The controversial political thriller film Madras Cafe has caused its first stir amongst the international population, with stories emerging that the prominent Sri Lankan Tamil community in Canada are planning to boycott the film because of the sensitive material depicted. Recent reports also say that the film will be banned in the South Indian city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu which has a large Tamil population.
Madras Café is set against the backdrop of the tumultuous and much-publicised Sri Lankan civil war of the 1980s. The subject matter in the film touches upon the inflammatory issues regarding the various factions involved in the drawn-out bloody and brutal conflict, including India’s involvement. The 26 year-long feud finally came to an end in 2009 with the military defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
A JA Entertainment and Rising Sun Films Production, Madras Café sees award-winning actor John Abraham (Force, Academy Award Nominated Water, Jism) turn producer for the second time in his career after the international success of the off-beat comedy Vicky Donor. At the directorial helm is avant-garde independent film maker and producer Shoojit Sircar, who is responsible for such well-received films as Vicky Donor and Yahaan, for which he won the Indian Competition Special Jury Award at Osian’s Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema.
The film features an accomplished cast, including Nargis Fakhri (Rockstar), Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rashi Khanna, Siddharth Basu and Agnello Dias. The stirring musical score comes from Shantanu Moitra (3 Idiots, Parineeta). John Abraham performs the role of Captain Vikram Singh, an accomplished Para Military Officer recruited by the R&AW’s (India’s external security agency) Indian head Robin Dutt (RD) – with the mandate to execute certain covert Intelligence operations in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, and conduct peaceful provincial council elections. However, as Vikram delves deeper into his covert operations against a faceless enemy in a daring game of cat-and-mouse, he suddenly becomes the hunted. Soon the beleaguered Vikram realises that there is a much bigger conspiracy occurring. Vikram’s quest for the truth sees him team up with an ally in the field – an Indo-Western journalist named ‘Jaya’ (Nargis Fakhri). Together they set about finding the truth amidst a complex web of lies and deceit, and begin telling the world their incredible story.
