Mumbai, September 30: Vidya’s a bound craftsman PrithivirajVidya’s a bound craftsman Prithiviraj: The film, a tri-lingual in Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil, will be co-produced by Prithviraj.
Urumi, made at a cost of Rs 20 crore, is perhaps the biggest pan-Indian multi-starrer in the making with a host of stars like Prithviraj, Prabhudeva, Genelia, Nithya Menon, Amol Gupte and Jagathy Sreekumar, besides 45 British actors and special appearances by Tabu, Vidya Balan and Vikram.
How did Urumi evolve and what made you turn producer? If there is a god in cinematography, it has to be Santosh Sivan! He weaves magic with the camera. This will be my third film with him. Santosh narrated the story of Urumi three years ago to me when I played the lead role in his Anandabhadram. Later, during the making of Raavanan, things started taking shape and finally, along with my friend Shaji Natesan, we joined hands as producers. Do you think a period drama will attract today’s audiences? The film will have global appeal as it is about four men from Kerala who take on the exploitation of the Malabar Coast by the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama in the early part of 16th century. Santosh is making it on the lines of a ballad. It’ll appeal to international audiences too as there will be an English version of the film titled The boy who wanted to kill Vasco Da Gama.
How did you manage to get so many A-list artistes to come on board? All thanks to Santosh Sivan and writer Shankar Ramakrishnan’s script for that! This is a dream cast list and truly pan-Indian. Vidya Balan is one of the most committed artistes I have worked with and she is looking fabulous.
Choreographer Ahmed Khan has done a rocking song on Prabhu Deva and Tabu, who is fantastic. Genelia has the right attitude and despite getting injured injured on the sets, she was always ready. Urumi will be…
… an action-packed revenge drama laced with romance! I play the role of Kelu Nayanar, best defined when he handles violence. Genelia, contrary to rumours, is not playing a Portuguese princess. She plays Arakkal Ayesha, the love interest of Kelu Nayanar while Prabhu Deva plays Vavali, one of the members of the gang who want to kill the Portuguese explorer to be played by a British actor. We are shooting the film in Malshej Ghat, but not on the same location where Raavan was shot. The never-seen-before location will be one of the highlights of Urumi!