Kandaa Vara Sollunga: First single from Dhanush starrer Karnan out
The first single from Dhanush’s ‘Karnan’ has been released online. Titled ‘Kandaa Vara Sollunga’, it is a goosebumps-inducing song rendered by Kidakkuzhi Mariyammal and composer Santhosh Narayanan. The film’s director Mari Selvaraj has penned the lyrics.
‘Karnan’ promises to be an intense and hard-hitting film just like Mari Selvaraj’s directorial debut ‘Pariyerum Perumal’. It is a rural-based film that is partly inspired from real life incidents. The film has Malayali actress Rajisha Vijayan as the female lead. It is her debut outing in Tamil and the actress is highly excited about it. The supporting cast also includes Lal, Lakshmipriya Chandramouli, Azhagar Perumal, Natty aka Natarajan Subramanian, ’96’ fame Gouri Kishan and Yogi Babu.
Post-production works for ‘Karnan’ are currently on in full swing as the film is scheduled for theatrical release on April 9. Kollywood’s veteran producer Kalipuli S Thanu is producing the film under the banner of V Creations.
Extraordinary response for Drishyam 2; Celebs heap praise on Mohanlal and Jeethu Joseph
‘Drishyam 2’, which had its premiere on Amazon Prime Video last night, has opened to phenomenal response online. The film is getting unanimously positive reviews from critics and commoners. Even celebs were eagerly looking forward to the film’s release. Many of them have congratulated and showered praise on Mohanlal, Jeethu Joseph and team for pulling off a fitting sequel.
Prithviraj Sukumaran, who got to catch a special screening of ‘Drishyam 2’ much prior to its world premier, was among the first to share his thoughts on the film. He has written,
Drishyam 2
Been wanting to say something about the film for a long time now. Guess since the world premiere is just hours away..it’s ok to not hold on any longer.
Following up a cult piece of cinema with a sequel is a huge responsibility. And with something like Drishyam, a film that pretty much changed the schematics of the entire industry, the pressure on a proposed 2nd part would have been immense (trust me..I know!). But how gloriously does Jeethu pull it off! Where do you take Georgekutty 6 years down the line? Has his incredible penchant for constructing and living a fictional story softened? Does he make a slip? Does he finally get outsmarted? Does time and law catch up? If you think you already know..you’re in for one hell of a surprise!
Fantastically written and conceived..this is Jeethu’s best film after Drishyam! He was the first person I called after watching it. I’m so so happy for you brother! And then, I walked over to my neighbouring apartment to meet a certain someone.
Now coming to the small matter of that certain someone..who goes by the name of Mohanlal. I’ll say just this for now..
Class is permanent..I repeat..PERMANENT! Georgekutty is undoubtedly one of the most iconic characters of Malayalam cinema. Cheta..I cannot wait to direct you again and be directed by you!
PS: Murali Gopy, the actor, has arrived. Subtle, brilliant. I say this after having watched the final edit of KURUTHI as well!
Actor Unni Mukundan wrote,
Fantastic movie.. A well-made sequel of the path breaker Drishyam!! Hats off to Jeethu Joseph for succeeding in the biggest challenge.
Lalettan.. The Legend!! Forever Crowd puller.. whether it is in theaters or OTT!! Bringing the audience closer to the cinema. Astonishing and subtle performance..
Happy to see Murali Gopy as an actor here and delivers his best as if he does in his scripts..
Vineeth Sreenivasan’s social media post reads,
Drishyam 2 is mind blowing!!! Absolutely mind blowing!!! How I wish if I could see this movie in theatres amidst claps and whistles!!!
Directors Vysakh, Midhun Manuel Thomas and many others have congratulated the makers of ‘Drishyam 2’.
‘Kammarasambhavam’ duo of writer Murali Gopy and director Rathish Ambat are reuniting for a new film titled ‘Theerppu’. It has a star-studded cast comprising of Prithviraj, Indrajith, Isha Talwar, Saiju Kurup, Vijay Babu and Hannah Reji Koshy. The film was launched today (February 19) with a customary pooja ceremony. Shoot is slated to begin tomorrow. Rathish Ambat, Murali Gopy and Vijay Babu are jointly producing the film.
Director Rathish Ambat was highly impressive with his filmmaking skills in his directorial debut, ‘Kammarasambhavam’. Though the film was not a big commercial success, it got widespread appreciation post its television premier and digital release. Naturally, expectations are high on his new film, ‘Theerppu’ that also has an enviable star cast. It is said to be an action flick that will be different from the regular mass entertainers. An official confirmation is still awaited.
Details regarding the technical crew members are expected to be out shortly.
‘Operation Java’ has successfully entered its second week of theatrical run. Despite the presence of no big star, the film has solely relied on content and positive word of mouth among the general public. After its first week of run, the film has got more number of screens in Kerala. While it released in around 100 screens on February 12, it has now been increased to over 150 screens. Besides that the film has also been released in Gulf region. It has been released in 44 locations across GCC. The positive response garnered during its release in Kerala is certain to help the film in its overseas run as well.
‘Operation Java’ is written and directed by debutant Tharun Moorthy. It is an investigative film about cyber crimes. The film has an elaborate cast that includes Balu Varghese, Lukman, Vinayakan, Irshad, Shine Tom Chacko, Binu Pappu, Dhanya Ananya, Mamitha Baiju, Vineetha Koshy, Johny Antony and Prashanth Alexander. The film has music by Jakes Bejoy, edits by Nishadh Yusuf and cinematography by Faiz Siddik.
A new song video from the upcoming Malayalam film ‘Tsunami’ has been released online. Titled as ‘SaMaGaReSa’, it is a fun song sung by actors Innocent, Lal, Mukesh, Suresh Krishna, Aju Varghese and Balu Varghese along with Unni Karthikeyan and Neha S Nair. Lal has penned the lyrics for the song and is set to tunes by composer duo Yakzan Gary Pereira and Neha S Nair.
‘Tsunami’ is jointly directed by veteran Lal and his son Lal Jr aka Jean Paul Lal. The film stars Aju Varghese, Balu Varghese, Mukesh, Innocent and many others. Scripted by Lal, the film is said to be based on a true story. The makers have promised that the film will be full on fun and laughter with no stress or tension.
‘Tsunami’ has Alex J Pulickal as the cinematographer and Ratheesh Raj as the editor. Neha and Yakzan Gary Pereira handle the music department. Allan Antony is presenting the film under the banner of Panda Dad Production.
Watch the teaser of Prabhu Deva starrer Bagheera here!
The teaser of Prabhu Deva’s upcoming film ‘Bagheera’ has been released online. The film is written and directed by Adhik Ravichandran of ‘Trisha Illana Nayanthara’ and ‘Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan’ fame. From the 1.40-minute long teaser, ‘Bagheera’ promises to be a psycho thriller in which Prabhu Deva appears in multiple looks. The teaser looks impressive with a splash of wide variety of colours. The star is seen sporting several looks in the teaser, which includes a bald head, which is a first in his career.
As per the makers, ‘Bagheera’ is a mystery thriller that has all commercial elements in it. ‘Anegan’ fame Amyra Dastur, Remya Nambeesan, Janani Iyer, Sanchita Shetty, Gayathrie shankar, Sakshi Agarwal, Sonia Agarwal, Sai kumar, Nassar and Pragathi are part of the film’s cast. On the technical front, the film has music by Ganesan smsekar and cinematography by Selva Kumar SK and Abinandhan Ramanujam. Ruben is handling the edits. The film is produced by Bharathan Pictures
Drishyam 2 Review: Brilliantly written thriller that carries forward the legacy of the first part
‘Drishyam’ ended with Georgekutty walking in slow motion out of the newly constructed Rajakkad police station. It is accompanied by no mass background score but the goosebumps one gets on seeing it for the first time is inexplicable. The audience are taken an all-new high and it couldn’t have gotten any better than that. So when a second part was announced, eyebrows were obviously raised as it was deemed impossible to come up with a fitting sequel. Well, Jeethu Joseph and team took up the challenge head-on at a time when most of the world was behind closed doors due to the pandemic. Read to know if they have managed to succeed in their ambitious attempt.
‘Drishyam 2’ is set six years apart from where the first part ended. Just like the first part, Jeethu has done really well in setting up things as he takes his own sweet time to get the audience introduced to Georgekutty and family’s current status, their neighborhood and how the locals interact with them today. Georgekutty is now a theatre owner who is also trying his hand in film production against the will of his wife, Rani. Post the incident that changed their lives, elder daughter Anju is affected psychologically and suffers frequent anxiety attacks. Younger daughter Anu is in boarding and is now a rebellious teenager. Though the characters have evolved over time, their basic nature is still the same as they continue to reel under the trauma of the grave crime they committed.
Parallelly, the police officials continue to investigate the Varun Prabhakar missing case. After failing to frame the family multiple times, the cops now employ new methods to trap them and find crucial information about the missing dead body. After the initial set up, things speed up with some smart twists and turns towards the halfway mark. It is in the final 30-40 minutes that Jeethu Joseph has packaged all his Drishyam-esque moments.
Unlike the first part which was near-perfect with regard to how the crime was cleverly covered up, the sequel has some logical loopholes. However, one hardly gets time to think about that thanks to Jeethu Joseph’s excellent command over the craft in churning out an edge-of-the seat thrilling experience.
Jeethu’s intelligent screenwriting is the backbone of ‘Drishyam 2’. Apart from the twists and thrills, he also has a firm grip on the emotions. The tail end scene set by a riverside, which looked similar to the famous scene from the first part, is one such example. The film never takes sides or glorifies Georgekutty and his act but instead shows him as a someone who is haunted by guilt.
Georgekutty has to be one of Malayalam cinema’s most iconic characters as the man is full of mystery. He is extremely intelligent, unpredictable and is willing to go to any extent for his family. Even his slightest of facial expressions is measured and never really opens up to anyone, even to his wife. There is an excellent scene where a traumatized Rani confronts him and pleads to share with her the secret that he has been carrying alone for six years. It is an equally thrilling and emotional scene as Georgekutty remains stubborn and holds on to his word that he’ll take that secret only to his grave.
Mohanlal as Georgekutty is once again the ‘tough nut to crack’ as there is nothing that one can make out from his behavior. He underplays the character like only he can and makes it look absolutely effortless. Meena, Esther Anil and Ansiba Hassan also reprise their roles neatly. Murali Gopy makes a lasting impression in the film. He is neither a cruel Sahadeven-like cop nor is he just another pushover. He takes up the case as a personal challenge and considers it a war. Gopy’s sophisticated body language and dialogue delivery suits the character perfectly. Anjali Nair is usually stereotyped as the wailing-helpless woman and Jeethu Joseph makes clever use of it here.
Technically, ‘Drishyam 2’ is far from perfect. Many important scenes including the whole courtroom sequence seems to have been shot using green screen technology as the shoddy VFX works make it evident on screen. This may be due to the limitations that the makers had to face during the lockdown period. The background score is also repetitive and loud at times.
In a nutshell, ‘Drishyam 2’ is not a sequel made just for the sake of it. It is a clearly conceived and well-made thriller that gets more intense and emotional. While many thought it would be impossible, the film manages to carry forward the legacy of the first part. So well done, Jeethu and team.
Vasanthabalan’s next starring Arjun Das starts rolling
Director Vasanthabalan’s new film starring Arjun Das of ‘Kaithi’ and ‘Master’ fame has started rolling. Vasantha Balan and his friends Varadarajan, Krishnakumar and Murugan Gnanavel’s production house Urban Boyz Studios are backing the film. Dushara, who is making her debut with the Pa Ranjith-Arya film ‘Sarpetta’, has been signed as the female lead. GV Prakash will be composing music for the film.
Vasanthabalan is a National award winner known for his films like ‘Veyil’, ‘Angaadi Theru’, ‘Kaaviyathalaivan’ and ‘Aravaan’. All his films were noted for strong content and excellent performances of the lead actors. It is speculated that his yet-to-be titled film with Arjun Das and Dushara is the remake of the 2019 family drama, ‘The Lift Boy’. However, the makers are yet to confirm the news.
Arjun Das meanwhile has been flooded with others. He will be seen playing the lead role in Malayalam filmmaker Anwar Rasheed’s maiden Tamil film. ‘Anjaam Pathiraa’ director Midhun Manuel Thomas is scripting the film, which is said to be a rural-based thriller.
The Great Indian Kitchen set to be remade in Tamil and Telugu
‘The Great Indian Kitchen’ is unarguably one of the most talked about Malayalam films in recent times. The film directed by Jeo Baby found great appreciation for its strong commentary against patriarchal norms and oppression against woman in the name of social conditioning. Releasing directly on streaming platform Neestream, the film caught the attention of non-Malayalis and it invited lengthy discussions on various relevant topics.
As per latest reports, ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’ is now set to be remade in other languages. Director R Kannan has acquired the Tamil and Telugu remake rights of the film. He is trying to rope in some leading actors for the remake versions. The original film had stellar performances from its two lead actors — Nimisha Sajayan and Suraj Venjaramoodu.
R Kannan is known for remaking popular Hindi films like ‘Jab We Met’, ‘Delhi Belly’ and the Telugu hit ‘Ninnu Kori’ in Tamil. ‘Biskoth’, a parody film starring Santhanam, was his last release. It remains to be seen how he adapts ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’ in Tamil and Telugu. More details on the cast and crew are awaited.
‘Prakashan Parakatte’ scripted by Dhyan Sreenivasan and directed by debutant Shahad has been wrapped up. The film which is said to be a fun entertainer has Dhyan playing one of the leads in it along with Dileesh Pothan, Aju Varghese, Saiju Kurup and Mathew Thomas. Aju Varghese, Vishak Subramaniam and Tinu Thomas are jointly producing the film.
According to Aju Varghese, the film is about a beautiful, relatable journey of Prakashan — a young boy, his big dreams and the priceless value of family and relationships. The titular character Prakashan is reportedly played by Mathew Thomas, who delivered performances in ‘Kumbalangi Nights’ and ‘Thanneer Mathan Dhinangal’.
Prakashan Parakatte wrapped up
‘Uppum Mulakum’ fame Nisha Sarang, ‘Parava’ actor Govind V Pai, Sreejith Ravi and many others are part of the supporting cast. The film has Shaan Rahman as the music director, Guru Prasad as the cinematographer and Rathin Radhakrishnan as the editor. Release plans have not yet been announced.
