Kalimannu is a Malayalam drama film written and directed by Blessy and starring Swetha Menon in the lead role and Biju Menon, Suhasini in Major Supporting roles. Inspired by the Puranic story of Abhimanyu and his mother Subhadra, the film portrays the relationship of the protagonist with her baby, before and after it is born. Swetha Menon's real-life delivery was shot live on camera for the film.The film is dubbed in Telugu as Malle Teega and released in more number of theatres.
Shweta Menon is an Indian model, actress and television anchor. She has predominantly acted in Malayalam and Hindi language films, besides appearing in a number of Tamil productions.Meera is a club dancer in the dark streets of Mumbai, who like all performers of Mumbai, aspires to be on the screen someday. She gets used by film producers who promise her roles in their films, but fail to do so later. Frustrated, she even thinks of ending her life. But the unexpected arrival of Shyam, a taxi driver, changes the course of her life. He marries her and makes for a lovely husband. Her career also starts looking up as she progresses to being a popular item dancer and then gets cast as the heroine in a film. But, on the day of the preview of her debut film, Shyam is involved in a fatal road accident and declared brain dead. Meera who is left all alone again, thinks of donating Shyam’s organs to people in need. She wants to have his child through artificial insemination. She fights for her parenting rights as the technique would have created much uproar in the media.The story of Kalimannu came into Blessy's mind during a trip to Dubai after completing Pranayam (2011). During his travel, a radiant thought flew in his mind, that of a baby in the womb talking to its mother. And the frame initiated the spark for a film that unfolds the relationship between a mother and her baby in the womb.
Non-definite scripting pattern was used for the film. Principal photography started even before the completion of scripting and casting. In order to cover various stages of pregnancy, the film was shot in different schedules, beginning in the first week of August. The film was shot for many months, throughout Swetha's pregnancy. Swetha's delivery was filmed in late September from a hospital in Mumbai where she was admitted. The crew stayed in the hospital for nearly a week and a footage lasting for twenty minutes was shot from the delivery room. Swetha's husband, Blessy and two cinematographers for the film were present in the labour room after prior permission, with three cameras placed in the delivery room to capture the moment.It was for the first time that an Indian film used the footages of a natural childbirth
The delivery filming caused a "culture shock" in Kerala. The debate began when Kerala Legislative Assembly Speaker G. Karthikeyan criticised Shwetha Menon for allowing her delivery to be captured live on camera. The speaker added that some years ago, a movie titled The Birth was screened at theatres across Kerala. However, the film was tagged as a medical movie, and so did not face any problem. Since Blessy is promoting Kalimannu as a commercial movie, it might have to face the heat since it might have a negative impact on the family audience. Karthikeyan also expressed his surprise why cultural and women’s rights organisations are not coming out against this. A few days after Karthikeyan made his comments, BJP Mahila Morcha activists announced that they would stall the screening of the movie in Kerala, alleging that Shwetha Menon and Blessy are "exploiting motherhood for commercial purposes" by incorporating the actress's delivery. Shobha Surendran, Mahila Morcha leader said at a press meet: "We urge the Censor Board and the state government not to allow its screening here. Otherwise, the activists of the Mahila Morcha will stall the film’s release. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy should intervene in the matter at the earliest and should bring in a law to prohibit such films, which infringe on the morality of the common people.
As per the reports, it is learnt that the depiction of Shweta Menon’s motherhood in the movie is so objectionable that it offends the morality of all the right-thinking women. The movie is not only polluting the family values and the rich cultural heritage of ancient Bharata but also legitimising a woman’s efforts to sell her moral values for making money and attaining cheap publicity. I will not be surprised if she plans to deliver her second baby at a public place like festival venues as part of making money. This is totally unacceptable for the right-thinking society and if the director and crew go ahead with the release, they will have to face stiff resistance from the Kerala society."The film was also condemned by the Kerala Film Exhibitors' Federation who said that they will boycott the movie if Blessy includes the delivery scene. Liberty Basheer, president of the federation, said, "We are concerned about the movie's content. If the director includes the delivery scene, we will definitely boycott it," However, the Film Employees' Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) was all support for director Blessy. Speaking to the media, B. Unnikrishnan, general secretary, FEFKA said, "The controversy is baseless. This is not the first time that a delivery is being canned. Moreover, we don't know how he has visualised it. There is a censor board which looks into such matters. There are specific norms that have to be followed while portraying women in movies. If the board feels women are shown in a poor light, it will definitely censor it. Blessy is a director with a good track record. Let's just wait for the final output
As per the reports, it is learnt that the depiction of Shweta Menon’s motherhood in the movie is so objectionable that it offends the morality of all the right-thinking women. The movie is not only polluting the family values and the rich cultural heritage of ancient Bharata but also legitimising a woman’s efforts to sell her moral values for making money and attaining cheap publicity. I will not be surprised if she plans to deliver her second baby at a public place like festival venues as part of making money. This is totally unacceptable for the right-thinking society and if the director and crew go ahead with the release, they will have to face stiff resistance from the Kerala society."The film was also condemned by the Kerala Film Exhibitors' Federation who said that they will boycott the movie if Blessy includes the delivery scene. Liberty Basheer, president of the federation, said, "We are concerned about the movie's content. If the director includes the delivery scene, we will definitely boycott it," However, the Film Employees' Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) was all support for director Blessy. Speaking to the media, B. Unnikrishnan, general secretary, FEFKA said, "The controversy is baseless. This is not the first time that a delivery is being canned. Moreover, we don't know how he has visualised it. There is a censor board which looks into such matters. There are specific norms that have to be followed while portraying women in movies. If the board feels women are shown in a poor light, it will definitely censor it. Blessy is a director with a good track record. Let's just wait for the final output
Starting her career as an actress in Malayalam feature films in the early 1990s, she ventured into modeling and became noted, after participating and winning at several beauty pageants, which led to her debut in Bollywood. Following appearances in over 30 Hindi films, in which she generally conveyed a glamorous image, her acting career took a turn by the mid-2000s, with her returning to Malayalam cinema and accepting substantial roles.She received critical praise and several accolades including the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for her performances in Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha (2009) and Salt N' Pepper (2011).Menon hails from Valanchery in Malappuram district in Kerala, but was born at Chandigarh to Malayali parents Naranankutty and Sarada Menon. Her father served in the Indian Air Force while her mother remained a housewife. She studied in Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1, East Hill, Kozhikode.[2] Actor Anoop Menon is her cousin. She started her career as an actress in the Malayalam film Anaswaram (1991), directed by Jomon, playing the female lead opposite Mammootty, after which she focused on modeling. She competed in the Miss India contest in 1994 and finished third runner up behind Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai and Fransesca Hart. She became the first Gladrags female super model in 1994 (Kelly Dorjee was the male super model) and then, Miss Asia Pacific semi-finalist in 1994 in Manila Cebu Island, Philippines. She is 5 feet, 6.5 inches tall. She subsequently made her debut in Bollywood and appeared in over 30 films; some of her Bollywood films include Asoka (2001), Maqbool (2003) and Corporate (2006).
Menon returned to Malayalam in 2006 with Thantra and then went on to do famous Malayalam films such as Keerthi Chakra (2006) and the award-winning Paradesi. Her performance as Sarojini, a middle-class woman who fights against extreme odds, in Madhya Venal earned her a special mention by jury chairman Bahman Ghobadi, a famous Iranian director at the International Film Festival of Kerala. In 2010, she won the Kerala State Government's Best Actress for her portrayal of Cheeru, a village woman in the film Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha directed by Ranjith. She won the Mathrubhumi-Amrita TV Special Jury Award and the Asianet Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the same film. In 2011, Shweta Menon starred in the remake of Rathinirvedam, playing the titular character, originally played by Jayabharathi.same year she got Kerala state award for Salt N Pepper
In 2010, Shweta approached a local court and the Women's Commission in Kerala after the distributor of her movie tied up with Musli Power, a sex stimulant drug, to jointly promote the movie. "Met with Women's Commission regarding the Kayam ad and they offered me full backing. Thank you all and I hope justice will be done," she tweeted. While media profusely supported her with wide coverage, many saw it as a bold attempt by an actor against what she perceived as gross injustice to her.Besides working in films, she has anchored several TV, stage and film awards shows. Menon rose to popularity after presenting the musical programme, Star Wars on Kairali TV in 2008. She won the Asian Television Award for Best Anchor for the same program. In Hindi, she hosted the group band based show, Razzmatazz on Zee TV with actor Arshad Warsi.The next television show she did was Dancing Queen in 2008 on Colors. In 2010, she anchored the Malayalam reality show, Honeymoon Travels on Surya TV. The show became an instant hit for Shwetha's accented Malayalam and her attempts to read from the original script without a formal learning in the language. Recently, she appeared as a contestant with her father in game show, Deal or No Deal on Surya TV. She was the anchor of the family-based reality show Veruthe Alla Bharya on Mazhavil Manorama. She has participated in popular game show Ningalkkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran on Asianet. She is currently[when?] running popular comedy reality show Minto Goal Comedy Stars on Asianet. She has acted in many advertisements. She is currently[when?] participating in popular reality show Star Challenge on Flowers TV.
No comments:
Post a Comment