The Malayalam film will soon have
Kannada, Tamil and Telugu
versions
After garnering huge response
in Kerala, Urumi, Santosh
Sivan’ s period film, is all set to cast its magic in other
languages/states. The first to
roll out will be the Tamil version,
tag-lined Pathinainthaam
Nootrandin Poorvaal. Other
adaptations in Kannada, Telugu and Hindi will go on floors after
the Tamil release, expected next
month. Incidentally, all the
versions will have the same
Malayalam name Urumi (curling
sword), but with separate local taglines.
One of the most-talked-about
projects, Urumi has already been
rated as a landmark film in
Malayalam. The movie goes back
in time to recount a story that takes place after the
Portuguese explorer Vasco da
Gama set foot in Calicut way
back in 1498.
Says Sivan, “Strangely, Gama’ s epochal landing and its
aftermath have so far not found
a place in the history of Indian
cinema. I have earnestly tried to
deliberate on some aspects
pertaining to that period. The socio-political equations changed
soon after his dramatic arrival.” Scripted by Shankar
Ramakrishnan, the screenplay of
Urumi has been set in the period
between 1502 and 1524,
focusing on the events that
took place during Gama’ s last visit to the country. His cruelty
towards the countrymen and his
unreasonable demands create a
band of warriors thirsting for
revenge which forms the format
of Santosh Sivan’ s yet another directorial venture.
The film’ s casting has been absolutely envious with some big
names such as Prithviraj, Genelia
D’ Souza, Prabhu Deva, Arya, Tabu, Vidya Balan and Amol
Gupte. The film has become a
huge box-office hit in Kerala.
“Even the Malayalam version released in Bangalore has had a
great response. The collections
are heartening,” says Ramakrishnan.
There is considerable hype in
Tamil Nadu as Sivan is a known
figure in the state, right from
the days of Roja (as the
cinematographer). Even Prithviraj, the producer of the
film as well as the lead actor, is
hugely popular in Kollywood.
Needless to mention about the
presence of Arya, Prabhu Deva
and Genelia. Sivan, an ardent history buff
(can we all afford to forget his
Asoka, the Shah Rukh Khan-
starrer which also had Ajith in a
cameo!) has sincerely attempted
to look at history from an Indian perspective as most of our
history books on the subject
were written from a Western
point of view.
Besides Sivan, two other
renowned cinematographers have lent their expertise to this
visual spectacle — wildlife photographer Alphonse Roy and
National award-winning Anjali
Shukla.
It is learnt that ace filmmaker
Mani Ratnam, who saw the film,
showered heaps of praises on Sivan.
Sources tell us that the two of
them might come together for
Mani’ s epic film Ponniyin Selvan. When quizzed about it, Sivan said
that nothing has been finalised
yet.
Prithviraj, also producer of the
film, is happy that the film has
taken a brilliant opening. An English version of the film,
The Boy Who Wanted to Kill
Vasco da Gama, is also getting
ready, eyeing the
festival circuit. Surely, Urumi is
going places!
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