Susi Ganesan's debut directorial Tamil film Virumbugiren represented India at the recent Kuala Lumpur World Film Festival 2003. Films from 39 countries are being screened at the fest.

Organised by the ministry of information, Malaysia, and FINAS, the National Film Development Corporation of Malaysia, the festival began on February16 and ends Tuesday, February 18.

Awards will be presented to films according to the theme of the festival: 'Peace, Harmony, Non-Violence and Non-Discrimination.'

Festival authorities say the reason behind the festival was 'to give peace a chance'. They also claim this festival is the first-of-its-kind in the world. It is being held in conjunction with the Non-Alignment Movement Conference that is hosted by Malaysia.

Ganesan, who worked as an assistant to Mani Ratnam, had earlier said he was quite disappointed that his first film never saw the light of day. 'It is my first baby. I feel very sad that it is still in the cans because of some financial problem between the producer and the distributor.' His second film Five Star was produced by Mani Ratnam's production house Madras Talkies.

Virumbugiren, starring Prasanth and Sneha (who debuted in the film), is a love story of a fire fighter and a village girl. Hero Sivan (Prasanth) dreams of making it big as a fashion designer. When his father, a fire fighter, dies on duty, the responsibility of raising his two brothers falls on his shoulders. He has no option but to accept his father's job which he gets on compassionate grounds.

His fire fighting unit is regularly called to put out fires in a small remote village where caste clashes are regular. Sivan falls in love with a girl from a different caste. They face opposition from her father and the villagers. Ultimately, the villagers help the lovers unite.

The message of love and peace in the film caught the attention of the festival selection committee.

Ganesan is excited at the fact that finally his 'first baby' would be 'delivered' at an international film festival.

The hero of Virumbugiren, Prasanth accompanied Susi Ganesan to Kuala Lumpur.