Gangs of Phoolan, the upcoming Malayalam film directed by Sajin Lal, was announced by the makers during an event at Kochi on Friday, where they also released its poster.
The film is produced under the Apple Tree Cinemas banner and co-produced by MM Surendran and Dileep Khan, with Shameen Sulaiman and Sunil George serving as the executive producers.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, director Sajin says Gangs of Phoolan will revolve around a female protagonist, a tribal girl who faces a lot of issues. “And one day, when she learns about Phoolan Devi, the female rights activist, she gets inspired by her. The story is about her fighting the odds and standing for her fellow tribal women.”
The filmmaker adds that Gangs of Phoolan will highlight the problems and concerns of the tribal community. “People living in urban areas do not have a good understanding about tribal people. So, we plan to make a socially-responsible film which will provide awareness about the community.”
Born on August 10, 1963, in Uttar Pradesh and popularly known as ‘Bandit Queen’, Phoolan Devi joined a gang of bandits after running away from an abusive marriage. Later, she became a women’s rights activist, joined the Samajwadi Party and served as a Member of Parliament twice in her political career. On July 25, 2001, she was assassinated by three masked gunmen outside her bungalow in Delhi.
Sajin tells us the second half of his film will feature a series of revenge and thriller elements.
The makers hope to begin filming in October in the Thenmala forest region. “Since the film is set in a tribal backdrop, we have chosen to shoot in the forest region and plan to complete filming in a single schedule,” the director adds.
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The team is currently finalising the cast and further details about the film will be announced later, says the filmmaker.
Meanwhile, Sajin, who has directed films like Crayons and Thank You Very Much, recently announced that he will be making a biopic on the life of Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, who is known as the ‘Father of Malayalam’. In an earlier conversation with Silverscreen India, he said that they will be able to plan the shoot of Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan only after March 2022 since it involves a lot of research. He also added that being a historical film, the team will have to create sets that resemble olden days.