Vande Matharam
Henry is one producer to whom entire Malayalam movie fans are indebted to. His only Malayalam movie 'Yavanika' that came out in the early eighties redefined the entire industry, which even gave way for the star status for one of the reigning superstars of present day Mollywood.
Henry later moved to produce big Tamil films like 'Kolangal,' 'Bharathi Kannamma,' 'Puthumai Pithan', 'Marumalarchi,' 'Kallazhakan,' 'Kannukku Kannaka', under the banner of Pankaj Productions, which were all well received in Kollywood.
Twenty five years after `Yavanika' Henry went back to Malayalam to produce another, this time an investigative action thriller 'Aruvadai' with Mammootty in the lead. The film which is a bilingual, also made in Malayalam in the title 'Vande Mathram', have Arjun in an equally important role.
The film tells the story of a group of officers who are in an attempt to resist an international terrorist organization that tries to infiltrate the country. The central investigative agency RAW finds that the head of the terrorists group, in the name 'Malik' has crossed the borders to initiate a big deal and carry out deadly explosions in the southern part of the country. As not much is known about their actual operations, the southern zone command director of Intelligence bureau, Gopi Krishnan is deputed to find traces about the working plans of the organization and to prevent them from creating any damage. I B starts the operations by closing all the main entries to the southern states and by giving red alert to all the main centers about the approaching disaster.
With no much time left to grab the problem makers, Gopikrishnan forms a core team with the support from Anwar Hussain who joins the group on deputation from the state police. With a tile ''Operation Malik'' they are on for a priced seizure, one that can save the entire nation from large turmoil and disaster.
Directed by T. Aravind, who had created the movies 'Aravindan' and `Agaram'. 'Vande Matharam'/'Aruvadai', by the producer Henry says that the film will portray an innovative way of ending poverty. The creators are very excited about the project, which they find as quite different and a sure bet at the box office. The producer Henry has been trying to get Big B to make a guest appearance in the film as the Chief Minister. If the case with Big B doesn't materialize, he has plans to get a big time politician to don the role.
The film has an array of action sequences, the highlights being an 'on the air' fight scenes in the casuarinas trees as 'the area is riddled with mines. This rare action sequences by stunt director Anal Arasu was shot on the islands off Sriharikkotta. The film has some futuristic sets as it also portray a situation at 2028 AD with metal fabricated security jail and high tech alert systems. The climax of the film is planned as a huge affair with at least 20,000 people costing a crore for its production.
The film will feature two heroines, one played by Sneha, as Nandhini who is a pilot and wife of Gopi Krishanan in the film. Arjun's heroine is Sharadha Arya who is an ornithologist in the movie. Deepak J.D. makes his debut as the antagonist in this action packed entertainer with a message, while Jagadish and Jai Akash assists the big cops. The others in the cast include Riyaz Khan, Vijayakumar, Rajan P Dev, Rajkapoor and Mumtaz.
The five songs in the movie, penned by Pa Vijay, Vairamuthu and Yugabarathi, are set to music by Vidyasagar. Extensively shot in super 35 cameras by cinematographers Vetri and Rajesh Yadav, the movie was filmed at locations in Kochi, Chennai, Marthandam, Ilayankudy and Thengapattanam. Expe