Urumi (film)

For other uses, see Urumi (disambiguation).

Urumi
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySantosh Sivan
Written byShankar Ramakrishnan
Produced by
Starring
Narrated byKPAC Lalitha
CinematographySantosh Sivan
Edited byA Sreekar Prasad
Music byDeepak Dev
Production
company
August Cinema
Distributed byReliance Entertainment
Release date
  • 31 March 2011 (2011-03-31) (India)
Running time
172 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam
Budget₹20 crore[1]
Box office₹30 crore

Urumi (also known as Urumi: The Warriors Who Wanted to Kill Vasco Da Gama), is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language epic historical drama film written by Shankar Ramakrishnan and directed as well as co-produced by Santosh Sivan.[2][3] It features an ensemble cast including Prithviraj Sukumaran, Arya, Prabhu Deva, Genelia D'Souza, Nithya Menon, Vidya Balan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Alex O'Nell and Sasi Kallinga. This film marks the debut of both Prabhu Deva and Genelia D'Souza in Malayalam Cinema.

The film is set in the early 16th century, when the Portuguese dominated the Indian Ocean. The story follows Murikkancheri Kelu (Prithviraj), seeking to avenge the death of his father at the hands of the colonizers, and his cohorts Vavvali of Nagapattinam (Prabhu Deva), princess Ayesha of Arackel (Genelia D'Souza) and princess Bala of Chirakkal (Nithya Menon). The plot incorporates the intrigues of the Chirakkal Royal Family, where Kelu serves as commander-in-chief, its rivalry with the house of Arackal, and the assassination of prince Bhanu Vikraman (Ankur Khanna). The plot also incorporates such historical figures as Estêvão da Gama (Alexx O'Nell), Vasco da Gama (Alexx O'Nell & Robin Pratt) and Chenichery Kurup (Jagathy Sreekumar).

The film was made on a budget of more than ₹20 crore, making it the second-most expensive Malayalam film at the time, after Gokulam Gopalan's Pazhassi Raja (2009).[4] The film also marked the debut of Prithviraj Sukumaran as producer.[5] Urumi was released in Hindi as Ek Yodha Shoorveer, in Tamil as Urumi: Padhinaintham Nootrandu Uraivaal written by Sasikumaran and dubbed in Telugu with the same title, Urumi.[6][7]

The film was critically acclaimed.[8] It won two Kerala State Film Awards, for Best Background Music (Deepak Dev) and for Best Sound Recordist (M. R. Rajakrishnan).[9] It also won the Best film and Best Director in Imagine India Film Festival in Barcelona.[10] It was also the opening film of the Panorama Section in Goa Film Festival.[9] Urumi is widely regarded as one of the defining movies of the Malayalam New Wave.[11]

  1. ^ "Vidya's a committed artist: Prithiviraj". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Prithviraj turns film producer"[permanent dead link‍] The New Indian Express.
  3. ^ Review: Watch Urumi for the effort Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Rediff.com (1 April 2011).
  4. ^ Sreedhar Pillai (29 September 2010). "Vidya's a committed artist: Prithiviraj". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  5. ^ Nagarajan, Saraswathy (23 September 2010). "Saga of romance and revenge". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference thehindu.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Vidya Balan, Tabu starrer Urumi to now re-release in Hindi as Ek Yoddha Shoorveer: Bollywood Hungama News Network. Bollywoodhungama.com. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  8. ^ Narayanan, Nirmal (6 December 2018). "Manju Warrier meets with an accident while shooting action scene". International Business Times, India Edition. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  9. ^ a b Saraswathy Nagarajan. In the right direction Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine The Hindu 22 July 2011
  10. ^ "IMAGINEINDIA 2012 AWARDS". Imagine India. Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  11. ^ Nagarajan, Saraswathy (19 December 2019). "The 25 best Malayalam films of the decade: 'Premam', 'Maheshinte Prathikaram', 'Kumbalangi Nights' and more". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2021.