Urumi is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language period action film written by Shankar Ramakrishnan and directed and co-produced by Santosh Sivan. It stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Prabhu Deva, Genelia D’Souza, Amol Gupte, Jagathy Sreekumar, Nithya Menen, and Alexx O’Nell in lead roles and features Tabu, Arya and Vidya Balan in extended cameos.
The film is set in the early 16th century, when the Portuguese dominated the Indian Ocean. The story follows Murikkancheri Kelu (Prithviraj), seeking to avenge the death of his father at the hands of the colonizers, and his cohorts Vavvali of Nagapattinam (Prabhu Deva), princess Ayesha of Arackel (Genelia D’Souza) and princess Bala of Chirakkal (Nithya Menon). The plot incorporates the intrigues of the Chirakkal royal house, where Kelu serves as commander-in-chief, its rivalry with the house of Arackal, and the assassination of prince Bhanu Vikraman (Ankur Khanna). . The plot also incorporates such historical figures as Estêvão da Gama (Alexx O’Nell), Vasco da Gama (Alexx O’Nell & Robin Pratt) and Chenichery Kurup (Jagathy Sreekumar).
The film was made on a budget of more than 12 crore, making it the second-most expensive Malayalam film at the time, after Gokulam Gopalan’s Pazhassi Raja (2009). The film also marked the debut of Prithviraj Sukumaran as producer. Urumi was released in Hindi as Ek Yodha Shoorveer, in Tamil as Urumi: Padhinaintham Nootrandu Uraivaal written by Sasikumaran and dubbed in Telugu with the same title, Urumi.
The film was critically acclaimed. It won two Kerala State Film Awards, for Best Background Music (Deepak Dev) and for Best Sound Recordist (M. R. Rajakrishnan). It also won the Best film and Best Director in Imagine India Film Festival in Barcelona. It was also the opening film of the Panorama Section in Goa Film Festival. Urumi is widely regarded as one of the defining movies of the Malayalam New Wave.
Directed by Santosh Sivan
Written by Shankar Ramakrishnan
Produced by Shaji Nadesan, Santosh Sivan & Prithviraj Sukumaran
Starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, Prabhu Deva, Genelia D’Souza, Nithya Menon, Jagathy Sreekumar, Alexx O’Nell, Arya
Narrated by KPAC Lalitha
Cinematography Santosh Sivan
Edited by A Sreekar Prasad
Music by Deepak Dev
Production August Cinema
Distributed by Reliance Entertainment
Release date 31 March 2011 (India)
Running time 172 minutes
Country India
Language Tamil
