Hat Tip To Old Malayalam Joke In ‘Varane Avashyamund’ Lost In Translation; Tamils Troll Cast And Crew

Tamil audiences have been trolling (and abusing) the cast and crew of Varane Avashyamund misinterpreting a team’s hat tip to an old Malayalam joke.

There is a scene in the film where Suresh Gopi’s character Major Unnikrishnan calls his dog “Prabhakara”. It’s actually a tribute to Pattanapravesham a 1988 Malayalam film where Thilakan’s underworld don is shocked to learn that his friend ‘Prabhakaran’ won’t help him in a critical situation.

Tamils on social media think this is a reference to the late LTTE leader Prabhakaran and attacked Dulquer who stars in the film and Anoop Sathyan, the director. Anoop’s father Sathyan Anthikad is the director of Pattanapravesham. Despite multiple clarifications from the movie crew the attacks haven’t stopped.

Varane… is in fact set in Chennai and several characters speak Tamil. In a recent interview to Silverscreen India, Anoop had said, “Chennai is a city close to my heart. It has a cultural identity; a soul. I lived in Chennai while working at Wipro, and my twin brother, Akhil, is settled there. Also, Shobhana lives in Chennai. She preferred to work in films that were set in the city.”

Also read, Anoop Sathyan Interview: On The Success Of ‘Varane Avashyamund’, Upcoming Projects And Inspirations

Read, Varane Avashyamund Review: A Casting Coup And Good Sense Of Humour Shoulder This Rom-Com

Anoop Sathyan Interview: On The Success Of ‘Varane Avashyamund’, Upcoming Projects And Inspirations

Varane Aavashyamundu, an urban comedy, starring Shobhana, Suresh Gopi, Kalyani Priyadarshan and Dulquer Salmaan, has emerged as a blockbuster on Netflix and SunNxt where it arrived on April 20 after a successful theatrical run. The director of the film, Anoop Sathyan, talks to Silverscreen India about making a stellar debut, the lessons he learned from a brief tenure as a documentary filmmaker, and learning from his mistakes. 

Days after Varane Aavashyamundu (Groom Wanted) released in theatres in Kerala to positive reviews, Anoop Sathyan, the debut director, took off to a reserve forest in Maharashtra, to follow up on Jamnya, a documentary he did four years ago about a tribal residential school in the middle of the forest. 

“Once I started getting congratulatory calls from everywhere and I knew the film was a hit, I decided it was time to take a break,” says Anoop. “I always wanted to go back to the school to see what had happened to the children I’d filmed for the documentary. Some of them have been married off. Some of them dropped out to work..”

The 34-year-old director, son of veteran Malayalam filmmaker Sathyan Anthikkad, is now home, in Anthikkad village in Thrissur, spending the lockdown period in the company of his family. “I am making a collection of photos of my little nephews — like a document of their childhood. I am also trying to revive my reading habit. Currently, I am reading Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air. I wrote an article which will be published in Mathrubhumi Sunday supplement this weekend…”

Also Read: Varane Avishyamundu Review

Recently, he reactivated the landline connection at home. “Not just because I’m nostalgic about them. Phone networks are weak in Anthikkad. I am trying to develop a story idea I’d been toying with before making Varane Aavashyamund. I am calling up some close friends and narrating the plot and the scenes.”

A graduate in film and video communication from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Anoop assisted director Lal Jose in five movies. The working habits of the senior filmmaker and veterans like his father have rubbed off on him. “I am a little old-school. I didn’t use spot-editing or multiple cameras. We didn’t go for many takes, and we tried to follow an economy in filmmaking.”

Varane Aavashyamundu revolves around a set of characters who live in an apartment complex in an affluent Chennai neighbourhood. Shobhana plays Neena, a French tutor and a single mother to Nikki (Kalyani Priyadarshan) who works in a bank. Things take a turn when Neena falls in love with a new neighbour, Major Unnikrishnan, an introverted ex-army officer, played by Suresh Gopi. Actor Urvasi, KPAC Lalitha and Dulquer Salmaan, who has also produced the film under his home banner Wayfarer Films, appear in pivotal supporting roles. 

The plot thread was conceived during his NID days, as a romantic drama featuring a single mother and an ex-army man who grow close through social media. When another project he had been working on didn’t pan out, he tweaked the romantic drama, added another character — a daughter who doesn’t believe in love marriages—and developed the screenplay. 

Nazriya Nazim was his first choice as Nikki. “She was the first actor I approached and narrated the script to. Later, she had to back out due to date issues. The toughest task was convincing Shobhana ma’am.  Although she liked the script, she was unsure. I waited for over a year to get her nod. And I was ready to wait because if she didn’t agree to play the role, the film couldn’t take off.” 

The film showcases Chennai as an idyllic city—warm and picturesque. Anoop picked Chennai because he wanted to place his lead characters, the single mother and her daughter, in a liberal atmosphere where they won’t be judged or policed. 

“Chennai is a city close to my heart. It has a cultural identity; a soul. I lived in Chennai while working at Wipro, and my twin brother, Akhil, is settled there. Also, Shobhana lives in Chennai. She preferred to work in films that were set in the city.”

The costumes were done by Uttara Menon, a regular collaborator of Gautham Menon. Anoop chose Mukesh Muralidharan as the film’s director of photography because the latter was familiar with Chennai. 

The apartment in Varane Aavashyamundu is a happy commune where everyone knows one another. It isn’t exactly a realistic scenario, he agrees. “I wanted life to look desirable, like how it is in sitcoms like Friends. It is designed on the lines of old apartments in Chennai where residents live as a community recreating the spirit of their native village.”

The sitcom-like narrative of the film has drawn both, bouquets and brickbats. “It isn’t easy to construct an engaging sitcom narrative,” Anoop says. “Although all the episodes of Friends feature the same people and the same space, you don’t feel tired of watching it. With every new episode, you grow closer to the characters, and start to “live” with them. My film has a similar setting. We worked hard on the production design part to make each flat look different, and on making the film atmospheric and creating the moments—emotional, humorous or romantic.”

Anoop has used in the film numerous hat-tips to vintage Malayalam classics and characters Malayalis across the world have a fondness for.  He says, “Nadodikkattu is a very personal film. I have many memories associated with it. We had a cassette of the film at home. I know every scene, every dialogue in the film by-heart. I wanted to showcase the war monument in Besant Nagar in the film as a tribute to Vaisakha Sandhye. Such hat-tips and recalls brought the audience closer to the film.”

Anoop says writing isn’t his forte. He put things down a paper as a full-fledged screenplay only in the last stage, after he’d decided on the plot, characters, and the scenes. “Once, while cleaning my room, my father found a poem I’d written. He must have been so shaken that he asked me to not take up writing. (Laughs). I think I am good at narrating scenes than at writing.” 

The hardest and the most crucial part of filmmaking isn’t writing a screenplay, but executing the ideas on the set, he says. “Filmmaking, to a large extent, is an MBA job where your managerial skills, communication prowess and decision-making abilities are put to test. One of my top priorities on the set was to make my team comfortable. I knew everyone on the set, including the light boys, by their name.”

His experience in documentary-making came handy while directing the actors on the set. “I wasn’t a fan of documentaries before joining NID. As part of the course, we had to make a documentary film. Now I know how powerful the medium is. Documentaries taught me how to capture people with their guards lowered; to identify candid moments and to make the subjects/actors comfortable with the presence of the camera.”

Anoop has a huge collection of behind-the-scene pictures and videos that recount the fun the team had on the set. When Shobhana walked into the set, he impulsively played the song from Thalapathy—“Yamuna Aaatrile”—on the speaker and shot the actress’ reaction. “It warmed up the set instantly. Shobhana ma’am was pleasantly surprised, and she blushed. Similarly, I wanted to record Suresh (Gopi) ettan’s first meeting with ma’am on the set. I followed him with a camera as he walked to her caravan. I might upload a behind-the-scenes album on social media during this lockdown period.”

Although the film is star-studded, a performance that has become an easy favourite among the audience is of Johny Antony, the director-turned-actor who plays Dr Bose, a psychiatrist and fitness instructor. Antony, who’s been working in the film industry since the 90s, moved to the other side of the camera only two years ago. Anoop came to know of Antony’s terrific comic-timing while working as an assistant director to Lal Jose in Thattumpurathachuthan where Antony played a local politician.

The now popular “Vilakku” scene in the film was Johny Antony’s idea, says Anoop. “Suresh ettan (Gopi) was initially a little unsure about doing a self-referential comic scene. “Really? Should we?” he asked. I told him that the dialogue had already been trolled so much, and it would diffuse only if he used in a film. After we shot the scene, he felt assured. Later, he sent me a voice-note saying how happy he was about the character, and that he had confidence in the film. 

Similarly, the popular Suresh Gopi hook step in the Unnikrishna song was a last-minute idea. Sureshettan participated in it without any qualms. I think he enjoyed breaking out of his dignified image and making fun of himself on screen.”

Anoop took the plunge into the movies after meandering a little. He studied engineering and worked at Wipro for a few years before joining NID. 

Achan had made it a point to bring us up with minimal exposure to the film industry. We studied in a government school in Anthikkad. I don’t remember visiting many film sets in my formative years. Achan would repeat in interviews that none of us had any interest in films, and we took it for granted too. In fact, the first time I saw a proper film shoot was after I joined Lal Jose sir’s team, as an assistant director.”

Anoop always had his eyes set on commercial filmmaking “At NID, I was not into watching classics or abstract films which were the favourites of my classmates and teachers. I wanted to make uncomplicated films that smoothly communicate with the audience. I am a fan of the films of Sreenivasan, Rajkumar Hirani, Mani Ratnam and Akira Kurosawa.”

Cinema is naturally a frequent point of discussion at Anthikkad house. Akhil has served as an assistant to Sathyan Anthikkad in several films and is now working on his debut directorial with Fahadh Faasil in the lead. Anoop might assist his father on his next project, starring Mammootty, which has now been postponed due to the pandemic. The sons and the father share ideas, collaborate officially or unofficially and seek opinions from one another. 

On the criticisms against his father’s films for their ‘unrealistically’ humane characters and cliche situations, and the comparisons drawn between his and the latter’s films, Anoop says, “Reality isn’t always dark, is it? I wouldn’t watch a noir thriller and complain about its darkness. My father makes a certain kind of films that drives him, where the focus is on the goodness in people.”

He recounts an incident from a recent theatre visit in the Kottayam-Changanassery region. “A person came up and congratulated me on the film. And he added, “Next time, make a film like Anjaam Paathira!” (Laughs) I don’t want to plan my career that way. Shifting genre isn’t my priority. I want to go on a flow. One of the story ideas I have been toying with is a romantic drama, like Mouna Ragam. Another one is a cartoonish film. I want to do at least one film in a year, without a lot of gap between the films. That will help me refine my style,” he says.

Anoop is also aware of the mistakes he made in the making of the film. “I misjudged the length of the film, and eventually, I had to delete some of my favourite scenes. The film’s pace, in many parts, is inconsistent. Next time, I will be more prepared.”

Watch the trailer of Varane Avishyamundu here:

 

Raghava Lawrence’s ‘Laxmmi Bomb’ Starring Akshay Kumar May Release Directly On Disney+ Hotstar

On Friday evening it was confirmed that Jyotika starrer Ponmagal Vandhal helmed by debutant Fredrick JJ will directly hit the Amazon Prime OTT platform without a theatrical release. Despite the backlash from the Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association, the film is likely to come to the platform in May.

Following this, a report on mid-day on Saturday suggested that Akshay Kumar‘s upcoming film Laxmmi Bomb, helmed by director Raghava Lawrence will also reportedly hit the digital platform Disney+ Hotstar without releasing in theatres. This comes in light of government’s decision to not open up cinema halls for audiences immediately post lockdown to avoid further spread of the coronavirus. The yet-to-be-completed film was originally slated for a theatrical release in June 2020.

Though there is no confirmation of the same from the side of the makers, director, or actor, mid-day reported that the entire team has looked at the platform as a potential option and is yet to give the nod. The team is supposedly considering the interest of investors as well as audience reach and is trying to come up with the best decision.

“Akshay wants to make sure none of the invested parties make losses, and that the movie reaches a wide audience. While Disney+Hotstar ensures a worldwide reach, making the film available across small towns in India will be a concern for them,” read the report on mid-day.

Laxmmi Bomb is the Hindi remake of the Tamil horror Muni 2: Kanchana that was also helmed by Raghava Lawrence. The original starred the director himself, Sarathkumar, Raai Laxmi, Kovai Sarala, Devadarshini, and Sriman. It was the story of a trans woman’s spirit that enters Raghava Lawrence’s body to seek revenge for being killed mercilessly over a land-grabbing issue.

Kiara Advani is paired opposite Akshay for Laxmmi Bomb, marking the second association of the duo after Good Newwz. Fox Star Studios is presenting the film with Cape of Good Films, Shabinaa Entertainment, and Tusshar Entertainment House bankrolling the film.

Jyotika’s ‘Ponmagal Vandhal’ To Release Directly On Amazon Prime; Suriya’s 2D Entertainment Faces Severe Backlash From Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association

Jyotika who was last seen in Jeethu Joseph‘s Thambi will next feature in Ponmagal Vandhal, debutant JJ Fredrick‘s film that is due for release. The film that has been bankrolled by actor Suriya’2D Entertainment and co-produced by Rajsekar Karpoorasundarapandian was to hit the screens on March 27, and was postponed due to coronavirus outbreak, that has caused the shutting down of theatres.

Lately, rumours had been rife that the film would see a direct Over-The-Top (OTT) release on Amazon Prime Video in May without hitting theatres after the lockdown. The film made on a 4-crore budget is believed to have been sold to the digital platform for a sum of Rs. 9 crores, becoming one of the few films to book high profits through the digital medium. Although, there is no official confirmation about the release from the producer yet.

On Friday, The General Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association, R Panneer Selvam, announced that their association has decided to not release any film involving actor Suriya or his home production banner 2D Entertainment hereafter.

The association had reportedly contacted the production house to confirm whether the rumours were true and to appeal for a theatre release prior to hitting the digital medium in order to not affect the lives of theatre owners. Suriya’s 2D Entertainment while confirming the release of the film on OTT, has reportedly refused to comply with the request made by the theatres association. This has left members furious.

Suriya and his 2D Entertainment are yet to respond to the video put out by the Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association. The release of the film on the OTT platform has gone down well with certain fans while also garnering opposition from others.

Ponmagal Vandhal is touted to be a thriller and is reportedly about Jyotika’s character’s revenge on the perpetrators of some wrongdoing. The film also features Thiyagarajan, K BhagyarajR ParthiebanPandiyarajan, and Prathap Pothen in important roles. Govind Vasantha is the music director, and has Ramji on camera, Ruben on the edit, and Amaran helming art. Poornima has handled costumes for the film.

The songs of the film are being launched online, after the audio launch of the film was cancelled. ‘Vaa Chellam’ by Brinda Sivakumar, ‘Vaan Thooralgal’ by Chinmayi, and ‘Kalaigiradhey Kanave’ by Govind Vasantha have dropped so far.

Listen to the most recent ‘Kalaigiradhey Kanave’ here:

Recently, the Ponmagal Vandhal star was also mired in controversy about a statement she had made at the JFW Movie Awards 2020 function that took place a while ago. The star was attacked by a section of the right wing for her statement on how funds must also be channelled to schools and hospitals for their development just as people spend them on temples.

Rajinikanth Donates Essentials To Tamil Nadu Film Director’s Association And Nadigar Sangam

Actor-politician Superstar Rajinikanth was among the first people from the film fraternity to contribute to Corona relief funds. While he had donated a sum of 50 lakhs to the Film Employees’ Federation of South India (FEFSI) for the benefit of members and daily wage workers of the cine industry, his Rajini Makkal Mandram has been helping the affected ones on a daily basis by providing them food and groceries.

The Darbar star has now donated essentials to the Tamilnadu Film Director’s Association and the South Indian Artistes’ Association/Nadigar Sangam. The items donated will be distributed to the struggling members of both associations owing to the national lockdown.

On Thursday evening, the Director’s Association led by RK Selvamani, also the president of FEFSI, put out a statement expressing their gratitude towards the actor for the contribution. They mentioned that they were thankful for his voluntary contribution despite not putting out a statement seeking funds.

The Nadigar Sangam, on the other hand, has also thanked the star for his contribution of essentials for 1000 members. These items will be distributed to verified members of the association at Senthil Studio, Saligramam, Chennai in the next three days – 25, 26 and 27 April between 6 am and 8 am. The members will have to bring their association ID cards and collect the relief material within these three days.

The actor who was working on his 168th film, Annaatthe, with director Siva prior to the lockdown has been spreading awareness about the global virus on his social media. Earlier, when the Janata Curfew was imposed, he had put out a video mentioning that the virus would be curbed if people stayed in for about 12-14 hours. This gave way to a lot of criticism and Twitter ended up removing the video from the platform.

Read: Twitter Removes Rajinikanth’s Coronavirus Video For Violation Of Rules

The actor who recently announced that he wouldn’t be contesting for the post of Chief Minister has been constantly supporting the central government and its activities. He had also recently thanked his Rajini Makkal Mandram members for their efforts to help people during the lockdown.

Apart from the superstar, actors Vishal and Yogi Babu had also recently provided the association with essentials. While the former provided provisions, gloves, and masks, the latter provided rice bags to the association. Vishal has also helped trans women and sanitation workers.

Producer Ishari K Ganesh, actors KarthiSooriNasser, Raghava Lawrence, Ponvannan, SJ SuryahRohiniSangeetha, director Santhana Bharathi, and several others have also made monetary contributions.

The Tamil Nadu government has also decided to provide members of the association with Rs. 1000 each after the appeal made by the Cinema Welfare Organisation. Since it’s the season for performing arts, drama and theatre artists are to be affected the most and have therefore received money and essentials.

Karunas MLA, former Vice President of the Nadigar Sangam, has given all the theatre artists from Madurai 2000kg rice, Rs. 250 worth of grocery items per person, and Rs. 500 per person. Meanwhile, Dindigul artists have received 250kg rice, Pudhukottai artists 1250kg rice, and Thanjavur artists 500kg rice.

The association has also appealed once again to the film fraternity to contribute more to the fund given the number of artists they are required to support.

What To Stream: Filmmaker Sudevan’s Short Film ‘Varoo’ Locates The Complexities Of The World In The Bylanes Of His Little Village

The first images of ‘Varoo‘ (Come With Me, 2003) are disoriented. The camera shakes and zooms in and out as the film hurriedly documents the scenes at a village bus-stop. The soundscape is scattered too. The film’s rough texture, though, is a red herring. Over its runtime of 17 minutes, Varoo poses to the viewers a philosophical conundrum in the form of an uncomplicated premise, with a sharp sense of humour.

Varoo is Kerala State Film Award-winning Sudevan’s first direction venture. He and Achuthanandan, his close friend and neighbour,  made the short film with Rs 5,000 donated by their friends. The film was shot in their village Peringode, which lies over 160 kilometers away from Kochi and its film industry, using a camcorder they borrowed from a young engineering student in the neighborhood. She she was, apparently, the only person the remote village who owned a camera.

Varoo is centered around two nameless characters – a young man (Achuthanandan) who arrives in a village on work, and a villager (Ashok Kumar) whom he asks for directions. The first man is well-dressed – formal pants, tucked-in shirt, an office sling bag around his shoulder and carefully-combed hair. He alights from a bus and starts to walk to the address in hand. When he finds himself lost on an unpaved path in the middle of nowhere, he asks a local man for directions. The audience isn’t privy to the exchange between them (Sudevan uses minimal dialogues) but the camera is; it jolts and zooms in to the villager’s face, signalling a change in the narrative tone. “Varoo!” (Come!) orders the villager as he begins to lead the young man into a haze of by-lanes and wild pathways.

What is interesting about Varoo is that it is at once a friendly home-movie and a powerful film with a deep sub-text. Sudevan turns a seemingly everyday situation into a question about the choices human beings make in life – the ideologies they pursue or the career paths they embark upon. The minimalism in his filmmaking is gorgeous. Never does he take away the narrative focus from the two men’s walk or become gnomic. The dialogues are rather straightforward; so are the camera movements and editing.

Sudevan plays with the contrast between the two characters’ personalities. While the young man is a relatable figure, the villager stays aloof. The film brilliantly creates a mystic aura around him that works as a foil to the former’s banality. During the exhausting and seemingly-endless journey through the village’s labyrinth-like landscape that seems far removed from civilisation, the audience empathy is with the young man whose initial enthusiasm drains away. The polish in his persona vanishes, the shirt comes untucked, and he snaps at the villager. Slowly, the irritation gives way to a cold sense of fear.

When they reach the end of the road – there is a proverbial sunset shot with a witty twist –  the young man is completely consumed by his anxiety and desperation to return to a familiar surrounding. Does the beauty of the destination matter to a traveller who isn’t ready to be there?

Actor Ashok Kumar, who plays the villager, went on to win a Kerala State Film Award for ‘Second Best Actor’ (this later became the Best Character Actor) for Sudevan’s feature film debut Cr No: 89, in 2013. While Varoo might fade in comparison to Sudevan’s later works such as Cr No: 83 or Thattumpurathappan, this might be his most earnest and assured film yet. With the restraint and clarity of thought of a master storyteller, he locates the complexities of the world in the bylanes of his little village.

Watch the short film here:

 

WATCH: Kamal Haasan And Top Singers Reiterate That Spreading Love Is Important

On Thursday morning, actor-director-politician Kamal Haasan and music director Ghibran took to video conferencing app Zoom to release a song titled ‘Arivum Anbum’.

The song speaks about spreading love in this world of ours and respecting every life in it. It also asks us to truly make ourselves equal and empower each other to face any difficulty hurled at us.

The video features several actors and singers from the South including Bombay Jayashri, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Anirudh Ravichander, Shankar Mahadevan, Sid Sriram, Devi Sri Prasad, Siddharth, Shruti Haasan, Andrea Jeremiah, Mugen Rao, and Ghibran with Lydian Nadhaswaram on the piano. While Kamal Haasan has penned the lyrics, Ghibran has composed the music with Mahesh Narayanan on the edit.

There are also clippings of people serving the public in need while also highlighting the horrific incidents that took place in India, be it the spraying of disinfectants on migrants in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, or the bustling crowd in Koyambedu, Chennai right after the lockdown was announced.

The politician has been constantly appealing to the Prime Minister to cater to the needs of the people in the lowest rung of society and increase the funds allocated for the sanitation department. While there seems to be no response from the PMO, the politician hasn’t called it quits.

On Wednesday, Kamal Haasan said in a statement that the song was to spread positivity and instill hope in the people during these testing times. He also added that the song would give the people the confidence and strength to overcome this complex situation.

“Even while something as deadly as the coronavirus is spreading, our coming together to empower the people has given us the confidence that standing together will help us tackle any situation. I thank the singers, especially those who were a part of the chorus, for agreeing to be a part of this on receiving just one phone call from my side. I am very sure that everybody would be able to relate to the song and enjoy it just as much as we did. It’s a dedication from us to the people who are surviving this crisis and longing for the world to return to normalcy,” said Ghibran in a statement.

Watch the ‘Arivum Anbum’ video song here.

Rohit Shetty Makes Arrangements For Food And Stay For Mumbai Police

Bollywood director Rohit Shetty, known for his larger than life films, has facilitated eight hotels across Mumbai for accommodating police personnel working all-day on the streets of the city. The Sooryavanshi director has made arrangements for them to freshen up after long working hours and has also arranged for meals to be served.

Since the imposition of the lockdown, the police force has been putting its best efforts to curb the virus and prevent the spread of it to its citizens. The Mumbai Police thanked the director for this kind gesture on Twitter through their official handle.

Earlier, the Chennai Express director had contributed 51 lakhs to the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) and some more amount to the paparazzi photographers.

The Mumbai Police Twitter handle that has been known for its creative usage of topical issues and memes in order to spread awareness has been on a roll the past few weeks. Right from Harry Potter and popular series like Friends and The Good Place, to the iconic 90s kids show Powerpuff Girls and various Bollywood films, the handle has used them all for its messaging. The team has been looking at it as a way of spreading positivity in these testing times.

Last Saturday, the Mumbai Police joined the popular photo-sharing application and social media platform, Instagram. Marking its entry into the platform, the team posted a video of the police jeep with the ‘Aaya Police’ background score from Rohit Shetty’s Simmba playing.

The director had reposted this on his Instagram handle, welcoming the team to the platform. “WELCOME TO INSTA SINGHAM! #MumbaiPoliceOnInsta #MumbaiPolice #AayaPolice #AayaMumbaiPolice” read his tweet.

Several other Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Arjun Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Ayushmann Khuranna, Shilpa Shetty, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Raveena Tandon have also been constantly supporting the Mumbai police and expressing their gratitude for their unparalleled contribution.

KD Engira Karuppu Durai Movie Review: An Elegantly Crafted Film With Good Old Fashioned Storytelling And Superb Casting

Director: Madhumita Sundararaman

Cast: Mu Ramasamy, Naga Vishal

In a statement to the press, some time ago, filmmaker Madhumita Sundararaman, who’s directed the superb KD Engira Karuppu Durai said that it wasn’t just an ‘award film’ but one that was entertaining. That divide (art house vs commercial) has always been less stark in Tamil, with even the experimental, embracing elements of the commercial. KD too embraces the thrills and the joys of commercial cinema, the sheer escapism of it all, only in a slightly different manner. It is woven into the very plot of the film.  One of the many superb scenes in the film, features KD (the delightful Mu Ramasamy), watching MGR fight a lion, his eyes gleaming, in a theatre.  Towards the end of the film, there’s another very meta scene in which KD embraces the thing he loves and the thing he’s running away from…

The camera in KD… lovingly showcases sweeping shots of places, in rural TN (the film was shot mostly in Virudhunagar and Thenkasi), but when it comes to people, it’s focus remains tight. Every face, every character serves a purpose, has a presence; that feels well thought out. So the film’s not all mumblecore, even though it is immersive and we feel like we are just travelling with the people in these frames. In fact, the writing of the film’s two main protagonists KD and Kutty (Naga Vishal), one 80 and the other eight, is so strong that you may almost miss some of the smaller, finer, nuances in the writing of the other characters and their circumstances.

KD is a father of five and has grandchildren, who all seem to know what he loves — MGR, mutton biriyani, music… The man’s slipped into a coma and hasn’t woken up in a few months, which puts an economic burden on the family that decides to carry out ‘thalaikoothal’. The news that this act of killing the old is still prevalent in TN was broken by journalist Pramila Krishnan 10 years ago in an expose. The news gained further momentum when Pramila was invited to speak in Aamir Khan’s Satyameva Jayate. The old are slathered in oil and fed tender coconut water, until they die.

KD wakes up right on time and runs away from home, to save himself from his kids, and then meets Kutty who was abandoned as an infant in a temple. The two hit it off and Kutty helps KD come up with a bucket list. It’s a simple yet aspirational list of things KD must do before he eventually kicks the bucket. While these two are on the road, his family hires a man (Yog Jappee) to find him. He’s on their tail.

From a temple priest to a chicken farmer/koothu artiste (a terrifically written and well performed role), stage mimicry competitions to thiruvizhas, the film features the ordinary and the special from Tamil villages but never once does the camera look at the happenings as a voyeur. As if it were displaying a parade of kitsch. Nor is it all elaborate and deliberate. There’s a sense of realness that is not belaboured. There’s even playfulness at times…

Kutty’s lines in KD… are especially superb. Very rarely do we get kids whose precociousness is not grating… This is where the writing takes over. There’s enough sentiment to make the film heartwarming, but there’s also enough in there to keep it engaging.  Every time KD eats biriyani others around him want to eat it too. When he acts like Rajini and MGR, fans of the actors feel his passion. When he signs his name, his family feels a hint of shame — but none of this is ‘explained’. Just a nod, an expression, or a hint of a smile of a daughter’s when she realises her father has got the best of everyone… There are throwaway remarks, like the voiceover at the beginning that asks why are all the men just relaxed, when the women, young and old are slaving? These offer a pithy editorialised version of the story. We see as much of Madhumita in this opening scene (and a few others), as we do of her KD.

The most impressive thing about this film? Here’s someone inspired to write and make art, about things that are very wrong in our society, our way of life… without making it an angry rant of a  ‘karuthu’ movie. What is the artiste’s job, if not to respond with nuance? Madhumita dons the artiste’s hat with perfection in KD. Whether we want to see what she’s saying through the KDs and Kuttys of the world, is up to us. (And I am glad she leaves that up to us.) She takes on only the burden of telling a good story. And that is the really hard thing to do here.

The KD Engira Karuppu Durai review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.

Vijay Donates 1.30 Crores Towards Corona Relief

Vijay is the latest from the film fraternity to contribute to the several Corona relief funds being raised.

While several of his fan clubs have been providing essentials to various people, the Master star has contributed 1.30 crores — 25 lakhs to the PM-Cares Fund, 50 lakhs to the Tamilnadu Chief Minister Relief Fund, 10 lakhs to the Kerala Chief Minister Relief Fund, 25 lakhs to the Film Employees’ Federation of South India (FEFSI), and 5 lakhs each to the Karnataka Chief Minister Relief Fund, Andhra Chief Minister Relief Fund, Telangana Chief Minister Relief Fund, and Pondicherry Chief Minister Relief Fund.

Apart from this, the actor has also given his various fan clubs a certain amount of money to be directly distributed to the people in crisis owing to the lockdown imposed.

A few days back, actress Kajal Aggarwal had contributed 6 lakhs to various funds – Corona Crisis Charity Fund (2 lakhs), the PM-Cares Fund (1 lakh), the Maharashtra CM Fund (1 lakh) and FEFSI (2 lakhs). The actress has also provided grains and food to people from her area of stay and is helping PETA in feeding, and adopted stray animals. Actor Vetri had also chipped in 1 lakh to FEFSI and 4 lakhs to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Relief Fund. Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut had also contributed a sum of 10 lakh rupees for the daily wagers.

Recently, actor Soori, producer Suresh Kamatchi, and stunt master and Secretary of Film and Television Producers’ Guild of South India Jaguar Thangam had donated rice bags and essentials to FEFSI and other organisations. Kalpathi S Aghoram‘s AGS Entertainment had donated 15 lakhs to FEFSI along with 50 lakhs to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Relief Fund, and Parvatii Nair donated 1 lakh each to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Relief Fund and PM-Cares Fund along with rice bags to FEFSI and the Cinema Press Association.

The South Indian Film Writers’ Association led by K Bhagyaraj had also contributed 50,000 each to the State and Central government funds.

Actor-director Raghava Lawrence had also contributed 3 crores towards relief funds. He has also pledged 25 lakhs towards the sanitation workers in Tamil Nadu with the salary he receives from his next film with 5-star Creations‘ S Kathiresan.

Previously, director Atlee (10 lakhs) and actors Ajith Kumar (1.275 crores) and Nayanthara (20 lakhs) had also contributed to various relief funds being raised.

On March 23 afternoon, the Film Employees’ Federation of South India (FEFSI) put out a statement concerning the livelihood of daily wage workers and employees of the South Indian film industries. It spoke of the troubles they are facing owing to the Coronavirus outbreak which has halted film shooting, and other work. The federation requested the film fraternity to donate money for the procurement of rice bags, a basic need, for employees. The statement had also mentioned that 15,000 members of the 25,000 member organisation comprise daily wage workers who live off the income earned from shooting sets every day.

Several film personalities like Rajinikanth (50 lakhs), Kamal Haasan (10 lakhs), Dhanush (15 lakhs), Sivakarthikeyan (10 lakhs), Vijay Sethupathi (10 lakhs), SuriyaKarthi and their father Sivakumar (10 lakhs), Lalit Kumar’s Seven Screen Studio (10 lakhs), Jayam Ravi (5 lakhs), Udhayanidhi Stalin (10 lakhs), Aishwarya Rajesh (1 lakh), composer Anirudh Ravichander (2 lakhs), director Shankar (10 lakhs), Harish Kalyan (1 lakh), production house Sathya Jyothi Films (1 lakh), director P Vasu (1 lakh), Supreme Sundar (1 lakh) director Lokesh Kanagaraj (50k), Aadukalam Naren (25k), Chithra Lakshmanan (25k), Actress Sachu Kumari (10k), Karthik Subbaraj (1 lakh), cinematographer R Rathinavel (55k), actor-producers Kushboo and Sundar C (5 lakhs), actor Ponvannan (25k) and several other artists, PRs, producers, still photographers and journalists had made their monetary contributions.

The Tamil Film Press Association, the various fan associations of actors like Suriya, Karthi, Vikram, and Vijay Sethupathi, production houses Axess Film Factory, 11:11 Production, producer Dhanu, actors Radha RaviManobala, directors HariSanthana Bharathi, and Sanjay Bharathi, Producer Kotapadi J Rajesh, Super Good Films and actor Jiiva, actor Yogi Babu, artists Shankar Krishnamoorthy, Jeeva Ravi, and several others had also made their contributions in kind by donating a certain amount of rice and dal bags.

Last week, RK Selvamani, President of FEFSI, announced that the fund has collected 2.40 crores and 2400 rice bags and stated that they further required 3.75 crores to feed all the 25,000 families of the daily wage workers and members. While he thanked all the stars for their contributions, he also expressed his displeasure at how the Tamil film industry wasn’t being as altruistic as the Telugu or Hindi film industry which has been making contributions in crores for daily wage workers.

“We have been giving out Rs 500 and 25 kilos of rice to daily wagers and members, but the amount collected so far is not sufficient for all the 25,000 families,” said RK Selvamani.

It is noteworthy that several stars have also contributed to the fund raised towards artists of the South Indian Artistes’ Association/Nadigar Sangam which includes producer Ishari K Ganesh, actors Karthi, Soori, Nasser, Ponvannan, SJ SuryahRohiniSangeetha, and director Santhana Bharathi.

The latest to contribute to the fundraiser is Raghava Lawrence. After several other donations, he has provided 25 lakhs to the association.

Actors Vishal and Yogi Babu had also recently provided them with essentials. While the former provided provisions, gloves and masks, the latter provided rice bags to the association. Vishal has also helped trans women and sanitation workers.

The Tamil Nadu government has also decided to provide members of the association with Rs. 1000 each after the appeal made by the Cinema Welfare Organisation. Since it’s the season for performing arts, drama and theatre artists are to be affected the most and have therefore received money and essentials.

Karunas MLA, former Vice President of the Nadigar Sangam, has given all the theatre artists from Madurai 2000kg rice, Rs. 250 worth of grocery items per person, and Rs. 500 per person. Meanwhile, Dindigul artists have received 250kg rice, Pudhukottai artists 1250kg rice and Thanjavur artists 500kg rice.

The association has also appealed once again to the film fraternity to contribute more to the fund given the number of artists they are required to support.

The Federation of Small Screen Technicians, Tamilnadu that had also put out a statement seeking financial assistance for actors, technicians, writers, and directors of the television industry has finally received 1 lakh from Udhayanidhi Stalin and bags of rice from actor Yogi Babu.

Several other film-related associations have also been receiving donations of various kinds.

Kangana Ranaut Donates 5 Lakhs To FEFSI; Gives 5 Lakhs To Daily Wagers Of Upcoming Film ‘Thalaivi’

Kangana Ranaut is the latest to donate to the fund raised by the Film Employees’ Federation of South India (FEFSI) for the benefit of members and daily wage workers. The actress who was working on director Vijay‘s Thalaivia Tamil biopic on late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, before the lockdown has also decided to pay the daily wagers of the film a sum of 5 lakh rupees.

Prior to this, the Panga star had contributed 25 lakhs to the PM-Cares Fund and distributed essentials to the families of daily wage workers.

The actor was in the news recently for a video she put out asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demolish platforms like Twitter, after the Twitter account of her sister and spokesperson Rangoli Chandel was blocked out for spreading hate.

WATCH: Kangana Ranaut Wants PMO To Demolish Platforms Like Twitter; Wishes Everyone A ‘Happy Lockdown’

A few days back, actress Kajal Aggarwal had contributed 2 lakhs to the fund while also contributing to other funds – Corona Crisis Charity Fund, the PM-Cares Fund and the Maharashtra CM Fund, amounting to a total donation of 6 lakhs. The actress has also provided grains and food to people from her area of stay and is helping PETA in feeding, and adopted stray animals. Actor Vetri had also chipped in 1 lakh to FEFSI and 4 lakhs to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Relief Fund.

Actor Soori, producer Suresh Kamatchi, and stunt master and Secretary of Film and Television Producers’ Guild of South India Jaguar Thangam donated rice bags and essentials to FEFSI and other organisations. Kalpathi S Aghoram‘s AGS Entertainment had donated 15 lakhs to FEFSI along with 50 lakhs to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Relief Fund, and Parvatii Nair donated 1 lakh each to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Relief Fund and PM-Cares Fund along with rice bags to FEFSI and the Cinema Press Association.

Actor-director-choreographer Raghava Lawrence had donated 50 lakhs to FEFSI along with other donations amounting to a total of 3 crores.

Previously, director Atlee (10 lakhs) and actors Ajith Kumar (1.275 crores) and Nayanthara (20 lakhs) had also contributed to FEFSI and other funds.

On March 23 afternoon, the Film Employees’ Federation of South India (FEFSI) put out a statement concerning the livelihood of daily wage workers and employees of the South Indian film industries. It spoke of the troubles they are facing owing to the Coronavirus outbreak which has halted film shooting, and other work. The federation requested the film fraternity to donate money for the procurement of rice bags, a basic need, for employees. The statement had also mentioned that 15,000 members of the 25,000 member organisation comprise daily wage workers who live off the income earned from shooting sets every day.

Several film personalities like Rajinikanth (50 lakhs), Kamal Haasan (10 lakhs), Dhanush (15 lakhs), Sivakarthikeyan (10 lakhs), Vijay Sethupathi (10 lakhs), SuriyaKarthi and their father Sivakumar (10 lakhs), Lalit Kumar’s Seven Screen Studio (10 lakhs), Jayam Ravi (5 lakhs), Udhayanidhi Stalin (10 lakhs), Aishwarya Rajesh (1 lakh), composer Anirudh Ravichander (2 lakhs), director Shankar (10 lakhs), Harish Kalyan (1 lakh), production house Sathya Jyothi Films (1 lakh), director P Vasu (1 lakh), Supreme Sundar (1 lakh) director Lokesh Kanagaraj (50k), Aadukalam Naren (25k), Chithra Lakshmanan (25k), Actress Sachu Kumari (10k), Karthik Subbaraj (1 lakh), cinematographer R Rathinavel (55k), actor-producers Kushboo and Sundar C (5 lakhs), actor Ponvannan (25k) and several other artists, PRs, producers, still photographers and journalists had made their monetary contributions.

The Tamil Film Press Association, the various fan associations of actors like Vijay, Suriya, Karthi, Vikram, and Vijay Sethupathi, production houses Axess Film Factory, 11:11 Production, producer Dhanu, actors Radha RaviManobala, directors HariSanthana Bharathi, and Sanjay Bharathi, Producer Kotapadi J Rajesh, Super Good Films and actor Jiiva, actor Yogi Babu, artists Shankar Krishnamoorthy, Jeeva Ravi, and several others had also made their contributions in kind by donating a certain amount of rice and dal bags.

RK Selvamani, President of FEFSI, announced that the fund has collected 2.40 crores and 2400 rice bags and stated that they further required 3.75 crores to feed all the 25,000 families of the daily wage workers and members. While he thanked all the stars for their contributions, he also expressed his displeasure at how the Tamil film industry wasn’t being as altruistic as the Telugu or Hindi film industry which has been making contributions in crores for daily wage workers.

“We have been giving out Rs 500 and 25 kilos of rice to daily wagers and members, but the amount collected so far is not sufficient for all the 25,000 families,” said RK Selvamani.

It is noteworthy that several stars have also contributed to the fund raised towards artists of the South Indian Artistes’ Association/Nadigar Sangam which includes producer Ishari K Ganesh, actors Karthi, Soori, Nasser, Ponvannan, SJ SuryahRohiniSangeetha, and director Santhana Bharathi.

The latest to contribute to the fundraiser is Raghava Lawrence. After several other donations, he has provided 25 lakhs to the association.

Actors Vishal and Yogi Babu had also recently provided them with essentials. While the former provided provisions, gloves and masks, the latter provided rice bags to the association. Vishal has also helped trans women and sanitation workers.

 

The Tamil Nadu government has also decided to provide members of the association with Rs. 1000 each after the appeal made by the Cinema Welfare Organisation. Since it’s the season for performing arts, drama and theatre artists are to be affected the most and have therefore received money and essentials.

Karunas MLA, former Vice President of the Nadigar Sangam, has given all the theatre artists from Madurai 2000kg rice, Rs. 250 worth of grocery items per person, and Rs. 500 per person. Meanwhile, Dindigul artists have received 250kg rice, Pudhukottai artists 1250kg rice and Thanjavur artists 500kg rice.

The association has also appealed once again to the film fraternity to contribute more to the fund given the number of artists they are required to support.

The Federation of Small Screen Technicians, Tamilnadu that had also put out a statement seeking financial assistance for actors, technicians, writers, and directors of the television industry has finally received 1 lakh from Udhayanidhi Stalin and bags of rice from actor Yogi Babu.

Several other film-related associations have also been receiving donations of various kinds.

Makers Of Anushka-Madhavan Starrer ‘Nishabdham’ Issue Statement Clarifying Rumours On OTT Release

Anushka Shetty and Madhavan starrer Nishabdham/Silence is among the bigger releases of the year, in terms of sheer expectations. The multilingual crime-thriller that was earlier slated for release on April 2 has been indefinitely postponed owing to the Coronavirus outbreak worldwide.

Amidst this, rumours were rife that the film is set to release on their partner OTT platform, Amazon Prime, to cover losses incurred by the makers, Kona Film Corporation and People Media Factory, due to the delay in release. It was also rumoured that in order to release the film on the digital platform, the lead actor Anushka had to give the nod, which she was refusing to.

On Tuesday afternoon, the makers of the thriller put out a statement asking people to not believe any baseless rumours and that they would announce any sort of development in the project officially.

The statement read, “From the day one of shoot till date, our stars & technicians have been pillars of support to us through good & bad times, especially Anushka Shetty garu. Please do not believe in any baseless rumours you come across. If there is any major development, we shall announce it officially (sic).”

The film helmed by Hemanth Madhukar will see Anushka playing Sakshi, an artist who is mute, and Madhavan playing ‘Anthony’, a celebrity musician. The pair will be seen together for the second time after their 2006 Tamil action-comedy flick Rendu.

Nishabdam’s cast includes Anjali, Shalini Pandey, Subbaraju, Srinivas Avasarala, and Kill Bill fame Michael Madsen. Gopi Sunder has composed music and Shaneil Deo has done the cinematography with Prawin Pudi on the edit. The film also comprises technicians from Hollywood and has been shot extensively in Seattle, USA.

Recently, the makers also celebrated 15 years of Anushka in the film industry in a grand manner. The event saw several personalities from the Telugu film fraternity in attendance including directors Puri Jagannadh, SS Rajamouli, Raghavendra Rao K, actor Rana Daggubati, actor-producer Charmme Kaur and several others. Videos of fans wishing the actor on her journey were also screened at the event.

Nishabdham will release in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, and English this year. The trailer of the film dropped last month and has garnered over 6.8 million views.

Watch the Telugu trailer of Nishabdham/Silence here:

Tamannaah Bhatia Contributes 3 Lakhs To Corona Crisis Charity: Helps Migrant Workers In Mumbai

Actress Tamannaah Bhatia is the latest to donate to the Corona Crisis Charity, a fundraiser initiated by Megastar Chiranjeevi to help the daily wage workers in the Telugu Film Industry. She has chipped in 3 lakhs on Saturday evening to the charitable trust of the Megastar.

Apart from this, the Action star has also tied up with the startup Letsallhelp.org to help provide food and essentials to the multitude of people in slums, shelters and old age homes across Mumbai.

“The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted millions of lives in unimaginable ways.  The nationwide lockdown and social distancing is perhaps the best way to combat the crisis until an effective medical solution is discovered. However, it could take weeks or maybe even months till normalcy is restored. While we are all worried about our livelihood, we should spare a thought for the thousands of daily wage and migrant workers who have lost their means of livelihood and may not be able to sustain themselves and their families for such a prolonged period. The team at Letsallhelp.org and I have taken a pledge that no one sleeps hungry during the lockdown and we urge everyone to unite as one human race and donate generously,” said Tamannaah in a statement.

The actress has also been emphasising on the need to stay home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus on her social media. She had recently put out a video of the same where she is seen speaking in Tamil fluently.

A few days back, Kajal Aggarwal had also contributed 2 lakhs to the fund while also contributing to other funds – The Film Employees’ Federation of South India (FEFSI), the PM-Cares Fund and the Maharashtra CM Fund, amounting to a total donation of 6 lakhs.

The actress has also provided grains and food to people in her neighbourhood, and is also helping PeTA in feeding and adopting stray animals.

Apart from the lead actresses, several others from the Telugu industry have come forward and donated to the fund which includes actors Junior NTR (25 lakhs), Nagarjuna (1 crore), Naga Chaitanya (25 lakhs), Varun Tej (20 lakhs), Ravi Teja (20 lakhs), Sharwanand (10 lakhs), production houses Sri Venkateswara Creations (10 lakhs), UV Creations (10 lakhs), actors Lavanya Tripathi (1 lakh), Sai Dharam Tej (10 lakhs), Prabhas (50 lakhs), Nani (30 lakhs), Allu Arjun (20 lakhs), Vennela Kishore (2 lakhs), Nandamuri Balakrishna (25 lakhs), producer Ramoji Rao (lakhs) and several others from the Telugu film fraternity.

The Sye Raa star’s daughter-in-law Upasana Kamineni has ensured that medicine is sold free of cost to all verified Tollywood daily wage workers across all Apollo pharmacies. She is the Vice-Chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group.

Chiranjeevi who recently joined Twitter has made his contribution of 1 crore and has constantly been creating awareness about the virus and ways to tackle it on his social media. He has also been posting pictures and videos of his staff providing workers with food and essentials while also thanking the frontliners for their unparalleled contribution.

Recently, the actor had also donated blood along with actors Srikanth Meka and Roshan Meka and urged others to do so too.

According to a tweet by Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, the CCC fund has collected over 8 crores as on Friday. Amitabh had also thanked the contributors and staff working tirelessly behind the Corona Crisis Charity in his tweet.

The tweet read, “T 3504 – I understand #CoronaCrisisCharity was set up with @KChirutweets (chiranjeevi) as chairman to aid the daily wage film workers in Telugu States. Over Rs.8 Cr has been collected through contributions from several celebrities, actors & good samaritans. #CCC is using the contributions to door deliver essential supplies and food to nearly 12000 daily wage workers & their families for a month or longer if necessary. I congratulate all the contributors and the entire team of #CoronaCrisisCharity involved in this humanitarian mission. Keep up the amazing work!”

EXCLUSIVE: PS Mithran And Bosco Prabhu’s Court Documents In ‘Hero’ Plagiarism Case

In a previous article, for Silverscreen India I covered the dispute between PS Mithran, the director of Hero starring Sivakarthikeyan, and Bosco Prabhu, in some detail. I have since had access to the court documents in the copyright dispute. The documents include the plaint filed by Bosco, the counter affidavit filed by Mithran and the synopsis of the two scripts filed by both parties.

Read, Madras High Court’s Decision On PS Mithran’s ‘Hero’ Will Have Far-reaching Effects On Plagiarism Cases In India

In his plaint, Bosco states that he was approached by Kalaipuli S Thanu to make a film in 2015 titled Vetri, for which he received an advance, after which he developed the synopsis and script. This is the script he registered with the South Indian Film Writers Association in 2017. (There are no details on what happened to this project after that.) The plaint also mentions the basic outline of the plot of Vetri. Then, Bosco mentions that he watched the teaser of Hero and suspected that it was too similar to his own script, and made a complaint with the Writers Association. They held hearings and gave a report in his favour.

In the counter affidavit, Mithran states that he had never interacted with Bosco Prabhu and did not know anything about his script whatsoever. He also states that the producer, KJR Studios, engaged three writers to help him develop his film Hero. The writing team, he states, spent time in Masanagudi developing the script which was finally used. He points out various differences between the synopsis of Vetri and his own film. He also states that the Writers Association never shared Bosco Prabhu’s script or screenplay with him during the hearings. Therefore, he was not able to compare his own script with Bosco’s and show them the differences.

Silverscreen India has also accessed the rival synopses. (Find them at the bottom of this piece).

From the synopses and the court documents, two important points emerge – one of independent creation and another of whether the two are similar or not. Bosco’s plaint does not mention anywhere that his script was leaked to Mithran, or how Mithran could have stolen it from him. Without this fact being proved, or there being at least a plausible theory of how such a leak could have happened, it will be difficult for Bosco to succeed. Mithran will succeed by merely showing that he independently created his script, since Bosco’s script was not publicly available.

On the question of plagiarism, as stated in the earlier piece, there are three issues for the Court to ponder over.

Firstly, copyright law does not protect an idea, it only protects the expression of the idea. In Vetri and Hero, there are similar themes, that of women inventors being discredited by the villain, the inventors committing suicide, and the hero taking revenge for the same. However, Mithran has argued that the way the two scripts pan out are quite different. The first is a film about patent fraud, and the second is a superhero film about the education system. Based on the synopses we can say that the individual incidents, the characters and sub-plots, and the motivations of the characters seem to be different. So, the Court will look at whether the similarities are only to the extent of the ‘idea’ or whether the ‘treatment’ of the two scripts is also similar.

Secondly, the test that the court applies is of ‘substantial similarity’, i.e. can the second work exist without the first? The Court will usually decide this on the basis that if a reasonable, unbiased viewer sees both the works, will she feel that the second work is a copy of the first.

Thirdly, the Court will consider the fact that the story of Vetri seems to be part of the track in a much larger story in Hero. There was an earlier controversy with the film Baaghi, where a 20-minute sequence in the climax was seemingly borrowed from an Indonesian-Hollywood film, The Raid: Redemption. The Bombay High Court had said in that case that this is only one part of Baaghi and not the entirety of Baaghi, and ruled that there is no copyright infringement. The Madras High Court may consider this judgment also.

If the two parties do not reach a settlement, this case will be a landmark in Indian copyright law, since no case so far has dealt extensively with ‘independent creation’ or the value of reports given by industry associations such as the Writers Association.

This is Bosco Prabhu’s synopsis. (There seem to be some differences between the narration in his plaint and the narration in the actual synopsis registered with the Writers Association.)

 

This is PS Mithran’s synopsis.

Also read, ‘Hero’ Review: A Well-Imagined, Slow, Not-So-Slick, Homegrown Superhero Story