Prakash Raj’s role in Kamal KM’s Pada inspired by IAS officer WR Reddy?

Actor Prakash Raj will be marking his return to Mollywood with director Kamal KM’s Pada. He had concluded shooting for the movie earlier this month, before he had undergone his surgery. 

The movie is reportedly based on a true incident in 1996 when four members of the Ayyankali Pada held the then Palakkad district collector WR Reddy hostage in his chamber for nine hours with fake weapons. The act was to demand the withdrawal of the Tribal Bill that was passed in 1996 by the Kerala legislature. 

While actor Kunchacko Boban had confirmed that Pada is based on the said incident, from the teaser of the movie, which was released last week, it seems that Prakash Raj will be playing Reddy, who was released by the group after promising that he would bring their demands to the government’s notice. 

Kunchacko, Joju George, Vinayakan and Dileesh Pothan play the four members of the Ayyankali Pada in the movie, which had been in production for the past two years and had wrapped up only earlier this month. 

Majority of the cast, except for Prakash Raj, Jagadeesh, Shankar Ramakrishnan and Santosh Keezhatoor, had finished their portions in August 2019. A few sequences set in the government office were shot earlier this month. 

Prakash Raj, who has acted in Malayalam films such as Odiyan, 9 and Athiran, was recently seen in the Netflix anthology Navarasa. Meanwhile, Pada also has TG Ravi and Salim Kumar. The film’s director Kamal had earlier helmed critically acclaimed movies such as ID and Alif. The film’s cinematography is by Samir Thahir.