Fugitive Kurup on Burj Khalifa

Trailer of the south Indian Malayalam film on Sukumara Kurup plays on the world’s tallest building

Dubai, 08 November 2021: Phars Film, the largest film distribution and exhibition network in the Middle East will be releasing KURUP on 11th of November across Middle East in 5 Languages Malayalam, Tamil Telegu, Hindi & Kannada. Wayfarer Films and M Star Entertainments are leaving no stone unturned to promote their crime thriller based on a real-life story, Kurup. 

On November 10, the film’s trailer on the fugitive who is still mysteriously absconding, Sukumara Kurup, will play on Burj Al Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
This is the first time a Malayalam movie from the South Indian state of Kerala is flashing on the glassy panels of Burj Khalifa. It is an ambitious and bold effort to communicate loudly and with aplomb on the film’s distinctive appeal to the audience of the UAE and particularly to the Malayalis on the demographic tapestry numbering over one million.

“The mystery about Kurup was around me ever since I was born. He is the longest missing fugitive in India. Inspired from the real events, we created a movie, which took us many years to bring it from the form of an idea to that of a film. Finally, I am so happy and excited to present the work in cinemas across the world and the UAE,” said the film’s director Srinath Rajendran.

For Malayalis from the 80s the Kurup crime was an absolutely shocking and novel one - that a middle-class 30 something Sukumara Kurup from Alappuzha, a district which in tourist parlance is called the Venice of the East, could resort to such a heinous crime, unheard of in the annals of felony. Sukumara Kurup faked his own death by burning an unsuspecting look alike Chacko in an Ambassador car to claim his own insurance money of around US$ 11,000.
For the new generation of Keralites, Sukumara Kurup is still an unsolved mystery and the Burj Khalifa promotion may inculcate curiosity about the tale of a fugitive still on the run for over three decades.

The film on the India’s longest absconding fugitive stars Dulquer Salmaan, Sobitha Dhulipala, Indrajith Sukumaran, Sunny Wayne, Shine Tom Chacko, Anupama Parameshwaran Sudeesh and Saiju Kurup. The major portion of the film set against the backdrop of 1970-1990s has three National award winners on board - Banglan, Vivek Harshan and Rajakrishnan. 

Kurup is also the first Indian movie to have non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles.