Semi-fictions in Indian cinema have largely been few and far between. Kamal Haasan's 'Hey Ram' for one, has been the most prominent of the lot so far. Now that Santosh Sivan, the ace cinematographer turned director has come up with 'Urumi' which is also a semi-fiction on Vasco da Gama's attempted assassination. It sports an ensemble cast and more than a handful of aesthetic frames that struggled to fit in the movie into the avant-garde genre.

The narrative started with a voice over from the director, briefing on Vasco da Gama's history and then rapidly shifted to the present day events. Soon we were taken back to 1500 A.D., wherein we were introduced to a number of characters in no time. From then on the timeline chronicled with the arrival of Gama in India (Calicut), his dominance, the local rulers who supported him and above all a group of men who wanted to kill him off in order to free India from the rule of Portuguese, who were the first among the foreigners to have cast their iron arms on India in order to loot her rich and powerful natural resources.

A toast to director Santosh Sivan for coming up with this particular historic timeline on India which has been largely ignored due to little or no knowledge on the same thus far. I am sure that 99% of the audience who watched the movie would have not known about the Portugal rule in India, since our history books in schools centers around the British rule in India and the consequent freedom struggle. Almost all the scenes in the movie carried the director's stamp and had an authentic appeal. A lot of research has been done in order to make these scenes a reality. Right from the ancient palaces and houses to the ancient revolvers that were used have been recreated to justify the plot's timeline. Though rhetoric at times, the aesthetic appeal of the movie stood apart and the production values were a testimony to it.

Though the long list of cast added brawn to the commercial viability of the movie, it also created a sense of confusion among the audience, making it hard to keep track on who played what during the movie's course. Pritviraj and Prabhu Deva shared the lead roles with their corresponding pairs, Genelia and Nithya Menon. Pritviraj had the much needed screen presence while Prabhu Deva was there merely to do the supporting act and has underplayed his role well to ensure a balance. Among the female leads, Genelia has bagged a plum role as a rebel woman which demanded heavy action, while Nithya Menon had a more flamboyant and perky role as a princess. Though there was very little time to establish each character, the director managed to unwind the same during the movie's course without much fuss and added the much needed élan to the narration, especially the role of Genelia which really came out well, thanks to her own versatile act.

I cannot help but say that a few characters and songs could have been avoided, especially that of Tabu and Vidya Balan, made little sense for the story. If only their respective songs have been chopped off, it could have saved time and given a more crispy feel.

The stunt scenes were well choreographed and most of them were pictured using ultra motion in order to create an impact. All the 'thuds' in the punches and the 'clings' of the swords were felt.

Sreekar Prasad's editing could have been crisper and it carried an archaic appeal without employing much contemporary techniques.

Santosh Sivan has obviously wielded the camera for his own direction and the frames speak for themselves. With a membership for the ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) up his sleeve, he has done justice for the same with a buoyant mastery.

Music by Deepak Dev was average, while it is to be conceded that he has been a great strength for the movie in terms of BGM, making the action scenes lively.

The movie has been well carved out from history and is sure to appeal for an informed group of audience who lap-up historical subjects.

Verdict: Above Average

Rating: 3/5