Prithviraj Sukumaran: Cold Case taught us how to make cinema with Covid-19 protocols

Malayalam superstar Prithviraj Sukumaran is presently gearing up for the direct-to-digital release of his much-awaited film Cold Case, which he was offered at a time when India was already under the coronavirus-induced lockdown last year.

The actor says that after much contemplation, the team decided to shoot the film in Trivandrum and Varanasi in accordance with Covid-19 protocols. “For the first time, everyone was masked, there was sanitization, regular testing on sets, etc. It is a film that told us that it is possible to make films or else we would still be sitting and thinking about how to restart the industry. It taught us how to make cinema with Covid protocols,” he said in an interview.

With theatres still not opening their doors to moviegoers as the country grapples with a devastating second wave of the pandemic, the producers of Cold Case have taken the digital route to release the film. The film is set for its grand premiere on Amazon Prime Video on June 30.

Sukumaran is ecstatic with the fact that not only in India, but his film will also be available in more than 240 countries across the globe. “It is not the time where I can tell my audience to go to theatres with their families. That would not be a responsible statement right now. Given the circumstances, it is the way to go. But even without these circumstances being in place, as I had said in the past, OTT premieres and theatrical releases will coexist. This would have happened regardless of the pandemic. I believe Covid-19 accelerated this process,” he adds.

The actor-filmmaker believes that streaming platforms will help the film industry from a finance and creative standpoint. "We will diversify because there will be films that will be made for the platform. It is a different viewing experience. It is very personal. It is between content and the viewer as opposed to being in a theatre and sharing the experience with a community of thousands of people," he says.

Cold Case marks the directorial debut of cinematographer Tanu Balak. Sukumaran calls it a hybrid genre film, which is an investigative crime thriller laced with elements of horror.

“For films like (Cold Case), what is important is that when you read the script, the question of what next remains significant right up till the end. I remember when I read the script, it held my interest and I wanted to know what is happening next and that is what attracted me to the film,” he says.

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