Arms and the men

The film’s biggest strength,claimed Sircar,is its subject — civil war — which has not been addressed through Indian cinema before. “Madras Cafe is about the journey of Major Vikram Singh,who is appointed by the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to conduct covert operations against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan Civil War. How he gets entangled in the ensuing political turmoil forms the crux of the story,” the director explained. The challenge,at the same time,lay in representing fairly the concerned parties — the Peace Forces,the Sri Lankan army and the regional fighters.

Abraham said that the film is an edge-of-the-seat drama with great international appeal. “It’s an Indian film with desi actors and sensibilities. But it is like Hollywood film JFK in terms of conspiracy,Body of Lies in terms of treatment and Argo in terms of texture,” he said.

The duo also clarified that talk about the film being banned is just speculation and nothing more. “The censor board has cleared Madras Cafe. We have also dubbed it for release in Tamil Nadu,” revealed Sircar. The film,he asserted,doesn’t take any sides,choosing to instead recreate the civil war. It will release in Malaysia,Poland and some countries in Eastern Europe apart from the usual overseas market.

Although Jaffna has been recreated in Kochi and parts of coastal Tamil Nadu,the location of the fictional Madras Cafe,after which it has been named,has not been revealed. “Many conspiracies are hatched and several conversations get intercepted at the cafe,which is why it plays an important role,” said the director.

Talking about the casting,Sircar said Siddharth Basu,who makes his acting debut with the film,brings a certain credibility to his role. “Having worked under him,I knew he is a fine actor,” he explained. Nargis Fakhri was initially apprehensive about playing a war correspondent as it is devoid of glamour,but after viewing some footage of women war correspondents such as Anita Pratap and Christian Amanpour,she agreed.

Abraham believes that aside from the song and dance routine,a mass entertainer should also jog one’s brain. “Madras Cafe is an honest and radically different film in today’s times. It revolves around important events that changed the political history of our country,” he said.