This week’s Tamil releases are Saamy Square and Raja Ranguski, while the Malayalam releases include, Mangalyam Thanthunanena and Varathan which got postponed due to the floods in Kerala. Manto, Batti Gul Meter Chalu and Ishqeria are the Bollywood releases.
Saamy Square
Directed by Hari, the film is a sequel to the 2003 hit Saamy. It features Vikram in a dual role – he reprises the role of Aarusaamy, a rigid police officer battling corruption, from the original film and the second character will be a younger Vikram, who, too, is a police officer.
Saying that the sequel doesn’t exactly pick up where the previous one left, director Hari told Silverscreen, “I’m sure you’ve guessed that the villain in this film is related to Perumal Pichai. It is primarily a tale of revenge. This gives the whole film a frenetic pace, which I believe is necessary to sustain the audience attention.”
This is Keerthy Suresh’s first major release after Mahanati. Trisha Krishnan, who was in the original film, is replaced by Aishwarya Rajesh. It has Bobby Simha playing the lead antagonist. The film also stars Prabhu, John Vijay, Soori, Imman Annachi, Sanjeev, Ramesh Khanna, Delhi Ganesh and Sumitra. Produced by Shibu Thameens, the film marks the third collaboration between Vikram and Hari, after Arul and Saamy.
Raja Ranguski
Raja Ranguski, a mystery thriller directed by Dharani Dharan, stars Shirish of Metro fame and Chandini Tamilarasan in the lead roles. Chandini will reportedly play the role of Ranguski, who is also a writer in this film. Music is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja and the film also stars Anupama Kumar in a pivotal role. The film is jointly produced by Vasan Productions and Burma Talkies.
The film revolves around the lead characters, Raja and Ranguski, who are ardent fans of Sujatha – a Tamil writer.
Varathan
The film, which was initially scheduled to release on Onam, was postponed due to the floods in Kerala. Directed by Amal Neerad, Varathan stars Fahadh Faasil and Aishwarya Lakshmi in the lead. The film is a survival thriller, which revolves around a couple who comes to live at the woman’s ancestral property located in a remote neighborhood.
The movie is being jointly produced by Nazriya Nazim and Amal Neerad and marks the second venture of actor-director duo after Iyobinte Pusthakham. Varathan also stars Sharafudheen, Master Chethan Lal, Dileesh Pothan, and Arjun Ashokan.
Mangalyam Thanthunanena
Filmmaker-actor-VJ Soumya Sadanandan had won the National Award (Special Jury Mention) in 2017 for her debut directorial, Chembai – My Discovery of a Legend, a documentary on the life and music of Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar. A year later, the 33-year-old former engineer is ready with her maiden feature film, Mangalyam Thanthunanena, a comedy starring Kunchakko Boban and Nimisha Sajayan in the lead roles.
The film also stars Hareesh Perumanna, Shantikrishna, Vijayaraghavan, Alencier Ley Lopez, Leona Lishoy, Salim Kumar, Chempil Ashokan, Rony David and Soubin Shahir in supporting roles. It is produced by Allwyn Antony, Zachariah Thomas, Prince Paul and Angelena Mary Antony.
Talking about the film, Soumya told Silverscreen, “It doesn’t have high-octane stunt sequences or a bomb blast. This is about two people – a man and a woman – who get married traditionally, with the approval of the families and the church. The film follows them for a year into their marriage, and observes how people complicate life that could have been joyride.”
Manto
Manto, directed by Nandita Das, is a biopic on the famous Urdu author of Saadat Hassan Manto. The film had premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year. The film stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the titular role, while Rasika Duggal as Manto’s wife. It also stars Tahir Raj Bhasin as movie star Sundar Shyam Chadda as Manto’s friend, Rishi Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Ranvir Shorey, Divya Dutta and Shashank Arora.
The film focuses on Manto’s personal life, his fight for freedom of expression, obscenity charges leveled against his story ‘Thanda Gosht’; the stand adopted by his wife, Safia; and the legal tussles he got caught up in.
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Directed by Narayan Singh of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha fame, the film narrates the tale of a common man and his struggle to pay the exorbitant electricity bills slapped by a private power distribution company. The film is set in a small town in Uttarakhand where people are so used to frequent power cuts that they constantly joke about it. Living in the dark has almost become a part of their everyday routine.
Produced by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series, the film stars Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor and Yami Gautam in the lead. The film also stars Divyendu Sharma, Samir Soni, Sudhir Pandey, Farida Jalal, Supriya Pilgaonkar and others.
Shahid’s character is that of a carefree young man who happens to be an advocate. All is well until his friend is slapped with a hefty electricity bill. After a fruitless fight against officials of the electricity board, he takes his life. His untimely death prompts Shahid’s character to give life to his lawyer avatar and revolt against corruption in the electricity company. He takes to the streets, and encourages the public to join him.
Ishqeria
It’s a romantic drama, written and directed by Prerna Wadhawan and stars Richa Chadha and Neil Nitin Mukesh in the lead. The film revolves around a small-town girl, played by Chadha, who heads to a city college and falls for the institute’s sports star. Her friends then go to great lengths to play matchmakers for the duo. Produced by Swarp Films, the film also stars stars Bani J and Raj Babbar in important roles.
