Malayalam actors' association to produce film

Kochi June 1 (IANS) The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (known as 'Amma') will produce a Malayalam film, the association announced here Thursday.

The project will be led by upcoming star Dileep, who promised to give Rs.10 million to Amma to get the rights of the film.

"I decided to take up this venture because we at Amma need a lot of money and since stage programmes are no longer organised, I thought a film would be a way out. The first round of payments to the directors and others has already been made," Dileep told reporters here.

Amma has asked ace film director Joshi to direct its first film.

"The proposed film will star leading actors and actresses of the industry, and the shooting will begin after the monsoon ends," president of Amma and Malayalam comedian Innocent told IANS.

He said since Amma could not handle the project on its own, the production was entrusted to Dileep, who owned a production house.

"Dileep will meet the huge cost of production. Above that, he will also pay us Rs.10 million, which we will keep as Amma's corpus fund. Today, he gave us an advance of Rs.1 million. And all those who are selected by Joshi to act in the film will act without any charges," said Innocent.