Hijacked IC 814 to be relived in Tamil cinema

Actor-turned-director Prakash Raj has just finished the first schedule of his Kannada directorial venture, Naanu Nanna Kanasu but he is already thinking about his next bilingual film to be produced under his own Duet Movies banner.

Pavanam (Journey) will be made in Tamil and Telugu, and star himself. It is budgeted at Rs 11 crores, and is based on the hijacking of Indian Airlines' IC 814 from Nepal to Kandahar.

Radha Mohan, who had directed Mozhi and Abhiyum Naanum, will direct the film.

"I will play the role of a bureaucrat from the Prime Minister's office in Payanam. Radha Mohan did a lot of research while writing the script. I was inspired to make this film after reading the book Flight Into Fear by Captain Devi Sharan," says Prakash Raj.

Prakash Raj, who played a villain in the Salman Khan-starrer Wanted directed by Prabhu Deva, has now become a sought-after actor in Bollywood too. But he is in no hurry to sign Hindi films.

"I will pick and choose films as I have been consciously doing in the case of my South Indian films," says Prakash Raj.

His Kannada films include Hoo, co-starring Meera Jasmine and Namitha, and Dhool, co-starring Yogi and Aindrita Ray.