The film will not feature any songs unlike other Indian films. 14.

It is an adaptation of William Shakespeare s play, Macbeth, and is the fifth installment in Jayarajs Navarasa series.

The film, which also takes inspirations from the Vadakkan Pattukal (Northern Ballads ) of North Malabar region in Kerala tells the story of Chandu Chekavar ( Kunal Kapoor ), an infamous warrior in the 13th century North Malabar.

Principal photography commenced on 5 January 2016 in Thiruvananthapuram, where it was mostly shot, with other locations being Agra and Aurangabad.

The film premiered at the BRICS Film Festival on 2 September 2016 in New Delhi, and was released on 24 February 2017.

Jayaraj had earlier adapted two of Shakespeare plays Othello and Antony and Cleopatra into feature films in Malayalam.

Veeram, an adaptation of Macbeth was officially announced by Jayaraj in October 2015.

The announcement was held during a function in Doha, organised by the executives of Chandrakala Arts, a newly formed film production company based in Qatar, who are also the investors of Veeram.

Apart from Malayalam, the film is also made in English and Hindi for attracting international audience.

The film was planned to start production in November 2015 for a mid-2016 release.

The film will abundantly use the martial art, Kalarippayattu.

After completing the screenplay and conceptualising a production plan, he put a newspaper advertisement in search of producers.

Chandramohan D. Pilai, a Qatar-based banker and an old friend of Jayaraj replied to the ad.

In fact, almost thirty years ago Pillai already had a discussion with Jayaraj for producing a film and Jayaraj was interesting in directing it.

The deal was finalised after which Jayaraj invited him to India for further discussions about the films production plans, which likely requires a high budget.

Pillai formed the production company, Chandrakala Arts in India for producing the film with collaboration from two of his friends, though they do not wanted to credit their names in the film.

Jayaraj himself traveled to the United States in search of technical assistance for the film.

Audition for actors was conducted in three rounds, with first one conducted in Mumbai in October 2015, and second round in Chennai, and third in Kerala.

He plays the role of Chandu Chekavar, an infamous warrior in the Vadakkan Pattukal (Northern Ballads) of North Malabar region in Kerala.

Preparing for the role, Kunal attended a Kalaripayattu training schedule in Mumbai, who was taught by a Gurukkal from Kollam in a strict schedule which started in October 2015.

He also underwent weight training and increased 12 kg (26 lb) muscle weight for the role.

Kapoor said, it is every actors wish to play Macbeth and he had a long time wish to do an action film, so when he was offered the role he immediately signed it.

During preparation period, apart from his martial art training, he had a regular reading workshop with Jayaraj and also learned Malayalam.

His character was reported to have a beard and a man-bun.

Veeram is Kapoors debut film in Malayalam cinema.

Most of the other characters in the film were done by newcomers from Mumbai and Kerala.

Kapoors scenes were shot in such a way that they will first shoot it in Hindi, then the same scene will be re-shoot in English and finally in Malayalam, as he was most comfortable with Hindi and the least with Malayalam.

The film was mostly shot in Thiruvananthapuram, some portions were shot in Ajanta and Ellora Caves in Aurangabad, Maharashtra and in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.

The film will not feature any songs unlike other Indian films.

Veeram Songs