VK Prakash planning next film as OTT release

Filmmaker VK Prakash is currently working on the post-production of a Malayalam film, Oruththi, and a Kannada film, Vishnupriya. The former, which has Navya Nair making a comeback after a brief hiatus, is being planned as a theatrical release, confirms Prakash.

The Trivandrum Lodge director is also working on a new film with Anoop Menon titled Oru Nalpathukarante Irupathonnukaari, which will star Anoop and Priya Prakash Varrier. Prakash and Anoop had earlier announced a sequel to Trivandrum Lodge titled Madras Lodge. However, Prakash reveals it is no longer happening.

On the status of Oru Nalpathukarante Irupathonnukaari, Prakash tells Express that the scripting is currently in progress. “That should go into production soon. It is being planned as an OTT release,” says the director, who is also working on Ramasethu, a biopic of ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan which has Jayasurya attached to star. “Since it’s a big-scale project, it will take some time,” he adds.

Prakash’s daughter Kavya recently made her directorial debut with a female-centric film called Vaanku starring Anaswara Rajan. Unfortunately, the theatres were shut on the day the film’s premiere was scheduled.

“It was a big shock for all of us. As of now, its makers haven’t decided on anything yet. Since there is uncertainty all around, they’re all holding on at the moment,” says the filmmaker.

As someone who managed to venture into the OTT space before anyone else from the Malayalam industry, through the currently streaming Zee5 series Parchayee which was based on Ruskin Bond’s ghost stories, Prakash is perfectly aware of the challenges of pitching content to an OTT platform.

“Pitching something and releasing it on OTT platforms is not an easy process as content from various languages is looking for accommodation on the digital space. As of now, there is far less interest in Malayalam content and more in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi content. But cinema is different. Malayalam films which are currently in production can be pitched, but not a web series. Even getting a film to premiere on OTT is a long, complicated process,” shares Prakash, who is looking to explore the digital space further in the near future.

Prakash’s erstwhile assistant, filmmaker Mridul Nair, recently spearheaded a Malayalam web series called Instagraamam, but he hasn’t been able to find a home for it yet.

“The pitching style of OTT content is completely different,” Prakash elaborates. “Besides, one needs the backing of a good production company like, say, Banijay Asia & Opus Communication, which was behind Parchayee. Even established companies like that take up to a year or more to get something going on the digital space, so you can just imagine others’ situation.”