Washed out images, blurred edges, sound system going off in the middle of a conversation — the issues that have made watching movies in theatres a pain and which drove away most of the viewers, have been solved to some extent, with many theatre owners deciding to revamp the run down cinemas. But, even now, many ‘A’ class releasing centres continue to be plagued by these issues.
Cinematographer Jomon T. John realised this much to his disappointment on a recent visit to a theatre to watch his latest work Ennu Ninte Moideen . Apparently, he could not recognise many of the frames he shot, thanks to the bleached out images projected at the theatre. He pointed out a sequence in which the colourist has lent a golden shade to the image and it was seen as ‘whitish’ in the theatre, due to a malfunctioning projector bulb.
He voiced his displeasure at the fact that the lack of standards in projection in many centres has prevented the films from viewed in the way it was intended to be, by the crew behind it. The film industry in Malayalam has of late begun paying more attention to the technical part of the making and has also invested much money in bringing in some level of perfection. But, what you see in the studio is not what the viewers might get to see at the theatre.
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The economics of theatre revamping does not seem to have been understood by those owners who are still to take the plunge. Those who have invested much in improving the projection standards and the sound, besides providing comfortable seating and a clean screening room for the viewers, are reaping in the benefits of this move. The family audience which stayed away from the theatres for a better part of the previous decade began coming back in large numbers after major revamping in some city theatres.
Small theatres which are struggling to stay afloat may have valid reasons for not investing much in improving their standards. But, some of the biggies, who are making all the money from big releases, are doing a disservice to their audience by forcing them to view the movie through their low-quality projections.
Within a space of a week, Nikki Galrani announced her arrival in Malayalam cinema in no uncertain terms.
If she looked innocently adorable in 1983 , she played the stylishly attractive woman — albeit a cameo — in Ohm Shanti Oshana .
In the blink of an eye, the Sindhi girl from Bengaluru had become a star in Malayalam cinema. A few months later, she became an even bigger star with the huge, unexpected success of Vellimoonga.
“But I was advised by quite a few not to do that film, but my gut feeling had told me otherwise,” Nikki told The Hindu in an interview in Kozhikode, where she is shooting for Rajamma@yahoo . “I go by my instinct while choosing my films.”
She continues to be flooded by offers in Malayalam, but she has not committed to do too many films. “I decided to do Rajamma@yahoo because I liked my character, a small-town girl. And it has been great working with Kunchacko Boban, who plays my hero.”
Who are the other actors that she would love to work in Malayalam?
“Mammootty and Mohanlal,” she says, instantly. “They are both legendary actors.”
Nikki’s next release though would be in Tamil, Ko 2 . “I have just come back from Chennai after attending its audio release yesterday,” says the model-turned actress. “The film is directed by Sarath and my co-stars are Bobby Simha and Prakash Raj.”
She is also keen to make her mark in Telugu, in which she is making her debut with Krishnashtami . “I like working in different languages,” she says.
“I could speak all the four south Indian languages; in fact I am better in them than Sindhi, my mother tongue.”
And she wants to dub in Malayalam in her own voice one day. “That is my dream,” she says. “And I hope the audience would not run away from the theatre hearing my Malayalam.”
(Reporting by
S.R. Praveen and
P.K. Ajith Kumar)