Cinema

Who is Captain Miller? The man behind actor Dhanush's upcoming intriguing thriller!

By TNSCorrespondent, 05 July, 2022
Dhanush, Captain Miller, Tamil cinema

(This article is authored by Alar) 

There have been swirling speculations among Tamil fans over the man behind the crux of one of actor Dhanush's upcoming movies 'Captain Miller'. Ever since the announcement about the movie was made last Saturday, social media were filled with talks of what inspired the storyline and who is Captain Miller. Thanks to the captivating music of GV Prakash that put this intriguing thriller in the limelight that also triggered the search for the man behind the story.  

While the movie 'Captain Miller' is bankrolled by Sathya Jyothi Films, it is helmed by Arun Matheeswaran, who rose to fame through his movies 'Rocky' and 'Saani Kaayidham'. Many fans are baffling that Arun may or may not have directly created the story of Captain Miller, Vallipuram Vasanthan, a member of Black Tiger of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The news is the only half speculation, as the filmmaker in an interview told that he titled the movie inspired by the movie, 'Saving Private Ryan' - John.H.Miller, commonly called Captain Miller.

This movie was released in 1998 and shot on the sets of World War 2 in which Captain Miller and his squad were in search of their troops. However, the title still refuses to stay away from the memory of Captain Miller of Tamil Eelam. Vallipuram Vasanthan was an active member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Being a rebel against the Sri Lankan regime, Vasanthan was the LTTE's first suicide bomber. 

The story of 'Captain Miller': 

Vallipuram Vasanthan was born in Sri Lanka on 1st January 1966 and he joined as a driver in 1983 for the LTTE after he was affected and suffered by the victims of the Black July anti-Tamil riots. The LTTE base was captured by Srilanka Army and used as a military base for them. The LTTE tried to capture the base which was highly protected with security apparatus. The LTTE planned to demolish the base by using Miller as a manly explosive. Miller volunteered to drive a bomb-filled vehicle into the heart of the base.

On 5 July 1987, the LTTE filled a truck with explosives and wedged Miller's body into the driver's seat so that he couldn't move even if he wanted to. His hands were tied to the steering wheel and one foot to the accelerator. Fellow LTTE cadres started the truck which started moving. Miller piloted the explosive-filled truck into the army camp in Nelliady Madhya Maha Vidyalayam, Karaveddy in the Jaffna peninsula, and soldiers opened fire but the truck kept going and Miller was most likely killed.

The attack was fierce and simultaneously as the truck launched the fire. Vasanthan and forty Sri Lankan soldiers were killed in the attack. This incident made Vasanthan become the first suicide bomber of LTTE, followed by his death. 5 July became Karumpuli Naal (Black Tigers Day), a day for Tamils across the world to commemorate all Black Tiger "martyrs". A statue for Vasanthan was placed at the war zone, as a tribute. But the Sri Lankan army destroyed it in 2006. The base, which held the statue, and the remnants of the shrine were also demolished on 4 July 2010.

 

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