Fahadh Faasil, Nivin Pauly and Indrajith; Malayali stars trying to gain a foothold in Tamil cinema
The last few years have been a golden period in Malayalam cinema. Along with delivering quality films, Malayalam movies have also been able to reap huge commercial success. The popularity of Malayalam movies outside the state have been soaring high. People who once used to see Malayalam cinema as a breeding ground for art house movies, are now turning their heads to watch some quality entertainers.
Malayalam cinema’s popularity outside the state has opened the doors of opportunity for the actors also. Malayali actresses have always been in demand but of late we are also witnessing male actors foraying into other industries. Three young pillars of Mollywood- Fahadh Faasil, Nivin Pauly and Indrajith have been signed for some highly exciting Tamil movies this year.
Arguably the most talented young actor in the south, Fahadh Faasil has been roped in for two Tamil movies this year. He will be playing the antagonist’s role in Thani Oruvan director Mohan Raja’s next which stars Sivakarthikeyan in the lead. The movie titled as Velaikaaran also stars Nayanthara, Sneha and Prakash Raj in major roles. Incidentally, Mohan Raja had earlier approached Fahadh to play the villain role in Thani Oruvan but he could not commit for the movie that time. The offer eventually reached Aravind Swamy’s hands and his character Sidharth Abhimanyu went on to become one of the finest villains of all time. Apart from Velaikaaran, Fahadh is also playing a prominent role in National award winner Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s new movie. It is an anthology of five movies which also stars Vijay Sethupathy, Samantha and Nadia Moidu.
Young sensation Nivin Pauly has finished shooting for his first straight Tamil film Richie, which is all set to hit screens on May 12. Richie, directed by debutant Gautham Ramachandran is the official remake of superhit Kannada movie, Ulidavaru Kandanthe. The recently released teaser of Richie took the internet by storm. It has registered the non Rajinikanth record for most teaser views, coming next only to Kabali. Nivin already enjoys huge popularity in Tamil Nadu thanks to the massive success of Premam in Tamil Nadu. Apart from Richie, he has also committed for two other Tamil movies, one of which will be produced by director Atlee.
Indrajith, another highly talented actor from Mollywood has also signed for a Tamil movie this year. He is playing one of the leads in Dhuruvangal 16 fame Karthick Naren’s next titled as Naragasooran. Aravind Swamy is playing the other lead while the third actor is yet to be confirmed. The movie is said to be an intense romantic thriller which also marks the comeback of actress Shriya Saran to Kollywood. Filmmaker Gautham Menon is co-producing this movie under his banner Ondraga Entertainment. It will be interesting to see Indrajith rubbing shoulders with another seasoned performer like Aravind Swamy.
Apart from these three actors, Prithviraj, Dulquer Salmaan and Unni Mukundan have all been in talks for projects from other industries. It’s high time Malayali actors gain a foothold outside the state.
