Award-winning filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan has made serious allegations against actor Tovino Thomas regarding the theatre–OTT release of the movie 'Vazhakku'. Sanal claims that the actor showed reluctance to release the movie, in which he plays the lead role and is also a production partner, due to concerns about his status as a rising star. The filmmaker leveled these allegations in a detailed note posted on his social media page.
His post reads: "It was always commercial interests that dictated what society should know, how it should think, or even exist. Despite being newsworthy, some incidents may not become news just as some information does not reach the people, no matter how revolutionary it may be. Not all discoveries are validated by science, and not all arts may see the light of day. A financial agenda controls society by deciding what people should see or how they should perceive.
As someone who has personally encountered situations that might initially seem unfortunate to an outsider, but upon closer examination, have actually brought about favourable outcomes, I have come to grasp this agenda driven by commercial interests quite well. One such experience was related to the movie 'Vazhakku', starring Tovino Thomas, which was also co-produced by the actor. 'Vazhakku' was shot when the cinema business was completely shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The movie was completed within two weeks using complex filming techniques.
The budget of the movie was Rs 50 lakh without considering mine and Tovino’s remunerations. Tovino invested 50% of the budget while the remaining 50% was contributed by Parrot Mount Pictures, in which I am also a partner. It was my relative Gireesh Nair and his friend Faisal Shajir Hassan who spent the money for Parrot Mount Pictures.
We had to complete the movie in a short span of time with a meagre budget, and we did so amazingly within the stipulated time and budget. However, we began facing difficulties after the filming wrapped up. After watching the rough cut of the movie, the organizers of a renowned film festival expressed interest in premiering our movie. But, they backed off after two weeks. Crushing my hopes, many festivals rejected 'Vazhakku'. When the Mumbai Film Festival sent me an email in 2022 confirming the selection of my movie in their competition category, I was relieved to have finally found a way to release it. But, that too didn’t happen as the Mumbai Film Festival got cancelled that year.
IFFK was probably the last venue where I could exhibit my movie. However, I didn’t hope that 'Vazhakku' would be selected for IFFK as there were many false allegations against me. Moreover, I had been a victim of political vendetta too. I asked Tovino to initiate the process for releasing the movie on an OTT platform. But, Tovino replied that 'Vazhakku' was a festival movie and that the regular audience wouldn’t enjoy it. Even though I requested him to help me release the movie without any prejudices as almost all the festivals rejected 'Vazhakku', he was still reluctant.
Meanwhile, 'Vazhakku' got selected in the Malayalam Cinema Today category at the IFFK. My movie found a place in the IFFK as Sherry Govindan and Ranjith Shankar, who were in the selection jury, stood firmly for 'Vazhakku', despite many trying to oust it from all categories of competition (I will write in detail about it later). The allegations that I was a drug addict and was mentally unstable affected the prospects of 'Vazhakku' at the IFFK. However, my hopes were reignited when the audience who watched 'Vazhakku' at the festival loved it. I asked Tovino to speed up the initiative for the film’s release. But, Tovino was adamant on his opinion that 'Vazhakku' was a festival movie.
When I insisted that 'Vazhakku' should either be released in the theatres or released online, Tovino said that he had entrusted his manager to speak to the OTT platforms. Soon, he sent me the draft of a contract to give his manager the rights for distribution. But, I didn’t agree as I had already had an unpleasant experience related to my earlier movie 'Kayattam'. However, I legally gave him the rights for three months for pitching the movie to the OTT platforms. Meanwhile, I had, on many different occasions felt that Tovino wasn’t interested in releasing the movie due to various reasons.
I have had many such experiences which taught me that those who are perceived as great by people are in fact much smaller. So, I didn’t expect anything positive to happen. As I had anticipated, he didn’t make any move to release the movie. I was informed that the film was rejected by all the OTT platforms. It was also the time when big, small, good, or bad movies were all being released via OTT platforms. Meanwhile, someone offered to spend money to help me release 'Vazhakku' in the theatres. When I told this to Tovino, he said that he would guarantee that the movie would only make a loss in the theater. The voice text that he sent me, when I asked him why he was bothered if the man who spends the money is willing to bear the loss astonished me. “It is something that would affect my career. But, that’s ok; I would make it up with the next two or three films,” he said in the voice message.
I didn’t quite understand what he had meant, at that time. I had no idea whether he didn’t like the film or was upset by some other factors. I believe that 'Vazhakku' is one of the best movies in my career. It is true that I stopped directing movies due to some unexpected incidents in my life. But, I quit with the satisfaction of directing the best movie.
Now, I have understood what Tovino had said then. While doing 'Vazhakku', Tovino was a burgeoning superstar. Had the movie been released then, he too would have been a victim of the hatred that is often showered on me. It would have been a thorn on his road to superstardom. One can win in the world of commerce only if he understands the equations of the trade. Was he wrong? No; was he right then? No. Then what is it? It was unjust!
When my life was threatened, I sent all my movies to some of my most trusted friends. I told them I had the original copyright of all the movies including 'Vazhakku'. I even asked them to let the public access the films in the instance of my death. My life had merely been instances of slipping away from death in the last four or five years. Now, I realize that death is the doorway to life; and that is free from the tricks of the trade!"
