Just as the deadly coronavirus pandemic has put a halt to the normal day-to-day activities, calling for a complete 3-month shutdown, the scenario is getting better slowly. It is now Unlock time globally, and in the country phase, 5 will be rolled out soon.
For the entertainment industry, the biggest relief has been the green signal to opening of cinema halls from October 15, 2020, but with certain caveats and precautions. Several movies are slowly getting back on track with work getting on the floor.
Meanwhile, Yoodlee Films has moved into the next gear, by completing four feature films, in the last few months. COVID-19 has pushed the Indian film industry to rethink production logistics, on-set protocol, safety regulations for cast and crew, and challenged conventional distribution, publicity, and release methodologies.
Two major feature films – a Hindi romantic comedy involving a stand-up comic duo, called ‘Comedy Couple’ and Marathi cinema’s first horror-comedy featuring Zombies – ‘Zombivali’, began shooting immediately after the lockdown was lifted and completed the same in the next couple of months.
Apart from this, two other features – ‘Agra’ and ‘Bahut Hua Samman’ have sped into various stages of post-production and were readied for release. During the lockdown, Yoodlee released the critically acclaimed ‘Axone’ and the crowd favourite ‘Chaman Bahaar’ on Netflix.
‘Agra’ stars an ensemble cast headed by Rahul Roy who makes a comeback, along with Priyanka Bose, Mohit Agarwal, Ruhani Sharma, Vibha Chibber, Sonal Jha, and Aanchal Goswami. It explores confined spaces and suppressed sexuality in small towns and promises to start a conversation around taboo subjects. Agra which is being touted as a festival favourite is directed by Kanu Behl, whose 2015 debut ‘Titli’ won much critical acclaim.
‘Bahut Hua Samman’ stars Raghav Junyal, Sanjay Mishra, Nidhi Singh, and Ram Kapoor among others. The film tweaks the idea of a heist caper and follows two students as they ideate to pull off a fool-proof robbery. Directed by Ashish Shukla and the film is set to launch on Disney+ Hotstar VIP on 2nd October 2020.
‘Comedy Couple’ – starring Saqib Salim and Shweta Basu Prasad and directed by Nachiket Samant, is an insightful look into the lives of two stand-up comics in the metro and is being touted as ‘com-rom’. The Film will premiere on Zee 5 Premium on the 21st of October.
‘Zombivali,’ is a unique Marathi horror comedy, featuring zombies for the first time, is directed by Aditya Sarpotdar and stars popular actors Amey Wagh, Lalit Prabhakar, and Vaidehi Parshuram.
Zombivali is looking at release next year when theatres will be operational, while Agra will soon be setting out to do the festival rounds all over.
