The Tovino Thomas starrer Kilometers and Kilometers will have its premiere on television during Onam. The movie, which had to postpone its release by several months due to the COVID-19 outbreak, will be telecast on Asianet during Onam, said a release given by the channel.
Recently, the movie was allowed to opt for an Over-the-Top (OTT) release by the Film Exhibitors Union of Kerala (FEUOK) after there were reports about a pirated copy doing the rounds online. Subsequently, producer Anto Joseph approached the union, which has been against the idea of films getting a direct OTT release. Considering the losses incurred by the leak, however, the FEUOK allowed the makers to release the film on an OTT platform. However, the union released a circular stating that the organisation will not cooperate with films that release on online streaming platforms and that Kilometers and Kilometers was an exception because of piracy.
This was not taken well by several other producers and filmmakers who have all been keen on releasing their films online. Director Aashiq Abu wrote on his Facebook page that a 'fatwa' has been issued by a group of bigwigs while the whole world was fighting a pandemic. Producer Shibu G Suseelan demanded that Anto Joseph should reveal the name of the studio from where the leak had happened since there has been no theatre release yet. Kilometers and Kilometers is yet to be released online officially.
Two months ago, actor Fahadh Faasil and editor-director Mahesh Narayanan proceeded to shoot a film C U Soon, soon after the state government gave the nod for indoor shooting with restrictions. However, the Kerala Film Producers Association took issue with this since there are more than 60 films already pending release and they felt new films should wait. However, Fahadh and Mahesh wrote to the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA), explaining that the film was an experimental one and was not meant for theatre release. The FEFKA then allowed the shooting to proceed.
Watch: Trailer of Kilometers and Kilometers