Ghibran composing the music and Bhuvan Srinivasan handling the editing.
