'Pathemari' puts UAE Malayalees on big screen

‘Pathemari’, a Malayalam movie telling the story of an Indian expatriate who lived in the UAE for five decades, was released in several theatres in the UAE and the GCC countries yesterday on November 19.

Speaking at a press conference ahead if the movie’s launch in Dubai, Salim Ahmed, director and scriptwriter of the movie, said he faced several problems in showing the film in Kerala theatres, despite the presence of a superstar like Mamootty playing the lead role.

“One NRI from Muscat called a press conference to claim that the story of ‘Pathemari’ was based on his book. Another author from Abu Dhabi claimed that the story was based on his short story. An English newspaper carried the story without even asking me,” the director said.

A court case was filed by an Abu Dhabi-based NRI, but the Kerala High Court dismissed his petition.

Overcoming the hurdles, the movie released in 60 screens across 38 theatres in the UAE and will be released in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman next week.

The two co-producers of the movie, Dubai based TP Sudheesh and Advocate Hashik too are thrilled about the release of the movie.

“I am excited that Pathemari is released in the UAE theatres now, because it is here that people are portrayed in the movie.”

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