Late actor-politician Vijayakanth's iconic and much-celebrated film Captain Prabhakaran is all set for re-release in 4K technology soon. Directed by RK Selvamani and released in theatres during the occasion of Tamil new year of 1991, Captain Prabhakaran earned him the beloved moniker 'Captain' for him, a title that had struck a chord with audiences, fans and his party cadres and stayed with him all through his life.
The title of the film was inspired from Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and featured Mansoor Ali Khan as the antagonist. His character Veerabhadran was loosely based on the forest brigand and sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. Captain Prabhakaran also starred Rupini, Livingston and Ramya Krishnan, while Sarathkumar appeared in a cameo role. The music for the action film was scored by Ilaiyaraaja.
The re-release has been locked for August 22, ahead of Vijayakanth's birthday, where it will be released in 500 theatres across Tamil Nadu. The new release is being organised by Karthik Venkatesan under Sparrow Cinemas.
During a press meet that was organised to share the news, director RK Selvamani said, "Captain Prabhakaran, which was shot in film, has been digitised, restored and will be released across the state. I was skeptical of how it will be received by audience after three decades. When I rewatched it, I realised that it feels like it has been shot today. Every shot feels like it was taken with the technology that we have today back then. I had the same feeling that I had when I watched it back then as I was watching it recently."
Recalling memories from the shoot, he revealed, "We had travelled across forests in India. Every fight sequence was done by him originally. We had major accidents. One time he fell from a great height, but thankfully he fell onto a bush. He instantly got up despite the pain he had."
The director further shared that following Captain Prabhakaran's re-release announcement, many distributors lined up to contact him in order to purchase the license.
The event was also graced by DMDK leader Premalatha Vijayakanth, party treasurer LK Sudheesh and directors Vikraman, RV Udhayakumar and Perarasu.
