Mammootty’s Peranbu to debut at International Film Festival Rotterdam?

Mammootty’s Peranbu will release later this year, which is bankrolled by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Malayalam superstar Mammootty’s upcoming Tamil film Peranbu will begin its run on the festival circuit before its theatrical release. The buzz is it will be making its debut at International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) this month.

The 47th edition of the prestigious film festival will kick off on January 24 and will conclude on February 4. The festival will showcase the best of world cinema in four sections: Bright Future, Voices, Deep Focus and Perspectives.

However, the confirmed list of films that will be screened at IFFR website does not consist of Peranbu as yet.

Peranbu is directed by National Award-winning filmmaker Ram. His previous film Taramani, starring Andrea Jeremiah and Vasanth Ravi in the lead roles, released last year to critical acclaim. And film before that Thanga Meengal bagged three National Awards in 2013.

In Peranbu, Mammootty plays a role of a middle-class father working as a taxi driver abroad. While in Tamil the film is called Peranbu, the filmmakers are yet to decide the title for the Malayalam version. The film also stars Anjali, Sadhana and Samuthirakani in important roles.

Peranbu had been in production since 2016. The film also has Anjali Ameer, a popular transgender model, as one of the female leads. Mammootty, who saw her pictures in a magazine, recommended her name to Ram and she was called in for the auditions. And, obviously, she nailed it.

It’s also worth noting that, Mamukka is often criticised for his onscreen sexism. But at the same time, he also deserves a lot of appreciation for being instrumental in bringing about such change in the film industry that will help a sidelined community to get the recognition and respect that it deserves from the society.

Peranbu will release later this year, which is bankrolled by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Last year, Malayalam independent filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s Sexy Durga won The Hivos Tiger Award at IFFR. It was the first Indian film to do so.