‘Cyanide’ director Ramesh to make film on Prabhakaran

BANGALORE - Kannada director A.M.R. Ramesh, who has already directed an award-winning movie about LTTE suicide bombers, plans to direct a bilingual film on former Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran who was killed by the Sri Lankan army this May.

The script is ready, but Ramesh hasn’t finalised any actor to play Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in the yet-to-be-titled movie that will be made in English and Tamil. “I want to cast a very talented actor to do the role… but I don’t want to select any actor with a particular image tag,” Ramesh told IANS in an interview.

But the director says that he will start shooting the film after Nov 27.

“Nov 27 is Martyrs Day for the Tamil Tigers and Prabhakaran has been addressing his cadres on that day for the past two decades. LTTE sympathisers all around the world feel that if Prabhakaran doesn’t make an appearance at Martyrs Day celebrations, then it will add a lot of credibility to the Sri Lankan Army’s claims,” said Ramesh.

“If Prabhakaran does not make an appearance on Nov 27 this year, then I will change the script and alter the climax sequence,” said Ramesh who will be the executive producer of the film.

He says two Malaysia-based Tamilians will finance the movie but refused to reveal their names.

Asked why he has doubts about Prabhakaran’s death, Ramesh said: “The fact that Prabhakaran had not tied a cyanide capsule around his neck and had even carried his identity card triggers some speculation among people who are aware of the psychology of LTTE members.”

“Cyanide”, Ramesh’s earlier film on the LTTE, dealt with incidents that led to the capture in Bangalore of the LTTE members involved in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The film won not only critical appreciation but also the Karnataka government’s best film award. It was later remade in Tamil as “Kuppi”.

The director has just wrapped up his Kannada film “Police Quarters” that has new faces. He is also making the film in Tamil.

(R.G. Vijayasarathy can be contacted at rgv1951@gmail.com)