Oh! Baby actress Samantha Akkineni has returned to social media after a month-long break with videos of her doing parkour stunts, cartwheels and climbing poles at a gym. She is currently shooting for the Telugu remake of 96, and reports say she will soon make her digital debut with a multi-lingual web-series, which is yet to be officially announced.
Actress Priyamani is part of the upcoming murder-mystery film Nanna Prakara, co-starring Kishore in the lead. She plays a doctor in this film, directed by Vinay Balaji. She is also busy with the Telugu film Sirivennela, which is in the final stages of production.
The Tamil remake of the National Award-winning Andhadhun will star actor Prashanth in the lead. The remake rights have been acquired by actor-producer and Prashanth’s father Thiagarajan.
On singer Suchitra’s birthday
Pictures of Samantha Akkineni’s first-look from the sets of the 96 Telugu remake are doing the rounds. She started shooting for the film last week, soon after the success of Nandini Reddy’s Oh! Baby.
Simbu completed 35 years in cinema yesterday, and his fans and others from the industry celebrated by trending #Simbu35 and #35YearsOfSilambarasan on Twitter.
Director SA Chandrasekhar’s next film, starring Jai, Athulya Ravi and Vaibhavi in the lead, has been titled Capmari. The team is currently shooting in Chennai.
Music composer Govind Vasantha is part of actor Nivin Pauly’s upcoming film, Padavettu. Directed by Liju Krishna, the film marks actor Sunny Wayne’s debut in feature film production. The film’s ‘first look’ poster was released last week.
Actor-director Sasikumar’s next with director NV Nirmal Kumar, who earlier made Salim, has reportedly been titled Nana.
Vijay was choosing films with care; Theri was about crimes against women, Kaththi was a pro-farmer film speaking against MNCs and displacement, and his latest Sarkar, criticised the ruling AIADMK’s freebies and other policies, and had the party up in arms before and after release.He played a hero who fought for a youth-led revolution in the film, a role strikingly similar to his more recent ones, and although Naalaiya Theerpu earned nothing close to what Vijay’s movies make at the box-office today, it suggested early on that Vijay wanted to make claim as a socially conscious hero.
Madhavan and Simran will play Nambi Narayanan and his wife Meena Nambi in the upcoming biopic Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, Madhavan’s first directorial. They will be seen together on screen 17 years after Kannathil Muthamittal.
The Tamil Nadu Theatre And Multiplex Owners’ Association recently issued a statement in which it categorised films of various stars into a three-tier system. Tier 1 – the top one, will be the releases of Rajinikanth, Ajith, and Vijay. Tier 2 will be films of stars such as Suriya, Vijay Sethupathi and Dhanush, among others. The last tier will be films of all the other stars in Tamil cinema. This categorisation was to decide revenue sharing with producers, a move that has resulted in a tussle between the two bodies.
The producers of 96 have clarified that royalty was paid to composer Ilaiyaraaja for every song of his that was used in the film. The issue was brought up after Ilaiyaraaja spoke about today’s movies using and profiting from his songs, in an interview to The New Indian Express recently.
Contrary to reports, Dhanush is not remaking Naga Chaitanya and Samantha-starrer Majili. The film directed by Shiva Nirvana released last week and is holding up well at the box office; it is said to have crossed 50 crore in revenue.
The Telugu remake of 96 may soon begin shoot in Kenya. According to various reports, the first schedule of shoot will last 15 days after which the team will shift to Vizag and Hyderabad.
Actor-director Sasikumar has signed his next with director NV Nirmal Kumar of Salim fame. The film went on floors yesterday, and this is said to be Sasikumar’s first action adventure.
Ajith Kumar may sign his next film with Venkat Prabhu. The director, who is awaiting the release of the Vaibhav-starrer RK Nagar, confirmed the news in an interview recently. This left Ajith fans and others speculating if the film would be a sequel to their 2011 film Mankatha, or a different project.
SA Chandrasekhar is back to direction after his 2015 anthology movie Touring Talkies. His upcoming film will star actor Jai in the lead, and will go on floors in May.
The first schedule of Dhanush and Sneha’s upcoming film with director RS Durai Senthilkumar is complete. The shoot for the movie began on March 6 in Courtallam.
A tribute to Simran on her birthday.
Naveen Chandra has joined Dhanush’s upcoming film with director Durai Senthil Kumar. Produced by Sathya Jyothi Films, the film’s shooting is currently underway.
Actors Sneha and Dhanush are teaming up after a long gap in RS Durai Senthilkumar’s film, first schedule shooting for which is going on currently. Many reports speculate that Sneha might be seen as Dhanush’s mother in the film. However a source close to the film has denied this rumour.
Megha Akash has signed up as the female lead in Raj Tarun’s upcoming movie. The yet-to-be-titled film is a comedy entertainer, and will be directed by Aadu Magaadra Bujji fame Krishna Reddy.
Award-winning director Shyamaprasad will adapt Anees Salim’s 2017 book Small Town Sea for his next film. Small Town Sea is about a boy whose family shifts to a seaside town where his dying father had grown up. Though the book became noteworthy for its portrayal of sadness, the tinge of humour that laces the story also received praise. Anees Salim is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award. He has published five books in a span of seven years, and this book is his latest work.
Cinematographer-turned-director C Prem Kumar has won the 22nd Gollapudi Srinivas National Award for his movie 96. The award is presented to a debut filmmaker every year in memory of Gollapudi Srinivas, who passed away in an accident while making his first movie.