No major Indian movie release for Deepavali 'a blessing in disguise' for local producers?

By V. Sankara

PETALING JAYA, Sept 13 -- The COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused major Indian movie releases being postponed indefinitely, provides an opportunity for Malaysian film producers to release their movies to a larger-scale audience for the upcoming Deepavali festival on Nov 14.

Lotus Group Founder and chief executive officer Tan Sri R.Doraisingam Pillai said the indefinite postponement can be a 'blessing in disguise' for local film producers to produce more quality films for  the festive season as there will be no stiff competition from major Indian movies.

"Local movies have their own fan followings and we Malaysians should support local movies.

"Lotus Five Star (LFS) Cinemas provide full support for local talents and this upcoming Deepavali would be an encouraging platform for our local producers to release their movies to a larger-scale audience," he told Bernama in an exclusive interview at his office in Wisma Lotus here, recently.

Commenting on the occupancy rate in cinemas in view of the ongoing recovery movement control order (RMCO) to stem the COVID-19 pandemic, Doraisingam, who runs the LFS Cinemas, one of the largest cinema chain in Malaysia, said operations of cinemas resumed on July 2 with only 50 per cent audience of the full capacity allowed for each screening.

He said LFS Cinemas will adhere to the strict standard operating procedures set by the government, with only 100 viewers will be allowed for a 200-seat capacity screening. 

Doraisingam also welcomed the proposal by a board member of the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas),  R. Denes Kumar,  to bring the Malaysian Film Festival to India as an initiative to nurture local film talents,  besides inspiring industry players to expand their knowledge in filmmaking.

Meanwhile, Director of LFS Cinemas (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Garuna Murthee,  who concurred with Doraisingam, said local film producers should make full use of the opportunity in the event of no major Indian movie releases for Deepavali. 

He said three local Tamil movies will be released in conjunction with Deepavali , and they are  'Poochandi' to be released on Nov 12, 'Paramapatham' (Nov 26) and 'Mr Peyi' (Dec 17). 

He  said local film producers have been producing many quality Indian film content and cited a local comedy-drama film Vedigundu Pasangge, which was produced in 2018.         It  made history as the highest-grossing Tamil-language film in Malaysia with RM1.3 million collection at the box office, he added. 

Garuna Murthee believes that the cinema industry will bounce back in the wake of COVID-19 as many are eager to watch movies in theatres.

-- BERNAMA