Divorce, one of the first Malayalam movies chosen by the Kerala government in its project to fund the works of women directors, has been awaiting release for two years now. Its director IG Mini tells TNM that she has been promised a release date multiple times in the last year, but it was postponed each time. She says that she was often not even informed of these changes. The project began in 2019 under the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), which invited applications from women and chose two scripts for production. Mini’s was one of the two films chosen in the first year. The other film Nishiddho, directed by Tara Ramanujan, recently won the Kerala State Award for second best feature, after which the KSFDC announced its release for this month.
The project offered an amount of Rs 1.5 crore for each film, which included the cost of promotions after the movie was complete. In 2020, the project was extended to also fund two more films directed by persons from the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) community. None of these have been released yet, even though Nishiddho has toured multiple film festivals.
“My film was completed in 2020. It was the first one to get the censor certificate and was ready for release. They promised me a date of release multiple times, which would be so specific, like the 15th of a month, that you’d be convinced it would happen. The last straw had been their promise to release it this September, only to go back on their word once again. Everything was kept ready — teaser, promos, and all. But the next day I was informed that Nishiddho would be the film that will be released, not Divorce. When I asked why, they asked me to speak to the chairman of the KSFDC,” says Mini, who is also an actor with a theatre background.
Renowned filmmaker and winner of multiple awards Shaji N Karun has been the chairman of KSFDC since the project was first announced. Mini says that her conversation with Shaji N Karun did not go well. “I first emailed the chairman and the managing director, asking why the film was postponed yet again. There was no reply. When I messaged the managing director Maya N, she asked me to meet her at the office. There, the chairman said that Nishiddho was the first film they selected and it has now gained some recognition, going to film festivals and winning a State award. So they wanted to market it,” she says.
“When I pointed out that my film was the first to be censored, he said that they get to decide which film is to be released first. I said that the public would also have a say in this, since it is public money. He (chairman) said that the government had only spoken about producing the films, not about releasing it. Surprised by such statements coming from a respected filmmaker, I asked if our films were made to be kept in a box. But he only repeated that the decision was theirs to make,” Mini says.
Divorce features actors Chandunath, Priyamvada, who starred in Thottapan, Shibla who acted in Kakshi Amminippilla, KPAC Leela, and Sreekumar, among others. It was shot during the first wave of COVID-19, when there was a lot of uncertainty regarding the availability of actors and locations from one day to the next. Releasing of funds during the production was also often delayed, Mini alleges. “It helped that our line producer Aroma Mohan was a known figure in the industry, so people were ready to lend him money. Otherwise it would take a lot of time, because the KSFDC needs bills for everything and we had to take it to many tables to be passed. In an industry like cinema, you need to have money in advance to make things work,” she says. The budget of the film came to Rs 1.25 crore on record and the remaining was kept apart for promotions.
Sajitha Madathil, theatre and film actor who has formerly worked as deputy director of the Kerala Chalachitra Academy, says that there have been several complaints about this project by the KSFDC funding works of women filmmakers. “The KSFDC's actions are a perfect example of how a government organisation destroys good projects. As someone who is aware of the struggles and pains of these women, I had no second thoughts about standing with Mini. The officials are responsible to inform Mini about the reasons for delaying the release of her film in a democratic manner. The Department of Cultural Affairs should take the initiative to understand how this project is run, by talking to the women who are making films as part of it," Sajitha writes on Instagram.
Mini says that she has spent many years on the film, during which the KSFDC asked her to not take on other projects since she might have to be free for promotions. “I have had some personal issues. I quit my job in a private firm to go after this dream. We are not powerful and the government had announced this project to help women like us. Shaji N Karun is sabotaging a great project which has not been conceived anywhere else in India. He has to give answers. I will proceed with complaints to the ministry,” Mini adds.
When TNM contacted Shaji N Karun, he asked us to contact the managing director of KSFDC. Maya, who holds the position, says that though there was some confusion on which of the two films – Nishiddho and Divorce – should be first released, it was over once the state film awards were announced. “Our first selection, before the production began, was Tara’s film. Mini’s was the second to be chosen. The films were completed at different times and in different locations. Tara’s was shot outside Kerala and Divorce was shot inside the state. So we could help with sets in the (Government-run) Chitranjali studio. We had pondered over which one to choose for release first. Nishiddho is more familiar to the people because it was screened in various festivals in Kerala, Bangalore and Kolkata, and because of the award it won. That is why we chose it as the first film to be released. I had spoken to Mini about it and I thought she was convinced by our reasons,” Maya says.
Still from Nishiddho
Maya says that the postponement of the release of films was due to unavailability of theatres. Though the KSFDC has 17 screens across the state, it will have to be used when big films announce their releases unexpectedly. Nishidhho too had to be postponed thrice, she says. “Now we have managed to find 50 centres including KSFDC theatres for the release on November 11. We will use the same strategy for Divorce soon. We also have the four films chosen for government funding in 2020, which are in different stages of production now. We want to release each of these films one after the other, leaving a gap of two to three months between them,” she says.
Recently, the KSFDC chose four more filmmakers – two women and two persons of the SC/ST community – for funding in the third year of the project.