Santosh Sivan has announced that his next venture will be a movie titled Urumi. The name is the Malayalam word for a long sword made of flexible steel. This video clip makes you wonder how those two managed to give a demo without killing themselves.
In The Mannanars of Chirakkal, Maddy has a description of how it can be used.
The sword was made of thin pliable steel, and worn round the waist like a belt, the point being fastened to the hilt through a small hole near the point. A man, intending to damage another, might make an apparently friendly call on him, his body loosely covered with a cloth, and to all appearances unarmed. In less than a second, he could unfasten the sword round his waist, and cut the other down. This for those who do not know, is the weapon called ‘Urumi’ of the warriors of Malabar. [The Mannanars of Chirakkal]
Urumi is a period film set in the 15th century, at a crucial moment in Indian history — the arrival of Vasco da Gama. The story line we have is minimal at this point.
Urumi is about a group of men who wanted to assassinate Vasco Da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, who set foot in Kappad in Calicut in 1498. The film will have an English subtitle- “Who Killed Vasco De Gama?” Genelia will play a Portuguese princess while Prithviraj will be the leader of the gang that wants to kill Vasco De Gama. [Genelia opposite Pritviraj!]
This is both exciting and scary at the same time. Remember Santosh Sivan’s period film Asoka (2001), where Sivan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Anu Malik did a Kalinga on our brains.? But there are three plus points: Santosh later made another period film Before the Rains which was watchable. Second, this movie is being scripted by Shankar Ramakrishnan, who directed one of the brilliant shorts in Kerala Cafe. Finally, the movie does not have Shah Rukh Khan.
Folks in Malabar had such skills with Urumi and still they lost to Portugese!!! Wao!!!