News

For now, ‘Shershaah’ will remain Sidharth Malhotra’s most notable performance and a successful film at that. Pitching himself to feel pride in wearing the uniform is a great gesture indeed. We do agree but as far as this film goes, it sounded skippable right from its announcement. For me, the buck stopped at its title, which is a stumbling block in the power of the word, ‘Yoddha’ means a warrior. Had it been spelt correctly ‘Yoddha’, it would have derived a different level of power (n.b. I am not a numerologist). Just by positioning a film as patriotic or nationalist does not earn brownie points. It needs to have equal amount of substance in the narrative to support the subject matter.

Surprisingly, Indian filmmakers have been, in the recent times, presenting a unique way of calling out our neighbours with a mushy-mushy gesture, of protecting their head of state in their own country!

MollywoodThe actor will play a superstar who is crazy about luxury cars in this film that will make the directorial debut of Kalabhavan Shajohn.Digital NativePrithviraj’s next film has been launched with the official pooja. Titled Driving License, the film will be helmed by Jean Paul Lal alias Lal Jr. Prithviraj is bankrolling the project under his home banner Prithviraj Productions in association with Listin Stephen’s Magic Frames. The script for Driving License has been penned by Sachy. Touted to be a thorough commercial entertainer, the film is about a superstar who is crazy about luxury cars. It goes without saying that Prithviraj will be playing the role of the superstar in this flick. Driving License also stars Suraj Venjaramoodu in a prominent role and he will be seen as a vehicle inspector. The technical crew of this film includes Ranadive for wielding the camera and Sushin Shyam to compose the tunes.

MollywoodThe film will mark the directorial debut of actor Kalabhavan Shajohn.Digital NativeActor Kalabhavan Shajohn is making his directorial debut with Brother’s Day, a film that will have Prithviraj Sukumaran playing the lead role. The team has returned from Greece where they wrapped up a schedule recently. On his return, Prithviraj is seen sporting a bearded look which is probably for his get-up in the film. Listin Stephen will be bankrolling the film under his banner Magic Frames on a budget of Rs 15 crore. Miya, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Prayaga Rose Martin and Aima Sebastian have been roped in to play the female leads in this film. Reports are that Prithviraj will be working on Brother’s Day and Driving License simultaneously and both the films will be out at the theatres this year. Driving License will be helmed by Jean Paul Lal. It is learnt that Prithviraj plays a car-crazy superstar.

CinemaThe film is touted to be musical romance.Digital NativeA few years ago, there was an announcement that music composer Ar Rahman would be penning and producing a film titled 99 Songs under his banner Ym Studios. It is touted to be musical romance. The latest update about this project is that 99 Songs, to be released in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, will hit the marquee on June 21 worldwide. The film is a sensual story about art and self-discovery of a struggling singer who wants to be a successful music composer. 99 Songs is a musical directed by well-known ad filmmaker Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy of The Dewarists (season 1) and Bring on the Night fame. The film has Ehan Bhat and Edilsy Vargas play the lead roles. The shooting commenced in India and the team had completed a schedule in Ukraine as well. According to sources, all the actors in the star cast, including the lead pair,...

MollywoodThe last time Rahman composed music for a Malayalam movie was for the film 'Yoddha' in 1992, soon after his first ever film work 'Roja'.Digital NativeOscar winning music composer Ar Rahman will be returning to the Malayalam film industry after two and a half decades with Aadujeevitham. The film, directed by Blessy, has Prithviraj Sukumaran playing the male lead. The shooting of this film began in March this year and will take a couple of years to complete, say sources. Apparently, the hero will have to gain weight for the first half of the film and then reduce it for the second. This is the reason for the film’s shooting being spread out within a span of 1 to 2 years. On Ar Rahman’s music composition for the film, the musician himself had reportedly told that he has completed setting the tunes for two songs, one...

MollywoodThe movie, about a jawan, has no connection with 'Yodha', though the title would bring the 1992 film to mind.Digital NativeVeteran actor Sreenivasan, earlier this year, was seen sharing the screen space with his eldest son Vineeth Sreenivasan in Aravindante Athidhikal. And now, the actor has inked a deal to work with his younger son Dhyan Sreenivasan. This will be the first time the two will be sharing screen space. The film, titled Kutty Mama, is directed by Vm Vinu and Sreenivasan plays the title role in it. The director has been quoted by the Times of India as saying, “The movie is about a jawan, his life and certain incidents in the Kargil war that leaves a lasting impact on him. The story is told through humour and is a family entertainer. Sreenivasan and Dhyan play important roles with Durga Krishna of Vimaanam fame being the heroine.” Since the title Kutty Mama would bring to mind the 1992 film Yodha, the director sought to clarify that there is no connection between the two films whatsoever. He said, “No. Sreenivasan plays the jawan called Shekharankutty but everyone in his family and those close to him call him Kutty Mama; hence the title.” The shooting of this film will begin next month and the team is currently busy with the prep work. Interestingly, the film’s camera work will be handled by the director’s son Varun. Achu Rajamoni has been roped in to score music for the film. While Vm Vinu will be helming the project as its director, the scripting for it has been done by Manaf. Also in the star cast along with Dhyan Sreenivasan, Sreenivasan and Durga Krishna are Surabhi Lakshmi, Premkumar and Harish Kanaran. (Content provided by Digital Native) Also read: Vinayakan's 'Karinthandan' runs into trouble over title...

The song Padakali from the Malayalam film Yodha is one of Ar Rahman's earliest compositions. The comic song, sung by Mg Sreekumar and Kj Yesudas, is also one of the handful songs Rahman composed in Malayalam, as the maestro never returned to Malayalam cinema after Yodha. Interestingly, the long gap will be broken by another Mohanlal film, Mahabharata, for which Rahman is the composer.

Mumbai, May 20: Despite an over two-decade stint in filmmaking business and quite a few hits to his credit, director Sangeeth Sivan calls himself a struggler in comparison to his filmmaker brother Santosh Sivan.

Son of filmmaker Sivan, he is active in the Malayalam movies since 1990 and is known for making films like "Yodha" and "Nirnayam". He is equally well-versed with Bollywood, thanks to his Hindi directorial ventures "Zor", "Kyaa Kool Hai Hum" and his forthcoming "Yamla Pagla Deewana 2", coming out June 6.

"He (Santosh) has reached a point where he does not have to do films for a living. He is in a place where he only.