THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Overcome by the pangs of love, Shaila Bano, played by Manisha Koirala, runs up the stairs of a towering, old fort as her lover Shekhar Narayan (Arvind Swami) stands atop and expresses his deep emotions through a song.
The protagonist hopping from one cliff to another, beside a rough sea and under a dark sky, made for a pulsating watch. If the song Uyire from the Mani Ratnam hit Bombay still haunts you, then other than its composer A R Rahman and singers Hariharan and Chithra, the location has played its part.
And if you don’t know yet, it’s Bekal Fort in Kasaragod district. Malayalam movies have given several other locations the star status — be it the bridge in Kireedam — at Vellayani near Thiruvananthapuram — which Sethumadhavan (Mohanlal) frequents during his moments of agony or the Madampally bungalow (Hill Palace) where a mentally ill Ganga, played by Sobhana, takes an entire family for a ride in the psychological thriller Manichithrathazhu.
Now, the state government is getting ready to tap the tourism potential of these ‘locations’ through a new project. “Since cinema plays a prominent role in influencing the lifestyle and thinking of people, the tourism department aims to attract visitors to these places,” said Tourism Minister Mohammed Riyas. The department has already begun identifying such spots and plans to renovate them by keeping their ‘appearance’ in the movies intact.
“The tourists should identify such locations at first sight. The locations would be developed keeping this in mind,” a senior officer, who attended a meeting convened by the minister, said. The project will be implemented in association with the cultural department and film fraternity.