500 & 5 (Ayynoorum Ayynthum)
| Ayynoorum Ayynthum (500&5) | |
|---|---|
 First look poster | |
| Directed by | Stanzin Raghu |
| Produced by | Accessible Horizon Films |
| Written by | Stanzin Raghu |
| Starring |
Deepak Sundararajan Shankar Lakshmi Priya Living Smile Vidya Chinnu Kuruvilla T. M. Karthik |
| Music by |
Balaji Ramanujam |
| Cinematography |
Maverick Dass Gerald |
| Edited by |
Stanzin Raghu Ramesh Mourthy |
Production company |
Accessible Horizon Films |
Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Ayynoorum Ayynthum (500&5) is a 2013 Indian Tamil drama film [1] written and directed by Stanzin Raghu[2] starring Deepak Sundararajan, Shankar, Chinnu Kuruvilla, Living Smile Vidya and TM Karthik in the lead.[3]
Synopsis
Ayynoorum Ayynthum (500 & 5) is an Alternative, Independent and Experimental feature film in Tamil directed by Stanzin Raghu and created by Maverick Dass, Earthling Koushalya and Ramesh Mourthy. The film has been produced by Accessible Horizon Films, an independent film collective.
The story is about the bizarre journey of a 500-Rupee note through 5 different characters – Sudalai(A Goon's stooge, superstitious Sudalai wants to become a Don. Will he realize his dream or will his misplaced sense of self get in the way of it?), Adi(Successful film-director Adi, who's separated from his wife thanks to his philandering ways, is desperate to redeem himself and get her back. Will he be able to?), Sundari(Spunky Sundari is in love and works at a phone recharge shop. All she wants is to safeguard the souvenir her boyfriend gives her. Will she hold on to it?), Jenny(Volatile, troubled Jenny lives in a world where she walks a fine line between psychedelic reality and nightmarish fantasy. Will she rise above it or get sucked into a self-destructive vortex of darkness?) and the Nameless revolutionary(The Nameless, avant-garde revolutionary who lives without money ignites an unprecedented rebellion with which he threatens to raze down the hyper-capitalistic juggernaut) - and how they perceive it in their own ways.
Though the film follows the 500-Rupee note, it actually focuses on the 5 key characters whose lives are entirely and contrastingly different from each other in the way they look at money.
Cast
- Deepak Sundararajan as Sudalai
- Shankar as Adi
- Living Smile Vidya as Sundari
- Chinnu Kuruvila as Jenny
- T. M. Karthik as The Radical
Other key cast members include Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli, Vishwanth Natarajan, Ramesh Mourthy, Vinoth Kumar.
The total number of cast members is about 90, out of which 70% are new or first-time actors in film.
Concept
After struggling to find producers and financing in a conventional way, the Accessible Horizon Films team decided that they had to something radical. But still, money was a big hurdle to get their scripts produced. That’s when during and after several discussions about ‘Money’, the team decided to make their film about money(a 500 Rupee note) and perceptions about it.
Writing
Once the core concept ‘the journey of a 500-Rupee note’ was decided, Director Raghu wrote the screenplay in 15 days at a single stretch. Some of the characters of the film are loosely inspired from real life like the ‘Money-less revolutionary’ character played by TM Karthik Srinivasan, was inspired from people like Mark Boyle, Heidemarie Schwermer, Daniel Suelo among others.
Casting
The Casting of the film took 2 months with intense audition sessions held in Chennai except for one character ‘Jenny’ which took almost 4 months because of the extreme nature of the character. Several of the key cast members hail from a theater background with performances in Tamil, English and Malayalam. And while some are upcoming actors from the Tamil film industry, many of the cast members are new actors.
Filming and Production
The entire shooting schedule took about 21 days split over 3 to 4 schedules.
According to the team, ‘the film is a result of the Independent Filmmaking revolution’
Promotion and Trailer
A one-minute trailer drew attention as soon as a promo was released on YouTube.[4]
A 5K marathon run was conducted to promote the concept of a world without money and around 150 people participated in that marathon.[5] [6]
Soundtrack
| 500&5 (Ayynoorum Ayynthum) | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by S.Balaji & S.Ramanujam | |
| Released | 26 July 2012 |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Language | Tamil |
| Label | Accessible Horizon Films |
| Producer | Accessible Horizon Films |
The songshave been written and composed by S. Ramanujam and S. Balaji.
All lyrics written by S.Balaji and S.Ramanujam.
| Track list | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Ulagathiley" | S.Balaji | 5.17 |
| 2. | "Ganamanatho" | Backiyaraj, Hemambiga | 4.25 |
| 3. | "Panathamattum" | S.Balaji | 6.13 |
| 4. | "Jenny’s Poem" | Kousalya Jeganathan | 1.49 |
| 5. | "Peiyappola" | S.Balaji | 6.05 |
International Film Festivals/Critical reception
The film was Officially Selected at the International Film Festival of Kerala, Trivandrum in 2012 [7] and at the Filmburo Baden-Wurttemberg’s Stuttgart Indian Film Festival, Germany in 2013.[8][9] This is the only Tamil film to be selected in both these International film festivals [10]
Release
Official Non-Traditional Release of “Ayynoorum Ayynthum (500&5)”
“Ayynoorum Ayynthum (500&5)” made for the BIG Screen in Cinema theaters was released unconventionally on the Internet on the Youtube Channel of ACCESSIBLE HORIZON FILMS on SUNDAY, MAY 1st, 2016 and made directly available on Laptops, Tablets and Smartphones from May 1st, 2016. Before the release, the makers had one Special Public Screening at the Alliance Francaise, Madras on Friday, April 29th, 2016 at 7.00 p.m.
Free Online YouTube Release
For 3 years, the Accessible Horizon Films team have been trying to release their film conventionally in theaters in Tamil Nadu, searching for distributors and trying to find people who might take their film and release it in theaters. The difficulty of releasing a film conventionally without financial backing or influence is just unimaginable especially when the film doesn’t conform to the norms or the ‘formula’. They initially thought of going conventionally only to reach a wide audience, because the film is about money, which everyone can relate to. But they have been facing enormous obstacles while doing so. Twice, between 2013 and 2016, the film was close to getting released in theaters by interested investors, but both the times, the plans fell through at the last moment. And finally, at one point, the team decided to give it away for free because they did not want to wait forever to get the film released theatrically and try to make money out of it because ultimately they wanted the film to be made available to the people, the audience who it was made for and let them give the verdict. [11]
References
- ↑ "500&5 (Ayynoorum Ayynthum) - Official Website".
- ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/ayynoorum-ayynthum-is-being-released-online-for-free/article8541431.ece. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ "Ayynoorum Ayynthum Movie Gallery". IndiaGlitz. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
- ↑ "500 & 5 Trailer". Times of India. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ↑ "Understanding money in 2 hours". Indian Express. 23 July 2012.
- ↑ "Running towards Films". The Hindu. 26 July 2012.
- ↑ "Director Raghu Jeganathan commend’s IFFK role". Indian Express. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ↑ "500 & 5". Indian Film Festival Stuttgart. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ↑ "Stuttgart unfurls the 10th year celebrations". Film India Worldwide. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ↑ "The Journey of a 500 Rupee note". Deccan Chronicle. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/ayynoorum-ayynthum-is-being-released-online-for-free/article8541431.ece
External links
- Ayynoorum Ayynthum (500&5) at the Internet Movie Database
- Ayynoorum Ayynthum (500&5) - Official Full Movie (HD) on YouTube