Next, a film on Prabhakaran
AMR Ramesh, who made Cyanide, hopes to visit Sri Lanka soon to make a film on the slain LTTE leaderAMR Ramesh, whose film Cyanide won critical and mass acclaim, is now set to make his next blockbuster a film on slain LTTE leader V Prabhakaran."I will definitely make a movie on Prabhakaran. I will visit the Tamil regions in Lanka along with my journalist friends after a couple of months, when the situation eases. The subject calls for extensive research on Prabhakaran's life," he told Hit List.Ramesh claims the LTTE top brass was very impressed with Cyanide. "I was told that Prabhakaran was all praise for my effort," he adds.Cyanide is a bilingual film a docudrama on the days that followed the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. It recreated, on screen, the period between Rajiv's assassination and the death of the suicide bombers Sivarasan, Shubha and others. Critics believed that it was successful because it did not glorify the terrorists or their cause.Invitation to LankaRecollecting his conversation with Tamilselvan, the chief of LTTE's political wing, Ramesh says, "He spoke with me for about 40 minutes on phone. He said the movie was brilliant. He even asked me whether I was a Tamil myself, as according to him, only a Tamil could have dealt with the issue with such sensitivity."Ramesh says he told the LTTE top brass that he was keen on making a film on their leader, V Prabhakaran. "Tamilselvan called me after a couple of days and said Prabhakaran wanted to meet me. He asked me to come along with my family to their place. I was excited about their invitation. He asked me to come to Colombo and meet one of the Lankan ministers. I was told the minister would make the arrangements for me to meet Prabhakaran. That's when I realised that some of the ministers did share a good rapport with the Tigers," he explains.However, the director claims he got busy with his next project, Minchina Ota, and had to put off his Sri Lanka plans. "When I finished my project and wanted to meet Prabhakaran, an uneasy situation prevailed in Sri Lanka," he says.Having worked on the subject of Cyanide for nearly nine years, what does he has to say about the end of LTTE and the speculation surrounding the death of its leader? "Prabhakaran may have died, but his ideology is alive. Another outfit, with a different name but with the same emotions of the LTTE, will emerge. Now that the Sri Lankan government has achieved victory by wiping out the LTTE and its leaders, a greater responsibility remains to take the Tamils along and instill confidence in them for peaceful coexistence," he says.He believes that had the LTTE leadership been wiser, much bloodshed could have been avoided. "While one feels sorry for the tragic end of its leader, the reality is that no country will tolerate challenges to its sovereignty. Prabhakaran's death shows that the use of violent methods is unacceptable. It reinforces the fact that politics of hate and violence follow the law of diminishing returns. My film, Cyanide, also had the same message," he explains.Martyr or terrorist?How will he portray Prabhakaran in his film – as a martyr or a terrorist? "He's neither a terrorist nor a martyr. He was responsible for the death of our prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. That is unpardonable. And his mode of fighting for the freedom was unacceptable. But if you ask the Lankan Tamils and LTTE sympathizers, they have a different story to tell. They compare him to Subhash Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh. To them, he was a freedom fighter," he says, sidestepping the question.Real to reelAMR Ramesh's first film Santhosha had the Bhuj earthquake as its backdrop. His latest project, Police Quarters, is set during the time of the Babri Masjid demolition. "I like my films to be authentic," he says.
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