NE ENTERTAINMENT BUREAU
Amazon Prime Video, after acquiring films from different languages across India, has finally registered its footprint in the regional scene to produce original content.
“Putham Pudhu Kaalai (A new dawn)’’ is an anthology that packs in films from five prominent directors from the Tamil film industry was completely shot and edited during the lockdown.
The film, which marks Amazon Prime Video’s first Indian anthology feature, and drops on Friday, has an ensemble star cast consisting of many well-known names.
In an exclusive interview with “Firstpost’’, Ritu Varma, Andrea Jeremiah, Kalidas Jayaram, and Kalyani Priyadarshan talk about the film and their shooting experience during the lockdown.
It’s a track that will brighten up any dull day! #PuthamPudhuKaalai title track music video with @gvprakash, releasing on Oct 8th. @Suriya_offl @DirRajivMenon @kabervasuki @PrimeVideoIN @AmazonMusicIN @SonyMusicSouth pic.twitter.com/wBcOW93csO
— karthik subbaraj (@karthiksubbaraj) October 7, 2020
Priyadarshan said she enjoyed working with the father-son pair of Jayaram and Kalidas Jayaram in filmmaker Sudha Kongara’s “Ilamai Idho Idho.”
“I remember going to Kalidas Jayaram’s two-year-old birthday party, that’s how long I have known him. We all grew up in Chennai but for a long time, we hadn’t really been in contact. So it was actually very nice to see him after such a long time and work together. Despite being a short film, this was very complicated because we had song sequences with choreography, and we couldn’t do it on set because we had a maximum of five people on the set, was a rule. So we had the dance master come over to our house and teach us. So Kaalidas used to interact with my mom a lot, speaking about all the olden stories,” Priyadarshan tells Firstpost.
She showers lavish praise on veteran actor Jayaram, who plays a pivotal role in the segment. “Jayaram sir is one of my mom’s favourite people, and they have 100 stories about each other. Jayaram sir is one of the funniest people you will meet, and you will see his real self in this short film,” she says. Kalyani adds that she was in awe of his charm, and had a great time listening to stories that even her mom wouldn’t tell her,” says Priyadarshan.
Kongara’s films have been raw and rustic so far, but “Ilamai Idho Idho” seems to take a new path and venture into bright, feel-good areas. Priyadarshan talks about the changeover from the director and the experience of shooting during the lockdown, saying, “As this was all done during the COVID-19 lockdown, we finished most of our discussions over the phone. Sudha is someone who focuses a lot on her actors, as she needs a lot from her actors. It is very different from what she has done before, but I can tell that it comes from the same filmmaker. I felt that the storytelling style comes from somebody who has worked so closely with Mani (Ratnam) sir. It is real but there is a sense of romanticism and happiness in it.”
While it is Priyadarshan’s first time working with the director, Kalidas, on the other hand, has already completed a film with Kongara for Netflix, titled “Paava Kadhaigal.” When the offer came to him again, he jumped on board immediately.
“A filmmaker of such a big scale like Sudha Kongara ma’am could have cast anybody, but she came back to me, which is a big thing for a beginner like me. The added bonus was that my dad was also acting in it,” he says.
“Ilamai Idho Idho” is a 30-minute short film, but it has four songs composed by GV Prakash Kumar.
Kalidas speaks about the USP of the film, saying, “I had many doubts on how it was going to work out. But once I got to know what Sudha ma’am had in mind and how she was going to execute all this, it was very clear. Personally, I am a big fan of GV Prakash’s music. I have gone to the theatre, whistled and danced to his songs in the theatre. It’s a personal connection to act to his music. The songs that he has composed are worth feature films. You will feel that they could have been longer.”
Cinematographer-turned-filmmaker Rajiv Menon’s Reunion stars Andrea Jeremiah, Leela Samson, and Sikkhil Gurucharan in lead roles. Jeremiah, who is back to Tamil films after her impressive performance in Vada Chennai, says her role is in complete contrast to the Vetrimaaran directorial. “To be honest, my first reaction was to jump at it. Three months of sitting at home and not working, and I would have done anything to be back on the sets. I had worked with Rajiv many years ago when I first started modelling, so I have that comfort level with him,” says Jeremiah about venturing into OTT. Courtesy: Firstpost
