Malayalam films to dominate at IFFI

Seven Malayalam films are among the 24 feature films chosen for the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India to be held in Goa next month. It's the highest for any Indian language and has made history for Malayalam cinema.

Urumi, directed by Santosh Sivan, will open the Indian Panorama section. The other films are Traffic, Melvilasom, Adaminte Makan Abu, Chappa Kurishu, Bombay March 12 and Karmayogi.

Here is a closer look at the chosen films.

Adaminte Makan Abu

With prestigious National Awards for best film and best actor for Salim Kumar, under its belt, Salim Ahmed's Adaminte Makan Abu has claimed national attention. The film is also India's official entry for next year's Oscars.

Salim Kumar, who plays a 75-year-old Muslim man desperately trying to go on the Hajj pilgrimage, received the Kerala State Award for best actor.

One of the most successful films made in Malayalam this year, Traffic is to be made in Hindi now, directed by Rajesh Pillai himself.

Bobby and Sanjay have written a sensational script. Sreenivasan, Kunchacko Boban, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Rahman, Roma, and Sandhya play the characters whose lives are interconnected by the events that unfold.

Ace cinematographer Santosh Sivan's period saga Urumi tells the tale of a brave young warrior who dares to rise in revolt against the Portuguese traveller Vasco da Gama.

Prithviraj plays the hero in the film which also has Genelia D' Souza, Arya, Prabhu Deva, Tabu, Nithya Menon and Vidya Balan in the cast.

Based on a play by Soorya Krishnamoorthy and directed by Madhav Ramadasan, Melvilasom unfolds inside a closed room where a court-martial is going on.

Suresh Gopi excelled in the film as the counsel for the accused who is played by Tamil actor Parthiban. The film has been recently shown in the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.

Based on William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the film is about the tumultuous life of Rudran Gurukkal. Scenarist Balram Mattannoor has adapted the storyline and placed it in the backdrop of Kelipathram, an art form popular in northern Kerala.

 The film is directed by V K Prakash and Indrajith plays the lead. It is yet to be released in cinemas.

Mammootty plays two different phases in the life of a person in scenarist-turned-director Babu Janardhanan's Bombay March 12. The bomb blasts in Mumbai change the lives of Sanathana Bhat, a Hindu priest, and Abida, a Muslim woman. Bhat embraces Islam, marries Abida and is later jailed on false charges.

Cinematographer-turned-director Sameer Thahir follows the lives of two men and a mobile phone that links the two. The film evoked a mixed response and bears an uncanny resemblance to a Korean film.

Listin Stephen, who produced Traffic, has produced Chappa Kurishu as well.