'Won't Stay Quiet If...': Aelay Director Says Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam 'Stole Aesthetics'

Lijo Jose Pellissery’s director Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam featuring Mammooty was released on January 19 and is now streaming on Netflix. The Malayalam film has been penned by S Hareesh that is about how a curt Malayali named Jameson lands in rural Tamil Nadu and starts living like a Tamilian much to the confusion of everyone around him. Director Halitha Shameem who debuted in the film industry in 2014 and marked her presence in her film Silu Karupatti in 2019 has also made Aelay. The director has now alleged that Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam’s poster to the backdrop has copied the aesthetics from her poster Aelay.

The director has released a statement about the same and stated that stealing all the aesthetics from a film isn’t acceptable. Halitha also pointed out the similarities between both the films she found as she watched the film.

“For the film Aelay, we prepared a village for the shoot. It is a pleasure that Nanpakal Nerathu Myakkam was shot in the same village. However, the film’s long drawn-out aesthetic, which I have seen and added, is a bit tiresome. The ice cream maker is the milkman here. Just as the old man runs behind the mortuary van, here the minibus runs behind the old man," she added.

She also mentioned that the actor-singer Chithrai Senan, whom she introduced here, Mammootty sings along with him, just as he does in Aelay.

“The houses that have been filmed, the houses that have been seen many times and then refused to be filmed – I saw all these in the film. As the events unfold, there is much more to compare and contrast! Inevitably, I am posting this in an environment where I have to speak for myself," she stated.

She ended the long note by stating that they can dismiss her film Aelay, but she won’t stay quiet if the ideas and aesthetics from it are mercilessly ripped off.

The film is a Malayalam – Tamil bilingual and it was critically acclaimed after its theatrical release. The movie made its digital premiere on February 23 on the streaming OTT platform, Netflix.

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