Malayalam Jailer director holds one-day protest ahead of Rajinikanth's film release

August 10, 2023 will see another clash just like Barbie vs Oppenheimer. It will be between  Sakkir Madathil’s Jailer starring Dhyan Sreenivasan, and Nelson Dilipkumar's Jailer, starring Rajnikanth. Unlike the Hollywood clash, which gave both films a fair chance at the theatres, Madthil’s Jailer might not get the same platform. 

3 things you need to know

• Rajnikanth’s Jailer has reportedly been made on a budget of Rs 200 crore. 
• Sakkir Madathil is also not in favour of moving his film’s release date. 
• Madathil says he is feeling 'suicidal' because of the tricky situation he is in.

Sakkir Madathil reveals why he can’t push the release date

In an interview with Cinema Vikatan, the director revealed that he has not only directed the Malayalam film but has also produced it. He further revealed that to get the necessary funds for the film production, he had to mortgage his daughter’s jewelry and his house. Sakkir told that many distributors in Kerala told him that if his film releases with Rajnikanth’s Jailer then it won’t work.

Jailer director Sakkir Madathil holds a one-day protest 

For the past few days, Sakkir has been alleging in various interviews that Kerala is favouring Rajnikanth’s film more. Due to this, his film is not getting as many screens as he had expected. The filmmaker also claimed that he had registered his film’s name with the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) in 2021. The Malayalam Jailer maker also requested Sun Pictures to change their film’s title. 

(Stills from the protest that Manobala tweeted about recently. | Image: Twitter)

But that didn’t happen, and Sun Pictures filed a case in the Madras High Court. Post which Madathil also filed a countersuit. And amid all this, Madathil organised a one-day protest in front of the KFCC. He did this to publicly demand the allotment of screens for his film as well. 

His film is in Malayalam, so he put forward the argument of saving this language film from the other language films in his home state. He also said that if this is how it continues, then how will the Malayalam film industry prosper? 

He further added that he has no issues with other films releasing in the state. But this should not block the way of Malayalam films. For his film to do well in theatres, he would have needed atleast 70-75 screens, but he might not even get 40.