The Eid weekend is big for theatres in Kerala with four releases – Thotappan, Thamasha, Virus, and Children’s Park. Mammootty-starrer Unda was also supposed to release but had to be pushed by a week due to Censor issues. In Tamil, Kolaigaaran is the big release, while it is Bharat in Hindi.
Kolaigaran
Directed by Andrew Louis of Leelai fame, the film and stars Vijay Antony and Arjun Sarja. Ashima Narwal makes her Tamil debut with the film. Nasser and Seetha play supporting roles. Music is composed by Simon King, and cinematography is by Mukes. The film has been entirely shot in Chennai.
The director said in an interview that the story connects the lives of the characters played by Vijay Antony, Arjun and Ashima. This is Vijay Antony’s 10th film. He said in an interview to DC: “Kolaigaran, directed by my friend, the very talented Andrew, is about a man who is on a hunt to kill those who wronged him. Arjun sir plays a cop.” Ashima Narwal, former Miss India: Australia, will be seen as Vijay’s pair.
Thottappan
Directed by Shanavas K Bavakkutty, Thottappan stars Vinayakan in the lead. The film is based on a short story written by Francis Nerona. Writer and scenarist Raghunath Paleri makes his acting debut in the film. Roshan Mathew, Priyamvada, Lal, Dileesh Pothan and Manoj K Jayan play supporting roles. Music is by Leela L Girish Kuttan, cinematography by Suresh Rajan.
The director told Silverscreen, “The film explores the themes of love and friendship. I would call it a romantic thriller, although it is a mix of genres. It is centred on a man who becomes a guardian to a girl he is not related to. It might seem complicated to the outside world, and it is their relationship we are trying to explore through Thottappan.”
Thamasha
Written and directed by Ashraf Hamza, and produced by Sameer Thahir, Shyju Khalid, Lijo Jose Pellissery and Chemban Vinod Jose’s Happy Hours Entertainment, Thamasha stars Vinay Forrt in the lead as a college professor. It is said to be a departure from his role in Premam. Divya Prabha, Grace Antony, Chinnu Sarojini, Navas Vallikkunnu, Arun Kurian and Arya Salim also part of the cast. Sameer Thahir is the cinematographer, while music is by Rex Vijayan and Shahabaz Aman.
Virus
Virus is based on the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala, and is directed by Ashiq Abu. The film has a big star cast with Rima Kallingal, who has also co-produced the film, playing the role of nurse Lini, who died following the outbreak. Revathy plays Health Minister KK Shailaja and Tovino Thomas plays Collector UV Jose. Kunchacko Boban, Parvathy, Poornima Indrajith and Soubin Shahir are part of the cast.
The film has music by Sushin Shyam and cinematography by Rajeev Ravi.
The director told Indian Express, “To make the film, we referred to a number of cases, although the film itself is a fictionalised account of the events surrounding the outbreak. The outbreak and its causes, the circumstances — these were like a big mystery and that’s how we decided to approach the film.”
Children’s Park
The comedy film is written by Rafi and directed by Shafi. It stars Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Druvan, Sharafuddin, Gayatri and many child artistes. Shivaji Guruvayoor, Balachandran Chullikkad and Sreejith Ravi play supporting roles. Music is by Arun Raj, cinematography by Faisal Ali.
The film is centered around the story of three people; its tagline says, “Story of 3 Idiots”.
Bharath
Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Bharat stars Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Tabu, Disha Patani and Jackie Shroff. The story is based on the South Korean film Ode To My Father. It has music by Vishal-Shekar and cinematography by Marcin Laskawiec. The film is said to trace India’s post-independence history from the perspective of a Salman Khan’s character Bharat.
The director told Firstpost, “It is a very simple, emotional story of a family displaced during Partition, but the impact of the story is very high because not only do you see him (Salman Khan) change, but you also see the nation change. People around him change and this impacts his life. So, it was a very challenging film… It was like making six Salman Khan films because he is there in six different looks.”
