A film on the rise of rebel groups

Director G Venkatesh Kumar began his film journey as a director with a film titled Neelam. This movie, set in the 1960s, focused on the rise of rebel groups,  and the reasons why the civil war broke out. The film, which was launched in 2012 by Balu Mahendra, was stalled mid-way because the director started receiving threats. “I was shattered as this is my dream film and I wanted it to be my debut. Since I had to stop this film mid-way, I worked on two other projects — Unakkul Naan and Lightman. Now, I am reviving Neelam and the shooting will progress in Chennai and Pondicherry,” begins director Venkatesh.

Another interesting aspect is that maverick composer-singer, MS Viswanathan, has lent his voice for a song in this film. “The Alaye song is very close to my heart and it was the last song he sung before he breathed his last. We are hopeful to complete the shooting by the end of 2017.”

Starring newcomer Thavamurugan, the technical team includes cinematographer Rajendar and composer Sathish.Venkatesh is also simultaneously working on his documentary, titled The Beautiful Eye. “It is an 80-minute documentary and will chronicle the lives of visually-challenged people in the society,” he says as he signs off.