Jallikattu happened in Tamil Nadu yesterday. It is the sport which made people from across the world look at Tamil Nadu during the 2017 protests. Director G Venkatesh Kumar has released a statement inviting the winners of this year’s sport to act in Seerum Puli, his biopic on the late chief of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Velupillai Prabhakaran.
His press statement was a casting call for the interested winners of Alanganallur and Paalamedu Jallikattu to act in the biopic.
The first look poster of the film featured Bobby Simha with the tiger, a reference to Prabhakaran who was always seen with the tiger he had tamed and raised.
Talking about the film, director Venkatesh said, “We are planning to make a two part film. In the first part we will be focusing on the young Prabhakaran, who is lesser known to the outside world. The film will show the life of Prabhakaran from his early adulthood and how he rose up as a rebel. And later in the second part, we will portray how he became a powerful leader of the guerrilla organisation that LTTE was, and how it took a political shape.”
“Talks are going on regarding the other cast and the technicians, so it is not yet finalized,” he added. “There are women characters in the film, but they are not like heroines, they are female tigers. So even for those characters we are searching for people.” The shoot is scheduled to start this month.
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Venkatesh’s debut feature film Neelam revolved around the Sri Lankan civil war, and was banned by the CBFC. In an interview with Silverscreen earlier, the director spoke about his new biopic. When asked about his association with Sri Lanka, he said he has a “strong connection” with the country and will reveal it when the time comes.
The film is a biopic on Prabhakaran, who protested against the post-colonial political direction of Sri Lanka. He protested against the discrimination against Tamil people by successive Sri Lankan governments.