The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) commenced on October 23 this year, featuring over 60 films in 17 languages including shorts, feature films, and documentaries made locally and across the globe. The event concluded on October 30, during which the Malayalam/Hindi bilingual film Moothon was screened.
Due to the pandemic, the IFFM was held virtually this year and the response for it was good as ever. This year too, several films were featured in this prestigious event.
On Moothon being chosen as the closing film this year, the festival director Mitu Bhowmick Lange said: “Yearning for your loved ones and feeling the pangs of separation has been a lingering mood this year. There's no better time to watch Moothon. We are elated to have the movie be the finale film at the festival because of its distinct voice. The narrative itself encapsulates the vibe of diversity which is so precious to us.”
Moothon, directed by Geetu Mohandas, is a film about a younger sibling going out in search of a long-lost older brother (Nivin Pauly). Moothon in Malayalam means the elder child. The film was shot in Lakshadweep and the Kamathipura red light area in Mumbai.
Watch: Trailer of Moothon
Besides Nivin Pauly in the lead role, the film has three Bollywood actors – Shashank Arora, Shobitha Dhulipala and Harish Khanna – in important roles. It also has Sanjana Dipu, Sujith Shankar, Dileesh Pothan in the cast. Nivin Pauly underwent a lot of training to get into the skin of the character; particularly in learning the Jeseri dialect (spoken in Lakshadweep).
Noted filmmaker Anurag Kashyap had written the script for the Hindi version. National Award-winning cinematographer and cinematographer Rajeev Ravi did the camera work for Moothon. B Ajithkumar handled the film’s editing with Govind Vasantha taking care of the music department. The movie was funded jointly by Bollywood filmmaker Anand L Rai’s production house Colour Yellow Productions and Jar Pictures and Eros International presented the movie. Moothon premiered at the Toronto International Film Fest last year to positive reviews.
Moothon has so far participated in a number of film festivals in India and abroad including the Mumbai International Film Festival in which it was the opening film, the International Film Festival of Kerala, The Valladolid International Film Festival, Spain, the IFFLA, Los Angeles, International Film Festival of South Asia, IFFSA, NYIFF, New York, etc.
(Content provided by Digital Native)