Trailer of Amazon Prime Video's Putham Pudhu Kaalai launched

The trailer of Putham Pudhu Kaalai, Amazon Prime Video's first Tamil anthology, was launched today through a virtual press meet organised by the streaming platform. Putham Pudhu Kaalai brings together Rajiv Menon, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Suhasini Mani Rathnam, Sudha Kongara, and Karthik Subbaraj for the first time, each directing a short film in the anthology.

"Even though we were physically distanced during the lockdown, we formed new bonds, found new ways of creative expression. Putham Pudhu Kaalai was formed with this in mind: these are tales of love, hope, second chances and new beginnings," said Aparna Purohit, Head of Originals India, Amazon Prime Video, in the live interaction. 

This virtual press meet also featured all the directors, along with MS Bhaskar, Ritu Varma, Kalidas and Bobby Simhaa. 

"The restrictions on the number of people we could hire for safety, took me back to my Film Institute days. I wanted my actors to be safe, and I wanted to use multiple cameras. So even though it was challenging, I really enjoyed it. I also learnt that I can direct and handle a camera, something that I have refrained from until now," said Rajiv Menon. 

Gautham Menon, who is associated with multiple anthologies, found the concept liberating. "These ideas would not exist in a feature film for the theatres. There are so many things you don't have to think about. And it was an absolute pleasure working with PC Sreeram sir, MS Bhaskar sir and Ritu Varma."

It was all nostalgia for Karthik Subbaraj, who comes from the short film scene. "I felt like I'd gone back to my Naalaya Iyakkunar days. Even Bobby was part of my short films back then. In a way, it felt like we were back at where we started," he said. Interestingly, Karthik's short is inspired by a real theft that happened at Bobby's office. The actor came back from Kodaikanal to find his office looted. "When Karthik asked if we could do this, I was like 'edhavadhu vela kudu da'. But when he said it is going to be based on my story, I didn't know what to say," laughed Bobby.

Suhasini's short is a Haasan family reunion on screen, something she believes the lockdown has done to all families. "I came in last and I had two kinds of stories, one was similar to Karthik's, and then there was this story of three children coming back home after several years. I wrote this ten years ago but hadn't completed it. Now I did, thanks to Amazon," said Suhasini, who added that she always considers herself a Haasan first. She found it interesting to work with family. "It was easy to arrange things like family photos and other production material, but there were disadvantages - everyone thought I was strict with my mother (laughs)." 

The anthology will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video from October 16.

Here's the trailer: