2018 Feb 19
After nearly four decades, the landscape of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Cinema is finally to be revived!
Sri Lankan Tamil Cinema was of a dying kind – some might even say it had already reached that point. Due to various issues regarding high production rates and the ethnic civil war, our Tamil cinema never quite recovered and many producers have had to face countless problems and obstacles that came in the way of their cinematic goals that made it an almost impossible dream.
Sinhala Cinema shows far better development and despite any under development in the Tamil Cinema, and you could still find plenty of Tamil contribution to Sinhala Films. However, many in the Tamil film industry lack the man power and resources available to successfully produce and release their films in theatres nationwide. After Sri Lanka’s dark past, most are openly discouraged from pursuing a career in the Tamil Film Industry.
But now, in an attempt to rekindle memories of the early Tamil Cinema days, PictureThis Production in association with Arokya International and M Entertainment and Wine Creative Networks present Komaali Kings – a film written and directed by King Ratnam (grandson of esteemed stage, radio and film artist Mr. M. S. Ratnam). Being Ratnam’s directorial debut, this is the first Tamil feature-length film to be produced after 4 decades in Sri Lanka – an invaluable achievement in itself.
The film itself is mainly a black comedy/thriller that includes little aspects from every genre and is perfect for well-rounded family entertainment. It follows the life of Pat- an expatriate from London that returns to Sri Lanka for a wedding and decides to crash at his relative’s place to save money. Riddled with financial problems, an aging, unmarried daughter and a nagging wife, Pat’s relative, Siva, unbeknown to him about the true financial position of Pat’s family, welcomes them with open arms and in the process stumbles upon a secret that could change his family’s fortunes for good. The title ‘Komaali Kings’ was inspired by ‘Komaligal’, a Sri Lankan Tamil language film which was broadcast on Radio Ceylon in the mid 1970’s.
Ratnam says that filming Komaali Kings was no different from the rest of those struggling to revive Tamil Cinema. He and his team had to face many obstacles in their production having limited resources, blatant discouragement from others and an intense post-production phase. Despite fully expecting releasing the film to be as tough, Ratnam and his team proves perseverance and persistence is key with the film being set to release in over 50 theatres nationwide- in North, East and Hill Country Regions.
The all Sri Lankan cast boasts of Ratnam’s personally handpicked award winning actors Raja Ganeshan, Dharshen Dharmaraj (Best Actor -‘Ini Avan’ – Hiru Golden Film Award 2014), Niranjani Shanmugaraja (Best Supporting Actress ‘Ini Avan’ –Hiru Golden Film Award 2014), as well as Priyantha Sirikumara, famed “Pravegaya” villain Gajan Kaneshan and television anchor and presenter Sathyapriya Ratnasamy and also, many others making their acting debuts. The film also stars King Ratnam playing the role of Pat himself.
Ratnam essentially embraces equality in his multicultural crew while also including the diversity of dialects in his film found across the nation. Despite being a Tamil film, it will have English/Sinhala subtitles making the film open to all audiences to enjoy.
With a V.I.P. premiere on the 22nd of February at Regal Cinema, the film is set to release nationwide on the 23rd of this month, airing in 50 cinemas nationwide. Don’t forget to mark your calendars and sign yourself up for some expected quality entertainment that could very well be the turning point and revival of the Tamil Film Industry in Sri Lanka!
Check out the trailer below!
