Poomaram: Girls from St. Teresa's win hearts!

Abrid Shine’s third directorial venture ‘Poomaram’ was released last Friday (March 15) after a lot of postponing. The movie, which marks the debut of Kalidas Jayaram as a lead actor, is a musical campus entertainer. A bunch of newcomers have been introduced to the industry with this movie.

Scripted by Abrid Shine, Poomaram does not follow the conventional pattern of a campus flick. The entire movie is a set around a five-day university youth festival. Maharaja’s college and St. Teresa’s are the top two contenders for the championship. Both the colleges have a glorious history and are rivals when it comes to the youth fest. St. Teresa’s have been winning the title successively for the past five years. This time, both of them leave no stone unturned to ensure victory.

Maharaja’s led by Gautham (Kalidas) is determined to bring back the title, while the girls from the rival college are led by a passionate Irene (Neeta Pillai). There’s a sea of differences between their approaches but the ultimate goal is to win the title for their respective colleges.

When two colleges sweat it out for the title, we expect to see some animosity and back stage cheating but Poomaram doesn’t have anything like that. Abrid Shine has cleverly stayed away from cliches and so the audience do not root for any group. In fact, the leaders of the two colleges – Gautham and Irene – do not even exchange dialogues. Despite that, Irene and co. manages to make a lasting impression.

Almost all the students who appear in the movie are fresh faces. The girls from St.Teresa’s were easily the most impressive. Neeta Pillai as their chairperson has given a wonderful performance. She has a strong screen presence and the way she inspires her mates when they go down gave glimpses of a talented actor. Neeta is sure to get a lot of plum roles in the near future.

Another notable performer among the girls was Archita Anish Kumar, who played the role of Malavika. Archita is a well known name in campus youth festival circuits. Abrid Shine spotted her at last year’s youth festival held in Thodupuzha. In Poomaram, she gets to showcase her extraordinary dancing skills. Being a real life dancer and a regular at such festivals, she could get the act correctly. All credits to the director for finding the right talents and getting the casting spot on.

Meanwhile, Poomaram continues to do moderately well at the box office. The word of mouth is largely positive and is expected to pull more audience to the theatres. Abrid Shine has co-produced the movie with Dr Varghese under the banner of Dr Paul’s Entertainment.

It’s a wrap for Mammootty’s Abrahaminte Santhathikal – A Police Story

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Vignesh Madhu

March 18, 2018

It’s a wrap for Mammootty’s Abrahaminte Santhathikal – A Police Story

Abrahaminte Santhathikal is one of Mammootty’s most awaited movies coming up this year. The movie is scripted by Haneef Adeni, who directed the blockbuster ‘The Great Father’ (TGF). Shaji Padoor, a veteran associate director who has been in the industry for over two decades, is making his directorial debut with Abrahaminte Santhathikal. After 67 days of shoot, the team finally wrapped up the movie last day in Kochi.

Abrahaminte Santhathikal has Mammootty playing the role of a police assistant superintendent. His character is named as Derick Abraham. The movie promises to be a stylish mass entertainer, on the lines of TGF. Anson Paul will be seen as Mammootty’s brother in the movie. Anson is noted for his roles in movies like Solo, Aadu 2 and Oozham. Newbie Maria John is paired opposite him in this upcoming movie.

Kaniha, Siddique and Kalabhavan Shajon are also part of the supporting cast. The technical crew comprises of cinematographer Alby Antony, music director Gopi Sunder and editor Mahesh Narayanan, who turned a director last year with the widely acclaimed ‘Take Off’.

Joby George is funding Abrahaminte Santhathikal under the banner of Goodwill Entertainment. Recently, the satellite rights of the movie was bagged by Surya TV for a huge amount. The exact amount has yet not been disclosed but it is said to be one of the highest ever for a Mammootty starrer.

Official: Here’s the release date of Dulquer Salmaan-Keerthy Suresh starrer Mahanati

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Vignesh Madhu

March 18, 2018

Official: Here’s the release date of Dulquer Salmaan-Keerthy Suresh starrer Mahanati

As we had reported earlier, Mahanati, the upcoming biopic on yesteryear actress Savitri, is nearing its final stages of shoot. Nag Ashwin is directing this movie which has Keerthy Suresh playing the legendary actress. Dulquer Salmaan, Samantha, Vijay Devarakonda, Naga Chaitanya, Rajendra Prasad, Mohan Babu, Shalini Pandey and Prakash Raj are also part of the cast.

Today, on the ocassion of Ugadi, the makers have officially announced the movie’s much awaited release date. Mahanati will be hitting screens worldwide on May 9 as a summer release. It was initially planned to be released on March 29 but shoot got delayed which forced the makers to postpone the release.

Mahanati will trace Savitri’s life from the 1940s to 1980s and will feature those films she has acted with NT Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageshwara Rao and other legends from the Telugu and Tamil industry. Savithri was briefly married to Gemini Ganesan and the movie will show some lesser known details about their relationship.

Dulquer Salmaan, who is making his Telugu debut, is playing Gemini Ganesan while Naga Chaitanya plays his real-life grand father Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR) in the movie. Samantha and Vijay Devarakonda will be seen as journalists in the movie. The story evolves as the two set out to piece together the story of Savitri.

Mahanati is being produced by Vyjayanthi Movies. Since Savitri was hugely popular in all the southern industries, the makers have planned the movie as a multilingual. The Tamil version is titled as ‘Nadigayar Thilagam’. A dubbed version in Malayalam is also in the planning.

Photo Credits: Vineeth Josy

Official: Here’s the release date of Mammootty’s Parole!

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Vignesh Madhu

March 18, 2018

Official: Here’s the release date of Mammootty’s Parole!

Mammootty fans as well as the common audience have been eagerly waiting for the release of ‘Parole’. The intriguing promos and teaser has successfully piqued a curiosity among the viewers. The makers have announced that the movie will be having a grand release on March 31, Saturday. The music celebration and trailer launch of the movie will be held today (March 17) evening at IMA House, Kochi.

Directed by Sharrath Sandith, Parole is a family entertainer with a political backdrop for the protagonist. Mammootty plays ‘sakhav’ Alex in the movie. The narrative travels through three different phases of his life. Ajith Poojappura, a jailer in real life, has scripted Parole based on some real life incidents.

Ineya and Miya George essay the two female leads in the movie. While Ineya plays Mammootty’s wife, Miya will be seen in his sister’s role. ‘Baahubali’ fame Prabhakar is also playing a significant part in the movie. Parole also has a huge set of supporting actors like Siddique, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Krishna Kumar, Irshad, Sijoy Varghese, Sohan Seenulal, Lalu Alex, Sudheer Karamana, Alencier Ley Lopez and Muthumani.

S Lokanathan is the cinematographer and editing is done by Suresh Urs. Music department is handled by Sharreth and Ellwyn Joseph. The movie is being produced under the banner of Antony D’Cruz Entertainment.

Here’s the first look poster of Panchavarnathatha!

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Vignesh Madhu

March 17, 2018

Here’s the first look poster of Panchavarnathatha!

Popular actor and television host Ramesh Pisharody is turning a director with ‘Panchavarnathatha’. Jayaram and Kunchacko Boban are playing the lead roles in this movie touted to be a fun filled family entertainer. As informed earlier, the official first look poster of the movie was released today in social medias.

Panchavarnathatha has Jayaram sporting a fully bald and clean shaven look. The veteran actor is said to be playing a very challenging character and the actor has pinned high hopes on the movie. Anusree is playing the female lead while Salim Kumar, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Balaji Sharma, Ashokan, Maniyanpilla Raju, Prem Kumar and many others are part of the supporting cast

Ramesh Pisharody has scripted the movie jointly with Hari P Nair. The former is very popular among Malayalis for his anchoring skills and his spontaneous humour timing. Though, he has acted only in a very few films, anchoring and comedy performance in various stage shows has made him an audience favorite. So, expectations are naturally high when he turns a filmmaker.

Panchavarnathatha has songs composed by M Jayachandran and Ousepachan is handling the background score. Nadirshah will be presenting the introduction song. Actor Maniyanpilla Raju is producing the movie under the banner of Saptha Tarang Cinema LLP.

Watch the latest song from Naam here!!

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Vignesh Madhu

March 17, 2018

Watch the latest song from Naam here!!

It’s the season of campus films in Mollywood currently. Latest to join the club is ‘Naam’ directed by debutant Joshy Thomas Pallickal. Shabareesh Varma, Aditi Ravi, Gayathri Suresh and Tony Luke play the lead roles in the movie. As informed earlier, the makers released the second song from the movie through their official Facebook page.

https://youtu.be/MoAI4nQQhno

Naam is said to be based on a true story. According to the makers, the movie does not follow the conventional pattern of a campus film. Aditi Ravi and Gayathri Suresh are playing cousins in the movie. The support cast also includes
Mareena Michael, Rahul Madhav, Renji Panicker, Noby Marcose and Saiju Kurup among others.

Apart from playing one of the leads, Shabareesh Varma of ‘Premam’ fame has penned nine songs in Naam. JTP Films is producing the movie, which is all set to hit screens on May 11 as a summer release.

If there’s a problem with the makers of Kottayam Kunjachan, then our film will not be about him: Vijay Babu

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Vignesh Madhu

March 17, 2018

If there’s a problem with the makers of Kottayam Kunjachan, then our film will not be about him: Vijay Babu

Earlier this week, a massive announcement was made during the success celebration event of ‘Aadu 2’. It was announced that Mammootty will be teaming up with Midhun Manuel Thomas for the second part of the iconic blockbuster ‘Kottayam Kunjachan’. Vijay Babu’s Friday Film House was set to produce the movie.

But now the makers of Kottayam Kunjachan have come out saying that they have not sold the rights for the sequel to anyone and that the announcement was made without informing them. Kottayam Kunjachan’s producer M Mani has said that Vijay Babu had met him once but they did not discuss about the second part. He added that they are not interested to take this issue legally.

However, Vijay Babu has said that he met M Mani, director Suresh Babu and scriptwriter Dennis Joseph to inform about the project and seek their blessings. They had mutually agreed to discuss the terms and conditions later. But later when Vijay Babu tried to contact them, they didn’t respond. He added that he has no idea why they have come up with the issue now.

Opening up more about their project, Vijay Babu said that they initially did not have plans to make a second part. Apparently, their movie was not scripted based on Kunjachan. But since their character had similar mannerisms to Kunjachan, they thought of developing the movie based on him. He clarified that if M Mani has an issue with it, then their movie will not be about Kottayam Kunjachan.

According to Vijay Babu, the movie is still in its early stages with only the story taking shape. They are yet to start works for the full fledged script. Vijay Babu confirmed that even if it is not about Kunjachan, they will be definitely doing the movie with Mammootty. Let’s hope the two parties sort out the issues soon, so that we get to see Kunjachan set the screen on fire once again.

Odiyan: Watch out for sparks as Mohanlal and Prakash Raj share screen space after two decades!

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Vignesh Madhu

March 17, 2018

Odiyan: Watch out for sparks as Mohanlal and Prakash Raj share screen space after two decades!

Odiyan is a highly anticipated movie for many reasons. The intriguing subject of Odividya, Mohanlal’s stunning physical makeover and Peter Hein’s action choreography are some of them. Another exciting thing to look forward in the movie is the showdown between Mohanlal and Prakash Raj – unarguably two of the country’s best actors.

Odiyan directed by Srikumar Menon explores a theme that has not yet been experimented in Malayalam cinema. Scripted by National award winner Harikrishnan, the movie is primarily about Odividya, a kind of black magic practiced in medieval Kerala. People who practice Odividya are called odiyans.

Mohanlal plays the role of odiyan Manikyan while Prakash Raj essays the villain role of Ravunni. The two are working together after a gap of twenty long years. Last time they shared screeen space was in Iruvar, an all-time classic directed by Mani Ratnam. For their performances in the movie, Prakash Raj won the National award for best supporting actor while Mohanlal missed a well deserved award by a whisker.

According to the makers of Odiyan, Prakash Raj’s Ravunni will be one of the most powerful villain characters that has taken shape so far in the industry. Since the story is three different timelines, both the actors will be appearing in multiple looks in the movie. In this ongoing schedule, the younger portions of these two lead characters are being shot.

Reportedly, a terrific 20-minute long climax featuring Mohanlal and Prakash Raj has been choreographed by Peter Hein. This final face-off is said to be one of the movie’s major highlights. Odiyan also stars Manju Warrier, Sana Althaf, Narein, Innocent and Kailas in supporting roles. Mohanlal’s own production house Aashirvad Cinemas is bankrolling the movie, which is expected to hit screens this year itself.

Check out the title logo of Mammootty’s epic film Mamankam!

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Vignesh Madhu

March 17, 2018

Check out the title logo of Mammootty’s epic film Mamankam!

Mammootty’s Mamankam is one of the most hyped Malayalam movies in recent years. The movie marks the directorial debut of Sajeev Pillai, who is a former associate of Adoor Gopalakrishnan. Sajeev has scripted the movie after doing research works for nearly 12 years. The movie is based on the medieval fair, Mamankam, where brave warriors from across the country would come together to showcase their skills at combat. Mammootty plays a ‘Chaaver’ (warrior) in this movie, which revolves around the life of these warriors who plot to defeat the Zamorin rulers.

Mamankam went on floors in Mangalore last month. The team had a brief first schedule which lasted for around ten days. Full fledged shoot will be commencing only by May. The makers meanhwile will be finalizing the cast. Last day, the official title of Mamankam was released in the movie’s newly started social media handle.

Mamankam is a very ambitious project made on a grand scale. The makers have informed that some big stars from other industries will be part of the movie. The female lead’s part will be played by a Bollywood actress while a young star from Tamil industry will be seen as the second hero. However, the makers have not yet revealed their names. Neeraj Madhav, ‘Queen’ fame Dhruv, Sunil Sukhada, Meghanathan and Sohan Seenulal are already part of the supporting cast.

Action sequences are being choreographed by Kaecha Kampakdee, who is well known for his works in movies like Baahubali 2, Thuppakki, Bhaagi etc. VFX works is headed by RC Kamala Kannan. Ganesh Rajavelu aka Jim Ganesh is the cinematographer and M Jayachandran has been signed as the composer. Venu Kunnampilly of Kavya Films is funding this big budget movie.

Here’s another stunning poster from Kammaara Sambhavam

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Vignesh Madhu

March 17, 2018

Here’s another stunning poster from Kammaara Sambhavam

Dileep’s Kammaara Sambhavam is gearing up for release. Post-production works are progressing at a brisk and the movie is expected to hit screens next month as a grand Vishu release. Ad filmmaker Rathish Ambat is making his directorial debut with this movie. The makers released a stylish new poster from the movie in social medias. Dileep and Siddharth feature in the poster.

Kammaara Sambhavam, scripted by Murali Gopy is an epic film set in three different timelines. The movie focuses on historical accounts and how it is depicted by the ones who wrote it. While Dileep plays Kammaran, Siddharth, who is making his Malayalam debut, plays the role of Othenan Nambiar. Murali Gopy is a crucial role as Malayil Kelu Nambiar.

Dileep and Siddharth will be appearing in multiple looks in the movie. The former is also sporting a 90-year-old look, makeup for which alone, took over five hours everyday prior to shoot. Talks within the industry suggest that the movie has Dileep’s career best role. Namitha Pramod plays the female lead in the movie.

Kammaara Sambhavam also stars the National award winning Tamil actor Bobby Simha, Shwetha Menon, Siddique, Vijayaraghavan, Indrans, Siddique, Vinay Forrt and Sudheer Karamana. The technical crew includes cinematographer Sunil KS, editor Suresh, composer Gopi Sunder and sound designer Resul Pookkutty. Gokulam Gopalan is funding this big budget movie under the banner of Sree Gokulam Movies.