Cinema VinesAbundantia Entertainment, headed by Vikram Malhotra, and Almighty Motion Picture, led by Prabhleen Sandhu, have announced a joint venture to produce a feature film titled Heavy Metal. The movie will dramatise the mercury contamination saga that unfolded in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, after a Hindustan Unilever thermometer factory allegedly disposed of mercury‑laden waste in 2001.
Based on Ameer Shahul’s investigative book Heavy Metal: How a Global Corporation Poisoned Kodaikanal (Pan Macmillan), the film is positioned as a corporate‑environmental thriller. It will follow the investigative narrative of the scandal while spotlighting the human toll on former factory workers, local residents, activists and Greenpeace volunteers who campaigned for justice over the years.
Sources say the pre‑production phase is well underway, with principal casting already in progress and filming slated to begin soon. The creative team has cited works such as Erin Brockovich, Dark Waters and the series Chernobyl as inspirations, aiming to capture the intensity of the real‑world controversy while focusing on the specific events that shaped the Kodaikanal case.
For Almighty Motion Picture, Heavy Metal joins a portfolio of projects that draw from real events and institutions, following their recent backing of the streaming series Made in India: A Titan Story. The partnership with Abundantia brings together two production houses that blend corporate thriller, investigative mystery and human drama elements into a single narrative.
Details regarding the director, cast and other key crew members are expected to be announced in the coming days. The film’s release window is not yet confirmed, but production is anticipated to move to the set shortly after the current pre‑production wrap‑up.
