Urumi, ഉറുമി, is a 2011 Malayalam historical-fantasy film directed and co-produced by Santosh Sivan and written by Shankar Ramakrishnan. It stars Prithviraj, who was also one of the producers of the film, as Chirakkal Kelu Nayanar, Prabhu Deva as Vavvali, Robin Pratt as Vasco da Gama, Alexx ONell as Estêvão da Gama, Genelia D'Souza as Princess Aysha of Cannanore, Amol Gupte, Jagathy Sreekumar, Nithya Menon, whilst featuring Vidya Balan, Arya and Tabu in guest roles. Background score and songs were composed by Deepak Dev, lyrics were by Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, Rafeeq Ahammed and Engandiyur Chandrasekharan.
It was made on a budget of more than INR20 million, making it the second-most expensive Malayalam film ever, after Pazhassi Raja (2009)., Urumi was dubbed and released in Telugu as Urumi and English as Vasco da Gama. Urumi is awaiting release in Tamil as Urumi- Padhinaintham Nootrandu Uraivaal and dialogues are written by S. Sasikumaran for the Tamil version.
The film starts with a short introduction to the history of Portuguese exploration in the in the Age of Discovery to India, referring the legendary landing of explorer Vasco da Gama on 20 May 1498 in Calicut, the kingdom ruled by Zamorins of Calicut. The typical Primary School teachers narration (by Malayalam actor K. P. A. C. Lalitha) is initially accompanied with Google Image Search on "Vasco da Gama", followed by stills from his journey and moving images at the end. The meeting of Vasco da Gama (Robin Pratt) with Zamorin with traditional hospitality, and the failed interview to produce any concrete results is also depicted. Then the celebrations of the greatest discovery till in Lisbon is shown (Vasco da Gama's expedition was successful beyond all reasonable expectation, bringing in cargo that was worth sixty times the cost of the expedition). In a party, da Gama is seen talking to his young son, Estêvão, who will later turn crucial character in the film.
The film did well in the Kerala and Andhra boxoffices. Deepa Garimella of fullhyd.com recommended the movie even to a Telugu audience, calling it a Chandamama bedtime story brought alive like little else. The film was also one of the seven Malayalam films selected to be screened at the Indian Panorama section of International Film Festival of India.
The songs and the background score for the film have been composed by Deepak Dev with lyrics penned by Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, Rafeeq Ahammed and Engandiyur Chandrasekharan. The music album consists of nine songs. According to Deepak Dev, composing songs for Urumi was a challenge as Santosh Sivan had proscribed all electronic music, as the film is set in the sixteenth century. It was Prithviraj who suggested Deepak Dev to Sivan. The songs encompasses many genres – folk, lullaby, ballad etc. The vocalists range from the most experienced K. J. Yesudas to newcomers Job Kurian and Reshmi Sathish.
The tale of Kelu Nayanar depicted in the film is fictional, and though it is based on historical events, the film has a mystical fantasy flavour. Santosh Sivan told the media that the film was designed to be "a representation of historical facts on a fictional platform rather than an accurate narration of history".[4] Historical inaccuracies in the film include:
Costumes are designed for aesthetic appeal rather than representing the true clothing at the time. The Kelu Nayanar is seen wearing a lower garment similar to pants and a coloured upper garment. At the time all upper-caste Hindu men wore a mundu and white veshti (upper garment), and during exercise or battle would have worn a short dhoti like those worn by Kalaripayattu warriors.
Hindu men wore their hair in the kuduma style (this fell out of favour in the early 20th century), as well as earrings and forehead markings with vibhuti or chandanam. Wild, unkempt hair (as seen in Kelu Nayanar) was only kept in such a way during times of mourning or great sadness.
The blouse was only introduced to Kerala society in the 19th century and even up until the mid-20th century it was common to see elderly women only covering their upper body with a robe of linen. The character, played by Vidya Balan, is shown wearing a black blouse.
The film URMI is set in the backdrop of the fierce warrior clans of Northern Kerala in the sixteenth century and focuses on the cult of Chirakkal Kelu Nayanar (Prithviraj), a man with an epic mission. His target and mission is Dom Vasco da Gama (Robin Pratt), the Viceroy of Portuguese Empire in India. The film is spread between the second and third visit of Gama to India and chronicles a varied version of how Vasco da Gama could have met a bloody death in AD 1524. In the journey of Kelu Nayanar, he has to encounter the seamless conflicts within the kinsmen and also kings, ministers, peasants and a warring Muslim warrior princess Ayesha (Genelia) of the famed Arackal Sultanate. Kelu has a forte, a legendary golden Urumi, specially made from the left over ornaments of the dead women and children who were burnt alive in the massacre of a Mecca Ship, Miri, commanded to be set on fire and drowned by Vasco da Gama during his second visit to Kerala in AD 1502. Kelu is supported by Vavvali (Prabhudeva), his childhood friend and in a way his elder brother, though he comes from the Muslim neighborhood. The film also has mystical characters like Vidya Balan, who plays Makkom, a displaced Devi Deity in the Oracle form. Kelu tracks his mission through the wild roads of treachery, treason and a hidden passion to reach a master plan to create his own army against the mighty empire. His action in creating an organized revolt becomes the first of its kind movement against the first Colonial advance in India.
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