One final confession…
It’s a little over 2 weeks since COF released online. Its been something alright. Initially I just caved in to the pressure and the comments. I didn’t know how to react and sort of went into a shell. Also what was bothering me was I never had a chance to sit back and just enjoy the fact that I’d released my movie. There was tremendous backend support work which I had to do and am still doing.
I understood what it takes to have a pay-movie-site….things go wrong…people don’t get passwords….they don’t know how to login…there are video buffering problems,all kind of shit happens, I have had customers call me direct to my house…etc etc.
Through all of this I was trying to upload a higher quality video…but have failed so far…the uploads speeds just aren’t good enough here in India…but that’s alright.Anyways….so, it took a couple of weeks for everything to be streamlined….and now with almost minimal backend support, the movie is doing fine, no great!…
Its a small piece of history, maybe in telugu cinema, if not Indian cinema…a full length feature film…shot on hi-definition….
it had a blog running, building a community around it….released trailers on youtube and finally released the film itself on the web….small but siginificant….I wonder who can claim to have made some decent money on something like this too?
Meanwhile, its been wonderful connecting with every single person who has paid and watched my movie….thats a privilege very few filmmakers have….its also a privilege to hear the choicest abuses right at your face….but the compliments that come through, more than make up for the former. 
Anyways….so, it took a couple of weeks for everything to be streamlined….and now with almost minimal backend support, the movie is doing fine, no great!
The feedback I have been getting has been tremendous….people have either loved it or hated it….and that’s fine…I have tried to write back to most of them…
The number of hits has been gratifying,overwhelming…..33,000 hits at the time of writing….thats great!…
ofcourse a small percentage of people have decided to pay $5 and watch too…. I’ll keep you guessing on the actual number ….but I’ll admit its enough to pay off my credit card bills for now….I know for a fact that 1 out of 5 people have shared passwords…which is great for the movie…not that great for my purse though oh well, you win some you loose some,right?
So yes….what does a filmmaker go through once his film is released huh? Well I think its unique in each case….I believe my movie has been a success, more for me personally…I made a movie…I said what I had to say…and I got a few people to watch it…and some of them loved it….thats good enough for me…for now.
Made on a budget of 4.5lakhs, in 30 days….shooting for not more than 4 hours each day…editing and other post work for nearly 3-4 months, depending on when studios were free…I feel vindicated whenever I read or hear from someone who has understood the movie and what it stood for….I have put a lot more at stake professionally than financially.
In the PFC community, I would like to thank ‘Striker’ and ‘OM’….the very first reviews which came out were from them….their views and thoughts gave me a lot of confidence in the initial days….when more such reviews poured in, I felt vindicated.
And ofcourse, OZ….thanks for just having the vision to build a site like this….What a community of people these are….what a collective passion for cinema!. By taking up a cause like ‘confessions’ and several others, you truly stand by what you say your site is all about.
lol…this is beginning to sound like an award acceptance speech….so yeah, I’ll continue..stop the music, let me finish…
thanks to everyone at PFC….we may not know each other by faces….but we know each other by our collective passions for cinema.
thanks to everyone who followed my blog….you didnt know me or my film then….but decided to spend some time on it.
thanks to everyone who wished me well….every great review and every bad review….if someone feels for your movie….good or bad….its an honour either ways.
thanks to my friends and family….for not questioning why I decided to do this…and supporting me all the way through.
thanks to anurag kashyap…I dont know you personally and I dont think you have watched it…but your outlook on cinema has been inspiring to me…a scene in my movie was based on your feelings.
(PFC viewers take the trouble to guess which one )
thanks to kamal, for living the role and carrying the film on his shoulders….(remember guys, just one actor in a movie and 1hr:45mins, its not as easy as it sounds,its fucking tough.)
and finally….
thanks to our constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression, for which PFC and every blog is evidence of…
ciao.
for now…
Anish Kuruvilla.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
today is the 4th of july…
and THIS IS MY INDEPENDENCE DAY.
(sorry, i couldnt help myself)
good to see you back anish
we were wondering where you had disappeared to, but glad things have smoothed out now at your end.. here’s hoping you continue to get those hits, and yes, happy independence day!
Anish,according to the norms….after the award n the acceptance speech…its the time to party!!! when is the happening ya. all the best. 2 b honest, havent seen the film yet. but will catch very soon. thats promise.
well here is a special announcement…
I have reduced the rate from $5 to $2.50
so please spread the news for people who might have stayed away cus of the rate!
hi everybody,
This is Krishna Kanth
Nice to know about this forum, I too am interested in movies and am just look forward to contribute to teh cinema industry.
I see in the discussions when everybody mentions some good films,how can we get to watch these movies online or DVD’s?
kindly let me know.
thank you
Hi Anish,
This is Krishna Kanth(KK)..new to this forum and its rally great to be here with you all.
oh yeah..!! reducing the price…. thats a great move if you are looking for more people to watch the film.Although I have watched at$5/-.
I personally think you have addressed the issues like mediocrity, nepotism, and insecurities in TFI which is very much necessary fo todays scenario.
Eye Opener films like this will definitely inspire and educate the new generation of film pros.
I strongly recommend this film to my friends and family.
There was a problem when I paid the money so had to try paying it twice..have sent a mail to you kindly,check if I was charged twice.
Hi Anish,
Congrats for the excellent work. You spoke for millions in your movie.
Wish people like Sekhar, Gangaraju and of course you, keeping making good cinema in Telugu..
Are you still associated with Sekhar?
Cheers
MyZee
I saw COF for the second time yesterday…and was bowled over again…
Anish you have truly done a commendable job….and good to learn that you have slashed the price….
Ohh btw..the Anurag inspired scene..ahem was it the one where Kamal goes to the producers house and says ” no one understands my script”….just a guess ;)
Good Luck dost…wish you all the very best and hope COF makes tons of money…so i can see more of your work…
Congratulations, PFC. I am one of the world’s worst cynics. Seeing that PFC has become what it is and making few people’s dreams come true is great. Hope it inspires lot more people to just go and do it instead of looking for a hero/producer to give a break big time. One’s work speaks louder than the budget…Ahem.
Anish,
I really admire your dare attempts to make this movie. In fact was eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse. Appreciate your efforts to get it released online. Finally I paid $5 and watch it.
To be honest, that was a very bad experience (to me atleast). I don’t mean the film was bad. The quality really put me off and there are moments when I dozzed off due to buffering (with 10Mb broadband line). Being a proud owner of HD camera, I did not get the feel of shot with Z1. It is more like watching pirated copy online. I came back later as ‘good quality is coming soon’. But I got to pay $5 again?
Dude. If people really want to contribute to your efforts, they pay even if you put up ‘paypal’ icon next to some really good online video player. People who want to watch it for free always find a way to get passwords. This authentication really sucks!! The worst part of it is expires after a day.
Anish,
I’ve heard a lot about your movie. I hope to watch it this weekend.
Good luck with your future projects.
Dear Mr Kuruvilla
Congrats. I’ve not seen your movie. But my friends from Canada are raving about it.
I stay in small town in coastal AP. Where broad-band, rapid share accounts are available to us. Is there any way I can watch your movie? Can I get a copy of VCD/DVD. I’ll pay in INR if it is OK with you. I can have it collected from any major city in South India. I assure you that I never copy that disc. I have a modest collection of some old films of Kurosawa, Bergman, Kubrick Fellini, Godard etc – most of them orignals. Iam a great fan of Addor Gopalakrishna. Though I can’t speak Malayalam I saw most of his films.
Please consider the request of this technically backward viwer and show me a way to see your movie.
Regards
Jayasurya