Payanam

Nagarjuna, Prakash Raj, Sana KhanRadhaMohanPrakash Raj andDil RajuPravinMani KVGuhanThrillerThisNagarjuna, Prakash Raj starrer thriller has the backdrop of Kandahar Hijack ofthe Indian Airlines Flight 814 in the year 1999. In the event that shook theIndian Government, hard core terrorists were released by India in exchange ofthe passengers aboard.However, the script has been changed to bring in a local flavour. In Payanam a flight from Chennai is hijacked and force landed in Tirupati by terrorists. Allthe actors in the film have power packed roles with Nagarjuna playing a commandowho’s on a mission to save all the passengers, Prakash Raj playing abureaucrat from the Prime Minister’s Office with an agenda to negotiate apeaceful release. Actress Sana Khan plays a passenger. Other castincludes Manobala, MS Bhasker, Rishi and BadavaGopi. As the filmrevolves around the hijacked plane that’s been parked at Tirupati Airport,a replica of the same was created at Ramoji Rao film city in Hyderabad. Artdirector Kathir created the set costing around 3crores.Actor Prakash Raj, who is also the producer of the film, got motivated totake up the subject after reading ‘Flight into Fear’ penned by thepilot of the hijacked plane Captain Devi Saran. We hear that PrakashRaj was moved by the tension and horror that the passengers faced during themost frightening eight days inside the aircraft; while the flight flew fromKathmandu to Amritsar, Lahore, Dubai and finally Kandhahar. The filmis based on a real life incidence and the creative team has made sure to bring areal feel to its portrayal. The team has met two families in Trichy who wereonboard the plane which helped to bring in a lot of emotional angles to theplot. The trailerof Payanam is already on air and has been generating enough interest. The moviewill hit screens on February 4. The film will also be released in Telugu withthe title ‘Gaganam - Fasten your seat belts’.More stills from the movieFollow us on Twitter for more stories