Last 40 minutes of 'Mahabalipuram' will shock audiences: Director

Director Don Sandy says the last 40 minutes of his forthcoming Tamil directorial debut "Mahabalipuram", which is inspired by true events, will offer audiences a glimpse of some realistic events and leave them shocked.

"The film is based on a newspaper incident that bothered me so much. Although we've had a few films inspired by true events, most of them are not realistic enough. My film is mostly realistic and its last 40 minutes will shock audiences," Sandy told IANS.

"All those who've watched my film haven't stopped talking about the crucial portion towards the end. I hope audiences will be equally thrilled," he said.

The film, slated for release on Friday, features Karunakaran, Ramesh Thilak, Vinayak, Karthik Sabesh, Prem Kumar, Angana Roy and Vithika Sheru.

In films inspired by real events, Sandy says it's very challenging to do justice to the source of inspiration.

"In cinema, only 80 percent of what you perceive comes out in paper. And only about 60 percent of what you have on paper, gets made into a film. I won't say I have done 100 percent justice to the source material, but I've tried to be as honest and realistic as possible," he said.

According to the director, "Mahabalipuram" is a youthful thriller laced with good comedy.

"It's about some incidents in the lives of five friends. The story focuses on how and why did these incidents happen and its aftermath. In some important sequences of the film, actor Sathyaraj sir has lent his voice," he said.

Nearly 90 percent of the film was shot in Mahabalipuram, while the rest in Chennai.

"Shooting in live locations was extremely challenging, and since Mahabalipuram is a tourist spot and a place of world heritage, there were lot of restrictions. It was mostly crowded, and hence it was tough to complete the film in about 45 days," he added.

He said if not for the support of his actors and producer Vinayak, who also plays one of the leads, the film would've taken longer to be completed.