Malayalam indie film S Durga, which has been at the centre of several controversies, is scripting a success saga at the box office with an avant-garde release strategy.
The film, directed by Sanalkumar Sasidharan, was released on Friday and is running successfully in 48 theatres all over Kerala, tiding over the uncertainty that prevailed over the film's theatre release for long.
The film was released through public participation, initiated by the director's call on social media. Sanal, in a Facebook post, invited groups who can arrange the release of the film in their areas where there are at least 100 people who want to watch it.
“Within 24 hours, we got response from 20 places where people wanted to arrange the screening. Later, it rose to 48,” Sanal told Onmanorama over phone from Kochi. The partner groups will be paid 10 per cent of the collection, he said.
“From the overwhelming responses, we understood that there were so many people who wanted to watch the film. Earlier we were planning to have a regular release. But then we would have had to restrict the screening to some 10 theatres,” Sanal said.
Asked if the film could be called a commercial success, Sanal said he believed that it would not incur loss to the producer. The film was made on a budget of Rs 20 lakh.
The crew staged street plays across the state as part of promoting the film ahead of its theatre release. Sanal, a champion of freedom of expression and a victim of the unkind cuts of the censor board, made the street performances a venue to slam the draconian censor rules as well.
This is not the first time that Sanal used crowd participation for film screening. His maiden film, Oralpokkam, was screened across the state in a mobile theatre, named 'Cinema Vandi'. For the release of 'Ozhivudivasathe Kali' also, WhatsApp groups were created in each centre where the film was released.
'From the overwhelming responses, we understood that there were so many people who wanted to watch the film,' says director Sanalkumar Sasidharan.Sanal is confident that the method he has adopted is viable for other independent films as well. “I believe if we follow such innovative methods, we can get back the money spent on an indie film even without depending on some government subsidy or corporate funding,” he said.
S Durga, originally titled Sexy Durga, has already won 12 awards at various international film festivals, including three for best film. Produced by Shaji Mathew and Aruna Mathew of Niv Art Movies, features Rajshri Deshpande and Kannan Nayar in the lead roles.
The film courted controversy after it was dropped from the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, and when Sanal pulled it off the Malayalam Cinema section of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) last year. The film's title was changed to S Durga as required by the censor board which found the original title offensive.
