The festival fever will pave the way for commercial potboilers from Friday at the four main venues where Kochi International Film Festival movies were screened.
The organisers of KIFF will screen four movies every day till this Sunday at the Ernakulam Children’s Park Theatre but it will have only limited seats. “This is the first edition of KIFF. We got little time to organise this year’s festival. And regarding the theatre issue, the owners had in advance told us about the movies slated for December 21 release. The theatre owners have paid a huge amount as advance for Christmas release. However, we are screening the movies at the Children’s Park theatre till Sunday,” said a member of the organising committee.
So far, KIFF has been a good experience for the film lovers. With the festival nearing its end, it is time for the organisers to assess the merits and drawbacks. With Kochi proving its potential to host such an event, the organisers need to efficiently plan the festival in the coming years. A systematic arrangement for issuing delegate passes, proper charting of movies and booking theatres are needed.
The films that will hit screens on Friday are Bavuttiyude Namathil, Karmayodha, I Love Me and Da Thadiya. “The producers booked theatres for these movies some three months back. Moreover, all these movies are coming with a huge pre-release hype. Bavoottyunde Namathil will have Mammootty in lead, while Karmayodha will see Mohanlal, another superstar playing the lead role. I Love Me is director B Unnikrishnan’s outing after the successful ‘Grandmaster’ while Da Thadiya deals with a different theme,” said a theatre representative.