Abhilash Shetty’s directorial debut, Koli Taal, to release in theatres on May 27

Abhilash Shetty’s directorial debut feature, Koli Taal, which had a successful run in the film festival circuit, is now coming to theatres. The 85-minute film will get a limited release in multiplexes across Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Udupi and Shivamogga from May 27. In an earlier conversation with OTTplay, when Koli Taal was being screened at the Mumbai Festival, Abhilash had said that his plan was to get the film to theatres, even if it is limited to the Western Ghats region, and then figure out a deal with an OTT platform.

At the time, Abhilash had said, “Forget theatres, even OTT platforms do not show interest in films that have been in the festival circuit, irrespective of the accolades won. Their focus continues to be star-driven projects, even if the content is not great. Audiences also do not watch content-rich cinema in theatres; there they want a ‘paisa-vasool commercial entertainer’. Films like mine should head to an OTT platform after the festival run, even if they don’t take it as an exclusive deal, at least if they can give us a pay-per-view option is also fine. What is happening right now is that there are national award winning Kannada films, which end up on a hard disk after the festival run, as they don’t get a theatrical, or, an OTT release. I want to make sure that my film does not have that fate. The objective of making a film is for people to see it. Over the last year and half, Koli Taal had a fantastic film festival journey.”

Koli Taal is a film that Abhilash wrote and made in only 15 days, based on his personal experiences of visiting his grandparents in Sagara during his school days. The film is about an elderly couple, who are expecting a visit from their grandson. To make the occasion memorable, they plan to make his favourite chicken curry with a rooster from their farm. But when the time comes, the rooster goes missing.