The coming weekend promises to be fun for all Malayalam movie lovers because of the three releases: Mikhael, Praana and Neeyum Njanum. In Hindi Bombairiya will release. There are no major releases in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
Mikhael
Mikhael is directed by Haneef Adeni, who has previously directed the 2017 Mammootty-starrer The Great Father. This film stars Nivin Pauly as an action hero, a different role from his usual films. It’s a family thriller revolving around two families, with Manjima Mohan and Unni Mukundan as the other leads. Sudev Nair, Babu Antony, Siddique, Suraj Venjaramood, Kalabhavan Shajon, Jayaprakash and JD Chakravarthy play supporting roles.
The film is produced by Anto Joseph under the banner of Anto Joseph Film Company. Music is composed by Gopi Sundar.
Praana
Directed by VK Prakash, Praana is a psychological horror thriller shot simultaneously in Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada. Praana is said to be the first film in India to have used live sync sound surround format. The film stars Nithya Menon, Dulquer Salmaan, Nani and Kunchako Boban in the lead.
Nithya Menon reportedly plays Thara Anuradha, an English writer who focusses on social issues, whose work is not well-received. The film is shot mostly in Kumily, and Thara is seen living in a haunted bungalow in the hills. It is produced by S Raj Productions and Real Studio. PC Sreeram is the cinematographer.
Talking about the film in an interview with Deccan Chronicle, Sreeram said, “It is about a writer who goes through the struggles of writing. VK Prakash did not want any dark frames and since it is a one-artist film with surround live sounds, the associated sounds will give one the feeling of being there.”
Neeyum Njanum
Neeyum Njanum is a love story directed by AK Sajan, featuring Sharaf U Dheen and Anu Sithara in the lead. Produced by Siyad Koker under the banner of Kokers Films, the film has music by Vinu Thomas. Clinto Antony is the cinematographer. Siju Wilson, Aju Varghese, Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Dileesh Pothan and Surabhi Lakshmi also star in the film.
Director Sajan told The New Indian Express, “Today, you don’t know what is going to offend somebody. You have to be very careful of what you write. Something that seems politically correct for you may not seem the same to someone else. Though Neeyum Njanum is mostly a feel-good film, it will be addressing some serious social issues too.”
Bombairiya
Bombairiya is a black comedy drama directed by Pia Sukanya, written and produced by Michael E Ward. The story is by Ward, Sukanya and Aarti Bagdi. The film stars Radhika Apte, Siddhanth Kapoor, Akshay Oberoi, Adil Hussain, Ravi Kishan, Amit Sial, Ajinkya Deo and Shilpa Shukla. It is an independent film which traces one day in the life of each of the characters. Music is composed by Arko Pravo Mukherjee and Amjad Nadeem.
Talking about the film to India Today, the director said, “It’s a comedy-mystery film. It’s a very funny and chaotic story. All these three characters get connected with each other with one incident and how it becomes a much larger story, that’s what the whole film is actually about.”
