'Premam' director Puthren quits films; says 'life brings a twist like interval punch'

Puthren, known for superhit films like 'Premam' and 'Neram' wrote on his official Instagram page on October 30 that when "health is weak or unpredictable, life brings a twist like an interval punch", even as he announced that he is quitting films. After discovering he had autism spectrum disorder "on his own", he did not want to be a burden to anyone, he added.

However, when his post started to go viral on social media, he deleted it.

On October 30, Puthren took to Instagram to announce that he is ending his cinema theatre career.

However, he said, he will continue to do songs and make videos and short films on OTT.

"I don't want to quit cinema, but I have no other option. I don't want to make promises that I can't keep. When health is weak or unpredictable, life brings a twist like an interval punch (sic)."

The filmmaker captioned the post apologising to everyone for not being healthy.

According to him, he had this issue from childhood, he said, adding that this is what he thinks after understanding about autism. "That's why the delay in the films I guess. But I wouldn't stop entertaining you all (sic)," he said in the caption.

Though his post has been deleted, the screenshot of his post is making the rounds.

Alphonse Puthren made his directorial debut with 'Neram' with Nivin Pauly and Nazriya. It was widely appreciated and released in Tamil as well. But, it was his second film, Premam' that went on to become a big blockbuster. Starring Sai Pallavi and Nivin Pauly, it was a coming-of-age film that ran for over 200 days in Chennai.

After a hiatus of seven years, he came up with 'Gold', which released in theatres in December 2022. Starring Prithviraj Sukumaran and Nayanthara, the film tanked at the box-office. Since there were a lot of expectations riding on the film, he was also mercilessly trolled online.

In January this year, Puthren had hit out at his detractors for the trolling and said he will become "invisible on the Internet". He then removed his profile picture from his Facebook page.

"If you are trolling me and telling bad things about me and my film Gold for your satisfaction … it is good for you. Not for me. So I’m protesting by not showing my face in internet. I’m not your slave or I did not give rights to tease me or abuse me in public. So see my works if you like. And don’t come into my page and show your anger. If you do so, I’ll just become invisible in the internet,” Alphonse Puthren wrote on his Facebook page.

Puthren also said defensively that he will bounce back and redeem himself in the future.

He was supposed to be working with Fahadh Faasil on a film called 'Paatu'. However, the film never took off. Recently, there was news that Alphonse was working on a film with Sandy, Kovai Sarala and Sahana.