The sweltering heat across the country due to the rising temperature is having an impact on the film industry as well. Reports are that the shooting time of the upcoming Malayalam film Maamaankam had to be rescheduled due to this. Usually the shooting begins in the morning and goes on till evening but now the timing has been changed to 4 to 6 pm. The team is currently stationed in Athirapally where the temperature is soaring high every day. Scenes involving Mammootty, Unni Mukundan and Manikandan are being canned right now.
Made on a budget of Rs 50 crore, the film began its production with debut director Sajeev Pillai wielding the megaphone. But due to creative differences with the producer Venu Kunnapilly, noted filmmaker Padma Kumar was brought in to replace Sajeev.
The problems between Sajeev and Venu are believed to have begun after the shooting of the first schedule of this period film. The outside world heard about it much later, when actor Dhruvan, known for his tough college boy role in Queen, was suddenly removed from the cast and replaced by Unni Mukundan.
The film, with Mammootty in the lead, is a historical that revolves around the life of warriors known as Chaaverukal, who plotted against the Zamorin rulers to overthrow them. The film is based on the Maamaankam festival celebrated during the 17th century, in which warriors from different parts of the country would arrive on the banks of the Bharatapuzha River to fight against each other to prove their superiority.
The film has four heroines - Prachi Desai, Prachi Tehlan, Malavika Menon and Abhirami V Iyer and those playing supporting roles in it would be Unni Mukundan, Neeraj Madhav, Sunil Sukhada, Meghanathan and Sohan Seenulal.
The technical team includes Ganesh Rajavelu aka Jim Ganesh wielding the camera, M Jayachandran scoring the music, Sreekar Prasad in charge of the editing, and Kaecha Khamphakdee choreographing the stunts.
(Content provided by Digital Native)