Bench Talkies
2015 Tamil language independent anthology film
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Bench Talkies is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language independent anthology film consisting of six short films directed by Karthik Subbaraj, Anil Krishnan, Gopakumar, Charukesh Sekar, Monesh and Rathna Kumar. The film was produced by Karthik's newly formed production house Stone Bench Creations and features an ensemble cast including Vijay Sethupathi, Guru Somasundaram, Sananth and Rishikanth. The film was released on 6 March 2015.[1]
Anil Krishnan
Gopakumar
Charukesh Sekar
Monesh
Rathna Kumar
Gopakumar
Abilash Warrier
Prince
Monesh
Manikandan
Kalyan Subramanian
| Bench Talkies | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Karthik Subbaraj Anil Krishnan Gopakumar Charukesh Sekar Monesh Rathna Kumar |
| Screenplay by | Murugaprakash Ganeshan Gopakumar Abilash Warrier Prince Monesh Manikandan |
| Story by | Karthik Subbaraj |
| Produced by | Kaarthekeyen Santhanam Kalyan Subramanian |
| Starring | Vijay Sethupathi Rishinanth Rajendran Guru Somasundaram Sananth Vijaymuthu Aravinnd Singh Harish Sharathkumar |
| Cinematography | Saleem Bilal Shreyaas Krishna Vijay Kartik Kannan Manikandan |
| Edited by | Nanda Kumar Anil Krishnan Akbar Basha Sridharan G. K. Alphonse Puthren |
| Music by | Umashankar Vishal S. Saran Raghavan Javed Riaz Rajesh Murugesan |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 116 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Plot
Bench Talkies is a collection of six short films directed by six different directors, which will make you travel through different genres, emotions and experiences.
- Agavizhi by Gopakumar
- Madhu by Rathna Kumar
- Nallathor Veenai by Monesh
- Neer by Karthik Subbaraj
- Puzhu by Charukesh Sekar
- The Lost Paradise by Anil Krishnan
Cast
| The Lost Paradise | Agavizhi | Puzhu |
|---|---|---|
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| Nalladhor Veenai | Madhu | Neer |
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Production
Karthik Subburaj, wanting his short films to be widely seen, had approached several theatres asking to screen them during feature film intervals, but was rebuffed. He later saw anthology films like Kerala Cafe (2009), 5 Sundarikal and Bombay Talkies (both 2013) which compiled various short films and was inspired to create one himself which became Bench Talkies. Over 2000 short films were submitted to Bench Flix, a website owned by Karthik where short films are uploaded for distribution, and a judge panel filtered it down to around 35, from which they chose the final six to feature in the film.[2]
Release
Reception
M. Suganth of The Times of India rated the film 3 out of 5, stating that "The compilation of six films from six filmmakers in different genres makes it an entertaining experience."[6] Baradwaj Rangan wrote for The Hindu, "The key word is amateur, so it won't help to go in expecting professional-grade acting or craft. What we can (must) do is see how these films fare in purely directorial terms."[7] S. Saraswathi of Rediff.com gave 2 out of 5 stars stating "Bench Talkies is a very ordinary collection of short films. They fail to impress, leaving you with a sense of dissatisfaction."[8]
