The film is spread between the second and third visit of Vasco da Gama to India and chronicles a varied version of how Vasco da Gama could have met a bloody death in AD 1524. In the journey of Kelu- the warrior he has to encounter the seamless conflicts within the kinsmen and also Kings, ministers, peasants and a warring Muslim warrior princess Ayesha of the famed Arackal Sultanat.
Kelu has a forte, a legendary golden Urumi ('Pathinaindham Nootrandu Uraivaal'), specially made from the left over ornaments of the dead women and children who were burnt alive in the massacre of a Mecca Ship, Miri, commanded to be set on fire and drowned by Vasco da Gama during his second visit to Kerala in AD 1502. Kelu is supported by Vavvali, his childhood friend and in a way his elder brother, though he comes from the Muslim neighborhood.Kelu tracks his mission through the wily roads of treachery, treason and a hidden passion to reach a master plan to create his own army of the people - against the mighty Empire.
His action in creating an organized revolt becomes the first of its kind movement against the first Colonial Advance in India.
Sivan tries to ask was Vasco da Gama an explorer or an invader? Sivan explores beyond what our text books had taught about the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama that he found the sea route to India, landed in Malabar Coast and went back with a lot of pepper.
Director: | Santosh Sivan |