It’s a three way clash at Kerala box office today!
The Onam battle at Kerala box office has officially kick-started. Nivin Pauly-Nayanthara starrer ‘Love Action Drama’ (LAD) was the first to hit screens yesterday (September 5). It is followed by ‘Ittymaani Made In China’, ‘Finals’ and ‘Brother’s Day’. All these films have been released in a good number of screens today.
‘Ittymaani Made In China’ is Mohanlal’s next release after the record-breaking success of ‘Lucifer’. After an intense film like that, Mohanlal will be back to his cheerful best this time. It is in stark contrast to ‘Lucifer’ as this one has been conceived as a fun entertainer that is mainly aimed at the families who visit theatres in large numbers during this holiday season. Debutants Jibu and Joju are directing the film and is being produced by the superstar’s own banner, Aashirvaad Cinemas.
Prithviraj starrer ‘Brother’s Day’ is the other biggie that has released today. The movie which marks the directorial debut of Kalabhavan Shajohn is touted to be a complete commercial entertainer that had doses of humour, romance, action and thrill. Aishwarya Lekshmi, Madonna Sebastian, Miya George and Prayaga Martin are the female leads while Tamil actor Prasanna will be seen as the villain. From the promos itself, the film looks like a crowd pleaser.
Rajisha Vijayan’s sports drama ‘Finals’ is the third in the list. Written and directed by debutant Arun PR, the film has Rajisha playing the role of a cyclist. Maniyanpilla Raju is producing the film. Interestingly, all the films have been successful, so there is a certain positive hype around ‘Finals’ as well.
After Thalapathy 64, Lokesh to team up with Suriya!
As we already know, Vijay’s next after ‘Bigil’ will be directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. The film tentatively titled as ‘Thalapathy 64’ is scheduled to start rolling next month. Latest we hear is that, after the completion of ‘Thalapathy 64’, director Lokesh will be teaming up with Suriya for a new film. Earlier, he had narrated a script to Suriya and impressed him. It seems like the project is materializing now. With two back to back biggies, the young filmmaker is getting into the top league.
Lokesh made his directorial debut in 2017 with the surprise hit ‘Maanagaram’. The movie, which was a brilliantly made hyperlink thriller, had Sundeep Kishan, Regina Cassanadra and Sri in the lead roles. It emerged both as a critical and commercial success. Since then, Lokesh has been rated as one of the most promising among the new gen filmmakers. He is currently working on Karthi starrer ‘Kaithi’, which is gearing up for Diwali release.
The Family Man: Watch the trailer of Neeraj Madhav’s maiden web series!
Malayali actor Neeraj Madhav had been missing from action for quite some time. He had done only very few films during the last couple of years. Interestingly, not many that the actor had been working on his Hindi debut all this while. His maiden web series, ‘The Family Man’ is set to be streamed on Amazon Prime from September 20. Last day, its official trailer was released online.
‘The Family Man’ is a spy-thriller that also has a family angle to it. Manoj Bajpai plays a spy who works undercover as a regular office-going government employee. Even his family is unaware of his spy background. Priya Mani plays his wife in it. From the trailer, we presume that Neeraj essays the role of a terrorist.
‘The Family Man’ is being helmed and produced by director duo Raj & DK. They have previously done films like ‘Go Goa Gone’, ‘A Gentleman’ and also scripted the blockbuster ‘Stree’.
Watch the teaser of Biju Menon starrer Adhyarathri here
As reported by us earlier, Biju Menon and director Jibu Jacob are coming together once again after the blockbuster success of ‘Vellimoonga’. Their new film ‘Adhyarathri’ is gearing up for release. Its official teaser was released online last day. Sharis Mohammed and Jebin Joseph Antony of ‘Queen’ fame have jointly scripted the movie.
Biju Menon and Jibu Jacob are expected to repeat the huge success of ‘Vellimoonga’. From the teaser and whatever we have heard of it, this upcoming film is also a complete fun entertainer. It also stars Aju Varghese and ‘Thaneermathan Dhinangal’ fame Anaswara Raja in major roles. Vijayaraghavan, Pauly Valsan, Sreelakshmi, Manoj Guinness, Sarjano Khalid, Biju Sopanam, Althaf and Chembil Ashokan are also part of the cast.
On the technical side, Sadiq Khabeer is the cinematographer and music is composed by Bijibal. Sooraj ES is the editor. Central Pictures is producing and releasing the movie.
Highly promising films lined up for Nimisha Sajayan!
The four-film-old Nimisha Sajayan is already a force to reckon with in Malayalam cinema. The dusky actress, devoid of the conventional beauty standards, is winning hearts with her strong and lasting performances. Last seen in ‘Oru Kuprasidha Payyan’ (OKP), for which she won the Kerala State Award for best actress, Nimisha currently has around six films in various stages of production. And each one of them is promising. Let’s take a look at her upcoming films.
‘Chola’, the much-talked about Sanal Kumar Sasidharan directorial has Nimisha playing a school-going teenager who is caught in a dire situation. Along with OKP, her performance in ‘Chola’ was also considered by the jury for awarding her the State Award. The movie recently had its world premier at the prestigious Venice Film Festival. It is only the second Malayalam film to be screened there after Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s ‘Nizhalkoothu’. Now that the festival rounds is done, the movie is expected to have its theatrical release soon.
Nimisha Sajayan In Chola
Next in Nimisha’s kitty is the ‘Thuramukham’, the multi-starrer directed by the ace Rajeev Ravi. A very secretly shot film, this one is actually based on the historic protests against the inhuman ‘chappa’ system, that existed during the 1950s. The film has Nimisha sharing screen space with actors like Nivin Pauly, Biju Menon, Indrajith Sukumaran, Arjun Ashokan, Poornima Indrajith and Manikandan R Achari. Shoot is still progressing and it is likely to hit screens only by next year.
Nimisha Sajayan with Rajeev Ravi during Thuramukham shoot
Another highly promising film coming up for Nimisha is ‘Stand Up’. It is actually the collaboration of three State Award winners – Nimisha, Rajisha Vijayan and Vidhu Vincent, who is the first woman to win the Kerala State Film Award for the Best Director. Arjun Ashokan and ‘Nayika Nayakan’ fame Venkitesh are also part of the film. It revolves around the stand comedy scene — an avenue that’s hardly been explored in Malayalam, so we can expect to see a lot of greatness in it. Shoot is nearing completion and is expected to release sometime by the end of this year itself.
Nimisha Sajayan with Vidhu Vincent during Stand Up shoot
In Lal Jose’s ‘Nalpathiyonnu’, Nimisha gets to act alongside the veteran Biju Menon. Prageesh PG, a former journalist, has scripted the movie, which reportedly deals with a very relevant story centred around an atheist and a devotee. This is the first time Biju Menon and Nimisha are coming together, so it will be interesting to see them share screen space.
Biju Menon Nimisha Sajayan Starrer Nalpathiyonnu
Sidharth Bharathan’s upcoming directorial ‘Jinnu’ also stars Nimisha. She is playing one of the leads in the movie alongside fellow State Award winner, Soubin Shahir. The movie is yet to start rolling, so nothing much is known regarding it.
Jinnu First Look Poster
More recently, it was announced that Nimisha will be playing the female lead in ‘Take Off’ fame Mahesh Narayanan’s new film ‘Malik’. Fahadh Faasil, Biju Menon, Vinay Forrt and Dileesh Pothan are also part of the film that’s been planned to be made on a huge scale.
Fahadh Faasil Nimisha Sajayan Starrer Malik Title Poster
Altogether, Nimisha has quite an envious line up that can give any other contemporary actress in Malayalam a run for their money. Just can’t wait to see her on screen again!
Here’s the first look poster of Edakkad Battalion 06
As informed earlier, the first look poster of Tovino Thomas’ new film ‘Edakkad Battalion 06’ has just been released. Actor Mammootty shared the poster through his official social media handle. Debutant Swapnesh K Nair, a former associate of Omar Lulu, is directing the film.
Actor-writer P Balachandran has written the screenplay of ‘Edakkad Battalion 06’. He has earlier penned acclaimed films like ‘Ulladakkam’, ‘Pavithram’, ‘Agnidevan’ and ‘Punaradhivasam’. He last scripted the Rajeev Ravi directorial ‘Kammattipaadam’.
first look poster of Edakkad Battalion 06
‘Edakkad Battalion 06’ has Tovino Thomas playing the role of an army officer. Though the actor has done cop roles before, this is the first time he’ll be seen as an army man. Samyuktha Menon plays the female lead. This is her foruth outing with Tovino after sharing screen space with him in ‘Theevandi’, ‘Uyare’ and ‘Kalki’.
In the technical front, Sinu Sidharth is cranking the camera and Kailas Menon handles the music department. Rathin Radhakrishnan is the editor. Shrikant Bhasi, Thomas Joseph Pattathanam and Jayant Mammen are jointly producing ‘Edakkad Battalion 06’ under the banner of Ruby Films.
Russel Arnold says he can’t wait for Bigil; Requests producer for first day tickets!
The buzz around Vijay’s ‘Bigil’ is never ending. Recently, the makers released the track ‘Verithanam’ rendered by the star himself and set to tunes by maestro AR Rahman. The song has gone viral in no time and has fetched a whopping 11 million views in YouTube. Several celebrities have shared the love for this catchy number with particular praise for Vijay’s delightful singing
Former Sri Lankan cricketer Russel Arnold has tweeted about how the song indeed is ‘verithanam’. Arnold, a very active person in the Twitter space, tweeted that he can’t wait for the movie’s release and even went on to request the movie’s producer Archana Kalpathi for first day, first show tickets.
‘Bigil’ directed by Atlee is a mass entertainer with woman’s football at its crux. The movie has Vijay dual playing a dual role as a gangster father and his son, who is a footballer-turned-coach. Nayanthara, Jackie Shroff, Kathir, Yogi Babu, Vivek, Induja, Varsha Bollamma, Reba Monica John, Daniel Balaji and Anand Raj will be seen in supporting roles.
The movie produced by AGS Entertainment, is scheduled for a grand worldwide Diwali release in October.
Enai Nokki Paayum Thotta not release on September 6!
It looks like the ghost on the back of Gautham Menon is not going away any soon. After a series of delays and postponing, the director had announced that ‘Enai Nokki Paayum Thotta’ (ENPT) will hit screens on September 6. Although theatres have listed shows for the film, it has run into trouble yet again. We hear that the film is unlikely to hit screens tomorrow.
Trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai has tweeted,
It is confirmed that #ENPT will not hit the screens on Friday- September 6 as settlement could not be reached over financial issues and court stay is also there.
As per a report in TNM, ‘Enai Noki Paayum Thota’ is to be distributed by Lyca Productions and K Productions. Arka Media Works had earlier filed a case against SN Rajarajan of K Productions, who had distributed the Tamil version of the ‘Baahubali’ films in Tamil Nadu, for the unpaid dues he owes the production house.
K Productions had bought the theatrical rights of ‘Baahubali’ for Rs 28 crore and paid only Rs 12.50 crore. For the remaining amount, SN Rajarajan went ahead with a loan agreement with Arka Media Works which he failed to repay. According to the court order, K Productions is now supposed to pay a remaining sum of Rs 17.60 crore to Arka Media to lift the ban on release of films he is associated with.
Lyca Productions to produce Suriya’s next with Gautham Menon!
Over the last couple of years, Gautham Vasudev Menon has been through some really tough times. Several projects he got associated with got stalled due to financial issues. It finally seems like the director is getting things sorted. He is in talks for a few projects and the biggest of them is a Suriya starrer. It is learnt that the director has recently committed for a new film with Suriya, which will be produced by Lyca, one of the top banners in Kollywood.
Suriya and Gautham Menon had worked together in ‘Kaaka Kaaka’ and ‘Vaaranam Aayiram’, both of which were hugely successful. They were also supposed to team up for ‘Dhruva Natchathiram’ but Suriya opted out at the last minute due to creative differences. There were also talks about a rift between the two but it seems like they have now patched up. Both Suriya and GVM have not been in their best of form of late, so a reunion might be the best thing they could have asked for to recreate the magic. More details on this new project are awaited to be announced soon.
Gautham Menon’s long delayed ‘Enai Nokki Paayum Thotta’ was all set for released tomorrow (September 6), but we now hear that there has been a last minute change. Apparently, a settlement could not be reached over financial issues and there also exists a court stay on the film.
If latest reports are to believed, the ‘Drishyam’ duo Mohanlal and director Jeethu Joseph are set to reunite. Reportedly, their new film will begin this November and it is said to be a big budget project. Around 100 days of shoot has been planned, which includes a foreign schedule as well. A leading Tamil heroine is also expected to be part of the cast.
Earlier, there were reports about Jeethu Joseph directing a movie for the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA). It was said that Renji Panicker would be scripting the film and Mohanlal will be playing the lead in it. However, Jeethu had denied these reports. As per the director, his new film with Mohanlal will be an emotional thriller. The superstar’s own banner Aashirvad Cinemas is likely to produce it.
Jeethu Joseph meanwhile is busy with his second film in Tamil. Karthi, Jyothika, Nikhila Vimala and Sathyaraj are part of the film, which is shaping as a family-drama cum thriller.
