‘Major’ is Adivi Sesh’s long-brewing tribute to Sandeep Unnikrishnan

Sandeep’s story had so much drama that it was tough to include everything in the film, says actor-writer Adivi Sesh

A lot has changed in recent times for actor-writer Adivi Sesh. Major, the Hindi-Telugu film inspired by the life of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, which will release on June 3, is his biggest project to date. When he steals some time from the self-admitted hectic promotions for this conversation at a cafe in Hyderabad, it seems like nothing has changed about the man himself. Sesh still has his head firmly on his shoulders and remains his affable self.  

He remembers a moment while filming the 26/11 attacks in one of the six sets constructed at the Ramoji Film City (RFC), Hyderabad. “Sobhita (Dhulipala, who plays a hostage at The Taj Mahal Palace hotel) and I looked around the set constructed at a cost of two crore; I told her that Kshanam (2016 Telugu crime thriller) was made in about a crore. For Goodachari, we worked with a budget of under five crore. Then came Evaru (Telugu adaptation of the Spanish film Contratiempo or The Invisible Guest). In all these projects, we gave the audiences slick films that looked more than the production cost.” 

Major gave him and director Sashi Kiran Tikka a larger canvas and bigger budget, given that A+S Productions, Mahesh Babu’s GMB Entertainment and Sony Pictures came together. This film aims for the national spotlight but Sesh is not chasing stardom. His intention remains the same: to be a part of creatively satisfying and commercially viable stories. 

The team has held a few “secret screenings” across the country, showing the film to around 1700 people: “This is my best project so far; I am not saying this from self-belief, but going by the feedback of those who have seen the film.”

Major is a tribute to Sandeep Unnikrishnan. It was filmed in Hindi and Telugu and dubbed in Malayalam. A portion of the film happens in Mumbai, during the 26/11 attacks of 2008, and hence it lent itself to be made in Hindi. Since Sandeep hails from a Malayali family, the film is also dubbed in Malayalam.

Sesh was living in San Francisco during the 26/11 attacks. Like everyone else, he learnt about Sandeep through the news. The loss felt personal, he remembers. “Sandeep looked like an older brother, perhaps because of the resemblance. He looked like some of my cousins.”

Driven by curiosity, Sesh read up on Sandeep. “The more I read about this man who saved hundreds of people, I became a fan. I began saving newspaper clippings, links to articles and Quora forums where his friends had shared information. I thought I knew a lot about Sandeep. When I met his parents, I realised there was so much more.”