Kurukshetra- Preview

Mohanlal starrer Kurukshetra is the third venture by army officer-turned-filmmaker Major Ravi, whose earlier films Keertichakra on militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and Mission 90 Days on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case won critical accolades from many corners. Kurukshetra, a big-budget flick produced by Santhosh Damodaran under the Damor Films banner, is based on the director's hazardous experiences of the Kargil war between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in Kashmir.

The cause of the Kargil war was the infiltration of Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants into positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LOC), which serves as the de facto border between the two states. Nevertheless, India did not declare war against Pakistan - instead, Mr. Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister of India, ambiguously announced a "war-like situation".

There were three major phases to the Kargil war: During the conflict, Pakistan first captured several strategic high points in the Indian-controlled section of Kashmir. India responded by first capturing strategic transportation routes, then militarily pushing Pakistani forces back across the Line of Control. The war ended on July 4, 1999, after US President Bill Clinton and Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met in Washington. The official number of Indian troops lost in Kargil was around 500.

Kurukshetra, a sequel to Keertichakra, will feature three war sequences, constituting one-third of the movie. The movie will also feature real war practice sessions of the Indian Army. This is for the first time a Malayalam movie is getting permission to shoot the actual practice sessions of the Indian Army. The film is being shot in the high altitudes (13500 feet) of Kargil.

Mohanlal will appear as Colonel Mahadevan, who is all determined to reclaim the land grabbed by Pakistani soldiers in the Kargil valley. Kannada star Tanya Singh and Nehak Bhatia will be the female leads, but neither of them are romantically linked with Mohanlal in the film.

The story, dialogues and screenplay are by the director himself. Cinematographer Lokanathan is handling the camera. The film has four songs, written by Girish Puthencherry and set music by Siddarth. One song will be in Hindi. Along with Mohanlal, Siddique, Biju Menon, Cochin Haneefa and Sooraj Venjaramoodu are in the cast. Kurukshetra, to be released in Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil, is likely to grace theatres in October.

Banner Damor Films
Producer Santhosh Damodaran
Cast Mohanlal, Tanya Singh, Nehak Bhatia, Siddique, Biju Menon and Sooraj Venjaramoodu
Story, Dialogues, Screenplay and Direction Major Ravi
Cinematography Lokanathan
Music Siddarth
Lyrics Girish Puthencherry
Art Director Sabu Ram
Costume Sai