This week, Charlie Chaplin 2, Kuthoosi and Simba are the Tamil releases while Manikarnika and Thackeray are the Bollywood ones. Irupathiyonnaam Noottaandu and Sakalakala Shala release in Malayalam.
Charlie Chaplin 2
Directed by Shakthi Chidambaram, Charlie Chaplin 2 is a sequel to the 2002 film Charlie Chaplin which was a romantic comedy. The film stars Prabhu Deva and Nikki Galrani in the lead, with Prabhu Ganesan, Adah Sharma, Samir Kochhar, Aravind Akash, Vivek Prasanna and Abhirami in supporting roles.
Produced by T Siva, under the banner Amma Creations, the music for the film is composed by Amresh Ganesh. Senthil and Rajalakshmi, winners of Super Singer, a TV programme, sang ‘Chinna Machan’ for the film, which became a huge hit, crossing over 7 million views. Prabhudeva makes his debut as a lyricist in this film with the song ‘Ivala Romba’.
Kuthoosi
After playing a remarkable role in Kaala, actor Dileepan plays the lead in Kuthoosi directed by Sivasakthi, a former associate of director Seenu Ramasamy. The film will have Amala Rose as the female lead. Kuthoosi is said to highlight the importance of organic farming with commercial elements such as romance and action. The film also stars Yogi Babu and Jaya Balan in supporting roles. The music for the film is composed by Kannan, and is produced by Sri Lakshmi Studios.
Talking about the film to The Indian Express, Dileepan said, “We’re glad to be promoting an important message – that organic farming alone is the way for all of us to live healthily. I think it’s a blessing for an actor like me to get a film such as Kuthoosi as farming is an important topic. It’s satisfying to play the lead in such a film.”
Simba
Directed by debutant Aravind Sridhar, the film stars Bharath after a series of box-office failures. It also features Premgi Amaren in a pivotal role. It is said that the film is inspired from a real life incident.
Simba also stars Telugu actress Bhanu Mehra of Varudu fame, and Swathi Dixit. Powerstar Srinivasan and Lollu Sabha Swaminathan play supporting roles, along with director Venkat Prabhu in a guest appearance. Music director Vishal Chandrasekar, who worked on Santhosh Sivan’s Inam and Appuchi Gramam, has composed five songs for Simba. Yuvan Shankar Raja and Shakthishree Gopalan have sung a song each in the film.
Talking about the film, director Aravind said, “Simba is a film about the relationship between a human being (six senses) and an animal (five senses). Bharath plays a drug addict (Mahesh) in the film, while Premgi plays Simba, a dog.”
Manikarnika
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi is a biographical period drama based on the story of the Rani Of Jhansi. Directed by Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi and Kangana Ranaut, the film stars Kangana Ranaut in the lead. This is the second movie in Bollywood that talks about the 1857 revolt, after the Ketan Mehta-directed Mangal Pandey: The Rising which starred Aamir Khan.
The film also stars Atul Kulkarni, Ankita Lokhande, Mishti, Jisshu Sengupta, Suresh Oberoi, Danny Denzongpa and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in pivotal roles. Produced by Kairos Kontent Studios, music for the film is composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, while the background score is composed by Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara.
Thackeray
Directed by Abhijit Panse, Thackeray is a bilingual biopic in Hindi and Marathi. The film is based on the life of Bal Thackeray, the founder of the Indian political party Shiv Sena. The film features Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the titular role, and Amrita Rao as his wife.
Jointly produced by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Raut’ers Entertainment and Carnival Motion Pictures, the music for the film is composed by Rohan and Sandeep Shirodkar. The story is written by Sanjay Raut, the executive editor of Saamana, the party mouthpiece and a Rajya Sabha member.
Talking about his scripting experience to Deccan Herald, Raut said, “There is no fiction, only truth in Thackeray. Balasaheb’s life is an open book. You all know everything about him. There was no need for us to create a story or add masala to the film. My experiences with Balasaheb and the way I saw him, I have tried to translate that into the film.”
Irupathiyonnaam Noottaandu
Starring Pranav Mohanlal in the lead, the film is directed by Arun Gopy who has previously worked on Dileep’s Ramaleela. Irupathiyonnam Noottandu is an action-adventure-romance film, marking the second project for both the actor and the director. The title Irupathiyonnaam Noottaandu is inspired by Mohanlal’s hit film Irupatham Noottandu (1987) directed by K Madhu.
The film, produced by Tomichan Mulakuppadam, has Abhinandan Ramanujan as the cinematographer while Gopi Sundar is the music director. Zaya David makes her debut with this film and Suresh Gopi’s son, Gokul Suresh, makes a cameo appearance. The supporting cast includes Manoj K Jayan and Kalabhavan Shajon.
Sakalakala Shala
Featuring Manasa Radhakrishnan, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Tini Tom and Hareesh Kanaran in lead roles, Sakalakala Shala is directed by Vinod Guruvayoor. The film revolves around a brilliant college student who makes everyone proud until one day his technical innovation backfires, leading to a lot of trouble.
Music for the film is composed by Aby Tom Cyriac. Sharing his experience of working on the film, Cyriac told Deccan Chronicle, “I give what the script demands. I always discuss the music with the director and seek his opinion. Sometimes, a song would contain an event, and then I arrange it accordingly. Also, I always ask (for) the scenes before and after the song sequence so that I can create and place the song without disturbing the flow of the movie.”
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