Jyotika on Ponmagal Vandhal: Time to Highlight What's Happening Around Us Through Cinema

Tamil cinema star Jyotika, whose film “Ponmagal Vandhal” releases on Amazon Prime this week, says in her second innings as an actor she wants to do movies that reflect contemporary reality on the screen. The actor said one of the reasons for her to board the JJ Fredrick-directed film is its focus on the system's failure in tackling with child abduction and rape cases. "I read about crimes against women and children almost every other day in papers. I'd often discuss it with Suriya (her actor husband) at home about why the law is taking so much time for justice when it comes to these cases. Jyothika Reacts to Ponmagal Vandhal Releasing on Amazon Prime, Explains the Reason for Opting for an OTT Platform.

"So when Fredrick brought a script that was questioning our legal system in a realistic and presentable way, I really got attracted to this project. Playing a lawyer was refreshing because no other leading lady in Tamil cinema in recent years had played a lawyer,” she told PTI in an interview. Having made a strong comeback with 2015 film “36 Vayadhinile”, Jyotika has been very picky about her projects in her second innings. The actor said it's been a conscious decision to not repeat some mistakes from her first innings and sign films that serve no purpose. Ponmagal Vandhal Trailer: Jyotika’s Relentless Lawyer Fights For Justice in a Complicated Case in This Intriguing Courtroom Drama (Watch Video)

“There's so much happening around us and it's time to highlight them on screen. I'm a mother of two young children and I stop them from seeing so many films because of its content. Even in quarantine, there are very few films that they can watch. "In my second innings, I wanted to do films that even they can watch and this is why I choose my scripts carefully,” she added.

The film is the first mainstream Tamil film to have a direct OTT release, bypassing theatres that are currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Jyotika said it was the only solution given that theatres will remain shut in the near future due to the coronavirus situation. She hopes that streaming helps earn her a new set of audience. "It took us sometime to understand what we were doing but we knew this is a beautiful platform for content-driven films. As we all know that theatres won't open for few more months and there will be a traffic of films vying for release, we didn't even see a chance of 'Ponmagal Vandhal' coming out for at least a year and a half. Given these factors, this was the best decision,” she said.

The actor said small, content-rich films like her latest wait for months to find a suitable theatrical release window but on the streaming platform, they can have a bigger audience exposure. "It's a matter for pride for Tamil cinema, especially for small, content-rich films which generally have to wait months and even years to find a theatrical release. At the end of the day, it makes me feel like a hero that my film will be released in over 200 countries. We are going global and I hope to earn a new set of audiences,” Jyotika said.

Going the streaming way in the times of a pandemic like the coronavirus is, in fact, a boon for women-centric and small budget movies, she said.

"My film's trailer clocked over 10 millions in just 2-3 days. It's a never before attained feat for any of my films. This is proof to the phenomenal reach of the platform. "I also feel that our films need as much respect as the bigger, hero-centric films get. We need more audiences to watch our films and we hope they'd get to watch this way. We put three times the effort in making these films as it's completely script-oriented. I think we all deserve equal amount of respect which we get from such a platform,” she said.