Mani Ratnam given conditional sanction to shoot

The shooting of the latest multilingual film Ravana by director Mani Ratnam stopped by the Kerala Forest department last week, has been given conditional sanction on Tuesday to continue shooting in the Malayatoor forest near Kochi. Earlier, shooting was stopped on Friday and the forest officials asked the crew to pack up after they found that the crew had constructed huts inside the forest, which was against the terms of sanction.

According to new sanction, the crew numbers are restricted to 150. Shooting is permitted between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. only. There should not be any fight scenes in the location and no bushes or trees should be destroyed. No plastic material can be used. Besides, the filmmakers have been asked to remit a fee of Rs. 10,000 per day of shooting. The number of vehicles allowed inside the forest has also been drastically reduced. Reports said that the case registered by the forest department will continue.

Prior to the violations, all what they were charged was a mere Rs. 1,000 for the entire duration of the shoot. Bollywood stars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, who are part of the project, are expected to arrive next week. Prominent stars like Vikram, Govinda, Prithviraj and Priyamani will also participate. Reports indicate that the filming inside the forest included a battle where over 500 people were to take part.

Mani Ratnam is making this film in Hindi and Tamil simultaneously. Vikram will play the villain while Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai is the lead pair in Hindi; Vikram will play the lead opposite Aishwarya in Tamil. The film is based on the grand epic Ramayana.