Actor-politician Kamal Haasan has just released a two-part video on his social media handles with advice for tackling the Coronavirus pandemic. From social distancing to washing hands, and the need to stay indoors, the actor’s video covers it all.
The actor also talks about how the fourth and fifth week has been crucial as that’s when the growth is exponential in most countries. He explains why this is so as well.
Haricharan is possibly among the most underrated singers from the South Indian film industry. As the singer turns 33, here’s a look at five songs we’re listening to.
Thuli Thuli – Paiyya, 2010
Who is the lead actor again? Karthi or Haricharan? You’d never know unless you watch the video of this song. ‘Thuli Thuli’ features in Paiyya, a Lingusamy film that also starred Tamannaah, Jagan, and Milind Soman in important roles. Yuvan Shankar Raja was the composer.
Yaar Intha Pen – Boss Engira Baskaran, 2010
The line”Ennai Edho Seidhaaai”. That’s what I would tell his voice. Yaar Intha Pen’ features in Boss Engira Baskaran, a Rajesh film that starred Arya, Nayanthara, Santhanam, Subbu Panchu, and Chithra Lakshmanan in important roles. Yuvan Shankar Raja was the composer.
Kaatru Veesum – Neram, 2013
This song, which unfortunately did not feature in the film has the flute, the tune and his voice blending beautifully. ‘Kaatru Veesum’ is from Neram, an Alphonse Puthren film that starred Nivin Pauly, Nazriya Nazim, John Vijay, Nasser and Thambi Ramaiah in important roles. Rajesh Murugesan was the composer.
Pookkalae Sattru Oyivedungal – I, 2015
A visual stunner backed by two great voices – Haricharan and Shreya Ghoshal. ‘Pookkalae Sattru Oyivedungal’ features in I, a Shankar film that starred Vikram, Amy Jackson, Suresh Gopi, and Santhanam in important roles. AR Rahman was the composer.
Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Karan Tacker, Muzammil Ibrahim, Vipul Gupta, Saiyami Kher
Hotstar’s new web-series, starring Kay Kay Menon and Karan Tacker, is an engaging thriller about a manhunt that keeps RAW and its agents on the edge to nab a terrorist mastermind.
***
In the past few years, with films and web-series like Baby, Uri, Bard of Blood, and Family Man, ‘national security’ has become the most recurring theme in popular culture. Perhaps it’s a reflection of the political landscape of our country or the domino effect of a series of films and television shows focusing on the exploits of CIA, FBI, and Mossad in the West, but there’s no denying that espionage thrillers are here to stay.
It’s little wonder that Neeraj Pandey, best known for his films like A Wednesday and Baby, chose a familiar turf for his web-series debut with Hotstar’s Special OPS, an espionage thriller about a manhunt — spanning nearly 19 years — for a terrorist mastermind. It’s a riveting drama and offers a cinematic-scale spectacle with the narrative constantly shifting between India, Dubai, Istanbul, and Azerbaijan.
The series follows the journey of Himmat Singh (Kay Kay Menon), a senior official at the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), who has groomed a team of secret agents in several foreign countries to thwart terrorism or plans to fund terrorist activities in India. However, Himmat Singh lands in trouble when an inquiry is ordered against him for the enormous expenses under his watch.
Through a series of interviews with the investigators, Himmat Singh explains why he believes that there was a terrorist mastermind behind major terror attacks in India since the Parliament attack in 2001. And the rest of the story is about how Himmat Singh coordinates with his agents, Farooq Ali (Karan Tacker), Juhi (Saiyami Kher), Bala (Vipul Gupta), Avinash (Muzammil Ibrahim), Ruhani (Meher Vij), to nab the most wanted criminal — Iklakh Khan.
Theoretically, Special OPS is in the same space as that of Amazon Prime’s Family Man, directed by Raj and DK; however, it digresses quite a lot in its approach. While Family Man focused on the double life that Manoj Bajpayee’s Srikanth Tiwari leads, balancing his family life and counter-terrorism operations, Special OPS is more direct in its approach. This is the story of one man’s relentless effort to convince everyone that there’s another terrorist mastermind — Iklakh Khan, although no one seems to believe him.
All the intel that his agents gather over the years fails to prove the identity of this mysterious figure. It’s a ‘finding a needle in a haystack’ kind of situation; however, Himmat Singh does manage to find a breakthrough when he’s sent to investigate Ajmal Kasab following the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. Throughout the process, Himmat Singh doesn’t hide the nature of his job from his family. In fact, his wife, Saroj even jokes that she has nothing to worry about because Himmat Singh would have ordered his team to take care of any situation.
Special OPS has an elaborate set-up and delivers plenty of thrillers and intriguing drama with every episode. And the major credit for that goes to how the series has been written. While Kay Kay Menon steals the show with his performance, Special OPS also lets its supporting actors shine. Vinay Pathak as Abbas, a Delhi cop, is phenomenal. Whether it’s the seriousness that he brings to the role or the loyalty that he displays towards Himmat Singh, Pathak nails the performance. Then, there’s Sajjad Delafrooz as Hafiz Ali, whose restrained tone shrouds what’s brewing in his mind all the time. Karan Tacker as Farooq has a significant character, apart from Kay Kay Menon, and he delivers a good performance as a secret agent, whose life is always on the edge. But the show clearly belongs to Kay Kay Menon, who is perfect as an aging officer still hoping to fulfill his mission. Even though he’s restricted to issuing clear instructions to his agents from his office, or running after criminals once in a while, Kay Kay Menon brings plenty of gravitas to the character.
The first season, however, doesn’t show us the backstories of Avinash, Juhi, and Ruhani, the other agents. Moreover, the format of Himmat Singh explaining the secret operations, gets repetitive. Neeraj Pandey and Shivam Nair, who directed different episodes, don’t lose focus on what they want to narrate. That helps.
Special OPS has all its characters living on the edge, and when everyone’s racing against time, it doesn’t leave you with enough time to process all the information thrown at you. That’s works in favour of this espionage thriller.
Special OPS is now streaming on Hotstar. Watch the trailer here:
The Special Ops review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.
Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor (Baby Doll, Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan) has tested positive for Coronavirus. Kanika posted this message on her Instagram account: “Hello everyone, for the past 4 days I have had signs of flu, I got myself tested and it came positive for Covid-19. My family and I are in complete quarantine now and following medical advice on how to move forward. Contact mapping of people I have been in touch with is underway as well. I was scanned at the airport as per normal procedure 10 days ago when I came back home, the symptoms have developed only 4 days ago. At this stage, I would like to urge you all to practice self-isolation and get tested if you have the signs. I am feeling ok, like a normal flu and a mild fever, however we need to be sensible citizens at this time and think of all around us. We can get through this without panic only if we listen to the experts and our local, state and central government directives. Wishing everyone good health. Jai Hind”.
Several news reports have said that she hid her travel history from authorities. India Today reported that “The 41-year-old actress was in London for a while and returned to Lucknow on March 15. She also refrained from informing authorities about her travel history. Upon arriving in Lucknow, Kanika hosted a lavish party for her friends and family at a five-star hotel.” The singer’s father told Hindustan Times, “After she started developing some symptoms similar to Covid19 she herself informed the chief medical officers and her samples were taken. Today she was confirmed positive. The team of doctors have taken her to Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) and she has been kept in isolation.”
Among those who attended the party were top bureaucrats who reportedly work very closely with the UP CM, BJP MP Dushyant Singh, who went on to attend Lok Sabha and went to the Rashtrapati Bhavan as part of a delegation hosted by the President of India, Ramnath Kovind.
While in Lucknow, I attended a dinner with my son Dushyant & his in-laws. Kanika, who has unfortunately tested positive for #Covid19 was also a guest.
As a matter of abundant caution, my son & I have immediately self-quarantined and we’re taking all necessary precautions.
Coronavirus imposed social distancing has some of us a bit anxious. And now more than ever, good distractions are welcome. Enter Babish, a YouTuber whose fiction-to-reality food show has earned him 6 million subscribers.
***
Binging with Babish is a remarkably simple idea. A gentleman named Andrew Rea, a.k.a. Babish, records himself cooking iconic dishes from film and television, edits in a voiceover and puts up the results on YouTube. Since the series began in 2016, with the burger cook off from Parks and Recreation in case you wondered, Rea has cooked dishes ranging from the prison sauce from Goodfellas, to lemon cakes from Game of Thrones to even Jjapaguri from Parasite, racking up 6 million subscribers on the way.
I can almost sense the disapproval here. I can hear the sceptics roll their eyes and complain about feckless millenials monetising television and food again. It is true that Babish combines the two forms of entertainment most favoured by millenials – television, and aesthetically pleasing food on a screen. It could well be a sign of the Kali Yuga that with everything going wrong in the world, a bespectacled, bearded gentleman with tattoos has just paid for his house by cooking fictional foods on camera.
But hold that thought. Food television is an actual thing. It’s the kind of low stakes, no stress, escape we need from the terribleness in the world today. Look at Masterchef Australia – we love watching people make food. And unlike the spherified-kangaroo-tails-with-fennel-foam-molecular-whatever creations and long-drawn pressure tests on Masterchef Australia, Babish’s videos don’t end in your favourite contestant going home.
The food feels real and accessible — only a tiny bit out of the reach of the average home chef. Rea credits professional chefs whenever he borrows their ideas, and puts his mistakes and missteps on camera for his viewers to see. Given enough time and money to buy fancy ingredients, many of us could make Babish versions of Carmela’s lasagne from The Sopranos, or ramen or strudel from scratch, perhaps learning a few lessons from Rea’s own mistakes.
The sources may be fictional, but the food is ever so real. Indeed, Basics with Babish, the spin-off series where Rea cooks real basic food, is a delight in itself. This show is for the less television-worthy dishes that you and I could cook at home, such as French onion soup and pan pizza, complete with beginner-friendly instructions.
While Babish does try to teach its viewers how to cook, it’s Rea’s mock seriousness that makes the show so endearing. The show goes to comic lengths to keep the dishes true to the source, with Rea even, famously, making a panini from canned sausages and Cadbury eggs in his car.
Rea tastes everything on camera, however horrible, from Kevin’s Famous Chili (The Office) complete with office carpeting or Rachel’s English trifle layered with beef and mash (Friends), or even Matilda’s chocolate cake made from actual blood and sweat. And he does it all with the air of a gentleman scientist heroically experimenting on himself. You could never make a giant robot pancakes, or the aforementioned car panini, but Babish can and did. He found out, so you don’t have to.
Maybe it is the millennial in me speaking, but Binging with Babish is one of my favourite things to watch on weekday evening. It’s got food, television and a healthy dose of hipster silliness. What’s not to love?
As Indian cities shut down, Silverscreen India is putting together this constantly updating list of events that have been cancelled in the wake of Coronavirus.
March 24, 2020
Tokyo Olympics postponed until 2021.
March 20, 2020
The release of Ranveer Singh starrer ’83’ has been postponed indefinitely.
March 19, 2020
The Pune Film and Television Institute of India along with the National Film Archive Of India has postponed its ‘Summer Film Appreciation Course’ to be held originally from May 5 – 31 this year.
Cinema halls in Telengana shut till March 31.
Suriya’s 2D Entertainment has stopped filming and post-production activities of all ongoing films till March 31st, 2020.
March 18, 2020
Big Print Pictures suspends all administrative, post-productional and promotional activities until the situation improves.
The shooting of Dulquer Salmaan, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Kajal Aggarwal starrer Hey Sinamika will be stalled from tomorrow, 19th March 2020.
March 17, 2020
Producer S Sashikanth’s YNot Studios suspends all administrative, post-productional and promotional activities until the situation improves.
Met Gala 2020 has been postponed.
March 16, 2020
The release date of Haathi Mere Sathi/Kaadan/Aranya has been postponed. The new date is yet to be announced.
The audio launch event of Jyotika – Parthiban starrer Ponmagal Vandal has been cancelled. The album will be launched online now.
All cinema halls to be shut down across Tamil Nadu until March 31.
March 15, 2020
Movie theaters in TN districts that border neighbouring states (AP, Karnataka, and Kerala) shut down till March 31. The districts include Tiruvallur, Vellore, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Erode, Nilgiris, Kovai, Tiruppur, Dindigul, Theni, Virudhunagar, Nellai, Kanyakumari.
Netflix stops the production of all projects in the US and Canada.
The Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association, Federation of Western India Cine Employees and Indian Film And Television Directors Association decide to stop shooting from 19 March to 31 March.
March 14, 2020
The release date of the Telugu movie V has been pushed to April.
ETDXD-UUYAIB_kY
The release date of Dibakar Banerjee’s Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar has been postponed. The new date is yet to be announced.
The crew of Hindi film Jersey starring Shahid Kapoor has called off the shoot in Chandigarh and has returned to Mumbai.
Cinema halls in Rajasthan to remain closed till March 30.
Events around carnatic singer
TM Krishna’s book Sebastian and Sons that were to be held in Hyderabad and Bangalore on the 14th and 15th of March have been cancelled. This comes in the wake of an appeal from the Government to avoid any large public gathering.
March 13, 2020
Theatres shut down in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, and Pune.
The Karnataka government has ordered the closure of cinema halls from tomorrow, for a week, in the wake of Coronavirus.
‘Up Close And Personal With Salman Khan’, event featuring the star, which was to be held in the United States and Canada from April 3 to 12 has been cancelled.
Odisha declares closure of all cinema halls.
Lawyer-politician Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s Delhi From The Trenches book launch postponed ‘owing to the serious health concerns due to the spread of COVID-19’. It was to be held at IIC on 22 March.
IPL postponed until April 15 in India.
Bihar government announces closure of all cinema halls until March 31.
Remaining two ODIs between India-South Africa to be held in Lucknow and Kolkata called off.
Biswa Kalyan Rath cancels his stand-up tour in UK and Europe.
ES–THWUwAEaMVG
March 12, 2020
Delhi closes all theatres until March 31, 2020, in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
PVR shuts down theatres in Delhi, J&K, and Kerala following government advisory.
Savitribai
Release of Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi postponed.
ES6de_wXQAIJGIp
March 10, 2020
Kerala government advises all movie halls to shut down until March 31 in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak.
His double role in Mani Ratnam’sVaanam Kottatum finds Nandha in an interesting professional space. He has been roped in to play a negative role in Atharvaa Murali’s next as-yet-untitled film that is being touted as a cop thriller.
Speaking of the new addition to his film’s cast, the director of the film, Ravindra Madhava said, “When this movie was launched, I had mentioned that I needed a good actor to bring this villain to life. It was a long process, but, finally we got Nandha on board. He is a charismatic actor, and definitely brings to life the brain and brawn aspect that my antagonist has.”
The film’s shooting is on hold at the moment because of the restrictions placed on gatherings due because of the ongoing Corona Virus pandemic. The director said, “I am happy that we have finalised the entire star cast, and I am looking forward to shooting with them. Right now because of the virus outbreak, the shoot is on hold.”
Bankrolled by Michael Rayappan, the film marks the directorial debut of Ravindra Madhava, who has worked earlier with Boopathy Pandian, Suseenthiran and Koratala Siva.
Atharvaa Murali, Lavanya Tripathi and Nandha will be seen in title roles, there are few more actors in the star cast, who will essay pivotal roles. On the technical front, Shakthi Saravanan (cinematography), Kalai (Editing), Saravanan (stunts). Ayyappan (art director).
Kavaludaari director Hemanth Rao and actor-director Rakshit Shetty will work together again. The duo has just announced a film titled Sapta Sagaradaache Ello, a love story that will be produced by Pushkar Films.
SSAY_TITLE_POSTER_V004
“We have the same team from Kavaludaari. Charan Raj will be doing the music and Advaitha Gurumurthy will be doing the cinematography. Also, the Godhi Banna combo of Rakshit, Pushkara and I are back together while the rest of the cast is yet to be finalised,” says director Hemanth Rao, who’s now in the process of screening actors for his project.
HMR1
Considering the fact that his film is a performance-oriented old school romance, Hemanth is looking for a lead actress who’s an extremely good performer. “The film is a love story and as the title suggests, it’s designed to be visually poetic in terms of content and treatment. Visual poetry is an important element in the film. I’ve grown up watching classics like Casablanca, Bandhana, Mounaragam, Benkiya Bale, Belindingala Bale and so on. Our movie very much aims to be in the same space as these. Godhi Banna… had some romance and Kavaludaari had a tinge of it, but this will be a full-grown love story,” says the director, who’s named his film based on a poem by Gopal Krishna Adiga. Having written the script quite some time ago, the filmmaker reveals that he was waiting for other factors to come together for the project to take off. “The script work is going on and the shoot will commence in June or July,” he signs off.
The Harish Kalyan–Tanya Hope starrer Dharala Prabhuhit screens last Friday, on March 13. The film that opened to positive reviews is now off screens because of Coronavirus outbreak. Owing to the threat, the government has called for the halt of any sort of activity that requires a group of people to collaborate. Malls, theatres, shopping complexes, pubs, hotels, restaurants, and cafes have been shut down temporarily until the 31st of March across several places in India, including in Tamil Nadu.
Dharala Prabhu managed to stay in theatres only for a period of three days owing to the shutdown. This has affected the box office numbers for the makers of the romantic-drama. As a result, Screen Scene Media Entertainment Pvt Ltd, the makers, have penned a letter, requesting the film fraternity to not download the film from any pirated site and wait for the film to be re-released in theatres after the state is in order.
The statement read, “Screen Scene Media Entertainment Pvt Ltd sincerely thanks the entire media fraternity for its continued support for all our distribution ventures a grand success. We also sincerely thank you for your extended support for our first successful production venture Dharala Prabhu starring Harish Kalyan, Vivek and Tanya Hope, directed by Krishna Marimuthu. These are testing times for all of us. We prioritise safety ahead of anything else in the world. In the wake of the Corona outbreak, requesting all patrons to take necessary precautions in staying safe and being indoors.”
They also said, “We’re taking this opportunity to make an appeal to the audience. A lot of effort and love has gone behind making Dharala Prabhu — a movie that carries a strong and relevant message to people across sections. Your support has been overwhelming and exceptional thus far. It’s rather unfortunate that we had a chance to showcase our movie only for just 3 days from the time of release. We kindly request the audience to avoid piracy during this period and support our film with a big heart. We’ll hopefully be back on screens very soon, of course with your continued support. We hereby inform you all that as soon as this crucial phase gets over and as the theatres start functioning, Dharala Prabhu will be back on the screens.”
Recently, Harish had also penned a similar letter to his fans expressing his regret.
Helmed by Yuddham Sharanam fame Krishna Marimuthu, the film is an official remake of the Ayushmann Khurrana–Yami Gautam hit Vicky Donor (2012). Apart from the lead pair and Vivek, RS Shivaji, Anupama Kumar, Aaditya TV fame Akalya Venkatesan, and Kumari Sachu also feature in significant roles. On the technical front, Selvakumar Sk has handled cinematography, Kripakaran has edited and Kamal has handled the production design. ‘Stunner’ Sam has choreographed stunt, Yashwanth choreographed dance and Pallavi Singh on costumes. Subu and Sudarshan Narasimhan have penned the story of Dharala Prabhu.
The film also has eight composers – Vivek Siva and Mervin J Solomon, Oorka The Band, Inno Genga, Sean Roldan, Bharath Shankar from the Oorka Band for a separate composition, Kaber Vasuki, Madley Blues, and Anirudh Ravichander.
Editor’s Note: Yesterday, Silverscreen India carried a feature on Amazon Prime’s Pushpavalli, titled, Sumukhi Suresh’s ‘Pushpavalli’ has the best character arc written for a woman in Indian streaming. The piece mentioned a cast member of Sumukhi’s other show, Better Life Foundation, Utsav Chakraborty to highlight the fact that it is no longer streaming on Hotstar. It said, “Better Life Foundation has been pulled out of Hotstar following several #Metoo allegations against cast member Utsav Chakraborty.”
Today, Chakroborty wrote an email, with the subject line ‘Amendments’ contesting this line. We have reproduced his email (with permission) verbatim below. (Silverscreen India asserts that Better Life Foundation is not streaming on Hotstar. And though Hotstar has not officially said so, it was pulled out following #Metoo as Utsav points out in his tweet to them.)
Dear Krupa
I don’t know if you have kept up with all the things I put up on my end back in the November of 2019, but here it is:
Literally every allegation against me was proved wrong with actual evidence (and not screenshots of hearsay like back in October 2018). I tracked the anonymous allegations down and proved that they either lied by design or by omission or just to be part of a trending topic, hoping their anonymity wouldn’t be traced back to them. But unfortunately for them, it was.
Three of the women apologized, about 7 deleted their accounts. The woman who primarily called me out had tried to threaten me with dire consequences if I came out with screenshots that proved my innocence. Here is the hour-long phonecall in question:
My whole life was taken apart by these allegations by these awful, malicious people. I had no one but my own wits to tackle this charge. It took me over a year. But I put it out there. I have had no financial backing or legal help throughout. I’m not some bigshot to threaten women into submission. Even before, I was basically an underpaid extra at AIB. In fact, most of the allegations were made by people who are immensely financially well off/settled in foreign countries. I fought this fairly and with real facts.
Here’s the thread. Please go through it and check and double-check everything:
"Why would so many women lie about one person?"
In the next few tweets, I will tackle all the malicious insinuations and abject falsehoods put forth on me either by @AGirlOfHerWords or the media frenzy that followed. Stay tuned.
My objective in calling out these women, was only to end the cycle of shaming. It never was to undermine #metoo or any actual survivors.
This was a massive egg on the face of Indian media for their ad-hoc reporting and their policy of not verifying any information put out online. But despite that, some of them reported it.
So my plea to you is to go through the thread I put up and the news articles as well. Don’t become the same mob that tried to ruin my life with no proof. That is all I can ask of you.
In February, it was announced that Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru fame Karthick Naren will be working with actor Dhanush for his next under Sendhil Thyagarajan’s and Arjun Thyayagarajan’s Sathya Jyothi Films banner. The latest is that the director will work with popular Malayalam writers Sharfu – Suhas who have also written the scripts for Varathan (2018) and the superb thriller on Nipah, Virus (2019).
Karthick Naren took to Twitter to reveal the news.
This will be the second association of the actor with the production house after the recent Pattas (2019) and the first association with the director. When the announcement was made, it was done through “a newspaper article” which revealed basic details of the film.
There was even a paragraph at the bottom which supposedly let out the storyline of the film. It spoke of the death of a journalist Gurumoorthy and his wife in the outskirts of Chennai with the cops suspecting foul play. It added that on hearing the news, the eldest son of the couple remained unperturbed and was determined to follow the footsteps of his father.
While the rest of the cast and technical crew are yet to be revealed, it is known that GV Prakash will be composing the music for the thriller. The movie is set to release in October this year.
Meanwhile, Karthick Naren’s latest film, starring Arun Vijay–Prasanna–Priya Bhavani ShankarMafia opened to mixed reviews from critics. The film dealt with the tracking down of a mafia don by the Narcotics Bureau. The movie has a sequel and more details are awaited.
Actor Dhanush’s previous Pattas which released n Pongal is now streaming on Amazon Prime. The film saw Dhanush play a dual role and dealt with a forgotten martial art. The film also released in Telugu as Local Boy on 28 February. The film helmed by RS Durai Senthilkumar co-starred Mehreen Pirzada, Munishkanth, Sneha and KPY Sathish.
Dhanush has also completed Jagame Thandhiram with Karthik Subbaraj, whose title motion poster was recently unveiled, and has completed 90% of his Karnan helmed by Pariyerum Perumal fame director Mari Selvaraj. He will also be seen in recently commenced Atrangi Re co-starring Akshay Kumar and Sara Ali Khan, helmed by director Aanand L Rai and for another Tamil film under Kalanithi Maran’s banner Sun Pictures, the director of which is yet to be revealed.
Watch the title motion poster of Jagame Thandhiram here.
JFW (Just For Women) a South Indian media brand for women, hosted the second edition of its Movie Awards on 14 March 2020. The recipients represented film work both on and off-screen, and their achievements in the past year.
JFW has been in the media space since 2007, and has focussed on women’s stories. Last year, they ventured into digital media, and the 2019 was the first time they hosted a Movie Awards.
Halitha Shameen
Here’s the full list of winners for the JFW Movie Awards:
Aishwarya Rajesh (Best Actress – Critics For Namma Veettu Pillai)
Actor Santhanam began work on his next film with A1 fame director K Johnson on Monday evening. The untitled film is being bankrolled by K Kumar under his Lark Studio banner. This will be the second association of the actor with the director after their 2019 comedy-drama A1.
The film is touted to be a gangster thriller set in North Madras. The crew is also believed to shoot in Madurai, Malaysia and other parts of Chennai.
The makers have roped in Semma Botha Aagathey and Kee fame Anaika Soti as the female lead. While the rest of the technical crew is yet to be announced, Santhosh Narayanan will be composing for the film with Arthur A Wilson handling cinematography. This is the third association of the composer with the actor after Server Sundaram and A1.
The film will reportedly be completed in a single schedule of 45-50 days.
Meanwhile, Santhanam will next feature in R Kannan’s Biskoth. Its first look poster was recently unveiled. He will also be seen in the long-delayed Server Sundaram helmed by Anand Balki, and in debutant Karthik Yogi’s Dikkilona that recently wrapped up shoot. His previous film Dagaalty helmed by Vijay Anand did not see great numbers at the box office.
The recent Prithiviraj–Biju Menon starrer, Ayyappanum Koshiyum, has found a very appreciative audience in and outside Kerala. The film has done great numbers at the box office too, reportedly.
There’s been a lot of buzz around the film being remade in Tamil, and producer 5 Star Kathiresan has put those rumours to rest. He has announced that he will be making the film in Tamil.
Speaking to the press about this development, the producer said, “I was really spellbound by the movie. It kept me engaged from the beginning to the end. The script, the backdrop, the narrative, the visuals, and of course the amazing performances by the lead actors. I know that I could watch this film again.”
The producer’s excitement, however, is a tempered with the huge task ahead of him. He said, “In order for this movie to be adapted to our native milieu, a lot of work remains. We need to do justice to the original. Since acquiring the remake rights for the film, we are in talks with actors and technicians and hope to make official announcements soon.”
Among all of the women characters in Indian streaming content, in my opinion, three stand out. And Sumukhi Suresh plays two of them. Sobhita Dhulipala in Zoya Akhtar’s glossy Made in Heaven, Sumukhi in Better Life Foundation as the woman who’s earnest and holding the place together, and, perhaps the best written role among the three, Sumukhi as Pushpavalli. I’ve been watching and writing about women on screen for a while now and, Pushpavalli, is a source of great enjoyment as both a viewer and a critic because I feel like I can relax around her. I feel my fists unclench.
Created and played by Sumukhi, Pashupalli, Lee or Valli as she’s variously known, is a diabolical Neelambari (Padayappa) of today, whose schemes and evil machinations, Tamil serial vamps will do well to learn from. What’s amazing is Sumukhi is utterly believable as both, the earnest Sumukhi in Better Life… and as this slimy, everything-that-comes-out-of-her-mouth-is-a-lie, things could go well if only she would let them, lead. (Better Life Foundation has been pulled out of Hotstar following several #Metoo allegations against cast member Utsav Chakraborty.)
Debbie Rao who directed Better Life… is also the director of Pushpavalli. Sumukhi is the creator of the show. That a two-woman creator-director duo is behind this, explains why the character can go so far. Beyond redemption. And yet feel all-too-human. The dark turns that Pushpavalli’s character takes are utterly unpredictable. I found myself asking, ‘What the hell is she going to do next?’ A lot of times when characters do something humiliating, it can send the audience into a spiral of cringe. But Pushpavalli never does that. Because it is audacious. And keeps raising the stakes.
In Season 1, Sumukhi is a stalker. In this new season she’s a bit more, advanced. She’s also a schemer. The Baazigar and Parasite references in the show, were on the mark. Like Baazigar she’s out for badla but not for her baap. Unlike in Darr, the other SRK classic, she’s the stalker. The woman. And Nikhil (Manish Anand), feels like the delicate, clueless, under-written woman in shows that centre around men and their feelings. Pushpavalli challenges you to reconsider who you are rooting for, and to ask yourself why you think of her as deserving of your sympathy. The show is subversive and dark, and has raised the bar very high for writing women. To do this you need nuance, wit, confidence and well, you’ve got to be a bit ballsy.
The writing of the supporting women’s roles were much sharper and novel in Season 1, especially the motley crew in the PG. They don’t really take off all that well in this Season, though, even so, they do serve the purpose of the universe Pushpavalli is in, and her motivations, well. Pankaj’s (Naveen Richard who’s also credited as one of the Head Writers) profanities are something of a wonder but by way of ‘acting’ he has little to do here, except be outrageously angry. Sumukhi’s on-screen mother too is a well written role and she says some of the darkest things mothers say to daughters. And everyone is a bit off. Except perhaps the fiance, Vidyuth (Vidyuth Gargi, who looks like a lot like Ravichandran Ashwin?), she is leading on, in Season 2.
*Spoiler alert* That the character doesn’t allow herself to be consumed by remorse or pity, and turn her life around for a promising and perfectly fine man, and is still carrying through with her plan to destroy Nikhil is admirable. To resist the temptation of a happily ever after (or atleast temporarily before the next season), to resist lecturing or shaming the audience, to resist pity or guilt, to resist speaking on behalf of women, and to remain committed to the arc that the character must go through, all this is admirable.
For this, the women of Pushpavalli, Sumukhi and Debbie, deserve our undivided attention.
2020 has seen two small content-driven films in Kannada shine significantly. One of them is KS Ashoka’s Dia that tells the heartwarming love story of its introverted protagonist who falls in love with her collegemate Rohith. The film stars Kushee, Pruthvi Ambar, and Deekshith Shetty is directed by KS Ashoka. The other is Love Mocktail.
Dia, which ran for three weeks in cinema halls, didn’t do as well as expected in theatres, but is being received with warmth on Amazon Prime. The director is elated with the response the film is getting online. He says, “I’m getting almost 1000 messages a day from people who’ve watched it on Prime.”
The filmmaker who’d written Dia’s script way back in 2009 much before his first film 6-5=2 released, adds, “My first movie was low budget and we invested Rs 50 lakh in it, but it made a business of Rs 5 crore. For Dia, we held an audition to choose the star cast. Kushee had acted in a film called Sodabuddi as second lead and Pruthvi is a famous actor in the Tulu industry. While we were sure that the film would receive positive feedback, we were not sure how well it would do commercially because our content is meant for a niche audience that appreciates cinema, not for those who look for just entertainment in films.”
The fact that Dia received support from actors Rakshit Shetty and Yash made the team happy. Ask the film’s director about how well the film has done financially and he says, “We had a deal with the digital platform — we may break even soon. People from other languages are also interested in remaking our film, so that’s something we’re looking at. It’s too early to say anything now.”
In the film’s storyline, Dia meets with a serious accident and then learns that her boyfriend Rohith is dead. She then moves to Bengaluru where she meets Adi (played by Pruthvi Ambar) who falls in love with her.
The lead character has been played by actress Kushee, who hails from a theatre background. The artiste is thrilled to bits that her debut as lead is receiving so much appreciation. “Sadly, it wasn’t recognised much when it was running in theatres. There were too many releases around that time and I’m guessing that people were confused as to what to watch. But I’m flying high now that people are watching it on Prime and liking it,” says Kushee, who plays an introvert in the film.
“In real life, I’m not so introverted, but I’m not entirely an extrovert either. Ashok sir wanted us to be perfect and told us what will work and how we should do things. We prepared for three – four months before the shoot,” she says, of the film which was shot four years ago.
Actor Deeskhith Shetty who plays Rohith in the film too says he’s is overwhelmed by the response from not just film buffs from Karnataka, but also audiences from other states who watched his debut. “I’ve been receiving messages from Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. There are people who travelled from Chennai just to watch Dia in Bengaluru. I’ve done a TV serial before and this was a very different character for me – people saw me in a new shade.”
With films like Love Mocktail and Dia turning out to be sweet surprises for the Kannada audience, Ashok says, “We have to be consistent with our content. I feel Kannada audiences don’t trust Kannada films much, as they’re exposed to other language cinema. The standard of presentation in the Kannada Film Industry has to improve and we need to come up with good content once a month or once in two months.”
With small budget and content-driven films with no stars making a mark, here’s hoping that the industry makes space for more such films.
Big Boss Tamil fame Kavin‘s next film co-starring Bigil fame Amritha Aiyer has been titled Lift. Written and directed by former ad filmmaker Vineeth Varaprasad, the thriller is being bankrolled by Hepzi under the Ekaa Entertainment banner. This is the first Tamil film that actor Kavin has chosen to be a part of after nearly completing 100 days in the Bigg Boss house.
Kavin and Amritha are seen seated, looking worried inside an open lift in the poster. While the two are looking at something above, there is blood splattered on the wall and the floor of the lift. There’s also a walkie-talkie and a handbag on the floor.
On the technical front, S Yuva has cranked camera, Britto Michael has scored music, G Madan has edited and MSP Madhavan has handled art. Tapas Nayak has handled sound design with Stunner Sam choreographing stunts for the film.
The team has wrapped up shoot and will launch the teaser soon.
Meanwhile, Kavin recently won a Behindwoods Gold Medal for ‘Most Popular Person On Television’ for his Bigg Boss stint. The actor debuted as hero in the industry in 2019 with Natpuna Ennanu Theriyuma, a comedy entertainer co-starring Ramya Nambeesan. Prior to that, the actor had featured in Vijay TV serials and in small roles in films like Pizza, and IndruNetru Naalai.
Natpuna Ennanu Theriyuma, helmed by Shiva Aravind, spoke of three best friends who engage in business together and the consequences they face after a woman walks into their lives. Apart from the lead pair, it also starred Raju Jeyamohan, Arunraja Kamaraj, and Ilavarasu in important roles.
Written & Directed by : Rajasekar Duraisamy
Music : Dheena Dhayalan
Cinematography : Jegadeesan Logayan
Editor : R Govindaraj
Art : E Thyagarajan
Lyricists : Yugabharathi, Madhan Karky, Karthik Netha
Co-Director : R Rethnasamy
Dance Choreography : Poppy, Sathish Krishnan
Sound Design : M Gita Gurappa
Production Manager : P Baburao
PRO : Johnson
Publicity Designs : Gibson UGA
Executive Producer : A Jaii Sampath
Produced by : Abbundu Studios Pvt Ltd
Promotions : DEC
Music on Divo
