The new five-episode series will feature stories of hope, determination, and personal discovery, as told through the unique perspectives of five different directors…reports Asian Lite News
Tamil anthology ‘Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadhaa’ will release on Prime Video on January 14, 2022, its makers announced on Thursday.
‘Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadhaa’ is the second instalment of the Tamil anthology ‘Putham Pudhu Kaalai’, which was received quite well.
The new five-episode series will feature stories of hope, determination, and personal discovery, as told through the unique perspectives of five different directors.
Reflecting on the second lockdown of the COVID pandemic that shook India, the anthology is focused on a message of hope and love amidst despair.
The second instalment of the Tamil anthology will feature director Balaji Mohan’s ‘Mugakavasa Mutham’, featuring actors Gouri Kishan and TeeJay Arunasalam, director Halitha Shameem’s ‘Loners’, featuring actors Lijomol Jose and Arjun Das, director Madhumita’s ‘Mouname Paarvayaai’, featuring actress Nadiya Moidu and actor Joju George, director Richard Anthony’s ‘Nizhal Tharum Idham’,featuring Aishwarya Lekshmi and Nirmal Pillai and Surya Krishna’s ‘The Mask’, featuring Sananth and Dhilip Subbarayan.
Aparna Purohit, Head of India Originals, Amazon Prime Video India, remarked, “The overwhelming response that we received to our first anthology encouraged us to continue creating narratives of resilience, hope, love, and above all, showcase how humanity came together to battle the crisis. We are happy to present ‘Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadhaa’, featuring independent, cinematic voices from the Tamil industry, and are confident that the series will infuse viewers with hope and faith as we step foot in the new year.”
Commenting on the same, Manish says, “With deeper and wider penetration of Internet and mobiles in India, consumption of OTT content is no longer a metro phenomenon.”…writes Akshay Acharya
The astronomical rise of OTT has triggered a paradigm shift in the content consumption pattern of the audience. The audience today is more open to a wide range of content given the ease of access at their disposal.
As the brim of consolidated content buckets from across platforms overflows with each passing day, the average consumer is spoilt for choices.
The democratisation of the content production, distribution and exhibition courtesy of the OTT, has enabled storytellers to find their audience, make brave choices and push the envelope for the stories in the pursuit of brilliance.
For instance, filmmakers from Marathi cinema, ably supported by the Planet Marathi OTT’s game changing innovations and content solutions, have been crafting ground-breaking stories that resonate with people not just in India but also globally.
Akshay Bardapurkar, Founder, Planet Marathi, says, “Regional content is demanded globally by viewers who speak Marathi, who are familiar with the language and even those who simply enjoy the content irrespective of the language. Language is no longer the barrier in the OTT age. Audiences seek meaningful entertainment. Marathi filmmakers have demonstrated the potential to make ground-breaking content in the past.”
A good story is something that connects with people on a subconscious level and brings them together under one roof from a wide spectrum of demographics, regions and cultural differences. As Netflix India spokesperson says, “All the best stories in the world are authentic to their local context and origins of their characters, yet evoke universal emotions. And this is why this is an exciting time for stories in any language to be successful anywhere.”
Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India says, “On ZEE5, almost 50 per cent viewership comes from regional language content. We currently house regional original content in 6 languages i.e. Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Bengali and very recently Punjabi. For the rest, we have a series of dubbed content available on the platform. Overall, we have content and UI & UX in all 12 languages.”
With changes in the socio-economic sphere of the country, data and smartphones have become an integral part of modern life. Today, the Internet has spread to the most remote places in India which has naturally opened an oracle of new territories for storytellers.
Commenting on the same, Manish says, “With deeper and wider penetration of Internet and mobiles in India, consumption of OTT content is no longer a metro phenomenon.”
He adds, “At an industry level, as per E-marketer, Ericsson, BCG Research Report, Indian language Internet users are expected to grow to 536 million with 9 out of 10 new Internet users in the country likely to be Indian language users, paving way for rapid user growth on OTTs with strong language content offering.”
It’s not just the deepest corners of India that the regional content is reaching out to, it’s making inroads on the fertile grounds outside India as well.
Sharing an insight about how regional content on Netflix is transcending boundaries, Netflix India spokesperson states, “We are seeing tremendous success for films, across languages, on Netflix. Our Tamil anthology film ‘Navarasa’, helmed by Mani Ratnam and Jayendra Panchapakesan was in the Top 10 in 10 countries including India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka. In its first week on Netflix, more than 40 per cent of the viewers for the film were from outside India.”
Quoting another example, the spokesperson adds, “Likewise, in its first week alone, the Dhanush-starrer ‘Jagame Thandhiram’ drew an equal share of audience from outside India as it did within the country. The film was subtitled and dubbed in multiple Indian languages as well as English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese, enabling wider access for our members around the world. ‘Jagame Thandhiram’ has been in the Top 10 in 12 countries outside India and has been No. 1 in 7 countries, including India, Malaysia, and the UAE.”
Rounding up the content year 2021 for the platform, the Netflix spokesperson presents an assorted collection of content pieces available on the platform and also the upcoming release, “In the last one year, Martin Prakkat’s ‘Nayattu’ (Malayalam), V. Vignarajan’s ‘Andhaghaaram’ (Tamil), our local anthologies ‘Pitta Kathalu’ (Telugu) and ‘Paava Kadhaigal’ (Tamil), Praveen Kandregula’s ‘Cinema Bandi’ (Telugu) and Mandonne Ashwin’s ‘Mandela’ (Tamil) were also widely loved by our members and featured in the Top 10 in India. We can’t wait to bring ‘Minnal Murali’ (Malayalam) to our members on December 24.”
In the same vein, Manish Kalra outlines ZEE5’s 2021 content line-up, “We had a strong 2021 content line-up of 50+ theatricals and 40+ Originals across diverse languages, making our language play one of the strongest in the industry”.
With growing engagement and awareness towards regional content, the content industry is going through its golden period.
ZEE5’s Manish Kalra leads us into a glimpse of their content strategy to leverage the growing engagement, “With a concerted focus on ‘Deeper Regionalisation’, ZEE5 has always stood for empowering Indians to consume entertainment anytime and anywhere. Our primary objective is to drive ‘Entertainment Inclusion’, by onboarding millions of digital consumers and democratising access to bespoke Indian entertainment for all, especially for markets which are new/underserved”.
Akshay Bardapurkar of Planet Marathi shares the platform’s strategy to capitalise on the boom, as he says, “All we lacked as an industry was the financial backing to make this content larger than life. We at Planet Marathi have connected Marathi talent reservoir with an internationally funded platform. Vistas Media Capital has joined hands in making Marathi regional content global with Planet Marathi.”
The informer added that Aditya Chopra is of the opinion that OTT has the power to showcase truly Indian stories to the world…reports Asian Lite News.
Production power house Yash Raj Films’s head honcho Aditya Chopra is shelling out Rs 100 crore for the first project for a four hero starrer.
A source said: “YRF is making its intent clear about their digital venture by shelling out 100 crore for their project. They want to produce the best content and they want to be the leaders while doing that.
“They want to create a paradigm shift for content in India and this first project will be a testimony to their belief to make clutter-breaking projects.”
The source added: “Of course, YRF would want to start very big and with a bang. They are the leaders of the game in the Indian film business and they would naturally want to be the best when they explore the digital landscape.”
The informer shared that YRF wants to mount this project in a way that it becomes the talk of the nation.
Yash Raj Films is in plans to pump in ₹500 crores for their OTT wing to produce world class stories under the name of YRF Entertainment. pic.twitter.com/scn9nVqMVa
“It will be a four-hero project, something that the digital space has never seen before!” added the source.
“This project could start as early as December this year. YRF has quietly cast this project and the pre-production is almost over. Everyone is very tight-lipped about what this project is. YRF will announce the project soon.”
On November 12, it was announced that filmmaker Aditya Chopra has grand plans to reshape the digital content market as it stands today and is earmarking Rs 500 crore for YRF’s OTT arm that will be called YRF Entertainment.
Mohanlal-starrer ‘Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea’ directed by Priyadarshan will soon be shown on OTT as the epic film has been reportedly bought by Prime Video at a price between Rs 90 crore and 100 crores.
Unconfirmed reports attributed to the producer of the movie, Antony Perumbavoor, stated that this was one of the most costly purchases by Amazon in India.
The movie, according to industry sources is one of the costliest productions ever in Malayalam cinema with a budget of Rs 100 crore.
If the movie is bought by Amazon for Rs 90 crore to 100 crores, then the satellite rights of the movie would fetch good profit for the producer.
Antony Perumbavoor had on Friday said that he had tried his level best to show the movie on the big screen but even after several rounds of meetings with theatre owners, a final decision could not be reached and hence he and his team had decided to sell the movie on OTT.
Kerala film producers association head C. Sureshkumar had said that the producers of the movie and the association had held several rounds of meetings with the film exhibitors but no solution could be arrived at.
Film exhibitors association head Anchal Jayakumar had said, “We have held discussions and we had promised Rs 15 crore and 500 screens for the producer but they insist on more and we cannot afford that. Theatres will remain an indispensable part of the Malayalam film industry and we cannot be cowed down by such actions.”
This anthology consists of four short film segments directed by Shashank Khaitan, Raj Mehta, Neeraj Ghaywan and Kayoze Irani. ‘Ajeeb Daastaans’ captures the complexities of troubled human relationships… Arundhuti Banerjee.
Film industry always meant for progressive changes and adaptations. Collaborative anthologies are the new flavour of the season on OTT platforms. For audiences, they offer dramatic stories narrated in short-film formats, so watching them is and approach one common theme (or personality, in the case of ‘Ray’) through the lens of multiple perspectives.
Here’s a list of four anthologies, released in the recent past, that you cannot afford to miss if you haven’t savoured them already. Kaali Peeli Tales (miniTV Amazon)
‘Kaali Peeli Tales’ is an anthology of six entertaining short stories capturing the essence of love and relationships and the complexities of life in Mumbai. One of the most enduring, and visible, symbols of Mumbai, the iconic black and yellow taxi that somehow stays unaffected by the passage of time, is the thread that binds the six stories.
The unique narratives, which revolve around young, urban characters on the crossroads of change and acceptance, are titled ‘Single Jhumka’, ‘Love in Tadoba’, ‘Marriage 2.0’, ‘Fish Fry aur Coffee’, ‘Harra Bharra’ and ‘Loose Ends’. The cast includes talented popular actors Vinay Pathak, Gauahar Khan, Sayani Gupta, Maanvi Gagroo, Soni Razdan, Hussain Dalal, Sharib Hashmi, Priyanshu Painyuli, Tanmay Dhanania, Sadiya Siddiqui and Adeeb Rais. Ajeeb Daastaans (Netflix)
This anthology consists of four short film segments directed by Shashank Khaitan, Raj Mehta, Neeraj Ghaywan and Kayoze Irani. ‘Ajeeb Daastaans’ captures the complexities of troubled human relationships. The actors bringing the stories to life competently on the screen are Konkona Sen Sharma, Aditi Rao Hydari, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Jaideep Ahlawat, Nushrratt Bharuccha and Abhishek Banerjee.
Unpaused (Amazon Prime Video)
‘Unpaused’ is set during the coronavirus pandemic and presents a moving picture of how different classes of society tackled it. This anthology talks about life, moving on, second chances and fighting hard even when we face the worst.
It brings five amazing directors together – Avinash Arun, Nitya Mehra, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Nikkhil Advani, and Raj & DK, and features a stellar cast of Gulshan Devaiah, Saiyami Kher, Komal Chhabria, Richa Chadha, Ishwak Singh, Sumeet Vyas, Lillete Dubey, Rinku Rajguru, Abhishek Banerjee, Geetika Vidya Ohlyan, Palash Prajapati, Ratna Pathak Shah and Shardul Bhardwaj. Ray (Netflix)
‘Ray’ is a four-episode mini web series created by Sayantan Mukherjee highlighting an unusual side of the late maestro, Satyajit Ray — that of a writer of short stories with unusual plots, which, surprisingly, he never turned into films.
Some of the best actors of today appear in the series, including Manoj Bajpayee, Ali Fazal, Shweta Basu Prasad, Gajraj Rao, Kay Kay Menon, Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor and Radhika Madan, and they deliver without fail powerhouse performances. The short films have been directed by Srijit Mukherji, Vasan Bala and Abhishek Chaubey. The gripping stories, each ending with a twist, and some brilliant acting make this series an absolute viewing pleasure.
OTT has allowed people to access things when they want it. It is tricky, everything has its pros and cons…Ashish speaks with Siddhi Jain.
Ashish Vidyarthi is a favourite villain of South Indian films. Veteran says that OTT platforms have allowed people to access things when they want it, and because of an abundance of options available at a click, one’s “product has to be so much better”.
Asked what makes the medium of web and OTT click, Vidyarthi told : “OTT is a reflection of this time when people want things when they seem to want it. It’s not the fixed future.”
Recalling how showbiz worked a few decades back, the ‘Sunflower’ and ‘Aligarh’ actor added: “Remember the times when we used to have fixed times of film viewings: 3-6, 6-9, 9-12 PM. When multiplexes came, many films ran at the same time with different timings. People had more options, but now people don’t even have to go out.”
Speaking about OTT, he says: “It’s in your hand when you want it — instant gratification. OTT has allowed people to access things when they want it. It is tricky, everything has its pros and cons. As far as I am concerned, at this moment in this form, OTT is the go-to thing. There’s so much to choose from, and therefore your product has to be so much better.”
“OTT has also opened up so many more possibilities. Many more people are at work, they have the possibility to tell their story, make a film, act in films.”
“OTT is a very new thing for me. I think it is a brilliant mix between cinema and television. My work experience with the cast and crew of Sunflower was very fulfilling, as an actor I got a lot of freedom from my director, which helped me learn a lot in many different ways,” he has said previously.
She currently is busy with “The Gone Game 2” and “Escaype Live”, for which she has to be away from home for two months…reports Asian Lite News.
Covid era is of course an era of OTT too that helped many budding stars to come forward on the silver screen. Actress Shweta Tripathi feels fortunate and grateful to have work at a time when the industry is struggling owing to the pandemic.
Shweta has been shooting throughout in locations such as Benaras and Manali when many states were going into lockdown due to the second wave of Covid-19. She also managed to successfully wrap up the shoot of her upcoming series “Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein” before all shooting was halted.
“My hands are full but I feel extremely fortunate to have work when the industry is struggling so much due to the pandemic. During lockdown I’ve been watching such great content from across the world that now I am really hungry to perform,” she said.
She currently is busy with “The Gone Game 2” and “Escaype Live”, for which she has to be away from home for two months.
The actress added: “Even though I’m going away from family and friends for two months, I’m happy doing so. I’m excited to go back to work and shoot for not just one but two fantastic back-to-back shows.”
We are not trying to make fun of traditions and customs. In fact, you can watch the film with your entire family,” said director Singh…reports Asian Lite News.
Every new OTT release is a great relief for people in the lockdown period. As “14 Phere”, starring Vikrant Massey and Kriti Kharbanda, gets ready for an OTT release, the cast and crew shared their excitement about the film.
“14 Phere” is billed as a comedy directed by Devanshu Singh and written by Manoj Kalwani. The film also features Gauahar Khan and Jameel Khan.
“This is a fun-filled family movie where you will see bonding and emotional values. The film celebrates the institution of family and marriage but questions a few basic flaws in a reasonable way. We are not trying to make fun of traditions and customs. In fact, you can watch the film with your entire family,” said director Singh.
Kriti added: “Halfway through reading the script, I felt a range of emotions. The intrigue I felt reassured me that it was a kick** script and would make for a super entertaining movie! It’s not just another wedding film. I can’t wait for the audience to witness it soon.”
Vikrant said: “It is a complete pack of entertainment with all the elements like emotions, drama, romance, song, dance, comedy and family values at the core of it — a complete madly in love! I fell in love with the script immediately.”
The reality show follows the dangerous work of logger and sawmill owner Kevin Wenstob as he and his crew go to extremes to keep the family sawmill and their way of life alive…reports Asian Lite News.
OTT is the only relief for film lovers in the pandemic era. Here’s a look at highlight films, shows, and series that are scheduled to drop in the digital space this week.
PUNCCH BEAT, Season 2 (series on ALT Balaji, June 27) Cast: Priyank Sharma, Siddharth Sharma, Harshita Gaur Created by: Vikas Gupta
The all-new season of this high school drama is about new relationships, friendships, rivalries and more. The story revolves around Rosewood High. The school has only one rule that is to obey all rules. But as the new semester starts it unfolds a lot of dark secrets and eventually all rules are broken. COLD CASE (film on Amazon Prime, June 30)
The Malayalam horror thriller tells the story of a complex murder case, parallelly investigated by a police officer and an investigative journalist in their own way, who eventually cross paths to unravel secrets they never imagined. HASEEN DILLRUBA (film on Netflix, July 2)
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey, Harshvardhan Rane Direction: Vinil Mathew
Under investigation as a suspect in her husband’s murder, a wife reveals details of their thorny marriage that seem to only further blur the truth.
THE TOMORROW WAR (film on Amazon Prime, July 2)
Cast: Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, JK Simmons, Betty Gilpin Direction: Chris McKay
An American military science fiction action film, it focuses on humanity’s war against an alien invasion in the future, as humans use a new ability to draft soldiers from the past to help fight the aliens.
SAMANTAR season 2 (series on MX Player, July 2)
Cast: Tejaswini Pandit, Sai Tamhankar, Swwapnil Joshi Direction: Satish Rajwade
The second season of the Marathi mystery thriller series resumes the story of Kumar Mahajan played by Joshi who searches for a man who has already lived Kumar’s life and could tell him about the events of the future.
FEAR STREET PART ONE: 1994 (film on Netflix, July 2)
Cast: Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr. Direction: Leigh Jania
The horror film trilogy is based on the book series of the same name by novelist RL Stine. The events in the movies take place decades apart from each other but are connected with a curse. After a series of brutal slayings, a teen and her friends take on an evil force that is plagued their notorious town Shadyside, Ohio for centuries.
BIG TIMBER season 1 (reality show on Netflix, July 2) Cast: Kevin Wenstob, Eric Wenstob, Sarah Fleming
The reality show follows the dangerous work of logger and sawmill owner Kevin Wenstob as he and his crew go to extremes to keep the family sawmill and their way of life alive.
GREY’S ANATOMY season 17 (series on Netflix, July 3) Cast: Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr. Showrunner: Krista Vernoff
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the doctors at Grey Sloan find themselves in uncharted territory as they work to save lives without any end in sight. The latest season also features Meredith on the beach among other storylines.
CHUTZPAH (series on Sony Liv, July 3) Cast: Varun Sharma, Manjot Singh, Elnaaz Norouzi Created by: Mrighdeep Lamba
The thriller dark comedy series is based on cybercrime. It looks at issues of digital frauds, honey traps, and more. “Fukrey” stars Varun Sharma and Manjot Singh are back together again in the show.
Over the past few year, we have had anthologies such “Ludo”, “Unpaused”, “Ajeeb Dastaans” and “Ray” in Hindi. Thanks to the fact that OTT provides unrestricted viewing to all audiences across the nation and the globe…writes Yashika Mathur.
Anthologies are not a new trend, but the number of such kind of story telling has increased in the digital space. Storytellers on OTT have struck gold with anthology films and shows. While the genre is not altogether new, it seems to increasingly find favour for more than one reason. For one, it lets makers of OTT shows and films pack in more, in terms of actors. More importantly, the audience gets more than one flavour of storytelling thanks to the multitude of stories that are mostly directed by different directors, hence bringing in varied styles.
Over the past few year, we have had anthologies such “Ludo”, “Unpaused”, “Ajeeb Dastaans” and “Ray” in Hindi. Thanks to the fact that OTT provides unrestricted viewing to all audiences across the nation and the globe, regional anthology films such as “Putham Pudu Kaalai” and “Paava Kadhaigal” (both Tamil) have also managed to draw attention beyond the home state.
“Everyone makes a normal routine film but anthology is difficult and challenging. The taste of the audience has evolved and they are exposed to international shows. Earlier it was tried with ‘Dus Kahaniyaan’ but audience back then didn’t understand the concept. Now, cinema-making and cinema consumption has changed. Every generation has its taste. Earlier social, action and romantic films worked. This is a new format the audience is enjoying,” trade analyst Atul Mohan tells IANS.
From the perspective of a film maker, while one may feel that bringing multiple creative storytellers can be challenging, Srijit Mukherji has his take. Mukherji, who has directed two of the four stories in “Ray”, talks of whether individual treatment of a filmmaker gets affected, knowing there are two more stories clubbed with his film, directed by two others.
“It would have (been affected) if I would have known what others are treating their films like. Fortunately, here, Sayantan Mukherjee, who is the show runner of ‘Ray’, didn’t let anyone know what the other director is making. He had the overall picture on how four films were shaping up. There was no one way that one guy’s film would affect the other’s,” says Mukherji.
Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal, who was impressive in Vasan Bala’s segment “Spotlight” in the anthology “Ray”, explains what about the format of anthology attracts him as an actor.
“What attracts me in an anthology is that you can tell four different stories on one topic and every actor and director has a different interpretation. You are watching the same thing on love, lust or horror and everyone has their own take on it. It’s lovely to see everyone have their own version. The soul is the same but storytelling and treatment are different,” says Chandan.
With the ready acceptance recent anthologies have seen, ne sure there will be many lined up over the next months. A new one, “Feels Like Ishq” helmed by six directors, was been announced a few days back. The film will star Radhika Madan, Amol Parashar, Neeraj Madhav, Tanya Maniktala, Kajol Chug, Mihir Ahuja, Simran Jehani, Rohit Saraf, Saba Azad, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Zayn Khan and Skand Thakur.
