Visakh Subramaniam’s journey from a theater owner to a film producer was one filled with passion, friendship, and a deep love for cinema. Born into a family deeply rooted in the film industry, Visakh’s love for the silver screen was instilled in him from a young age. Growing up amidst the captivating allure of movies, he was witness to a transformative period in Malayalam cinema during the 2010s. As he ventured into assisting his father in managing their family-owned theaters, immediately after completing his engineering course, Visakh found himself at the epicenter of this cinematic revolution in Kerala.
“Back then, young theater owners were few and far between. When I started managing one, there were hardly any peers my age to help me or clear my doubts. My main interactions during that time were with this new crop of successful filmmakers and actors,” says Visakh, adding, “Before 2010, festival seasons were usually dominated by films headlined by big stars. However, post-2010, a new wave began, and many content-oriented films without star-backing started tasting success regularly. ‘Traffic’ (2011) marked the beginning of this change, followed by films like ‘Salt N‘ Pepper’, ‘Beautiful’ and ‘Chappa Kurishu’, which all released in the same year.”
Visakh’s previous production, ‘Hridayam’, was released theatrically in the beginning of 2022 amidst a raging pandemic. It was a time when many big ticket films opted for streaming their films on OTTs directly instead of releasing it in theatres, but the ‘Hridayam’ team was keen on a theatre release, and the film eventually went on to become a huge success. Cut to 2024, Malayalam cinema is going through a purple patch globally, with back to back humongous hits.
