Director Jayaraj, whose Ottal won a national award last year, is back with an epic drama, Veeram, and it will premiere at the first ever BRICS film festival that began in Delhi today. The film festival will be held on the sidelines of the 8th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit which will be held in Goa, next month. 20 films will be screened in the film festival and it will culminate with the Chinese film Skiptrace starring Jackie Chan, and directed by Renny Harlin.
Apart from the film festival, the summit will also feature a trade fair and an under-17 football tournament.
Set in 13th century Kerala, Veeram is based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It follows the life of Chandu Chekavar, a kalaripayattu warrior from Kerala’s Malabar region, played by Kunal Kapoor. A Hindi-Malayalam-English trilingual, the film also takes inspiration from north Kerala’s famous ballads, known as vadakkan paattukal. Shot mostly in Thiruvananthapuram, Agra and Aurangabad, the film’s music is by American composer Jeff Rona, and cinematography is by S Kumar. Kapoor is said to have gone through rigorous kalarippayattu training for his role. Made on a budget of close to ₹20 crore, Veeram is one of the most expensive Malayalam films ever made.
This is not the first time that Jayaraj, the six-time national award winning director, has adapted Spakespeare to cinema. His Kaliyattam (1997), which fetched actor Suresh Gopi the national award for the best actor, was an adaptation of Othello. His Kannaki (2002), starring Nandita Das in the lead role, was based on Antony and Cleopatra.
Kunal Kapoor, known for films like Rang De Basanti and Meenaxi-The Tale Of Three Cities, sports a highly muscular appearance for Veeram.
Here is the first teaser poster of my new film #Veeram @VeeramOfficial Can’t wait for u guys to see it 🙂 pic.twitter.com/qH5Pio1Mag
— kunal kapoor (@kapoorkkunal) August 18, 2016
The BRICS Film Festival will be judged by an eminent jury comprising one noted filmmaker of each member country. The jury will give their recommendation for an award, which will include a BRICS Gold Medal and a certificate of excellence under several categories.
