Appu Bhattathiri on Nizhal’s OTT release: Be it OTT or theatres, the idea is to engage the audience

State Award-winning editor Appu Bhattathiri recently made his debut as a filmmaker with Kunchacko Boban and Nayanthara’s Nizhal, which released in theatres a month ago. Appu, who is happy with the feedback the movie received, is now looking forward to the thriller’s OTT release on May 11 on Amazon Prime Video.

Talking to us how much an OTT release helps a film these days, Appu tells OTTplay, “The basic purpose of making a movie is for it to reach the maximum audience. Right now, people are not able to go to theatres and are forced to watch movies in their homes. So, I think OTT releases extend a film’s lifespan. Also, a movie is always made for the audience; it’s not like once the film is out of theatres, it can’t be viewed anywhere else.”

With thrillers being the favourite genre among OTT consumers, how much does he feel that the space would help a film like Nizhal? “Be it OTT or theatres, the general idea is to engage the audience and for a thriller especially, this becomes all the more important for the movie to work,” says Appu, who had worked as a editor in films such as Kunjiramayanam and Theevandi.

Nizhal revolves around Kunchacko Boban’s character of magistrate John Babu who meets a young boy named Nitin who interests him with murder stories. John explores the possibility of Nitin’s stories by mapping the events which happen to match with the real-time incidents that took place.

Talking about the response the movie has received, Appu says, “There has been positive feedback and also some amount of criticism. There were people who thought the second half could have been better, but generally it had a lot of positive reviews.”

While his debut directorial done in quick time, the filmmaker says that he is in no hurry to start work on his second project. “I am ultimately an editor and I have committed to a few movies that I will be busy with,” concludes Appu.