Film director releases soundtrack of his latest offering

LOCAL drama and film director Sandosh Kesavan is a man on a mission.

He is bent on doing something different for the Malaysian Indian film industry.

He eschews run-of-the-mill concept and prefers to embrace innovation when it comes to his films.

After taking a brief hiatus, the director is back with a film called Maduraikaran.

The film’s soundtrack was launched recently in Kuala Lumpur, attended by the cast and crew of the movie together with invited guests.

Sandosh said it was the first time in the Malaysian Indian film history that a soundtrack was being released before the movie.

Written by prominent local composer Jay Jeyanathan, the soundtrack has two songs namely Enggo Thulaithaven and Maduraikare Panggale.

“Before the release of the movie, I want the songs to create the necessary impact and of course generate interest among prospective audience,” he said.

Sandosh has taken a leaf from the film industry in India, where it is the norm to release a soundtrack prior to the movie release.

“Indian soundtracks are often inspired by the film’s storyline. hence the songs are indicative of what’s to come,” explained Sandosh.

He hopes the soundtrack will create the expected hype as the film will be launched in the next few months.

Since graduating from Academy Film Malaysia, Sandosh has worked as an assistant cameraman on two Indian films — Mr Butler (Malayalam) and Time (Tamil).

Sandosh’s other achievements include having shot the video clip of Siti Nurhaliza for the film Paloh and winning the Best Director, Screenplay and Project for his short video Felina at the Mini Film and Video Festival in Indonesia in 1995.

Among his other films are Aandal (Tamil) and Gong (Malay), released in 2005 and 2006 respectively.

Aandal recently won the Best Screenplay jury award at the Malaysian Indian Film Festival held in Chennai, India.

Maduraikaran is about an Indian national labourer working in Malaysia who falls in love with a local girl.

The challenges he face subsequent to the love affair form the crux of the story.

Popular singer and actor Shangkara, whose previous acting credits include the award-winning Chemman Saalai, plays the protaganist while Puspalaatha Muniandy plays his love interest.

Maduraikaran is presented by Janu Talkies.