As Malayalam film directors vie with each other for locations in villages on Tamil Nadu-Kerala border and places like ootty, Kodaikanal and pollachi, many bigwigs from rest of India are setting their movies on the Kuttanadan canvas. And many directors are making it a point to shoot at least one song sequence in the Punnamada lake.

In the last couple of months, many Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu movies have been shot here. The last one in the series was Mayabazar , a Telugu movie directed by Mohankrishna, who had bagged the national best young director award for the film Grahanam in 2004. In this movie, Bhoomika (remember the heroine in Blockbuster movies such as There Nam and Roja Koottam) is doing the role of Anupama who falls in love with sreenivas, a millionaire. The role of sreenivas is played by Telugu actor Raja.

Ðuring the Onam season, there was a steady increase in the number of movies shot in Kuttanad. Picturisation of song sequences in Kuttanad is a fad among producers and directors these days. The shooting for a single song in Mayabazar lasted for three days! Mohankrishna was so impressed with the location that he showed the interest to visit the place once again. “MACTA production executive union president U.A. Kabeer said.

Among kollywood directors, hero-cum-director Cheran first exploited the picturesque beauty of Kuttanad. “Cheran was awe-struck by the greenery of the Kuttanadan granary and its mind-boggling waterways. Not only did he shoot films here, but also penned scripts for all his hit movies while enjoying the home stay at kuttanad. Some times, he stays here for six months at a stretch to complete a screenplay,” Kabeer said.

Another venture to be shot in Kuttanad is a Malayalam movie, the story of which is penned by M.T. Vasudevan Nair. In this movie, the protagonist puts on the garb of a Kalarigurukkal. The movie based on ‘illams’ will be directed by Hollywood filmmaker Prembha Nook.

Not just this. “There are also a string of Tamil, kannada and Telugu movies waiting to be shot there.” says kabeer.