A Malayalam film song shot entirely under water

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Could an entire song sequence in a movie be shot under water? That too in a Malayalam film?
 Fifth Element Film, a film production house, has created history of sorts by filming the love song ‘Kaatharamaam Mizhi’ under water, which will be one of the attractions of the upcoming Malayalam film ‘Ettekaal Second.’
Karthik and K S Chitra lent their voices to the lyrics written by Rafeek Ahamed and composed by Santhosh-Colin.
The underwater shoot was directed by Vinod Vijay, who has been a post-production director with Cloud Nine Entertainment, Mumbai. ‘’We worked with topnotch equipment dedicated to underwater photography. The entire process was conducted in consultation with experts at the Annenberg Center in Los Angeles. And we have results to show,’’ he said. Padmasurya and Gimi play the lead in this love story. Other faces are Janardanan, Suraj Venjarammood, Vijayaraghavan, Madhu, Urmila Unni and Kollam Thulasi. The film is directed by Kanakaraghavan. “We have approached the Limca Book of Records and the Diving Almanac Book of Records in Canada. We hope to claim the world record for this,’’  Doney Joseph, CEO, Fifth Element, said.
The film has completed its first schedule of shoot and the crew is taking a short break before resuming it in mid-April.
“Everyone told us it would be an impossible feat, considering the huge budgets needed and the sheer difficulty of doing everything, including directing, prompting and lipping underwater. But we were adamant and we found the right people to make this fantasy come true,’’ Pavithra Krishnan of Fifth Element said.