‘Prince of Malacca’: Reborn to avert traged

Prince of Malacca weaves the fascinating love story of reincarnation of a Prince from the Kingdom of Malacca and a Princess from Singapura in the 15th Century in the coast of Strait of Malacca, who re surface 600 years later. 

A Wall Street billionaire is told that he is facing an impending personal tragedy in the near future and reveals that his lover from a previous birth is now re-born in this present life to a tribe in a remote island in the Southeast Asian Seas. He is advised that he can avert this tragedy only if he could trace this former lover and win her over again. In order to avert the predicament the seer had predicted, this billionaire manoeuvres himself into a seeming double deal undertaking a CIA assignment as an Intelligence Officer to detect a drug cartel in the Southeast Asian theatre. 

However, only his cohort is aware that his real motive is to access his lover in his previous birth. In this covert affair he has to look for her among the native tribes in the islands of the Southeast Asian Seas. In a death-defying battle he attempts to rescue her from the clutches of a dreaded drug lord, who too wants her for himself. 

Prince of Malacca was scripted by Rajkumar Kanagasingam who has blended the Asiatic ken for re-birth story telling. He has got together a film-production team and an advisory group of international repute who have designed out of his script a suspense-filled adventure-thriller – that depicts journeying into the past to rescue the future! This team includes professionals with extensive experience in all aspects of independent film production, marketing, and distribution. 

Prince of Malacca is billed to be directed by Emmy-nominated American actor and director Andrew Lauer, who directed The Tehuacan Project. The Tehuacan Project was executive produced by Brad Pitt – one of the leading lights in Hollywood today. Brad Pitt was Andrew Lauer’s onetime college roommate. Andrew Lauer received critical acclaim for his feature films such as Intermedio, a supernatural thriller starring Edward Furlong (Terminator 2, American History X) and Amber Benson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and the multi-award winning short film, Little Cuba, etc. In addition to directing this film Andy Lauer will also stand in as a producer.

Venugopal Nair is the slated Producer of Prince of Malacca. Producer Venugopal Nair has worked in the Indian Film Industry for nearly 46 years working in India with various celebrated producers and directors. Venugopal Nair has handled almost all the international films that were shot in India in recent times, notably Gandhi, Octopussy, Indiana Jones, Jewel in the Crown, Bourne Supremacy, Jungle Book, etc. 

Teamed with him in the production is Chandran Rutnam, the well known Sri Lankan film maker who will be the Executive Producer. Chandran is famously referred to by Steven Spielberg as ‘Our most valued friend in the Far East’. Chandran Rutnam also has had the distinction of working with Sir David Lean, Sir Carol Reed, John Boorman, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Regis Wargnier, among others.  

Brian Vaughan, an Australian actor/writer/director is the other Executive Producer. Brian Vaughan is the founder of Spirit Rider Productions, a Queensland-based independent movie and television feature production-house established in 1997. His recent appearances were in various TV series including SliDe, K9 and Steven Spielberg’s 3D drama Terra Nova.

1st Assistant Director/Associate Producer D.B. Warnasiri has the distinction of being the 1st Assistant Director working mostly in a number of international films including Rampage, Sandokan, The Human Dolphin, Mountain of the Cannibal God, River of the Great Cayman,  Challenge in the Last Paradise, Tarzan – the Ape Man, Mountbatten – the Last Viceroy of India. He continued his 1st Assistant Director role for the BBC production of Midnight’s Children in 1997, which was abandoned because of the threat from the Islamic Extremists. Then again he was AD with the US Tele series Covert Affairs in 2010-2011 and Ben Kingsley starrer A Common Man in 2011.   

Associate Producer Grant Stoner is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago and served as Director of Membership at the Producers Guild of America and currently works as Director of Development at Riverview Films.

Associate Producer Parathan Navaratnam is a Toronto based film critic on South Asian films and worked for a long time in the distribution section of Universal Pictures Canada.  

Marketing Director Paul Lauer (Andrew Lauer’s brother) is known for his film marketing prowess proven with the recent hit Rocky VI, United 93 and Disney’s ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’. As the Marketing Director for Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’, Lauer designed and executed one of the most successful grass roots marketing campaigns in Hollywood history. Earning over $ 125 million in its first five days, with a relatively small marketing budget, the Passion shattered all expectations, and went on to earn over $ 600 million in worldwide box office.

Mike Medavoy currently serving as Co-Chairman of American Cinematheque and Chairman of Phoenix Pictures (The Thin Red Line, Lake Placid, Dick), is a consultant for Prince of Malacca. Medavoy is former Chairman of TriStar Pictures, where he oversaw the production of films like Philadephia, Sleepless in Seattle, Cliffhanger, Terminator 2, and Hook. Medavoy has received several lifetime achievement awards including the Motion Picture Pioneer Award and the Cannes Film Festival and UCLA Career Achievement Awards.

Casting Director Heidi Levitt is a graduate of Barnard College and the AFI Producers Program; Heidi has cast such successful films as JFK (1991), Nixon (1995), Natural Born Killers (1994), Nurse Betty (2000), The Rock (1996), The Joy Luck Club (1993), Smoke (1995) and Benny & Joon (1993). Alternating between standard studio and indie fare, she has repeatedly worked with acclaimed directors Oliver Stone, Wayne Wang, Wim Wenders and Neil LaBute.

The Principal Photography of Prince of Malacca is set to be in Malaysia, USA, Canada and India.