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The Hindu
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Photographer K R Sunil on how his story became the script for Mohanlal-starrer ‘Thudarum'
Photographer KR Sunil has always been a captivating story-teller. And he finds his stories in the unlikeliest of places — the streetside, a temple festival, a random conversation with a stranger, a police station. It was one such story that led to Mohanlal-Tharun Moorthy super-hit revenge drama, Thudarum. Twelve years ago, at his hometown Kodungallur, Sunil saw an elderly man anxiously looking over the wall of the police station. Intrigued, he began to observe him and it seemed that the man's gaze was fixed on the vehicles parked inside the compound of the police station. The expression on the man's face, a strange mix of worry and determination, says Sunil, sparked a series of thoughts in his mind. 'What if he was looking at his vehicle that was intercepted by the police and was wondering how to retrieve it? What if that vehicle was his possession? What if it was the one thing he truly valued in life? It was all so visual, I had to write it down as a screenplay,' says Sunil. The story, which revolves around Mohanlal's character Shanmugham (a taxi driver fondly known as Benz, owing to his obsession with his vintage Ambassador car), remixes reality with filmy twists and turns. For the photographer whose startlingly sincere frames have constantly pushed us to ponder over the human experience, writing for a film was new. 'Though I didn't have experience in scripting, I have nurtured some friendships in the industry, especially with stalwarts such as Kamal and Lal Jose. I have also assisted Rajeev Ravi on the camera in two films (Quotation and Rasikan) . These helped me shape my cinematic language,' he adds. Even during his early days as a student at the Fine Arts College, Thrissur, Sunil used to be a regular at Film Society screenings; he would watch commercial films, too. Fuelled by the energy of his fresh script, Sunil read it out to producer Rajaputra Ranjith, who found potential in it. 'He could easily relate to a character who was so obsessed with his car, he would go to any length to take care of it.' Ranjith eventually spoke to Mohanlal and producer Antony Perumbavoor, who were equally impressed with the story. 'They had seen and known people like Benz who were obsessed with their cars,' says Sunil. But cinema, with its uncertainties and vagaries, took its own time. It was in 2022 when Sunil happened to watch Saudi Vellakka, written and directed by Tharun Moorthy, that things took a turn. 'The film had a simple story told so compellingly that the scenes stayed with me. It struck a chord,' Sunil recalls. When Tharun heard the story, he knew too that it had all the makings of a good film. Tharun met Sunil in 2023, at Mattancherry, where he was showcasing his works. They decided to work together on the script and what followed was a joyfully creative exchange, says Sunil. 'Communicating with Tharun was easy and he offered quite a few suggestions, which I felt were suitable for the narrative, and we began work on a new script.' Sunil, who was present at most of the shooting locations, says it was an inexplicable experience watching Mohanlal emote the characters he created. 'We know Mohanlal as an actor. But as a person, he is extremely down-to-earth. People come from different places just to get a glimpse of him.' Sunil recounts how an elderly woman who was running an eatery near the shooting location in Thodupuzha brought a day's meal for Mohanlal, who gladly relished it. Sunil admits he is a bit overwhelmed by the response the film has been getting. 'The film has resonated with people across generations and the feedback is truly heartening,' he says. Sunil has quite a few stories in his head, but for now, he is concentrating on his upcoming photography shows in Goa and Mumbai.
The Guardian
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Guide #183: How cinemas are shifting from multiplex to miniplex
Britain's first film club was a bit of a rarefied affair. Founded in 1925 at the New Gallery Kinema on Regent Street in central London, The Film Society counted John Maynard Keynes, George Bernard Shaw and HG Wells among its members, as well as British film and TV pioneers like the director Anthony Asquith and Granada founder, Sidney Bernstein. The Film Society's mission was to screen 'really artistic films' from Europe that had either fallen foul of the UK's stringent 1909 Cinematograph Act, or were just simply considered too noncommercial for mainstream exhibitors. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Such lofty ideals were supported by the Guardian, whose film correspondent, ahead of the society's first screening, argued that it and other societies had a vital role to play 'if there is to be any stemming of the flood of dramatic treacle that pours into our picture-houses week by week'. Were that Guardian correspondent around today, they probably wouldn't be too encouraged on the 'dramatic treacle' front (I'd love to hear their thoughts on The Electric State, say), but they may feel more heartened about the state of the UK's cinema community. The Film Society is long gone – it folded at the advent of the second world war – but in its place has grown an army of community-run cinemas, film clubs and societies across the country, from Penzance in Cornwall to Stromness in Orkney. Next month sees the beginning of an extended celebration of the centenary of these scrappy upstarts. The festivities are being put together by Cinema For All, a charity dedicated to the support and development of community cinemas and film societies in the UK, of which it estimates there are, staggeringly, more than 1,600 (you can find your nearest one on Cinema For All's map). Some of these societies have just sprung up while others are old and storied – the Edinburgh Film Guild and the Manchester and Salford Film Society, both founded in 1930, are among the oldest in the world (Manchester and Salford's president, 102-year-old Marjorie Ainsworth, joined in 1939, the year The Wizard of Oz was released!). And while lots of them are based in cities – London alone has a host of them, from Ealing to Wimbledon – there are plenty based in more remote areas that commercial cinemas don't serve, like a village hall in the Peak District, or the screen set up in a parish hall in Norfolk specifically so locals could see the Stephen Poliakoff film Glorious 39, which had been filmed in the village (that was in 2009, but their projector has kept on whirring ever since). The output is far more varied than you'd find at your nearest multiplex. Some clubs, like Liverpool's People Versus TV, are committed to showing experimental, surreal or provocative cinema ('It is important to engage with difficult subjects, and therefore feel uncomfortable things – horror, fear, disgust, shame, guilt – because they are an integral part of being human,' reads the enjoyably intense manifesto of Leeds-based Pervert Pictures). Others are focused on revivals of old films, like High Contrast cinema in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, which programmes Hollywood golden age movies with a focus on 'the shadowy corners of film noir'. But many are just doing the more prosaic job of giving their communities an affordable chance (Cinema For All says that tickets for its member societies and cinemas average at about £5) to see relatively recent releases on the big screen – Paddington 3, or Wicked, or the latest André Rieu concert film. It may be tempting to be a bit sniffy about that last cohort (our 1925 film correspondent probably would have been), but a lot of these community cinemas are stepping in to a gap vacated by the wider industry. The Empire Cinemas chain is no more and Cineworld, facing financial headwinds, is closing some venues – though, encouragingly, UK box office takings this year are up on the equivalent period in 2024 (thank you for your service, Bridget Jones 4). There has been a perceived direction of travel away from big multiplexes, with their high overheads, and to smaller more manageable one-or-two screen cinemas. Film clubs and societies take this ethos and run with it, screening films in village halls (including one on the southernmost tip of Scotland), church halls, or even 'zine libraries' and old miners' institutes (like the Blaenavon Workmen's Hall – an absolute beaut). Such adaptability is sadly necessary at a time when historic cinemas seem to be permanently at risk from developers. There's been plenty of attention, quite rightly, on the threats to the Prince Charles cinema in central London, and Birmingham's Electric – Britain's oldest cinema until it abruptly shut last year – shows no signs of reopening any time soon. Edinburgh's Filmhouse, home to the world's oldest continually running film festival, was in a similar position but thankfully has been saved and is due to reopen later this year – though the team behind it are still looking for donations to help get the doors open. And they're not the only ones: the Forum cinema, in Hexham, Northumberland, is looking to restore its art deco fittings and magnificent gold curtains; the Rusthall community cinema near Tunbridge Wells needs a new projector; and the Thamesmead travelling cinema is looking for support to keep its 25-seater mobile miniplex rolling. There are probably hundreds of others that I have missed: definitely try to help them if you can – through donations or just by buying a ticket to see a film – and help keep Britain's extraordinary community cinema tradition alive. Sign up to The Guide Get our weekly pop culture email, free in your inbox every Friday after newsletter promotion If you want to read the complete version of this newsletter please subscribe to receive The Guide in your inbox every Friday
See - Sada Elbalad
16-03-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
51st Film Society Festival to Kick off April 5
Pasant Elzaitony The 51st edition of the annual Film Society Festival for Egyptian Cinema will kick off on Saturday, April 5, at 6 PM at the Creativity Center in the Cairo Opera House. The festival's film screenings of the best films of the year will continue until April 12, with the awards ceremony set to take place on Tuesday, April 22, at the Sayed Darwish Hall. The festival's films were selected based on a public poll involving critics, filmmakers, and Egyptian Film Society members to select the top seven films that were commercially released last year. The selected films, in order of their release, are: Al-Harifa by Raouf El-Sayed, Rehla 404 by Hany Khalifa, Anf wa Thalath Oyoun by Amir Ramses, Al-Serb by Ahmed Nader Galal, Ahl El-Kahf by Amr Arafa, Awlad Rizk 3 by Tarek Al-Arian, Al-Hawa Sultan by Heba Yousry, and Ba'd Sa'at fi Yawm Ma by Othman Abu Laban. The selected films will be evaluated by a jury panel, competing for awards in various categories, including Best Screenplay, Directing, Cinematography, Editing, and Acting (Lead and Supporting Roles). Mamdouh Abdel-Samie, President of the Film Society and the Festival, expressed his gratitude to Dr. Ahmed Fouad Hano, Minister of Culture, for the ministry's support. Abdel-Samie emphasized that the support of several key cultural institutions highlights their appreciation for the organization's vital role in Egypt's cultural landscape.
