Ariyippu — the Mahesh Narayanan film with Kunchacko Boban and Divya Prabha in the lead — is now a Netflix original, the world’s biggest subscription-based video streaming service announced Wednesday. Known as Declaration in English, the Malayalam-language movie is about a struggling Kerala couple who work in a medical gloves factory near Delhi, who dream of migrating out of the country for a better life. But when an old video resurfaces among the factory workers during the COVID-19 lockdowns, it opens up a pandora’s box that threatens the couple’s jobs and marriage.
Netflix has not set a release date, but said Ariyippu is “coming soon”. Ariyippu has been making the film festival rounds since August, when it premiered at Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival and broke India’s 17-year-long drought in the international competition section. Ariyippu is currently playing at the BFI London Film Festival in the UK, and debuts Wednesday at South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival in the A Window on Asian Cinema section.
It will go to the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival in late October, before the Marrakech International Film Festival in Morocco in November. Ariyippu also has a nomination at the 2022 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, to be held November 11 in Gold Coast, Australia.
“With the ongoing recognition and love for our film, we are extremely honoured that Netflix is bringing the film as direct-to-digital globally which will always help cinephiles across the world to experience the film very soon,” Narayanan, who’s also the writer, editor, and producer on Ariyippu, said in a prepared statement.
Ariyippu is a production of Shebin Backer Productions, Kunchako Boban Productions, and Narayanan’s Moving Narratives. Sushin Shyam (Malik, Kumbalangi Nights) is the music composer on Ariyippu. Sanu John Varughese (Aarkkariyam) is the director of photography.
“At Netflix, we are constantly working towards bringing the most entertaining and compelling stories,” Netflix India’s VP of content, Monika Shergill, said. “We are excited to bring Ariyippu (Declaration), a powerful film on the complex theme of a man-woman relationship told by the acclaimed Mahesh Narayanan, along with stellar performances by Divya Prabha and Kunchacko Boban. Just like Minnal Murali won immense love across the world, we want our members to be won over by the dramatic universe of Ariyippu on Netflix.”
Ariyippu is “coming soon” to Netflix in India and around the world.