KOCHI: OTT platforms and YouTube have become increasingly popular after people started spending more time at home. However, most Malayalis were delighted to be able to access 4K version of evergreen Malayalam movies that they could never get bored of. Matinee Now, a YouTube channel by Sree Movies led by producer Soman Pillai, is launching such a platform.
The 4K streaming of movies like ‘Devadoothan’, ‘Dhruvam’, ‘Kalippattam’, and ‘Kakkakuyil’ are already possible on the YouTube channel. Some dedicated teams are working effectively in different parts of the state to get the job done. “Three teams are assigned to complete the job. A team is designated to find the film negatives of the movies. Once found, every frame will be scanned and the issues in the film reels are identified. Then the processing and restoration works are done, which is very time-consuming. Afterwards, the movies are uploaded to OTT platforms by our digital partner Avenir Technology,” says Unaise Adivadu, who leads the teams alongside Shankar.
According to Unaise, the most difficult part of this process is to find the film negatives. “Unfortunately, the negatives of many movies have been damaged or started to melt. Many were ruined during the 2015 Chennai floods. The saddest part is that the negatives of classics like ‘Kilukkam’ and ‘Devasuram’ are completely lost,” he says. It requires a minimum of `2 lakh to restore these movies in 4K. Also, the team takes around one month to complete the process.
“The budget can go up and the period to complete may get extended. It depends on the amount of damage on the negative. The colouring and restoration process is time consuming,” adds Unaise.The sole purpose of Matinee Now channel is to preserve these classic movies for the future generation. “The quality of many of the movies available on YouTube and other OTT platforms is low. We are not concerned about the money spent on each movie,” says Unaise. The YouTube channel has already got over 60,500 subscribers.