[1]The Hollywood film Dam 999, which was slated for release on Friday, has already run into a storm with the DMK, MDMK and PMK demanding its ban as they alleged it depicted the collapse of the century-old Mullaiperiyar Dam over which Tamil Nadu is locked in a row with Kerala.
“The Kerala government is behind this movie, Dam 999. The film depicts a disaster showing lakhs of people perishing when a dam collapses.This is highly condemnable as it depicts the Mullaiperiyar Dam,” DMK Parliamentary leader T.R. Baalu told reporters in New Delhi.
He said he had sought permission from party chief Mr M. Karunanidhi to meet the Prime Minister and seek a ban on the film.
According to MDMK general secretary Vaiko, the film starring Indian and Hollywood actors and directed by Sohan Roy, was financed by Keralites.
It had been named Dam 999 due to the legal rights held by Tamil Nadu over the Mullaiperiyar Dam for 999 years, he said while appealing to the South Indian Film Chambers, Tamil Film Producers Council and the South Indian Artistes Association not to allow the screening of the film in Tamil Nadu.
PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss said that the film had been screened before the Supreme Court appointed expert committee, headed by retired judge justice A.S. Anand to back Kerala’s claim that the reservoir was unsafe and required to be replaced. He urged chief minister Jayalalithaa to take up the matter with the Centre.
The dam, located in the Iddukki district of Kerala, is under the control of Tamil Nadu government and meets the irrigation needs of farmers in southern districts bordering Kerala.
While Kerala had proposed construction of a new dam to replace the old structure stating that it posed a danger to people living downstream, Tamil Nadu has been opposing the move maintaining that the dam was safe.
Dam 999 is not about Mullaperiyar: Director
A media gathering at Prasad Studios in Vadapalani, Chennai, on the movie Dam 999, believed to be based on the Mullaperiyar dam, was disrupted after a group of people claiming to be MDMK sympathizers created a ruckus inside the studio.
The protesters who mistook the gathering as a screening of the movie entered the premises raising slogans against the film and smashed glass panes of the building. Following this, security officials locked down the entrance gate barring anyone from entering into studio premises.
The protesters took away negatives of a Telugu film (reportedly Mohan Babu’s film) from the lab misconstruing those for Dam 999’s negatives.
A battalion of police personnel who reached the scene had to face the ire of protesters. Later, assistant directors from Tamil Film Directors Association joined the protest demanding a ban on the movie.
Issuing a statement, Director Sohan Roy said that Dam 999 was based on a true story about a disaster caused by a dam in 1975 at Banqiuo in China which killed 2, 50,000 people and had nothing to do with any dam in India or especially in Tamil Nadu.
“I have great respect towards the Tamil people, their culture, values and sentiments. I assure that my film doesn’t have any shot or dialogue that would create a bad impression about the land or its people,” said the director adding that he was willing to hold a special preview of the movie for State politicians and assured that any objectionable shot or dialogue, if found, would be removed.
“Personally I believe Tamil Nadu needs water from Mullaperiyar. The best solution is to construct a bigger dam at the earliest to replace the old one so that Tamil Nadu gets more water and the lives of Keralites can be saved as well,” said Sohan Roy.
Trailer leaves behind a trail of smoke
Going by the trailer, Dam 999 has all the trappings of a larger-than-life commercial film – a dramatic villain brandishing a snake, handsome foreign actors having affairs with locals, a mystical Ayurveda healer throwing powder into ceremonial fires, and the dam.
Mountains of water engulfing Kerala-style houses, large concrete slabs crashing into ships and terrified people running for their lives, as seen in countless other disaster movies. With all this backed by a star cast of critically acclaimed actors and the “3-D” tag line, one would think Sohan Roy’s directorial debut would be an entertaining watch and not much else.
But then, one hears that the screenplay of Dam999 has been chosen by the Oscar Library for its “permanent core collection”. Shot in the lush locales of Allapuzha and Ooty, apart from studios in the gulf and the Ramoji film city, Dam 999 had roped in Thotta Tharani as art director and Malayalam film composer Ouseppachan.
Going a step further, Sohan Roy has also released DAM999–The Novel, to give the audience a more elaborate version of his story, claimed to be a tribute to the 2,50,000 people who were killed when China’s Banqiao Dam collapsed in 1975.
Kerala-born Sohan Roy, who started his career in the Merchant navy, now heads Dubai-based Marine Biz TV, the world’s leading maritime channel, apart from several other successful businesses. He admits that his magnum opus is based on his award-winning documentary, DAMs-The Lethal Water Bombs, that showcases the 100-year-old Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala’s Iddukki district, as a “disaster waiting to happen”.
The movie has already generated excitement among Kerala youth, spurring them to leave comments like “let’s pray this should not happen in Mullaiperiyar, Tamil people and govt will not get time to regret.”.
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