Vanil Chandrika: Check out this beautiful new song from Luca
As Tovino Thomas starrer ‘Luca’ continues to do well in theatres, the makers have released a new song online. The track titled ‘Vanil Chandrika’ is composed by Sooraj S Kurup and rendered by Aravind Venugopal and Zia Ul Haq. Shabareesh Varma has penned the lyrics. It is a romantic track featuring the two debutants Nithin George and Neethu Bala, who play the roles of Akbar and Janet respectively.
‘Luca’ directed by debutant Arun Bose is an investigative thriller that has a romantic story at its heart. Director Arun has scripted the movie jointly with another newcomer, Mridul George. Tovino and Ahanaa Krishna play the lead pair in the movie and it is their sparkling chemistry that’s been much talked about.
The movie also stars Vineetha Koshy, Thalaivasal Vijay, Jaffer Idukki, Neena Kurup, Chembil Ashokan, Pauly Valsan and Devi Ajith in other supporting roles. Linto Thomas and Prince Hussain are jointly producing ‘Luca’ under the banner of Stories and Thoughts Productions.
Arun Vijay’s next with Karthick Naren titled Mafia; Here’s the first look poster
Earlier there were speculations about Arun Vijay teaming up with the highly promising going filmmaker Karthick Naren. The project has now been officially announced. Titled as ‘Mafia’, the movie has been conceived as a franchise, as is evident from the tagline ‘Athiyayam- 1’ or ‘Chapter- 1’. Lyca Productions, one of the leading banners in Kollywood, is producing this movie.
The makers have also released a first look poster featuring an extremely stylish Arun Vijay. Along with him, the movie also stars Prasanna in a major role. Priya Bhavani Shankar, noted for her roles in movies like ‘Meyaadha Maan’, ‘Kadaikutty Singam’ and the more recent ‘Monster’, has been signed as the female lead.
First Look Poster Of Arun Viay Starrer Mafia
‘Mafia’ has an impressive technical crew. Jakes Bejoy, who is making waves with his work in Malayalam and Telugu films, has been roped in as the music director. Sreejith Sarang is the editor and Gokul Benoy will be cranking the camera.
Meanwhile, Karthick Naren’s much promised sophomore film ‘Naragasooran’ is still under the wraps. The movie starring Arvind Swamy, Indrajith, Sundeep Kishan, Shriya Saran and Aathmika was supposed to hit screens last year itself but got tangled in a few production issues. There is still no update about the film’s release.
Samyuktha Menon plays a negative role in Tovino’s Kalki
Tovino Thomas’ cop action flick ‘Kalki’ is currently in the post-production phase. The movie directed by debutant Praveen Prabharam is said to be the first proper mass action entertainer in the actor’s career. The movie also stars his ‘Theevandi’ pair Samyuktha Menon.
Interestingly, she plays a negative role in this film. She is said to be playing the villain’s part. It will be really interesting if the news turns out to be true as it is not often that a mainstream young heroine is offered such a role. Samyuktha is noted for her roles in ‘Lilli’, ‘Theevandi’ and ‘Oru Yamandan Premakadha’
‘Kalki’ is scripted jointly by director Praveen and Sujin Sujathan. It will be an action packed film with all commercial gimmicks. Tovino rates ‘Kalki’ as the most challenging film in his career. Though he has done cop roles in films like ‘Ezra’ and ‘Tharangam’, this will be his first film in which he will be seen in a full fledged police officer’s role. It is a character that is extremely different from the ones he has done before.
Suvin K Krishna and Prasobh Krishna are jointly producing ‘Kalki’ under the banner of Little Big Films. It is scheduled to hit screens on August 8.
Distribution rights of Vijay’s Bigil sold for record price!
Vijay-Atlee team’s ‘Bigil’ is easily the most anticipated Tamil film of the year. The hype is so high that its distribution rights have been acquired several months before its release. Producer Archana Kalpathi of AGS Cinemas gave the official word through their Twitter handle. Her tweets read,
Happy to announce that XGen Studio and United India Exporters have bagged the overseas rights for #Bigil This will be our #Thalapathy’s largest worldwide release
Ags Entertainment is happy to announce that @Screensceneoffl has procured the most sought after Tamil Nadu Theatrical rights of #Bigil . We look forward to a long and successful association with them
Fans as well as the common audience are highly excited about ‘Bigil’ and have pinned huge hopes on it. The movie marks Vijay third film with Atlee after the blockbuster success of ‘Theri’ and ‘Mersal’. Unlike their earlier films, that were regular mass entertainers, this one has multiple genres in it with woman’s football at the core. Vijay plays a dual role in the movie, as a elderly gangster and a football player. Nayanthara is paired with him.
Veteran Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, Kathir, Yogi Babu, Vivek, Induja, Varsha Bollamma and Reba Monica John, Daniel Balaji, Anand Raj and many others are also part of the cast. AR Rahman has scored music for the movie and cinematography is by ‘Mersal’ fame GK Vishnu. The movie is scheduled for a grand Diwali release in October.
World is going to Unni Mukundan’s miracle: Mamangam producer Venu Kunnappilly
‘Mamangam’ directed by Padmakumar is currently in the last stages of shoot. Starring Mammootty in the lead, the movie is shaping up as an action packed historical flick. Along with Mammootty, Unni Mukundan is playing a major role in the film. Producer Venu Kunnappilly seems to have been highly impress by Unni’s work in the film. In a recent Facebook post, he has shared a photo taken with the actor and has captioned it as,
Unni Mukundan with Mamangam producer Venu Kunnappilly
A man with super dedication and respect..world is going to watch your miracle… Love to work with you unni…Mamankam location
Unni replied back by writing,
Thanks a heap Venu chetta for your kind words and for being that rock of a support for all of us through out the incredible journey Mamangam has been. Thank you. Onward it is.
It must be noted that Unni joined ‘Mamangam’ team only months after the shoot commenced. He plays a character named Chandroth Panicker. Originally, it was supposed to be played by Dhruvan of ‘Queen’ fame. After he came into the project, Unni put in a lot of efforts to build a warrior’s physique.
The trend of actors turning filmmakers continue in Malayalam cinema. Sidharth Bharathan, Nadirshah, Vineeth Kumar, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Dhyan Sreenivasan, Salim Kumar, Ramesh Pisharody, Harisree Ashokan, Gauthami Nair and Kalabhavan Shajohn are some of the most recent actors who have worn the director’s hat. Latest to join the club is Saju Navodaya aka Pashanam Shaji.
His debut film is titled as ‘Panavally Pandavas’ and is reportedly a football based flick. In an interview to Kaumudi, he has revealed that he has worked on penning the script for over an year. Apparently, it is about a rivalry between two local sevens football teams. A psycho killer’s angle is also included in it.
A bunch of newcomers will be playing the lead roles while former national footballer IM Vijayan will be appearing in a prominent role in the film. Salim Kumar, Sohan Seenulal and Noby are also part of the supporting cast. Anurag Media is producing the movie, which is scheduled to start rolling from the first week of August.
Luca Review: A murder mystery entwined in an intense love story
Tovino’s latest film ‘Luca’ is an investigative thriller that has a romantic story at its heart. So the base plot goes like this – someone dies in mysterious circumstances and a young police officer, who has a barrage of issues in his personal life, takes up this case. Whether he manages to crack the case is the answer that we are looking for.
Tovino Thomas plays the titular role of Luca, a scrap artist who has a disturbed past that makes him eccentric at times. Due to this nature of his, he leads a low key life and has a very limited social circle. Enters Niharika aka Niha (Ahaana Krishna), a Bangalore based Malayali post-graduate who is in Kochi for her research work. Like a typical hero-heroine, they get into a tiff at their very first encounter itself and soon become friends. At a particular point, Luca invites Niha to stay in his house as a guest and they eventually fall in love.
Like Luca, Niha has also had a troubled childhood. Though she comes across as a sweet-bubbly girl, she carries a long standing distress that’s exposed by the artist in Luca. She is a victim of child abuse and that has a deep impact on shaping up her character while growing up. How these two interesting characters fall in love is beautifully set up.
Tovino and Ahaana share a sparkling chemistry and light up the screen everytime they come together. While the former keeps showing remarkable growth as an actor, Ahaana does manage to impress in a meaty role. I wonder if the film was shot chronologically as you can see an evident progression in Ahaana’s performance. She was caught wanting in the initial few scenes, but soon gets into the groove.
Luca Movie Review Rating Hit Or Flop
‘Luca’ is scripted by director Arun Bose along with Mridul George. The movie lacks a real intrigue factor which I believe is the result of the writers exposing too much in the beginning itself with obvious hints about what’s coming. This kind of acts as a spoiler and fails to engage at certain points. There are two parallel tracks — one is the romance part involving Luca and Niha, and the other is the investigating angle featuring police officer Akbar (Nithin George) and his team. It is the latter that has a few potholes.
The personal problems in Akbar’s family is presented quite convincingly but its relevance when we see the overall picture still remains a question mark. Debutant Nithin George has a solid role to perform and he was pretty good at it. Anwar Shereef as his subordinate also makes an impression.
Luca Movie Review Rating Hit Or Flop
Technically, ‘Luca’ is a film that’s pleasing to the eyes with plenty of colours, marvelous art works and good music. One thing that left me wondering was the need for the continuous presence of rain. Overdone, maybe. Being the story of a scrap artist, the movie had big scope for the art department to showcase their talent, which is a rarity in Malayalam movies. Art director Anees Nadodi has grabbed the opportunity with both hands. They are also aided by the vibrance of Fort Kochi and its surroundings, which sets a perfect ambiance.
So, ‘Luca’ is a film that you can definitely give a try in theatres.
Prachi Tehlan shares her working experience with Mammootty and team Mamangam
Mammootty’s historic action-epic ‘Mamangam’ is currently in the final stages of shoot. The movie directed by M Padmakumar is eyeing for Pooja release in October. Made on a huge canvas, the movie has several big stars and non-Malayali actors. Prachi Tehlan, a Punjabi actress and former sportsperson, is playing the female lead in the movie.
In a recent interview to, Prachi divulged interesting details about her character and also shared her working experience in the movie. In ‘Mamangam’, she essays the role of Unni Maya, who is the female lead. For playing this character, the actress had to learn Mohiniyattam and also get basics in Malayalam pronunciation prior to shoot. The flexibility she acquired from training in sports must have helped her in performing the fight scenes. It is worth a mention that Prachi was the former captain of the Indian national Netball Team which represented the country in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
In the interview, Prachi added that she had a great time working in ‘Mamangam’. She was full of praise for Mammootty, whom she calls caring and down to earth, despite being such a huge star. Mammootty reportedly plays the lead role of a fiery ‘Chaaver’ (warrior) in the movie. It is based on the religious festival, Mamangam, that took place every twleve years in a place called Thirunavaya, on the banks of the Bharatapuzha, for over 280 years. Sajeev Pillai had originally penned the script which was later adapted by Shankar Ramakrishnan.
Unni Mukundan, Kaniha, Anu Sithara, Ineya, Tarun Raj Arora, Prachi Tehlan, Sudev Nair, Suresh Krishna, Manikuttan, Siddique, Abu Salim, Sudheer Sukumaran and many others are also part of the cast. The technical crew comprises of State award winning cinematographer Manoj Pillai, veteran music director M Jayachandran and art director Mohandas. Bollywood based composer Sanchit Balhara handles the background score.
Dileep’s new film ‘Shubharathri’ has been censored with a clean U and the movie is now all set to hit screens on July 6 (Saturday). It has a run time of 138 minutes (2.18 hours). The movie written and directed by Vyasan KP is said to be based on some real life incidents. Along with Dileep, Siddique plays the other lead in the movie.
The trailer and promos of ‘Shubharathri’ have all been promising and it looks like an emotional drama connecting two individuals and their families. The movie has a very huge supporting cast. Anu Sithara is paired with Dileep in the movie.
Asha Sarath, Shanthi Krishna, Sheelu Abraham, Nadirshah, Indrans, Aju Varghese, Nedumudi Venu, Sai Kumar, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Shobha Mohan, Prashanth Alexander, Swasika, Jayan Cherthala, Ashokan, Hareesh Peradi, Manikandan, Saiju Kurup, Sudhi Koppa, Manikandan Achari, Vijay Babu, KPAC Lalitha and Thesni Khan are also part of the cast.
Along with the big cast, ‘Shubharathri’ also has a strong technical crew. Alby is the DOP and music department is handled by Bijibal. Hemand Harshan is the editor and sound design is by State award winner Renganaath Ravee. Abraham Mathew of Abaam Movies is producing the movie.
Murali Gopy recommends Kakshi Amminippilla for its novel content and engrossing performances!
Asif Ali starrer ‘Kakshi Amminippilla’ continues to win hearts as is evident from the positive talks in social media sphere. The feel-good nature of the film and the importance of the topic addressed seems to have struck a chord with many. Actor-writer Murali Gopy seems to have been impressed by the film and recommended it everyone. In his Facebook page, he has written,
Folks, watch “Kakshi: Amminippilla”, for its novel content and some really engrossing performances.
Earlier, directors VK Prakash, Rohit VS and writer Unni R had also rated the movie highly. Debutant Dinjith Ayyathan has directed the movie and is scripted by Sanilesh Shivan. Along with Asif Ali, the movie also stars Ahamed Siddique and Farah Sibla in major roles. It is centred around a newly wed couple who file for divorce just weeks after their marriage. Through this story of an odd couple, the makers have addresed some relevant issues like good parenting, the need for couples getting to know each other before marriage and the importance of understanding in a marital life.
