‘Veettilekkulla Vazhi’ starring Prithviraj is an attempt to transport a linguistically-limited Malayalam cinema to a wider, pan-Indian audience, the film’s director Dr Biju has said.
“It is an attempt to take Malayalam cinema from the concept of a small industry to the pan-Indian culture. Six languages are used in ‘Veettilekkulla Vazhi,’ so you can’t call it a Malayalam film. And it is shot in various locations across the country,’’ Biju, who has directed films like ‘Saira’ and ‘Raman’, told a news conference here on Wednesday.
The shooting of the film has begun, he said.
‘Veettilekkulla Vazhi,’ in its director’s words, is a “travelling story,’’ and has terrorism as its theme. Prithviraj’s protagonist is a traumatised doctor in a jail hospital, who takes it upon himself the task of returning the five-year-old child of a dead female terrorist to its father, a terrorist himself.
“We don’t take a stand on terrorism through this film. We leave it to the audience to make the distinction,’’ says Biju.
Prithviraj said that he was impressed with the story line. “I felt I had to do this role after hearing the story. It has a touching human side,’’ he said. According to him, the only way out for Malayalam cinema, tied down by linguistic constraints, is to become more cosmopolitan. “This film is a first step,’’ he said.
Also, the makers said that ‘Veettilekkulla Vazhi’ is the first full-length Malayalam cinema being shot on Panavision. Shooting locales include Ladakh, Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Kerala. The film is aimed in a big way at the burgeoning DVD market.
Being brought out under the banner of Soorya Cinema, the film is produced by B.C. Joshi.
