''Dam 999'' is a 2011 English-language 3-D

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, offensive (military), military/terrorism, terrorist att ...

. A co-production between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India, it was produced by BizTV Network, UAE and directed by

Sohan Roy Sohan Roy is an Indian entrepreneur and film director and producer based at Sharjah. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Aries Group of Companies, and a Naval architecture, Naval Architect. Early life and career Sohan Roy had his BTech ...

. The film is based on the award-winning short documentary ''

DAMs - The Lethal Water Bombs ''Dams: The Lethal Water Bombs'' is a short documentary film about the Mullaperiyar Dam, and the possible natural disaster inherent in the structure. This 21-minute documentary was produced by Aries Telecasting Private Ltd., and directed by So ...

'', and the Banqiao dam disaster of 1975 that claimed the lives of 250,000 people in China and anticipated calamity for outdated dams in the world. Apart from being a controversial movie in India with respect to its theme, the Screenplay of the movie was added to the permanent core collection in Library of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

before its release in 2011.

Plot

The story encompasses around nine characters portraying nine variants of emotion (Navarasa) and an outdated dam. The story starts with Vinay ( Vinay Rai), who is a mariner and works in ships. One day he visits his native place, somewhere in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, with his son Sam (Jineeth Rath) to meet his father Shankaran ( Rajit Kapur). Shankaran is a village doctor or 'Vaidyan' and is also a master in astrology and the ancient sciences. Sam is a diabetic and Vinay wanted to have him treated by his grandfather. Another storyline is that of the orphan Meera (

Vimala Raman Vimala Raman is an Australian actress and former model who has worked in Indian cinema. She appears in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil language films. Born and brought up in Australia, she made her debut in 2006 with the Tamil film ''Poi''. An est ...

), who has been staying with Shankaran since her childhood, treated as his own daughter and who helps him treat various patients. Vinay and Meera share a special bond and love each other. When Shankaran studies their horoscopes, he learns that whenever they would express their love towards each other, something terrible would happen. Learning this Meera sacrifices her love, and thus Vinay marries Sandra ( Linda Arsenio) who is a TV journalist. Now after a long time when Vinay returns home with his son, his special bond with Meera develops again with Meera reciprocating the feeling as well. On a parallel track, a corrupt Mayor - Durai (

Ashish Vidyarthi Ashish Vidyarthi (born 19 June 1965) is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English, Odia, Marathi and Bengali films. He is noted for his antagonist and character roles. In 1995, he receive ...

)- is fighting an issue of an old dam in his area. Towards the end a leak is discovered inside the dam, and when a heavy storm and rains hit on the same day, a high alert is declared.

Cast

* Vinay Rai as Vinay Shankaran * Joshua Fredric Smith as Captain Fredrick Brown * Linda Arsenio as Sandra, a TV journalist and Vinay's wife *

as Meera, Vinay's love interest ** Parvathy Renjith as younger Meera * Megha Burman as Raziya, a Pakistani Girl and Freddy's wife * Rajit Kapur as Shankaran, Vinay's father * Jineeth Rath as Sam Vinay, Vinay's son *

as Durai, the antagonist * Jaala Pickering as Freddy's invalid sister *

Urmila Unni Urmila Unni (born 14 June 1962) is an Indian classical dancer and actress who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Her daughter Utthara Unni is also an actress. Personal life Unni was born on 14 June 1962, into a royal family as the daug ...

as Vinay's mother * S. P. Sreekumar * Bineesh Bastin

Production

Development

The movie is tributed to the 250,000 people who lost their lives in the 1975 Banqiao Dam disaster in China. As per producer-director Sohan, "The central character of the story is this dam and the life of a few mariners living near it. There are nine characters in the movie, representing the ''Navarasa''. I believe that every individual is born with a ''sthayi bhava'', but when his suppressed feelings burst, like a dam, it changes."

Casting

The cast includes acclaimed Indian actor

. Veteran Malayalam actor

Thilakan Palappurathu Keshavan Surendranatha Thilakan (15 July 1935 – 24 September 2012) was an Indian film and stage actor who appeared in over 200 Malayalam films. Thilakan was known for his elaborate method acting, realistic and spontaneous appeara ...

was originally cast to do an important role in the film, but was later removed. Eventually, Rajit Kapur was cast instead of Thilakan. There were reports that Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) also had intervened in Thilakan's replacement. In a related development, Thilakan and his supporters had a march towards the shooting location of the film at

Alappuzha Alappuzha (, आलप्पुळ) or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the district, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvana ...

Filming

''Dam999'' started its shooting at

Alleppey Alappuzha (, आलप्पुळ) or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the district, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvana ...

. A number of unexpected hurdles were faced by the crew while shooting the movie. Veteran Malayalam actor

, who was supposed to be a part of Dam 999, was made to drop out of the project due to his battle with

AMMA Amma or AMMA may refer to: Acronym * Amhara Mass Media Agency (created in 1993), a media organisation in Amhara Region in Ethiopia * All Malaysia Malayalee Association * American Mask Manufacturers Association * American Medical Marijuana Assoc ...

. However the problem was solved by replacing Thilakan with Bollywood Actor Rajit Kapoor. Thilakan was paid seven lakhs as compensation. While the prior issue was still simmering, another lead character from India walked out due to disputes with the crew, while the shoot was in progress, bringing the movie to a halt. The star cast of the movie was immediately altered and the initial sequences in Kerala was completed as planned. From various locations such as

Ooty Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...

in India, the shoot of the movie progressed to Fujairah, UAE, where ''Dam 999'' has captured a couple of its sequences on an oil tanker. The climax of the movie was compiled in Ramoji film city in Hyderabad, built by the Art Director Padmashree Thotta Tharani. While in the stage of post production the movie grabbed the attention owing to its story and title. Debates regarding the ever existing fear of outdated dams have started. The visual effects were done by EyeQube Studios.

Novel

''DAM999 – The Novel'' is published by Indra Publishing House and was made available in the market before the release of the movie. Unexpected huge demands rose for the novel. This novel is penned by director

& co-written by Naufal Ashraf.

Controversies

The

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...

(DMK) complained that the film is based on the Mullaperiyar Dam dispute between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The DMK party chief M. Karunanidhi urged the

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

chief minister J. Jayalalithaa to ban the movie considering "people's safety". A day before its scheduled release on 25 November, the film was banned by the State Government of

on the grounds that the release would disturb the cordial relations between

and

. Challenging the Tamil Nadu government's ban on screening of his film Dam 999 in the State, Producer-director Sohan Roy, on 30 November 2011, moved to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

with writ petition, questioning the subjective satisfaction of the Chief Minister (on whose directions the impugned 24 November order was passed), arrived on "narrow political objectives." He said the order had no constitutional, much less legal, basis. He said the State suspended the screening of the Hollywood movie without hearing him or affording him an opportunity for clarification. The "arbitrary, unilateral and unjustified act" violated his fundamental right to freedom guaranteed under Article 19(1) (a). Explaining the contents of the film, he said it "spreads the message about the consequences of dam disasters around the world." In response to this on 8 December 2011, the

asked the Tamil Nadu government to hear the objections of Sohan Roy on 12 December and pass appropriate orders by 16 December. The Supreme Court on 24 January 2013 dismissed filmmaker Sohan Roy's petition challenging a further extension of the ban by the Tamil Nadu government on screening of this film in the State. It further added, "the people are expecting this issue f the Mullaperiyar damwill be resolved. At this stage, why should we aggravate the situation not only in Tamil Nadu but also in Kerala? We can’t close our eyes to the objections and decide the case purely on legal aspects. We have to respect the sentiments of the people".

Recognitions

Three of the soundtracks "Dakkanaga Dugu", "DAM999 Theme song" and "Mujhe Chodke" were in nomination list for 84th Academy Awards. The music was composed by

Ouseppachan Mechery Louis Ouseppachan (born 13 September 1955), known mononymously as Ouseppachan, is an Indian film composer and singer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He is a recipient of National Film Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State Fil ...

and the lyrics were penned by

. ''DAM999'' was submitted in race for Best Picture apart from being eligible for best Original score also for 84th Academy Awards. The movie was sent to the Oscar awards by All Lights Film Services (ALFS) . ''DAM999'' was titled as the very first Indian movie to be selected for

Golden Rooster Awards The Golden Rooster Awards () are film awards given in mainland China. The awards were originally given annually, beginning in 1981. The name of the award came from the year of the Rooster in 1981. Award recipients receive a statuette in the sha ...

2012, the national film award event conducted in Mainland China. The movie was officially suggested by renowned Israelian director Dan Wolman. Dam999 is selected to compete under 12 categories in Golden Rooster Awards which took place in Shaoxing City towards the end of September 2012. ''DAM999'' won Best Director and Best Feature Film award at the Cinerockom International Film Festival, Best International Feature Film, Special Jury Award, Best Movie of the Festival at International Film Festival for Environment, Health, and Culture 2013. It was declared Best English Film at Sangli Film Festival and adjudged as ‘Judges Favorite’ at International Film Festival – Antigua Barbuda. ''DAM999'' was selected for screening various film festivals such as Tehran Film Festival, Jaipur International Film Festival, Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival, Malaysia, Chain NYC Film Festival, USA, Louisville's International Festival of Film, USA and Trinity International Film Festival, USA, Laughlin International Film Festival, USA and 10th Annual Salento Film Festival, Italy.

Soundtrack

The soundtracks for ''DAM999'' was penned by

and composed by

. The movie totally comprised 9 multilingual soundtracks out of which 5 are in English, 2 are in Hindi, 2 are in Malayalam. The music of ''DAM999'' was officially released at a grand event presided by

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

where Ouesphachan, the music director of the movie handed the first copy to the maestro. Apart from the launch at Chennai, ''DAM999'' music was also launched at multiple other locations including Middle East and Southern Part of India. Three of the soundtracks "Dakkanaga Dugu", "DAM999 Theme song" and "Mujhe Chodke" were categorized eligible & selected for 84th Academy Awards among other 97 songs.

Reception

''Dam 999'' released nationwide in 550 theaters of India and also in the Middle east. The film opened to generally mixed to negative reviews.

References

External links

* *
''DAM999, 3D Independent Movie''
on newkerala.com
''Dam 999''
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219083001/http://www.themovieinsider.com/m7498/dam-999/ , date=19 December 2014 on The Movie Insider

on Rediff.com * http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/news-interviews/Hariharans-a-rock-n-roller/articleshow/10813846.cms Emirati science fiction films English-language Emirati films English-language Indian films Films shot in Dubai 2011 films 2010s disaster films 2011 science fiction films Indian disaster films 1999 in the environment Disaster films based on actual events Environmental films Films shot in Ooty Indian science fiction thriller films Films shot in Alappuzha Films set in Kerala Warner Bros. films Indian films based on actual events Films scored by Ouseppachan 2010s English-language films Film censorship in India Political controversies in India Censored films Political controversies in film 2011 controversies English-language science fiction films