The much in news Malayalam film S Durga , directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, is finally set for release on March 23. Originally titled Sexy Durga , the film has had several run-ins with the I&B Ministry. It was excluded from the Indian Panorama section, despite being the official selection at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Goa, and a temporary restriction was put on its public screenings.
It is now set to begin its theatrical journey following a Kerala High Court order revoking the restriction and subsequent clearance from the review committee of the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC).
Tapping local theatres
Mr. Sasidharan is also trying out a new, parallel system of distribution, involving cinephiles. S Durga will be distributed by local cinema lovers who have formed groups for the purpose. Since last week some 25 such groups, with about 100 members each, have got together across Kerala — from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod — to publicise the film at the grassroots and also lobby for it with the local theatres.
The groups have been negotiating with wary theatre owners in their respective localities to screen the film commercially, assuring them that even such a small indie can have a loyal, dedicated viewership; and if tapped sensibly, can yield fairly good returns. Some 20 theatres have already come on board and the number is likely to increase in the coming week.
While crowd-funded indie productions are not new, there have been very few such experiments in distribution. This is the first time that such an unconventional mass movement has been sparked off for an indie’s commercial distribution, release, and exhibition. Mr. Sasidharan, himself, had tried to involve the film buffs in a much smaller way with his second film Ozhivudivasathe Kali (An Off-Day Game), wherein a few of them acted as a point of contact for the film at theatres and kept track of the number of viewers who came to watch it.
Now their number and responsibility have grown exponentially. According to Mr. Sasidharan, there are many who do love to watch arthouse films and indies. “But they are scattered; they don’t go in flocks to theatres. Often, such the films can’t be sustained beyond a day. The idea now is to connect such viewers,” he says.
Many involved in S Durga’s distribution are from the Kazhcha Film Forum, a film lovers’ and filmmakers’ collective. Mr. Sasidharan is its secretary. Moreover, any film society or art club can form a group to become a local distributor of the film. “The good thing about social media is that it isn’t difficult to get 100 people together,” says Mr. Sasidharan.
Though the film buffs are working gratis for now, 10% of the revenue generated will be given to the local groups. Rest will be shared by the theatres and the producer according to the standard distribution norms.
