Latest news with #Mayaanadhi
New Indian Express
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
‘None in Aesthetic Kunjamma has a design background,' says Arun Ajikumar
It's important to have a team that understands the nuances of your ideas. How did you pick yours? We're an eight-member team at Aesthetic Kunjamma. My co-founder, Deepak, is a design expert. I met him online during the lockdown after I had started Kunjamma. We began exchanging ideas, and as we explored different aspects of design, the team naturally started growing. Interestingly, none of us met in person for over a year—everything happened online. None in my current team has a design background, and I believe that makes us unique. How did you get into movie poster designing? As the page gained popularity, projects started coming our way. We began with short films. In Malayalam, our first official project was Shane Nigam's 'Veyil'. We were also approached by Mani Ratnam sir's Madras Talkies to design a segment called 'Coffee, Anyone?' for a web series. Our entry into the film industry was unplanned. As someone who wanted to get into the industry, I sensed this was my way in. You have an eye for detail, and it shows in your work. What's your creative process like? When I watch a film, I don't just see the surface — I tend to dive into five or six layers of it. I imagine the process behind each scene. Among my works, my favourite is the 'Mayaanadhi-Shape of Water' mix. When I first watched Mayaanadhi, I was blown away by the idea and details in it. Later, when I watched 'Shape of Water', I noticed a connection. In Mayaanadhi's climax, Tovino's character gets shot by the river and just before dying, he sees his lover. I started imagining, 'As he sinks into the river, what if he slips into a lucid dream where he reunites with her and comes back to life?' It felt very Shape of Water-like to me. Thoughts like these are what end up in a poster. I think my eye for detail also comes from my theatre background. Theatre taught me to see how a single line or a costume change can have multiple layers of meaning. My mentor there once told me there are only seven or nine stories in the world and all stories stem from these core ideas. What makes an artwork come alive is how you build on those ideas and bring them to life. Posters have become almost a film's identity now, reflecting its creative depth. How do you view the evolution of film posters? Posters have always been used in branding a film, but over time, especially in the age of the internet, they have evolved into more of a storytelling medium. Earlier, posters were straightforward announcements, often pasted on buses or walls. Their main job was to let people know that a film, starring so-and-so, was coming soon. While working on 'Sarvam Maya', Akhil chettan (Akhil Sathyan) told me how Sathyan Anthikad sir used to say that the most important thing with posters back then was that even someone on a moving bus should be able to read the film's name. The hero's name came second. During the period between '70s and '90s, the focus was on clean, flashy designs that caught your attention quickly. Later, posters began to feature the hero's face more prominently. Even Alfred Hitchcock's posters sometimes included photos of himself and the producer. Putting the star's face helped build trust with the audience and spark interest. With the internet era, posters shifted from being just informative to becoming creative communication. Design elements like color palettes, patterns, and symbolism began to matter more. Posters started to engage people on a deeper level — they made you think, and feel and even gave you that little dopamine hit. But I still believe it's important not to overdo printed posters. You often include Easter eggs in your posters. How do you come up with those? It starts with understanding the film deeply. Whenever we take on a project, I prefer reading the full script instead of just a synopsis—that helps us layer the poster with subtle details. Our audience, especially post-Covid, has become advanced with exposure to international content. So, for them to spend five minutes on a poster, it has to be engaging. I feel a good poster is one that would invoke thoughts in me.
New Indian Express
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
KFPA says will add OTT revenue to movie collection report
KOCHI: The Kerala Film Producers Association (KFPA) is now set to include OTT revenue in its monthly box office collection report — a notable shift in its approach to industry transparency, amid criticism by a section of members over publicly releasing theatre-collection numbers. The association hit the breaks after publishing figures for January, February, and March this year. According to KFPA vice-president G Suresh Kumar, the delay is due to the proposal to present a more comprehensive financial picture. 'Several films have been sold to OTT platforms. And many producers requested that the monthly numbers reflect both theatre and OTT revenue. Compiling the amounts takes time,' he told TNIE. The move comes in the wake of opposition from some producers to the release of box office figures. 'I don't know who hired the people to facilitate the release of monthly reports of Malayalam films. These are confidential numbers. If a body authorised or constituted by the state is coming out with these figures, then it is understandable,' Santhosh T Kuruvilla, co-producer of films like 'Da Thadiya', 'Mayaanadhi' and 'Nna Thaan Case Kodu', posted on Facebook. He urged those involved to stop spreading false notions about the industry. KFPA secretary B Rakesh said that the reports for April to June will be published after the association's general body meeting and election. 'Officials are working on annual reports and preparing for the election. The figures of the last three months will be released soon after,' he said. According to the three reports released by KFPA, only three films — 'Rekhachithram' starring Asif Ali, the Prithviraj-Mohanlal film 'Empuraan', and 'Officer on Duty' featuring Kunchacko Boban and Priyamani — were commercially successful in the first quarter of 2025. The association maintains that the aim of releasing such data is to raise awareness among producers, particularly newcomers, about financial risks in an industry grappling with mounting losses.
The Hindu
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Darshana Rajendran interview: On how acting went from being a hobby to a full-fledged career
Darshana Rajendran started doing theatre as a hobby initially. As she engaged more with the medium, she realised she thoroughly enjoyed it and decided to pursue it full time. Over the years, she explored other connected forms such as dubbing, voice-overs, theatre workshops and films. Remember her rendition of 'Baawra man' for the Malayalam film Mayaanadhi? Among the films she has been part of are C U Soon, Aanum Pennum, Hridayam, Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey, Purusha Pretham, Paradise and Rifle Club. She has acted in web series such as Ctrl Alt Del and Naya Safar. Recently, she has been part of the play Bye Bye Bypass, directed by actor Roshan Mathew. The seven shows of the nostalgia-inducing Malayalam play were embraced with enthusiasm by the Kochi audience. The play, told through the point of view of kids, is about four cousins and their soon-to-be demolished ancestral home to make way for a bypass. Edited excerpts from an interview with the actor : How is it like coming back to theatre? I haven't really thought of this as coming back to doing plays because I started exploring acting, with theatre, in 2011. At that time, I had a job, and this was a hobby of sorts. It was sometime around 2014 when I decided to quit my job and spend more time with it because I really enjoyed doing it! I was looking forward to spending more time with theatre. When I started doing it professionally, I realised that theatre alone was not enough to sustain myself. So, purely out of the thought, 'how do I keep this going?' I started doing other things like doing voiceover work and dubbing, teaching, doing theatre workshops and also films. So, films are also a part of that. I want to do it all [acting related] in some way or the other. And I have been doing it all, maybe not so publicly but in my own way. I've also been working with children doing workshops as and when I don't have film shoots. With theatre, the aim was to always have it going, but because it was difficult, logistically, to make a play happen, there haven't been plays. We did A Very Normal Family (AVNF) in 2019 with a lot of us being from the same group. Even during COVID, we did a small intimate play; we have been doing play readings together, and hosted performances at home. I have been part of theatre and I don't think of it as coming back to it. But yes, a show like Bye Bye Bypass is difficult to get going. We started [AVNF] with a small bunch of people. Today, when one show happens, there are 25-30 people working nonstop to run it. A community has come together to run it. That doesn't happen very often and for that I am very grateful and really excited. What were the inputs of the actors in the play? Yes, we all have chipped in. The process of the play happened that way. This is Roshan's story, and that was the departure point. It was something that happened in his life that inspired him to develop it. But when we started talking about it, we realised that the ideas are all universal. We all have that one home that we miss or that we have had to let go or we think of when we think of it as home. What is home itself but for the idea of people who are your home! All of that is universal. It's (Bye Bye Bypass) a devised performance: each scene has been devised by a set of actors, the musician, the writer, and the director. All of these come together to make that happen. Every day at rehearsal, it isn't that we have a written scene. We were creating it together; so all actors have played different characters in it, like I play this character called Thumbi. But I have also played other characters; we have all switched characters and played when we were creating. Say, in a scene, the three children meet one boy, and they become friends. We would have two sets of actors try different versions of that scene. Then we all sit together, watch it, judge it and then decide what works and what to retain. It's all shaped by the cast and crew. We have all been involved with every thought. Everyone has a sense of ownership that way; so we all have come together with our own stories of home and each of these things, and we all contributed. It is one of those really collaborative processes that all of us have really enjoyed being a part of. Are you working on other plays? How was the process of mounting this play? I'm going to be working on another play with this Chennai-based group called Perch. They are reviving their play, Under the Mangosteen Tree, and I'm going to get involved with that after this play. I have been active in the theatre space, but, like I said, logistically getting a play together, when most actors in Kochi are film actors, is not easy. Managing everyone's time and making sure this happens while also working as the producer... just doing all of that work requires time. It's been quite a task, but now we have a group that's involved. We've also got a small network around it, a community of actors stepping in if one person is unavailable. We have actors who are stepping in to do stage manager jobs, with everyone pitching in to make sure this happens and that's the only way a play like this will happen. How did the story of Bye Bye Bypass resonate with you? I have lived in many houses all around the world, so l have had to say goodbye to several houses. I am not exaggerating, but definitely over 30-35 houses. For me, the idea of home isn't the house as such but the memories and the stories that happened there. Or the people that you share it with! It is something I have carried on because I do feel like I have many homes all around the world and they're not my home, in reality. But I feel at home. At one point, when I used to do only theatre, l used to be shuttling about so I had keys to many houses, many friends' houses. When I go to Chennai, this corner in my friend's house is mine. I've had sort of a longing for a home, but I also feel at home in many, many places. To be able to bring these thoughts and these ideas into this play was also great fun. We all explored our own stories with our homes. I grew up in Riyadh, moved to Kochi for high school, then I was in Delhi. Then London after that for my masters, and then I moved to Chennai where I used to work; I also used to be in Bangalore for some time. I have shifted so many times. So it's been interesting to think about all of these homes, and this is a story that it's not just me, but it's something that everyone resonates to.
The Hindu
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Darshana Rajendran on how acting went from being a hobby to a full-fledged career
Darshana Rajendran started doing theatre as a hobby initially. As she engaged more with the medium she realised she thoroughly enjoyed the medium to pursue it full time. Over the years, she explored other connected forms such as dubbing, voice overs, theatre workshops and films. Remember her rendition of 'Baawra man' for the Malayalam film Mayaanadhi? Among the films she has been part of are C U Soon, Aanum Pennum, Hridayam, Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey, Purusha Pretham, Paradise and Rifle Club. She has acted in web series such as Ctrl Atl Del and Naya Safar. Recently she has been part of the play Bye Bye Bypass, directed by actor Roshan Mathew. The seven shows of the nostalgia-inducing Malayalam play were embraced with enthusiasm by the Kochi audience. The play, told through the point of view of kids, is about four cousins and their soon-to-be demolished ancestral home to make way for a bypass. Edited excerpts from an interview with the actor : How is it like coming back to theatre? I haven't really thought of this as coming back to doing plays because I started exploring acting, with theatre, in 2011. At that time I had a job and this was a hobby of sorts. It was sometime around 2014 when I decided to quit my job and spend more time with it because I really enjoyed doing it! I was looking forward to spending more time with theatre. When I started doing it professionally I realised that theatre alone was not enough to sustain myself. So, purely out of the thought, 'how do I keep this going?' I started doing other things like doing voiceover work and dubbing, teaching, doing theatre workshops and also films. So, films are also a part of that. I want to do it all [acting related] in some way or the other. And I have been doing it all, maybe not so publicly but in my own way. I've also been working with children doing workshops as and when I don't have film shoots. With theatre the aim was to always have it going but because it was difficult, logistically, to make a play happen, there haven't been plays. We did A Very Normal Family (AVNF) in 2019 with a lot of us being from the same group. Even during COVID we did a small intimate play; we have been doing play readings together, and hosted performances at home. I have been part of theatre and I don't think of it as coming back to it. But yes, a show like Bye Bye Bypass is difficult to get going. We started [AVNF] with a small bunch of people. Today when one show happens there are 25-30 people working non-stop to run it. A community has come together to run it. That doesn't happen very often and for that I am very grateful and really excited. What were the inputs of the actors in the play? Yes, we all have chipped in. The process of the play happened that way. This is Roshan's story and that was the departure point. It was something that happened in his life that inspired him to develop it. But when we started talking about it, we realised that the ideas are all universal. We all have that one home that we miss or that we have had to let go or we think of when we think of it as home. What is home itself but for the idea of people who are your home! All of that is universal. It's (Bye Bye Bypass) a devised performance: each scene has been devised by a set of actors, the musician, the writer, the director. All of these come together to make that happen. Every day at rehearsal it isn't that we have a written scene. We were creating it together; so all actors have played different characters in it, like I play this character called Thumbi. But I have also played other characters; we have all switched characters and played when we were creating. Say in a scene — the three children are meeting one boy, and they become friends. We would have two sets of actors try different versions of that scene. Then we all sit together, watch it, judge it and then decide what works and what to retain. It's all shaped by the cast and crew. We have all been involved with every thought. Everyone has a sense of ownership that way; so we all have come together with our own stories of home and each of these things, and we all contributed. It is one of those really collaborative processes that all of us have really enjoyed being a part of. Are you working on other plays? How was the process of mounting this play? I'm going to be working on another play with this Chennai-based group called Perch. They are reviving their play, Under the Mangosteen Tree and I'm going to get involved with that after this play. I have been active in the theatre space but, like I said, logistically getting a play together, when most actors in Kochi are film actors, is not easy. Managing everyone's time and making sure this happens while also working as the producer... just doing all of that work requires time. It's been quite a task, but now we have a group that's involved. We've also got a small network around it, a community of actors stepping in if one person is unavailable. We have actors who are stepping in to do stage manager jobs, with everyone pitching in to make sure this happens and that's the only way a play like this will happen. How did the story of Bye Bye Bypass resonate with you? I have lived in many houses all around the world, so l have had to say goodbye to several houses. I am not exaggerating, but definitely over 30-35 houses. For me the idea of home isn't the house as such but the memories and the stories that happened there. Or the people that you share it with! It is something I have carried on because I do feel like I have many homes all around the world and they're not my home, in reality. But I feel at home. At one point when I used to do only theatre, l used to be shuttling about so I had keys to many houses, many friends' houses. When I go to Chennai, this corner in my friend's house is mine. I've had sort of a longing for a home, but I also feel at home in many, many places. To be able to bring these thoughts, and these ideas into this play was also great fun. We all explored our own stories with homes. I grew up in Riyadh, moved to Kochi for high school, then I was in Delhi. Then London after that for my masters and then I moved to Chennai where I used to work, I used to be in Bangalore for some time. I have shifted so many times. So it's been interesting to think about all of these homes, and this is a story that it's not just me, but it's something that everyone resonates to.
New Indian Express
03-05-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Box office data release triggers outrage among producers in Kerala
KOCHI: The Kerala Film Producers Association's (KFPA) decision to release monthly box office collection figures — a move it claims is aimed at helping investors — is evoking negative reviews. The move, initiated from February, has thrown open a rift, with some producers warning that it could backfire and end up discouraging investment, besides distorting perceptions of success in a fragile market. According to the KFPA's March 2025 report, just one film – L2: Empuraan – out of the 15 released that month was commercially successful. The association defends its decision to release the figures, saying it would help inform producers of industry trends and financial outcomes. However, not everyone is convinced. Producer Sandra Thomas, among those vehemently opposed to the move, said the decision has started hurting the industry. 'The numbers they release are partial. There are multiple sources of income, including OTT rights, remake rights, dubbing rights and theatre collection. When we release the theatre collection, it gives the wrong impression that the entire industry is in loss,' she explained. Santhosh T Kuruvilla, co-producer of films like Da Thadiya, Mayaanadhi and Nna Thaan Case Kodu, too, was critical of the decision. 'I don't know who hired these people to release monthly reports of Malayalam films. These are confidential numbers. If a body authorised or constituted by the state is releasing these figures, then it is understandable,' he posted on social media and called on those involved to stop 'spreading false ideas' about the industry. Kuruvilla warned that publicising box office failures could dampen investor confidence. 'The goal of film production is not just high returns. The entertainment industry works on long-term goals,' he said. However, KFPA vice-president G Sureshkumar said they want to caution new producers about the risks in investing in the sector. 'The numbers were released not to discourage investors. Numerous producers are in debt and experiencing losses. We cannot let this happen. Actors' remuneration and production costs are increasing. Potential producers should be aware of the risks,' he told TNIE.
