Massive release for Veeram outside India
Director Jayaraj’s epic historic drama Veeram was released on February 24 to good reception from the audience. The movie is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It is the fifth installment in director Jayaraj’s Navarasa series.
Veeram features Bollywood actor Kunal Kapoor in the lead role of Chandu Chekavar, a warrior from the Vadakkan Pattukal of North Malabar region in Kerala. He worked hard for months to develop a warrior’s physique in addition to learning sword fight and the martial art, Kalaripayattu for playing his part in the movie.
Though the other major characters were played lesser known actors, the movie had great hype prior to the release. The impressive promos that were promoted by Bollywood superstars heightened the expectations of the audience. It was also screened at film festivals like BRICS Film Festival and IFFI, Goa.
Upon release, critics praised the movie for the sheer scale at which it was made and the efforts to make such a quality historic within the limitations of Mollywood. Veeram was produced with a budget of Rs 35 crores as a multilingual in English, Malayalam and Hindi.
Now, the makers are planning a wide release for Veeram outside the country. Veeram being an adaptation of the world famous classic Macbeth, is expected to have a good run in the overseas centres. The track “We will Rise” was eligible for the Oscars this year, though it didn’t get nominated. Veeram also found a place in the list of films in contention for the best picture Oscar this year.
The movie’s technical side boasts of big names from the west. Allan Poppleton, who has worked in Hollywood films like Lord of the Rings and Avatar, choreographed the stunts in the movie.
Award winning composer Jeff Rona, who was an associate of the legendary Hans Zimmer, is the music department. Oscar and Emmy award winning make-up artist Trefor Proud is also part of the technical team of Veeram. Veteran cinematographer S Kumar cranked the camera while Appu N Bhattathiri handled the edits.
Chandramohan Pillai and Pradeep Rajan of Chandrakala Arts jointly produced this big budget movie.
