Rain-washed Kerala through the eyes of Santosh Sivan is never a bad bet.
Add to that an utterly watchable cast and some delicious war melodrama, and viola, there's your childhood Chandamama bedtime story brought alive like little else. Handsome, gallant warrior to boot.
Urumi, despite the gore and violence, is a pretty uncomplicated folk tale of one brave hero's triumph against the odds that his land faces. Spanning across quite a few kingdoms of 16th century Kerala, the story is based on the indignation of the natives of the Malabar coast against Portugese rule. ....