Dhoomam trailer: ‘KA-regn car, hospital, Achyuth Kumar’; fans wonder why Pawan Kumar didn’t make a Kannada film

Earlier today, the trailer of Kannada filmmaker Pawan Kumar’s first Malayalam movie, Dhoomam came out. Produced by Hombale Films, Dhoomam is based on a script that Pawan had written long ago as a Kannada film and titled it C10H14N2 (the chemical name of Nicotine). Lack of funding was a primary reason why the film didn’t get made back then, but he then got the might of KGF and Kantara makers Hombale Films for Dhoomam and he went ahead and made it as a Malayalam movie that is being dubbed in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.

While Kannada audiences have been intrigued about this choice from the beginning, the film’s trailer has sparked a renewed interest in the subject – Why is Dhoomam a Malayalam film? Eagle-eyed netizens have spotted a few references, which make it seem that the film is set in Karnataka, like, for instance, the shot of a KA-registration car, and the Kannada boards in a hospital scene featuring Achyuth Kumar. It got netizens to speculate that the film is about Malayalis in Karnataka. If that is the case, they argued that the film could have been a Kannada original after all with local talent. In fact, now that the only Kannada connect seems to be Achyuth Kumar on the cast, netizens said they were hopeful that more actors from the industry are in the film after all.

“This feels like the story of Malayalis in Karnataka. The trailer features Karnataka Police, a hospital that has boards in Kannada and a KA-registration car. It feels like they are trying to show that Malayalis are also a part of Karnataka. Couldn’t Pawan have done this film with local actors as a Kannada film?” asked one user, the response to which was, “If you market it as a Malayalam film, it will not only have greater reach, but will also reach the ‘elite’ class of audiences. Kannada films don’t have that pull yet.” Yet another wrote, “The Question to @pawanfilms is, You didn't find any kannada hero to this role? Man, we have many young guns waiting to explore themselves! You being such a talented director.. You could have routed for our Kannada Hero!” “My thoughts also same... kannada dalli Praveen/ Rishi ge e role kodbodittu., Technicians yella kannada, achyuth Anna bittu bere yellla actors oraginavru and movie kuda Malayalam😌 munde adru kannada actors na hakond movie madi,” was another response.

Several netizens were also unhappy with the quality of the Kannada dubbing and lip sync, the fact that the Malayalam anti-smoking ad fonts were retained in the Kannada trailer.