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Time of India
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Summer releases vacation more fun for kids
1 2 3 4 5 6 Kolkata: This May, children's cinema has become a talking point in Bengal. The latest instalment in the 'Eken' franchise — Joydeep Mukherjee 's 'The Eken: Benaras e Bibhishika' — has seen back-to-back houseful shows at both single screens and multiplexes with families queuing up in large numbers. Meanwhile, Saurav Palodhi's 'Onko Ki Kothin', another Bengali film featuring child protagonists, made headlines due to piracy. The producer has approached the Kolkata Police commissioner to digitally trace those responsible for this violation of the film, which was screened as part of the Indian Panorama at the latest edition of IFFI. City's exhibitors are delighted with the response. Suranjan Paul, owner of Minar and Bijoli, described this 'Eken' film as a 'shooting star'. "It came and quietly became a big sensation with a barrage of queries from film lovers about show timings. We had one show each at each theatre. In the first week, the shows were houseful within minutes of opening the booking counter," Paul said. The film's director told TOI that this is the first instance of a book being adapted into a series and then being adapted into a feature film. "Even Sujan-da (author Sujan Dasgupta) used to say that most started reading his books after the series became a hit. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Stoke-on-trent: If You Were Born Between 1940-1975 You Could Be Eligible For This Life Cover Reassured Get Quote Undo During summer holidays, a lot of kids came to watch the film. Added to that was the surprise footfall of teenagers who are otherwise hooked on Marvel comics and 'Mission Impossible' kind of movies," Mukherjee said. Interestingly, the Eken franchise has slowly been tailored to appeal to children. "The original book was not written for kids. We tailored it into child-friendly content when kids started liking it. Eken Babu used to smoke earlier, but now he doesn't. This film doesn't have any gory depiction of violence or use of slang, leading to its acceptance among children, teenagers, and the elderly as well," said actor Anirban Chakrabarti who plays Eken Babu in the film. "The film's release has reignited enthusiasm in single screens across Bengal — many of which are seeing houseful shows after a long time," said Soumya Mukherjee, COO of hoichoi that co-produced the film. Producer Rana Sarkar acknowledged that the huge success of the Eken film has prompted him to shift the release of 'OKK' by a week. "Two franchises — Eken and Sonada — are perhaps bigger draws in Tollywood now than even Feluda and Byomkesh. Parents wait for the next instalment of these franchises so that they can take their kids to watch them. Our film is not a competitor to the Eken release. We released it on May 23 at 14 theatres including INOX-PVR, Nandan, Radha and Nazrul Tirtha, among others," Sarkar said. On Monday, when most movies see a dip in footfall, Sarkar was shocked to see that pirated links were available on telegram. "This is a serious copyright infringement and severely impacts the business prospects of the film. I have met the commissioner of police to investigate the matter to find who did it, initiate steps to block down and take down the infringed content from sites and prevent further unauthorised distribution of the film across online platforms," Sarkar added.
New Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
50 years of friendship: Director T V Chandran shares memories of Shaji N Karun
It feels as though a friendship of 50 years has come to an end. Seeing My first memory of him goes back to the stunning visuals he captured for Thampu, a film that remains one of my all-time favourites even today. After the shoot, Aravindan, John Abraham, Chandralekha, Sadananda Menon, and I gathered in Madras. We were all mesmerised by the visuals Shaji had captured. That is where our friendship began. In fact, it never felt like we didn't collaborate, because most of my cinematographers -- Sunny Joseph, Madhu Ambattu, and others -- came from what I often call Shaji's school of training. Whenever Shaji arrived on set, it was nothing short of a celebration. His candid camera work was astonishing. In Thampu , he captured several breathtaking moments. One that has stayed with me is a shot of a child from the circus troupe smoking a 'beedi'. It was a raw, unguarded moment caught with such authenticity that it still moves me. Shaji had an extraordinary gift for absorbing the essence of a moment without losing its naturality. We have a long history of spending time together, often at Aravindan's place, bonded by our shared admiration for his work. I was also part of the post-production team for Thampu . The memory of going through those 40,000 rushes still feels alive. Our early days at the Calcutta Film Festival in 1990 are a trove of memories too. I was there with Alicinte Anweshanam and Shaji with Piravi , both of us featured in the Indian Panorama section. Both of us were beginners then and our bond grew stronger. Later, in Mumbai, we spent nearly a week together. Over the years, we served on many committees together, the last one being in 2023 when we were part of the search committee for the chairman of the K R Narayanan Institute. We spent about a month and a half together during that time. One of the moments I cherish most was being able to suggest Shaji's name for the J C Daniel Award to the chief minister. He was so happy about it and had mentioned it to me.
