Now, everybody is talking about the delay. Did you expect this kind of reaction from people?
Yes, definitely. That was because when you see the frustration of commandos on screen, as we waited, the public would understand what kind of mood we were in. Waiting, waiting, waiting... for what?
Is this frustration a reason why you left the army?
No. I got a lot of satisfying moments in my army life. When I earned my pension, because of my passion for films, I thought I would be a filmmaker. I want to convey patriotism through my films which is what I did through Keerthichakra. I wanted to do it in Hindi but nobody had the faith in a military man directing a film. Finally I made it in Malayalam.
Did you expect a film in which the story happened in Kashmir, to be a huge hit in Kerala, a place so far away from Kashmir?
If you convey a message through a film realistically and honestly, I think the public will accept it. I also showed them that army men might look tough but they are basically soft inside.
Do you wish you had made Mission 90 Days in Hindi so that it would have had a wider audience?
I really wanted to make the film in Hindi. I feel North Indians do not know what happened in the operation, how much the CBI struggled to do the investigation in just 90 days. I would love to make it in Hindi.
Photograph: A scene from the film Mission 90 Days.
Also Read: 'By the end of 1986, Prabhakaran was disillusioned with his Indian connection'
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