In a desperate appeal, debutant filmmaker Rohith PV whose Malayalam film Adventures of Omanakuttan released last Friday urged fans to watch the movie before it is dropped by theatres. Taking to Facebook, the director wrote, “Those who want to watch the movie please rush, it would be dropped out from theatres soon.”
The romantic comedy stars Asif Ali and Bhavana in leading roles.
With allegations that the film did not get good theatres for screening, Rohith had earlier told reporters that the present distribution pattern had affected the success of the movie. He also stated that his film was a result of three years’ effort
Moreover, a row between exhibitors and distributors may have also hurt the chances of Adventures of Omanakuttan at the box-office. Two days ago, a row exhibitors and distributors over profit sharing had resulted in all Malayalam films being withdrawn from prominent multiplexes in Kerala including Cinepolis, PVR and Inox.
Meanwhile, there were also allegations that leading actor Asif Ali had failed to participate in the film’s promotion. But on Monday evening Asif Ali appeared on a Facebook Live pleaded with fans to watch the movie. Addressing the controversy over not promoting the film, Asif Ali said he did not want fans to see the movie as an Asif Ali movie as his last few films were a flop.
“My Facebook profile was deactivated for a long time. This time I have come to speak about Adventures of Omanakuttan. This movie is the result of the hard work of so many people. This is the most nervous FB live I have ever given. Please don’t compare my previous movies and decide not to watch this one. If I am the reason for you to no to watch the movie, please keep away that factor and watch it. This is an experimental movie. With the success of this movie, young directors should get the courage to do such films. I kept away from the movie promotions because people may judge this as an Asif Ali movie and might compare it to my previous movies, that might have bored you,” an emotional Asif Ali says in his FB Live.
Extending support to Rohith, director Basil Joseph wrote on his Facebook page stating, “This is Rohith, a debutant director of the film Adventures of Omanakuttan. I personally know Rohith and his team of so many other debutants, had been working on this movie for more than 3 years and it is so sad to see it end up like this. Even after getting so much positive feedback about the movie and its making, it is bad that they are not getting the credit they deserve. I really feel sorry for them.”
But Basil wasn’t the only to come out in support of the film, with actor Aju Varghese also noting, “A sincere effort to entertain shouldn't go wasted in the last moment with wrong choices!!! As I was also a part of this journey for a comparatively small while, I respect the whole creative team behind this for being so professional in sticking to the quality of filmmaking which was only possible with the everlasting support from Asif & Bhavana.”