Exploring the humane side

Tamil film Appavi Katteri, directed by Akbar Ali, is the tale of a vampire with a golden heart.

July 11, 2013 03:36 pm | Updated 07:04 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

A working still from the movie Appavi Katteri

A working still from the movie Appavi Katteri

Not all vampires have no heart. That is what Kozhikode-based director Ali Akbar wants to tell with his new Tamil movie Appavi Katteri . It is the director’s first film in Tamil.

“Having worked in Chennai for 10 years at the beginning of my career, I am pretty comfortable with Tamil. And I felt the story of the vampire with a golden heart would well suit the Tamil audience,” says the director who has made films such as Junior Mandrake and Mukhamudra .

Appavi Katteri is not a horror movie, he adds. “It is more of a humorous film. The hero is a vampire (played by debutant Rafeeq) who abhors hurting humans even though he needs to drink blood for his survival. He strikes a deal with a group of thieves, who will steal blood for him in return for helping them in their robbery. Sreejith, who had debuted in Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathira Kolapathakathinte Katha and another theatre actor Mohammed Eravattoor also play important roles,” says Ali, who had won the State Award for the best debutant director for Mamalakalkkappurath .

But for Thalaivasal Vijay and Devan, the film stars mostly newcomers. “Vijay plays a priest, while Devan is a doctor doing research on vampires. Vijay has a lot of humorous scenes in the film. Appavi Katteri also satirises some of the vampire films,” says Ali.

The film is being shot in and around Kozhikode. “I will also shoot the film in Chennai. I hope to release it in September, both in Tamil Nadu and Kerala,” he says.

Appavi Katteri is being produced by C.A. Gopakumar under the banner of Gopika Movie Makers. Jagadeesh is the cinematographer, while Ali himself is the editor; he has also penned the script. Lyrics by Amudham have been tuned by Kumar Valsal.

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