''Engineer'' is a shelved Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language film directed by

Gandhi Krishna Gandhi Krishna is an Indian film director who has worked on Tamil films. After beginning his career as an assistant to Shankar, he has made commercially and critically successful films. Career After apprenticing under Shankar in ''Indian'' ( ...

and written by Sujatha originally slated to be released in 1999. Based on the true incidents revolving around the

Sardar Sarovar Dam The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a concrete gravity dam built on the Narmada River in Navagam near the town of Kevadiya, Narmada District, in the state of Gujarat, India. The dam was constructed to provide water and electricity to four Indian state ...

project, the film would had starred

Arvind Swamy Arvind Swamy (born 18 June 1970) is an Indian actor, model, entrepreneur and television presenter known for his work in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam films. He was introduced as an actor by Mani Ratnam with the blockbuster ...

and

Madhuri Dixit Madhuri Dixit Nene (née Dixit; born 15 May 1967) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. A leading actress of Indian cinema, she has appeared in over 70 films. Noted by critics for her beauty, dancing skills, and characters ...

, with music composed by A.R. Rahman and cinematography and editing being handled by Jeeva and K. Thanigachalam respectively. It was originally filmed in Tamil with planned versions in Telugu and

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

. The film was shelved after 80 percent of shooting was completed. Despite reports of a revival in 2004 with a different cast and producer, this has proved to be untrue.

Plot

The original film was based on a dam being built across a village. The story of the film is set in a village that faces the threat of perishing if the dam is constructed. The engineer (played by Arvind Swamy) undertakes the project for corporate interests. The wife of the engineer (Madhuri Dixit), fights against insensitive authorities that do not seem to be concerned with villagers' woes. She is left numb when she learns that her husband is also a part of the dam project.

Cast

* Napolean * Nassar *

Goundamani Subramaniyan Karuppaiya (born 25 May 1939), known by his stage name Goundamani, is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Tamil cinema. He is known for his comic duo partnership in Tamil films with fellow actor Senthil. The pair dominated t ...

* Senthil *

Bala Singh Bala Singh (7 May 195227 November 2019) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil language films. After making his debut in Nassar's '' Avatharam'' (1995), he appeared as the antagonist in over a hundred films. Early life and career Bala Sin ...

Production

The film was announced on 16 January 1997 with the film's shooting beginning a week later. Initially the production team had offered the film to

, but she declined due to the controversial aspects of the subject. After the Supreme Court order on the

Sardar Sarovar dam The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a concrete gravity dam built on the Narmada River in Navagam near the town of Kevadiya, Narmada District, in the state of Gujarat, India. The dam was constructed to provide water and electricity to four Indian state ...

project, Gandhi approached Madhuri with renewed interest and she agreed to play the role, thus marking her debut in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

. Other cast members included Nassar,

, Senthil and

. The costumes of the film were handled by fashion designer duo Anu-Aneez. Graphics artist Venky had worked in the film to multiply crowds, clone characters and serve up a 3-D song sequence. The film ran into financial trouble after 80% of the film's shoot had been shot and has since remained unreleased. Director Shankar, mentor of Gandhi Krishna, attempted to revive the project through his production house, as well as producer Kalaippuli S. Thanu, but was unsuccessful in doing so. The film became one of three Arvind Swamy projects which ran into financial troubles in the mid 1990s, with only '' Sasanam'' being belatedly released in 2006. The other venture,

Azhagam Perumal Azhagam Perumal is an Indian film director and actor. Career Azhagam Perumal hails from the village of Kulasekharapuram in Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu. All his family members were working in the government service and his parents wanted h ...

's ''Mudhal Mudhalaaga'' had also featured music by A. R. Rahman and a leading Hindi actress

Karisma Kapoor Karisma Kapoor (born 25 June 1974) is an Indian actress, who works in Hindi films. A member of the Kapoor family, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards. Kapoor made her acting d ...

, like ''Engineer''. In 2002, the makers attempted to revive the project and agreed dates with Madhuri Dixit. However, the film did not restart production. After the release of Krishna's debut directorial ''

Chellamae ''Chellamae'' is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film directed by Gandhi Krishna, who directed the critically acclaimed ''Nila Kaalam''. The film stars Vishal and Reema Sen in the lead role, while Bharath plays an antagonistic ...

'' in 2004, it was reported that Krishna had plans revive the project with a different cast and producer, but was remained untrue.

References

{{reflist 1990s unfinished films Unreleased Tamil-language films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References