A portion of the picturesque Cochin Club by the side of the beach at Fort Kochi has been converted into the cabin of a Commodore of the Indian Navy. In the scene that is being canned, a Naval officer and a young woman have been summoned by the Commodore. The scene is one of the turning points in debutant director Sachy’s Anarkali .
“There are similarities between the film and that of the legendary romance of Salim and Anarkali,” says Sachy, who scripted Run Baby Run and Chettayees on his own, and films like Chocolate , Robinhood , Makeup Man , Seniors and Doubles with Sethu.
The portions being canned now is shot against a Naval backdrop. The scene is a flashback of an incident that occurred 10 years ago. Nadira Imam (Priyal Gor), the daughter of Rear Admiral Jaffer Imam (Kabir Bedi), falls in love with Sub Lieutenant Shantanu (Prithviraj). After some incidents, Shantanu and his friend Lieutenant Zacharia (Biju Menon) have to face a court martial.
Five noted filmmakers – Shyamaprasad, Madhupal, Major Ravi, Renji Panicker and V.K. Prakash – act in the film.
The next shot to be taken has Commodore Madhavan Nair (Shyamaprasad) talking to Shantanu and Nadira.
“All these scenes being taken now come as flashbacks at certain points of the story. We have already completed the scenes where Shantanu is a deep sea diving expert and Zacharia, a light house operator, in Lakshadweep,” explains Sachy.
Prithviraj, clad in the white uniform of a naval officer, says: “This is a love story that dwells on belonging and separation. It traverses a long period of time.”
He agrees that the stint in Lakshadweep, where his character is a deep-sea diving instructor, was strenuous but enjoyable.
“I have done some amateur diving in the past. For the movie, we underwent training and took a test as the authorities won’t allow you to go beyond a certain limit without a deep-sea diving certificate in Lakshadweep. There are some thrilling sequences shot under the sea,” says the hero.
For Shyamaprasad, it is a delightful opportunity to explore the challenge of facing the camera. “It’s always a learning experience and it is very important for a filmmaker to know the psyche of the actors. Anything to do with filmmaking is enjoyable,” he says.
Anarkali is being produced under the banner of Magic Moon Productions. Sujith Vaassudev is the cinematographer and Vidyasagar is the music director.
