The historical epic film Urumi (2011), made in Malayalam, Tamil and English, is getting a Bollywood release. Directed by award- winning cinematographer-turned-filmmaker Santosh Sivan, it has an ensemble cast of Prithiviraj, Genelia, Prabhu Deva, Nithya Menen, Tabu, Vidya Balan and Arya. It is being titled Ek Yoddha Shoorveer in Hindi, along with the tagline — ‘The boy who wanted to kill Vasco da Gama’.
It is set against the backdrop of the fierce warrior clans of Northern Kerala, in the 16th Century. Though reports suggest that it was the epic drama Baahubali that prompted producers who bought the rights in B’town to release the film in Hindi, Santosh has his own views — “Baahubali is a totally a different fictional subject, while Urumi is based on the colonial era and focuses on the life of the famous Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama and his journey through 16th century India. When we released it in Malayalam; subsequently in Tamil and Telugu, it became a huge hit, besides winning several awards. Moreover, Urumi was meant for Kerala audiences, as Vasco da Gama’s story is more relevant to Kerala. The Hindi rights were sold long back. Prabhu Deva and Prithiviraj, are now known faces in B’town, and other actresses like Vidya Balan, Genelia and Tabu are already established. Perhaps that could be the reason to dub in Hindi.”
Sivan is equally excited about cranking camera for an English film Lies We Tell. “The film has Harvey Keitel, Gabriel Byrne and many other British and Asian actors. Some of the biggest technicians like composer Zbigniew Preisner are part of the project.” The film, which is being put out by Bradford International Film Associates Limited, has almost been completed, he adds. Santosh will also be back to wielding the megaphone for a bilingual, which he says, will be a proper commercial script after he completes AR Murugadoss’ film with Mahesh Babu.
