Does the ambitious project set in the 15thcentury follow in the footsteps of the historical, ‘Pazhassi Raja’?Well, Santosh Sivan would like his film, ‘Urumi’, to do all the talking and urges us to wait till mid-2011, when it is scheduled torelease. The cinematographer-director admits that ‘Urumi’, meaning a ‘curling blade,’ is the fictional tale of a group of Indians who plotted the assassination of the Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama.After much persuasion, the filmmaker who is in Chennai, reveals how the idea for the film took shape. “Growing up in Kerala, I saw so much of Portuguese influence in architecture and churches that it’s hard to ignore. That made me want to knowmore about him,” Santosh explains. “But‘Urumi’ is no ode to Vasco da Gama, the explorer who landed inIndia. It tries to show his other side,” offersSivam.He continues that while history may have crowned the Portuguese navigator for his feats, his entryinto India signalled thefirst sign of colonialism. “The film is my take on how the local people, who endured his imperialisttendencies, plot to assassinate him,” says the director.He explains that to thelocals, da Gama was a foreigner who treated them unfairly. Among the many crimes he is supposed to have committed is the burning of a ship with Muslim merchants returning from Mecca. “Isn’t it natural to imagine that they rebuked him? And it will be multilingual, in English, Tamil and Malayalam, as the movie was made at a time when we were all south Indians, with no language-based borders,” adds Sivam.While multitasking is a challenge for most filmmakers, Santosh is relieved about being the director and cinematographer. “I handle the camera forall my directorial ventures. It makes things easier for me as I have conceptualized the film,” he says. The film stars Prithviraj, Prabhu Deva and Genelia.“The first schedule of the shoot has been completed, and we will now shoot portions in Maharashtra and Karnataka,” he explains.
