'Saroj' into newer controversies

After a dozen of intense criticisms and controversies over targeting superstars, particularly Mohanlal, Sreenivasan's 'Padmashree Bharat Dr. Sarojkumar' is into newer controversies. The latest came form it's producer Vaishakha Rajan, who has lashed out against the film's director Sajin Raghavan and cameraman S. Kumar for not completing the shooting on time. The producer alleges that the shooting scheduled for a fifty days took more than seventy days to complete, mainly due to the incompetency of the director. Rajan adds that the movie which was planned for a release for December 2011 was deliberately postponed by the director and the cinematographer, which also added a loss of seventy five lakhs to the production. The reports are that the producer is planning to remove the names of both the director and the cameraman from the new posters of the film. But the B O reports state that though the initial reports were quite negative, the movie is managing fairly better than the trade predictions in metroes and larger towns, while the centres in smaller towns have already started shifting the movie for new releases.

'Unnam' for the next week

After a very pathetic opening month of 2012 where none of the movies could make the viewers happy, Mollywood's February will start with the release of 'Unnam'. Scripted by Swathy Bhaskar and directed by Sibi Malayil, the movie is widely rumored to be a take on the Hindi movie 'Johny Gaddhar', which came out a few years ago. Featuring Asif Ali as the hero, this thriller movie will tell the story about the unexpected entry of a policeman into the life of five member group played by Asif Ali, Prasanth Narayan, Lal, Nedumudi Venu and Noushi, who are planning to make some easy money. Shwetha Menon and Rima Kallingal are the heroines of the movie which is cinematographed by Ajayan Vincent. Bollywood Malayali Music director John P. Varkey scores music for Rafeeq Ahamed's lyrics. The movie is produced by Naushad and Basheer under the banner of Kuniyil Productions. 'Unnam' will be brought to theaters by the third of February by R R entertainments.

Nayanthara for a comeback

It was widely publicized that Telugu movie 'Ramarajyam' will be the last flick in the acting career of Nayanthara, who was reported to start a peaceful married life with Prabhudeva after the movie. But as the movie has performed well at the box office and the love birds still to find the rightest time to marry, Nayanthara has again signed another movie in Telugu,. She will be seen as the heroine to Nagarjuna for the new movie to be directed by Dasharath. The actress who share a good rapport with the director, will be on the sets of this movie by May.  It is also looked upon as a good news by the Malayalee directors who are increasingly starving for quality heroines, who can performing well in demanding roles.

Sureshgopi to anchor Kodeeshwaran

One of the superstar of yesteryears, Sureshgopi, is finding a tough time in cinema, as his films as sole heroes are facing alarmingly low collections at the Box Office. The only film that he has to rave about in the last year was Christian Brothers, which itself was a multistarrer. Now the actor who is waiting eagerly for the Box Office results of another multistarrer 'The king and the Commissionaire' has wisely taken a decision to lead a reality show in the small screen. Yes, Sureshgopi will be the lead anchor of 'Ningalkkum Aakam Kodeeshwaran', the new television show on Asianet which is a take on internationally famous 'Who wants to be a millionaire'?. The show will be presented to Malayalam by the Big synergy group lead by Siddhartha Basu. The makers have already announced that this will be the one show which will be giving the maximum prize money in Malayalam. As the transmission is about to start shortly, let us 'wait and see' how the star, famous for his strong personality fares in the mini screen.

Shibu, back to scripting

After a while, noted scriptwriter and lyricist Shibu Chakarvarthy will be once again penning scripts for Malayalam cinema. His comeback will be through the movie titled as 'Mercara', to be directed by Senthil. Shibu was last seen as a scriptwriter for the film 'Churam' which was one of the last from late director Bharathan. Divya Unni and Manoj K Jayan were the lead artists of this movie which was told in the backdrop of forest and its dwellers. Earlier in the late eighties Shibu had created many hits like Manu Uncle, Adharvam, Orkkapurathu and Samrajyam. Many will remember that some other lyricists of Mollywood like P Bhaskaran, Yusaf Ali Kechery and Gireesh Puthencherry also excelled as scriptwriters contributing to many hits of the yesteryears.

Casanovva Movie Review

Banner: Confident Entertainment Cast: Mohanlal, Shriya Saran, Lakshmi Rai, Roma, Jagathy Sreekumar Direction: Roshan Andrews Production: Dr. C .J Roy Music: Gopi Sundar, Alphons Joseph, Gowri Lakshmi

Casanovva - Is a stylish flick

A man who flies across countries with deadly vibes that can arrest any women.... A man who heads an international flower trading company rightly named 'Eternal spring', who is often received by loads of pretty women from many cultures and colours shamelessly holding the placards   and breathlessly waiting at airports to have him.... A womaniser who knows every number of the book to bring any beauty to his adoring servitude....Playing to the immortal title is Roshan Andrews 'Casanovva', one of the most stylish films ever to hit Mollywood screens.

The movie opens with the arrival of this rich and flamboyant Casanova, whose original name is never ever spelt on screen. As he comments, this name had been cast on him, which he decided to make his own by playing to its demands. 'Casanovva' with his gang of young girls who are also his employees, always following the leader in their swanky cards, is now at Dubai to attend the marriage of a millionaire's daughter.

In the other track is four young hi-tech, 'hi-flying 'robbers  with acrobatic skills (Abhisekh, Shamsi, Arjun and Vikram)who had been the executors of some huge heists of high selling antiques and money, which helped them to earn huge cash. After a big heist in a monastery, the foursome are plotting plans to make some more from the rich men' attending the marriage, but the Interpol' is also in the close heels to locate them. They now pretend as the gang men of 'Casanova'   and join the functions. But the brainy 'Casanova', who easily identifies them, has got other plans for the bad boys. And as he starts playing the cards to unsettle these youngsters with pranks of love, with the aid of rich Hanna (Lakshmi Rai) and Ann Mary (Roma) and a TV show named 'Fall in love' ,we are also reminded of the old scores that the playboy has got to settle with them.

The biggest highlight of the movie is the scale in which it is made, with the plush cars, number of choppers , great locales, chartered planes and beautiful ladies all contributing to the finest looks ever in Mollywood, that may match the league to visual stunners of Bollywood. Yes, this is an invitation from Mollywood that contest the big league of commercial players of India. The technical sides are top notch with Jim Ganesh contributing some finest visuals to the journey. Slick editing by Mahesh Narayanan also elevates the movie. But this cannot be told about the story lines, which indeed appear good in the initial reels. The first half pretty matches the expectations from the biggie, but in the later half while dealing with the lead man's original love with a salsa dancer named Sameera (Shriya Saran) who transforms him to a romantic than a womanizer, 'Casanovva' looks sulky and strained a bit. And since it is the first movie to appear in Mollywood with a totally distant thread and shot entirely in foreign locales, the movie does not pay heed to traditional meticulous demand of on lookers for logic, in each and every scene. Some of the dialogues penned by Sanjay-Bobby looks inviting enough as it matches the off screen image that the lead star propagates all through. The songs by three music directors just fit the bill, though the 'Alphonse track' Hey manohara theerame...' is a foot tapping material. The BG scores and theme score by Gopi sundar are also impressive.

Mohanlal is in his stylish best in the movie, though his acting capabilities are not put into test anywhere. He makes an easy walk through the role and play safe in many thrilling scenes too. Shreya Sharan and Riyas Khan has got a role to remember while Jagathy Sreekumar, Sankar, and Roma are in passable roles. The actors donning the roles of four robbers and Lakshmi Rai are in stylish attires and fill the little space that doesn't have Mohanlal on screen.

'Casanovva' is one film that may satisfy the fans of the star and those who like technically sound, slickly made films. With those entire fine chases, action and thrills, the movie is hopefully prescribed for a one time watch for all the new generation viewers. And for others, there may be criticisms for giving importance to style over substance.  

Poorna is 'Chattakari'

After much changes in is lead cast, the new project on the pipeline, the remake of 'Chattakari' has finalised its lead girl. As of now Poorna aka Shamna Kasim will be the one who will be trying to do justice to the role played in the original by none other than Lakshmi. Shamna who hadn't yet fetched any big role in Malayalam will be taking this as a boon, which can make her dreams of making big in Mollywood successful. 'Chattakari' will be her first major project in Malayalam, though she had done the female lead in half a dozen movies in Tamil. The movie to be produced by Revathy Kalamandir will be also the launchpad of a new director, Santhosh Sethumadhavan, the son of director Sethumadhavan. Initially it was rumoured that actress like Mythili or Nithya Menon would be in the title role. But the movie which demand some amount of skin show and sensuous scenes was later turned down by both these lead players of current day Mollywood, which forced the makers to look for alternatives.

'Casanovva' opens to humongous responses

The most expected movie of the year "Casnovva' opened yesterday to great responses. It is indeed after a long while that a Malayalam movie is registering such a collection in the first day, which was mostly taken over by the other language films in recent times. 'Casanovva'  was released in 130 centres in Kerala and another 100 plus  centres across the world  . Touted as the biggest budgeted movie ever in Mollywood, the movie is reported to be a stunning visual treat with some great camera works, thrills and takings.As per the initial trade talks the movie is expected to gather in around two crores  from its first day itself.

Spanish Masala Movie Review

Banner: Big Screen Productions Cast: Dileep, Kunchacko Boban, Biju Menon, Kalaranjini, Vinayaprasada, Daniela Direction: Lal Jose Production: Naushad Music: Vidyasagar

Spanish Masala - Not much flavour in this masala

Spain had been a happening country in our filmdom these days with few Bollywood hits shot in the picturesque country. And if Bollywood can do magic with films like 'Zindagi Na mile Dobara', few from Mollywood including Laljose could have thought, why can't we make a similar attempt. After giving the title with that masala flavour and teaming up with Benny P Nayarambalam, they would have started off with the title character who could be a chef, successfully making Indian masalas at Spain. And how to fill in the rest is somewhere the entire crew falters making this love'- masala devoid of any big taste. The writer , though attempting his first film to be shot overseas, had but created one story that could be planted on anywhere in the country. Like the recent Thenkasi and Thevar films in Mollywood, all the characters and plot follows that well trodden path and the melodrama takes the 'eighties' way. The movie opens with the return of a Spanish embassy officer to his homeland, after years of service in India. He is going back with sweet memories about India, along with his only daughter and the Indian caretaker who teachers the little girl to sing the lullaby.  'Omanathinkal Kidaavo..'. The movie thus seems to take off to a perfect start, suggesting spaces that will later help the heroine to converse in Malayalam fluently. Years later arriving in Spain with a performing team is Charlie (Dileep), a mimicry artiste who has an ability to mimic anyone's voice even with the slightest acquaintances. Due to his heavy debts down home, Charlie is trying to stay back in Spain. But as he loses the contact person's address, Charlie takes refuge as a cook in a Indian restaurant, where he specialises in making dosas , especially a fresh item in the menu in the name 'Spanish Masala'.  The little girl of the Spanish ambassador, has now grown up as beautiful Kamila (Daniela Zacherl),  but is blind now, after a failed love affair with the son of her Indian caretaker, Rahul(Kunchakko Boban), who is reported to have died in an accident . Kamila, but senses the sweet taste of Charlie's street side  dosa, while travelling in a car (?), and little after we find Charlie in the palatial bungalow of the Ambassador , working as the personal cook of the inmates. Within days Charlie befriends Kamila, mimicking Rahul's voice and by the half time Kamila' father, realising their fondness decide to marry off his daughter to Charlie. As Charlie goes to India to fetch his mother for their marriage function, Kamila suddenly regains her eyesight one fine morning , the ambassador is found dead the same day and Rahul appears from nowhere for this funeral. What you have been told till now is a story of 'Spanish Masala' till the  half break and where  the movie  falters big-time  is in the later part where the scriptwriter or the director has simply no clues about how to wrap up the story. The proceedings get increasingly dull and sluggish with heavy melodrama taking the central stage. Added to that is the poor diction and 'manniquin'istic rendering of the foreign actress, which instead of giving a believability creates a lots of unintended laughs, limiting the impact of the emotional sequences. The feel and intensity of a love story is sadly missing throughout.  Even the locations are not used to the needed effect with all highlights of Spain like the bull fight, flamenco dance and the La Tomatina festival shot in an amateurish way. In the acting side Dileep looks good and manages to bring in an occasional laugh with is characteristic(?) numbers. But Daniela is asked to behave just like any other Indian girl in the given situations, which looks awkward and unbelievable. Kunchakko Boban's bearded looks and the character is fine while Biju Menon, and others doesn't have anything better to do than to be in their regular roles. The only actor who surprises us is Nelson, who impresses in many sequences, and proves that he will be finding more takers in the coming films  in roles ala Salimkumar ( Though his character in the movie  is a ditto of what the later has done in 'Pokiriraja').     The technical side of the movie is fine with Lokanathan's quality visuals while Vidyasagar's songs and BG are also good.   Aarezhuthi Aavo...' is the pick of the four songs, though it feature a bit of Enrique's Bailamos in its interludes. All in all, this 'Spanish masala' is strictly for those who can endure old age melodramas, but not definitely in the league of a typical Laljose film. As usual families may find the movie more interesting, as the new generation audiences will find it hard to locate that promised 'taste of love'.

Padmasree Bharat Dr Saroj Kumar Movie Review

Cast: Sreenivasan, Mamta Mohandas, Vineeth Sreenivasan Direction: Sajin Raaghavan Production: Vaishaka Rajan Music: Deepak Dev

Padmasree Bharat Dr Saroj Kumar - 'Saroj' is worth a watch

When Sreenivasan came up with the scripts of 'Udayananu Thaaram', a movie on the inside stories of the film industry of the years, it also contributed another director in Roshan Andrews who went on to create some of the best movies of our times. Now when Sreenivasan comes up with another spoof on the latest developments in our increasingly star centric industry flooded with bans, strikes and flops, it also definitely become the effective  launchpad of young director Sajin Raghavan, who is sure to make an impression in future. Packed with plenty of hilarious but loud moments, entertaining gags, criticisms and uproarious situational comedy, this 'Padmashree Bharath Dr. Sarojkumar ' lives up to its name and is in a league and genre of its own. It's double the guffaws this time than its prequel, though Sreeni's acerbic pen often takes a 'bad taste' while taking note of all that needs to be criticised and corrected. The movie has Sreenivasan in the title role, as the same old Superstar who is more interested in throwing around his star tantrums than to act. With all the antics and show offs, he is currently under immense pressure due to many things including rising of newer stars and more so, because of the continuous poor run of his films. A megastar, as he likes to call him always, he doesn't get any peace of mid at home from his young actress turned wife Neelima (Mamta Mohandas), who finds him to be a joker and is always in the habit of ridiculing her husband in public. Saroj Kumar who carry on with his habits of running after titles has some new problems arising, as an young actor Shyam (Vineeth Sreenivasan), a first rank holder from the film institute joins one of his films as a co-star. Seemingly irked by the fellow, Saroj beats him in public in the sets of a new film 'Kadalkakkakal' by the young director Alex Samuel (Fahad Fazil) and clearly beckons criticism from the media and public. Pachalom Bhasi (Jagathy Sreekumar), the producer of the film, tries to solve the issue, but faces harsh treatment from Saroj who takes out his gun to finish off his old friend. This finally ends up as a direct fight between the Saroj Kumar gang and the band of new film makers. The entire first half is devoted to making mockery of the current standards of Mollywood cinema and more so, of the so called fans who go and clap for all logiclessness portrayed on screen. Sreenivasan has wonderfully integrated all the recent happenings of the film industry from the raids to the ban and related issues. The screenplay is fairly well written in the former half and the second half takes a bit to seriousness with the plot wandering for some time. The finale is just adequate for a movie that leaves no stones unturned in burlesquing, though not always in style. On the flip side, the film may not be savoured and relished by everyone, especially those who doesn't keep in close touch with the filmi developments of the industry. And the jokes, not always in good taste start jarring after a while and are sometimes sub-standard. The acting side is inconsistent as Sreenivasan appears caricaturistic at times. But if you are a fan of the star, you will definitely take a note of the sharp and witty lines speckled throughout and delivered with accurate timing by the senior star. Vineeth makes powerful impact in many sequences including the climax though he don't have the kind of a look of a upcoming star. Fahd Fazil is intense and effective. Suraj Venjarammoodu in a full length role as Babu, the fans association president of Sarojkumar, makes a controlled performance than usual while Jagathy, Mukesh and Salimkumar gets an extended life in the roles that they had done justice to in the prequel. Mamtha Mohandas is wasted. The technical side is fine with S Kumar once again contributing some fine visuals. The scenes at the 'waterfall', Saroj's advertisement campaigns and army camp are very well captured. V Saajan cut's make the movie racy enough while the three songs by Deepak Dev, especially, 'Kesu' and 'Mozhikalum' are hummable and are well picturised. All in all, if you don't have big expectations, this Saroj will be the movie that may keep you reasonably contented for the weekend watch. With some good promotions, 'Padmashree Bharath Dr. Sarojkumar' may turn safe for its producer, though not in the league of its prequel.

The 'Dam' is out

Following the expulsion n of 'Adaminte Makan Abu' from the race for awards for the  best foreign language feature in the year's Oscars, DAM 999, the other movie from Kerala is also out for the competition. The $ 10 million movie about a cracking dam, fails to find a place in the final nomination list for best feature in the 84th Academy Awards, announced yesterday at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre. The movie was hoping to find a space in list of the best picture, best original song and best original score categories. The nine  movies that has been finalised for the  best picture category from a 265 nominations  include- "The Artist", "The Descendants", "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", "The Help", "Hugo", "Midnight in Paris", "Moneyball", "The Tree of Life" and "War Horse" .  The year's Oscar presentation ceremony is scheduled for February 26 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.

Priyan to remake 'Marykkundoru Kunjadu'

Priyadarshan, who had been immensely successful in Hindi with his rehash of hit Malayalam films, will now take on Shafi's last year hit 'Marykkundoru Kunjadu' for a remake. This movie with Dileep and Biju Menon in the lead roles will have Ranbeir Kapoor and Suniel Shetty in the leads in the remake. Reports are that Priyan has decided to give the title 'Malamaal Weekly' for this remake which will be on floors by this February .One other Hindi movie from the director that is yet to get  completed is 'Tezz' which also feature his buddy Mohanlal in an important role. Priyan had been extremely busy in Kerala for quite some months working as the chairman of Kerala Chalachithra Academi and also rearing his new team in CCL, Kerala Strikers.

Sathyan-Sreeni to unite again

The duo who had presented Mollywood with some of the unforgettable satirical humorous films, director Sathyan Anthikkad and scriptwriter-actor Sreenivasan is planning to come together once again after a gap of 11 years. The duo who had been last seen together for the hit movie 'Yaathrakkarude Shraddhakku' will be uniting for the project that will kick start in 2013. It was Sathyan Anthikkad himself who revealed about such a coming together, while speaking to a audience at Muscat. Sathyan is planning to make a movie in the lines of 'Sandhesham', which indeed was one of the best political satires of our times. The immediate movie from the director will be the one based on a story by Benny P Nayarambalam. The cast and crew of this project is yet to be confirmed.

Sukumar Azhikode, passes away

Famous orator and veteran Malayalam scholar and Gandhian Sukumar Azhikode died early morning today at a private hospital at Thrissur. He suffered of cancer and was 85. A former pro-vice-chancellor of Calicut University and ex-chairman of the National Book Trust, he was in the hospital from the first weeks of December. Azhikode who was a towering presence of Kerala's cultural world, spoke about literature, philosophy, politics, governance and various aspects of life. His famous work 'Tatvamasi' (1984, Malayalam), an authoritative book on Indian Philosophy, Vedas and Upanishads has won 12 major  awards including Indian Sahitya Akademi Award, Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award, and Vayalar Awards. He refused to accept the Padmashri conferred on him on 2007, stating that such honours were against the Constitution.

Lal visits Azhikkod

After the verbal row that went for some time, superstar Mohanal was finally at the Amala hospital yesterday to visit popular orator Sukumar Azhikkod, who is admitted here for quite some time. The actor who reached the hospital by the 2.20 pm spent around ten minutes in Azhikkod's room. The orator who was taking rest due to sedation couldn't respond to lal's calls, though the actor said that Azhikkod has definitely realised his presence in the room. Lal who expressed his happiness in visiting the distinguished personality, also added that he has called Azhikkod a few times before, but couldn't speak to the him.

Ananya to enter wedlock

Wedding bells are ringing loud for Ananya. The 'Nadodigal' and 'Engaeyum Eppothum' actress will marry Anjaneyan, a Trichur-based entrepreneur soon. Their engagement is scheduled to take place on February 3. Says Ananya, "It was my constant decision to leave my marriage to my parents' choice. When Anjaneyan and his family members approached elders in my family with the wedding proposal, my parents found him as the right man." The engagement ceremony of Ananya and Anjaneyan is being organized at the actress's house at Perumbavur near Ernakulam. Wedding date is expected to be fixed during the betrothal function, which will be attended by close relatives and friends. "I don't know whether I will continue acting or not after wedding. Anjaneyan has to decide on that," says Ananya, who is currently acting in a film titled 'Iravum Pagalum'. "I am happy about my parents' choice," she concludes.

Wedding preparations in full swing: Genelia

While actor couple Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia are ready to tie the knot in a wedding ceremony to be held at Grand Hyatt in Santa Cruz, Mumbai on February 3, the actress said that the marriage preparations are going on in full swing.

"I'm in a very happy space right now. Preparations are going on in full swing,' Genelia said. Though Genelia remained tightlipped about the designer who is styling her for her D-day, and other pre-wedding celebrations, she said: 'Wait and watch how it is going to be!'

The sangeet ceremony will take place on January 31 at the Lands End Hotel in Bandra. Reportedly, a group of Ritiesh's close friends including Housefull 2 producer Sajid, his wife Wardha, Fardeen and his wife Natasha will be hosting a joint pre-wedding party for the couple on January 24 at Royalty in Bandra.

An 'Ameya' to roll

A group of youngsters are landing into Mollywood, telling the story of a girl who take up a challenge to travel alone in a bus from Kozhikkod to Thiruvananthapuram. Following the girl Ameya and her acquaintances amidst her 12 hour long travel is the movie titled the same. 'Ameya' will feature Ananya in the title role while Nishan and Gowtham will come up in the male lead.Directed by debutant Ashraf Muhammed in the scripts of  Harshad, the movie will feature Salim Kumar, Kalabhavan Mani, Suraj, Vijayaraghavan, Sadiq, Manikandan Pattambi, Kalabhavan Niyas, Sarayu, Lena, Aparna Nair, Geetha Vijayan and others. Nazar Malik is in charge of the  music for the lyrics penned by Rafeeq Ahmed and Shamsad Hussain.  Prakash Velayudhan is the cinematographer while  Rafeeq Veera is producing the film under the banner of New Face Cinema. The pooja of the film was held a few days ago at the highway gardens, Kochi where senior director Sibi Malayil did the switch on.

Newcomers with Mammootty for 'Balyakalasakhi'

Director Pramod Payyanur, famous for his television and theatre productions, has stated that he will be using a plenty of freshers in his debut film 'Balyakalasakhi' based on one of the most famous writings in Malayalam. The movie which will have Megastar Mammootty in the lead as late writer Vaikkom Muhammed Basheer's famous character, Majeed, will have at least 15 new names carefully selected from college students and theatre artistes in various other supporting characters. The selection camp will be held from the 22nd of Febuary at various parts of the state. Those who are interested to don a role in the movie can sent their applications to 'Living art and estheis creations, Media Box Office, 28/630-A, K P Vallon road, Kadavanthra from today. The announcement of the production of 'Balyakalasakhi' was held recently at Ernakulam, which was inaugurated by Prof M K Sanu.The movie which will be on sets soon, will have music by Shahbaaz aman, and Raghavan master. The movie will be on sets by the month of July.

Prithvi in 'Kochadiyaan'?

For the last few days , all the important stories that are coming out in filmdom is some way related to the next big project in South India - the new Rajnikanth movie  'Kochadiyaan'. The movie to be directed by Soundharya in the scripts of K S Ravikuamr has also impressed and surprised everyone with its growing cast, day after day. The latest we hear is that Malayalee star Prithviraj is also considered to be in an important role in this movie which will be on sets in a couple of months.It is reported that Prithvi has been invited to the film by K S Ravikumar and that Sneha  will don the heroine of Prithvi in this movie. Anyhow, this will be a news for celebration for Prithviraj who is already having a considerable number of admirers in Tamil Nadu after his roles in films like' Mozhi' and 'Raavan'.

Shobhana in 'Kochadiyan'

Though two time national award winner Shobhana is devoting much of her time for her experiments with classical and contemporary dances, the actress seldom is spared of some good roles that is tailor made for the actress. The actress has recently completed her role in the Tamil film 'Poda Podi' which had her in the role of what else, a dancer.

The latest we hear in these lines is about her participation in the new Rajnikanth movie 'Kochadiyan'. It is reported that Shobhana will come up in a very important role in this movie, which will be on sets in a short while.Making you remember of that classic get together in their Maniratnam movie 'Dhalapathy', this movie will have both of them sharing the screen for some pivotal moments.

'Kochadiyan' directed by Soundarya will also feature Kathrina Kaif and Adi in important roles. Scripted by K S Ravikumar, the movie will have music by A R Rahman.

'Vazhve Mayam' for a remake

Rathinirvedham, Ina, Chattakari......... In these bandwagon of remakes with plenty of oomph factor, Contemporary filmmakers of Mollywood are now in the plans to go for a retelling of an age old classic -'Vazhve Mayam'. This sensitive family drama of the late sixties directed by Sethumadhavan had Sathyan, Sheela and Ummer in the lead roles and told the tale of a suspicious husband who finally loses his family. The movie was later remade into Tamil with Kamal Haasan and Sreedevi donning the central characters. Now after almost five decades from the original, it's the combo of Babu Janardhanan and Shajoon Karyal who are trying to redo the film in the modern backdrop. While actor -producer Lal will get a big opportunity to shine in the role that was made immortal by Sathyan, Kavya Madhavan will get another chance to excel donning the lead female character. It is reported that Kunchakko Boban will be in the role that late Ummer had done in the original. Biju Menon, Thesni Khan and K P A C Lalitha are also in the cast lines. The movie to be produced by Ovi Mathew is currently in its pre production stages.

Padmapriya to start a Bengali innings

After creating an image of fame as a thinking actress, Padmapriya is now planning to start her search for some quality roles in Bengali. She will soon be seen in the movie 'Aparajita Tumi' directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhari. Though Padmapriya don't speak Bengali, the actress didn't need to struggle, as much of her scenes were shot in U S. The movie will feature Prosenjith as the hero.

Padmapriya who had also started to learn a course in a US university will have her immediate release in Mollywood in 'Cobra'. She will be sharing the screen with Mammootty in this film and their combination had done wonders in the past creating hits like 'Rajamanickyam' and 'Kazhcha'. 

Padmapriya, who likes to excel in multitasking, was seen last week in the State youth festival venues where she came up as a reporter of the festival for a popular Malayalam newspaper.

'Casanovva' turns a charismatic leader

As the first cricket team of filmstars from Mollywood, ' The Kerala Strikers' is all set to enthral their fans from tomorrow on fields in CCL, it is hard to miss the new charisma of their captain Mohanlal.  The skipper who leads the on and off screen activities of Mollywood is now a lot trim and fit to suit his new avatar of a cricketer. Lal who is planning to bat in the middle order and to deliver some medium pace balls  is wisely cracking jokes and advices to his boys, who has recently surprised the state senior cricket team with a applaudable  performance, making the professionals of the circuit sweat for a win.

Lal owes much for his new figure for his Norway outing and the new cricket practise sessions.  A man who is an epitome of total dedication and commitment while before camera is once again imparting the same for his field activities too. Believing on more and more practice for a better show in the coming days, Lal opines that the morale and fitness of his team is pretty good with good confidence level for taking on big teams. As usual Lal is finding a spiritualistic plane for cricket too and pray for no injuries for him or his team mates.

As his biggest budgeted movie ever 'Casanovva' is getting to theatres this weekend, and a highly critical satire on him 'Padmashree Bharath Dr Sarojkumar' is before the viewers,   the super actor of Mollywood will have something to prove all these fortnight, which off course, he is sure to do in style. 

Ratheesh Vegha into a higher note

The super hit song of the year 'Mazhaneerthullikal' in 'Beautiful' seems to have literally lifted its young music director, Ratheesh Vegha to the top list of Mollywood, as he is suddenly around a lot of big flicks. A palakkad based youngster with a formal grounding in Carnatic and Veena, Ratheesh who debuted into filmdom with 'Cocktail' prefers to listen to western music , but is right on target when it comes to tuning melodious music. The musician is said to have created just a single tune to this phenomenal song, which is currently the most used ring tone in the cell phones of Malayalees.

Ratheesh believes in creating music that must not be meant for today's audience alone, but also must exist in the all appreciation for tomorrow's audience also. Coming after a long acquaintance with the advertising industry, he always try to fuse in eastern and western styles.

Ratheesh has also already given music to 'Mullassery Madhavan Kutty, Nemom P O', awaiting release in the coming weeks.

Ratheesh's immediate movie to kickoff is Mammootty's 'Newsmaker' directed by Deepan for which he is planning to bring an orchestrated rework of 'Vandematharam''. He will also give tunes to the new films ' Kallakamukan' by Johny Antony featuring Mammootty, 'Namukku Parkkan' by Aji john and the new movie by Pramod Papan.

Never intended to hurt Lal -Sreeni

As his latest movie has started debates over its intense criticism of Mollywood star systems, its lead actor and writer Sreenivasan maintains that he has never intended to hurt any of the superstars, including Lal. Sreeni adds that he just reflected the ideas and happenings around  the filmdom but the majority who had seen the sequences of 'IT raids' and 'Colonel title hunt' judged it as one that is framed against Mohanlal. Sreeni was talking to a popular media, describing the events that led him to the scripting of the highly critical 'Padmashree Bharath Dr.Saroj Kumar' which is currently in theatres.

In an interesting turn of events, Sreenivasan has also revealed that he has written about IT raids in the house of superstars, even before the same thing happened in actuality. Shocked with the developments following the IT raid, Sreeni immediately tried to contact the superstars of Mollywood to clear off the things. He was able to contact Mammootty, who after hearing about the plot asked whether there will be any criticism citing the name. As Sreenivasan assured that he will not be using any real names, Mammootty is said to have appreciated the effort and asked him to continue with the scripting. Sreenivasan also revealed that he has also tried to speak to Mohanlal, but couldn't get in touch as Lal has changed his mobile numbers. Sreeni believes that if Lal had seen the movie, he would have taken all in the lighter vein and will not feel any discomfort about its content.

'Adam...' out of Oscars

The much expected desi winner 'Adaminte Makan Abu', which was India's official entry to the Oscars this year, is now out of the race. The film couldn't make it to the final nine of the total 63 films competing for the foreign language Oscars. The movie by debutante director, Salim Ahmed, did extremely well in Indian circuits and festivals winning four awards at the national awards and Kerala state Awards and Special Jury Awards at IFFI and IFFK. The nine films qualified includes those from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Iran, Israel, Morocco, Poland and Taiwan. The Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood.

Laljose to turn producer

After the release of his new movie 'Spanish Masala,' popular director Laljose will turn a producer with the new movie titled as 'Diamond Necklace'. Produced as a debut venture of his production house LJ films, the movie will have him uniting with Lqbal Kutippuram after a gap of eight years. Few will remember that it was the same duo who presented Mollywood with a different flick then with the movie 'Arabikkadha' which was widely acclaimed for its strong socialist messages and criticism on current political atmosphere. 'Diamond Necklace' will have Fahd Fazil in the lead with three heroines played by Samvrutha Sunil, Amala Paul and Anushree. To be shot in Dubai, the movie will start its canning by the tenth of February.

'Spanish Masala' from tomorrow

After making a big hit by presenting the first foreign heroine to Mollywood in 'Arabikkadha', ace director lal Jose will be once again trying for a commercial success with the new release 'Spanish Masala' planned to be on theatres by tomorrow. The first Mollywood movie to be shot entirely in Spain, the movie will feature Daniella as the heroine with Dileep and Kunchakko Boban. Dileep comes up as Charlie, a mimic from Kerala who goes to Spain with a music troupe for a programme. But once they reach Spain, Charlie vanishes into the crowd and lands in a rich Spanish household to become the cook. Scripted by Benny P Nayarambalam, the movie which will make a grand release in 80 plus theatres in the state will be the first Malayalam movie to get released in more than 20 centres in Bombay. 'Spanish Masala' will also open tomorrow in select centres in Pune, Gujarat, Bangalore and Goa. Produced by Noushad, the movie will have songs by Vidhya Sagar.

Anoop with Aji John

Anoop Menon seems to be one thinking actor leading the new band of filmmakers, to accomplish fresher movies with fresher themes in Mollywood. His scripts had been the major success factors of 'Cocktail', 'Pakal Nakshatrangal' and recent ' Beautiful'. And his excellent roles in 'Traffic', 'Pranayam', 'Mummy and Me', Cocktail',  'Thirakkadha' and 'Beautiful' had been largely appreciated. Anoop has got a number of projects under her sleeve including 'Veendum Kannur,' 'Mullassery Adhavankutty, 'Nemom P O', 'Lavender ' and 'Josetente Hero' which are almost completed and is planning to get to theatres shortly. The actor who is currently in the sets of 'Veendum Kannoor' will join the new movie by Aji John titled as 'Namukku Paarkkan' by the twentieth of next month. Meghnaraj is the heroine of this movie scripted by Jayan-sunoj. Cinematographed by Prijith, the movie will be produced by Joy Thomas Shakthikulangara in the banner of Jithin Arts. Ratheesh Vega is in charge of the music department. Anoop's other new projects include 'Ardhanareeshwaran' and 'Horizon'. Anoop will be debuting in Tamil with the movie 'Kadavul Pathy, Mrigum Pathy', which will also get to theatres this year.

A flop start for 2012

2011 was a better year for Mollywood, with at least a ten percent of total releases emerging victorious. But 2012 seems to open in a low note as the first three releases that came out last week couldn't keep the registers in the Box Office moving.

'Orkut Oru Ormakoot' was the first film of the year with a bunch a new comers making their entry. The debutante directors Manoj and Vinod has done reasonably well but the viewers were not in a mood to take that and the movie sank without trace.

Then was the arrival of 'Asuravithu'- a movie destined to make Asif ali a super star. But this flick by A K Saajan failed thoroughly in giving any support to the young star. In fact in the course, it also revealed the limitations of the star in doing power packed roles, making the viewers laugh at many unintended sequences. The director also added to the debacle with his share of poorly written, amateurishly taken sequences mostly in the second half.

'Kunjaliyan' from Saji Surendran was the third film that also didn't do exactly well as expected. The intended humorous flick failed to make the viewers laugh, as the entire narratives and plot points seemed plastic and hollow.

The latest release 'Padmashree Bharath Dr Sarojkumar' which arrived last week also seems to have less to offer, as its satirical notes by Sreenivasan are not enjoyed that much by the viewers.  It needs to be seen whether this big budget flick can manage to be in the safe terrains in the coming weeks.

Asif, Prithvi out of 'Kerala Strikers'

Young stars Asif Ali and Prithviraj has opted out of the Kerala Strikers cricket team, that is getting ready to have its first match next week. The younger stars are citing their heavy shooting schedules for not playing in the matches. The team including its captain Mohanlal and Indrajith is having heavy practise sessions at the Kochi stadium and many complaints were raised by the fellow stars against Asif Ali for not attending the practise sessions. He was reported to be not taking any phones from the management and team coach for the last few weeks. Anyhow, the Kerala strikers will have its first match in the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) against Karnataka bull dozers on the 21st of this month at Hyderabad. Their first home match will be on the very next day where they will meet Bombay heroes captained by Salman Khan.

Bollywood singers, all the way

Following the sweet success of Shreya Ghoshal in Mollywood, more and more North Indian signers are finding Malayalam music a healthy terrain to excel. The melody queen Shreya Ghoshal has proved to other language Singers that Malayalam is not that toughest language to crack into and has succeeded quite well in familiarising the diction problems that made her the most demanded and most revered singer in Mollywood. She had been exceptional in songs for 'Anwar' and 'Pranayam' and has already gathered many awards in State level for her singing in Malayalam. Though Udit Narayan has been here before Shreya, the singer in just continuing his tradition of crooning a chart buster for every Dileep film. So is Sonu Nigam, who has recently started singing in Mollywood with 'Bombay march 12'.  Sonu's sister Teesha Nigam has also recorded a song for an upcoming project with music director Sunny Viswanath. The singers from other languages are unanimous in their opinion that Malayalam provide them with some rarer songs with rarest moods and classical touches that they don't get often in Bollywood. As Malayalees continue with their habit of being the first to entertain new additions, Bollywood singers will definitely have a fair go in Mollywood.

Ramesh Sippy to head NFDC

Well-known filmmaker of Bollywood, Ramesh Sippy has been appointed as the new chairperson of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).He will take charge of the NFDC as veteran actor Ompuri has completed his term in the apex body of film support activities. The I&B ministry has also appointed Jawahar Vattal and A K Bir as independent directors.     The 65-year-old Ramesh Sippy had been with the Hindi film industry for the past four decades. His biggest contributions to the industry include the hits like "Andaz", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Sholay" and "Shakti".

Casanovva on Jan 27

The biggest budgeted movie ever to have made in Mollywood 'Casanovva' will grace the theatres on the 27th of this month. Directed by Rosshan Andrews, this movie in the making for two years was shot in many foreign countries and features a big cast and great visuals. Featuring Shriya, Roma, Sanjana, Dimple Rose and Lakshmi Rai as the heroines, this movie by Bobby Sanjai tells a story about love and revenge and has music by Alphonse, Gopi Sunder and Gowri Lakshmi. The makers of the movie C J Roy of Confident cinema is planning to release the movie in maximum centres in Kerala and all across India. And as per the present plans, Casanovva will make a release in 200 plus release centers to mint big money spend on it.

Anoop, Megna in 'Namukku Parkkan'

After the recent commercial and critically acclaimed hit 'Beautiful', Anoop Menon and Meghnaraj will once again come together for the new movie titled as 'Namukku Parkkan'. Directed by Aji John, the movie will be also scripted by Anoop. While Ratheesh Vega is in charge of the music department, Pradheesh will don the camera. A family subject with a bit of humour, 'Namukku Parkkan' will be on sets by the 20th of February.