Big B with Mohanlal,Resul Pookutty,Mammooty

Major Ravi, a commando-turned filmmaker, is the director of the film in which Mohanlal, who recently joined the Territorial Army as a colonel, plays the role of Col Mahadevan. Mohanlal and Ravi met Bachchan, who was on a short visit to the Kerala port city, and discussed the project. Bachchan had expressed a desire to act in a Malayalam film during an interview to a television channel in Dubai in December.

The director narrated the story to him and he said he liked the storyline and wanted to read the script in full.  He plays the father of a passenger on the hijacked plane.”

This is Ravi’s fourth film after Keerthichakra and Kuruskshetra, both featuring Mohanlal, and Mission 90 Days, which told the real story of Ravi who tracked down the killers of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Mammootty playedRavi’s role in the film.

Storyline : The flight IC-814 of India’s flag carrier was hijacked by five Pakistani militants while on its way from Kathmandu to New Delhi and was forced to land in Amritsar, Lahore, and Dubai before being taken to Kandahar where 186 passengers were kept hostages on board for a week and released in exchange of four extremists in Indian custody.

The film will be shot in Delhi and Nepal besides Kerala.Bachchan was in Kochi to attend a function where he handed over the Newsmaker of the Year 2009 award to Oscar winning sound technician Resul Pookutty. Bachchan wore a traditional ‘mundu’ and said he felt more comfortable in the single piece of cloth that has no buttons or any clips to hold it around the hip.

He also launched Jeevarogya, a health project of the Resul Pookutty Foundation and a Kochi-based private hospital, which will treat the poor and needy and donated Rs 11 lakhs to the foundation. ( KochiVibe article on Jeevarogya inauguration )

The presence of the tallest figure in the tinsel world was fulfilling for the soundman.But the magnanimity of Mr. Bachchan did not limit itself to his presence. While declaring that he would be there with Mr. Pookutty in future for such a noble venture, Mr. Bachchan also made a contribution of Rs. 11 lakh. Whoa..!!

It was the letters Mr. Pookutty received from different parts of the State seeking assistance for health care and related issues that prompted him to set up the foundation.

Giving back to society : Remembering his student days at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Mr. Pookutty said education at the institute would be an unaffordable affair for a student hailing from the middle class. He viewed the venture as an opportunity “to give back to society what he got in life.” Mr. Bachchan also had a word of appreciation for Mr. Pookutty for mobilising resources for such ventures.

Under the Jeevarogya programme, the two agencies will provide free medical treatment for 3,000 persons, heart surgery for 30 and free surgeries for another 300.