Exclusive! Making a film is easy, releasing it is not, says Old Monk director-actor MG Srinivas

When he made the shift from short films to feature length movies, MG Srinivas debuted with the Upendra-starrer Topiwala. Since then, though, his subsequent directorials – Srinivasa Kalyana, Birbal: Finding Vajramuni and his next, Old Monk – have all had him in the lead role as well. “That’s because I came into the industry to be an actor and not a filmmaker,” he says candidly.

Old Monk is what Srini, as the actor-director is fondly called, is focusing on now. “Old Monk is a film that was put together each time shooting was allowed amid pandemic protocols. The film is now ready for release and my team is in the process of figuring out a suitable release plan. The trailer and one song have been released, which have been well-received and we are now looking at a November end or early December release, preferably in theaters,” he says.

But there are a lot of films lined up for release already. “That’s true; we are looking at the best possible scenario for us, but a clash at the box office is unavoidable now. Everyone who has been holding back their films wants to release them now. We can’t ask someone not to release now, but will hopefully find a date that’s not too problematic,” says Srini, adding, “The problem here is that we are not only competing with other Kannada films. Most of our main centers are also big business markets for films in other languages, specifically Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. For instance, there are biggies like Annatthe, Sooryavanshi, Pushpa The Rise, RRR, etc., which are keenly awaited here too and multiplexes will allot quite a few screens to these films. So, besides keeping track of the Kannada films that are slated for release, we also need to check on those from across the border too. I can’t possibly release my film along with a Rajinikanth or Allu Arjun movie,” he reasons.

True that, but although Old Monk was started before the pandemic, it’s ready at a time when the dynamics of content consumption has changed drastically. Why wait for a theatrical release then? “I am not hung-up about a theatrical release. But let’s look at the ground reality. No one seems to know for sure the criteria on which major OTT platforms are picking up regional cinema. There’s no clear-cut word from the platforms on their selection process. That’s one issue. Also, for instance, when Birbal 1 came to OTT after a theatrical run, the viewership was more from Andhra Pradesh than Karnataka. What happens then is that OTT platforms will furnish this matrix about lesser number of viewers and say they are picking only a select few films from the region. There are three-four Kannada films that released directly on OTT – Law, French Biriyani, Ikkat and Rathnan Prapancha. The question I have is – are platforms only interested in films that have had a good theatrical run, or does the weightage of the production house also come into play?” he asks.

Srini knows for sure that a theatrical release is a gamble at any point. “In an ideal situation, getting your film on an OTT platform should ensure that the producer is ‘safe’ as far as his investment is concerned, but that will depend on the offer on the table and whether it makes business sense to the maker. If the rates offered are good, everyone will be more than willing to take their films to OTT platforms, instead of risking a theatrical outing,” he says, adding, “The release model proposed by some new Kannada OTT platforms for in the pay-per-view format also will not work out. See, if you look at the sheer numbers of viewership on Youtube, it is because the content is available for free. For instance, with a subscription model, 10 people may watch content with the same login ID and pay once a year, while getting access to hundreds of movies and shows. Why would I pay Rs 100, for one movie, then? Any which way, irrespective of the platform of release, by the next day crystal-clear prints of a film will be available for download on piracy sites. The audience mentality now is ‘Why should I pay when I am getting it for free?’. That is also why just having a hit trailer or song along doesn’t matter anymore. People will come to the theatre only if the whole film is good. Filmmakers like me, who do not have star-driven movies, are completely dependent on word-of-mouth publicity, which takes time to build up. Today, making a film is the easiest part, releasing it is the most difficult.”

Coming back to Old Monk, Srini says that it is a story that he wrote for a family audience. “When you set out to make a film, you have to give your audience fresh content. If a person is paying for the ticket, you have to give him the confidence that he can enjoy it with his family. This is what we have set out to do with Old Monk. After doing Birbal, we wanted to expand our market with our next project. The idea was to get the second-week audience to head to screens in the first week itself. That’s why we made a family entertainer. The film is a fictionalized account of mythology, involving Krishna, Rukmini and Narada muni, which then pans out in modern day. The idea is simple, when Rukmini walks out on Krishna after a fight, the latter ends up cursing Narada to a life on earth, with the curse to be broken only if he manages to fall in love with someone and have her family accept him as well. But then, he is sent into a family that does not approve of love relationships. Will he be able to break his curse and return to Devaloka forms the crux of the story,” explains Srini.

What’s happening to the next installment in the Birbal trilogy? “I have been working on the script for the second film. Birbal was always meant to be a trilogy and it’s been a while since the first one came out, so, I know that audiences are waiting for the next one. Right now, the focus is on the release of Old Monk, either in theatres or on OTT. And even though I have another commitment as an actor, the action thriller Andallamma, I am looking at beginning the next Birbal film soon,” he signs off.