Cinema

Mammootty plays an auto driver in Theepetty Chandran

ArtKerala — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:32:17 -0500

Theepetty Chandran, directed by M Padma Kumar and scripted by T A Razak is produced by Howli Pottoor under the banner of Dream Team Productions, is one of Mammootty's new projects. Mammootty plays Theepetti Chandran, an auto driver, who has an awful past.

The sudden death of his father changed his life and is now a regular visitor in many of the local bars in Kozhikode. Everybody is scared to serve him the first peg because he turns a different person after that.

Chandran has a seven-year-old-daughter.

Other casts include Sujatha, Siddique, Innocent, Jagathy Sreekumar, Mamookoya, and many others. The heroine has not been fixed so far.

Manoj Pillai handles camera for the film. Songs are penned by Sharat Chandravarma and Vidyasagar.

Ezham Mudra - Indian remake of Casablanca

ArtKerala — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:31:16 -0500

An Indian filmmaker is remaking Casablanca, swapping the Rick's Cafe of the Oscar-winning classic for a restaurant in south India, and the World War II backdrop for the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.

In the 1942 film, Humphrey Bogart played a club owner who romances a married Ingrid Bergman and helps her escape the Nazis with her husband, a resistance leader.

"My film will be a tribute to the original," said Rajeev Nath, the director who plans to premiere his Malayalam language remake, Ezham Mudra (The Seventh Seal), in the coastal Moroccan city where the original was set. Rajeev Nath's Ezham Mudra will swap the World War II backdrop of the original version for the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.

"As a student of films, I had watched this great classic 20 times." Nath's protagonist is an Indian diplomat-turned restaurateur who helps his lover and her husband, both Tamil separatist rebels fighting the Sri Lankan government, escape from India. In the adaptation, the hero and his lover meet in a beachside restaurant.

Nath says his film will swap the World War Two background of the original for the separatist movement in Sri Lanka, where Tamils have been fighting for a separate ethnic homeland in the north and east of the Indian Ocean Island, but does not indulge in any politics.

"It is neither against nor in support of their cause," said the 55-year-old director, who met some Tamil Tiger rebels during a trip to Norway.

The Sri Lankan civil war has killed nearly 70,000 people since 1983, about 4,500 of them since last year alone. The war strikes a strong chord across the Palk Strait in southern India where more than 60 million Indian Tamils live.

India has had a complex political and military link to the conflict and Tamil rebels have also taken refuge here. Nath begins shooting next month and some parts are to be filmed in Sri Lanka. The film is slated for a 2008 release.

Ezham Mudra, which is Nath's 12th project as director, features Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi and Bollywood actress Mandira Bedi in the roles famously essayed by Bogart and Bergman.

Nath, who won India's prestigious national award for direction in 1999 for his Malayalam film Janani (Mother), said remaking Casablanca was a dream come true. Casablanca ranked third after Citizen Kane and The Godfather on a list of 100 best American films in a poll conducted by the American Film Institute in 2007.

Naalu Pennungal to premiere in Toronto

ArtKerala — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:29:42 -0500

There is a perception in Kerala, that Adoor Gopalakrishnan makes his off-beat movies for International critics.

Well, once again he is premiering his new film Naalu Pennungal, based on four short stories written by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai at the prestigious Toronto film festival, which starts on September 1.

It will be the first official screening of Naalu Pennungal, at the Toronto Festival's Masters programme. The film has Nandita Bose, Kavya Madhavan, Padmapriya, Geetu Mohandas, Manju Pillai, Ramya Nambisan, Mukesh, Manoj K. Jayan and others.

The Doordarshan produced Naalu Pennungal will have its theatrical release in Kerala in October through the Trichur based Emil and Eric, who are also the distributors of Mohanlal's College Kumaran.

Katrina Kaif stages a comeback in Malayalam films

ArtKerala — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:28:35 -0500

Bollywood heroine Katrina Kaif seems to have taken a liking for Malayalam cinema.

News is out from Mollywood that Kaif, known as macho hero Salman Khan's girl friend, is set to stage a comeback of sorts in Malayalam films. The grapevine is abuzz that Katrina will soon have her Telugu film, Malleswari dubbed in Malayalam.

Katrina made a sensational debut in Mollywood by co-starring with megastar Mammootty in the IV Sasi-directed blockbuster Balram Vs Taradas. The film did reasonably well at the box office

Rajini gifts Baba dollar to an actor

ArtKerala — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:27:11 -0500

Naren of Chithiram Pesudadi and Pallikoodam fame is all set to tie the knot with Manju on August 26 of this month. Naren and Manju knew each other before and their decision to remain as life partners was endorsed by their parents also.

Betrothal function was held at the bride's place which was an in-house ceremony and was attended by close relatives and friends only. The couple has decided to host a reception at G R T Grand Days on September 1st.

Meanwhile when Naren had visited superstar Rajanikanth to invite him for his wedding, he had blessed him and gifted a Baba dollar. The young actor was touched by this sentiment of the superstar and vowed to keep the precious dollar safe for years to come.

Nagma makes a comeback in Tamil cinema

ArtKerala — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:26:12 -0500

Doe-eyed beauty Nagma is all set to make a comeback to the Tamil film industry. The actress, who is now dominating Bhojpuri cinema, was the heartthrob of millions of Tamil fans.

Although she made it to the top in Bhojpuri films, Nagma has always wanted to stage a comeback in Tamil films. The grapevine says that she has signed up for a Tamil movie named Sundari. The film, shooting for which will begin shortly, will have another heroine as well.

The hero is yet to be decided. Nagma rose to dizzying heights in Tamil cinema with an impressive array of films that included Kadhalan, Basha and Mettukkudi.

Gopika with Mammootty again

ArtKerala — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:25:01 -0500

After Mayaavi, Gopika plays heroine to Mammootty once again. The other details will be discussed only after a month.

It has been reported that Bollywood singer Lucky Ali will sing a song for this film. G V Prakash will be the music director of the film.

Vineeth, Bhama in Cycle

ArtKerala — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:24:01 -0500

Vineeth Srinavasan, son of actor Sreenivasan, plays the lead role in Cycle, which has story and script by James Albert and directed by Johnny Antony.

Bhama, heroine of Lohithadas' Nivedhyam, plays opposite Vineeth. Other casts include Jagathy Sreekumar, Innocent, Salim Kumar and many others. The pooja ceremony was held on the second week of August. The film would be brought to the theatres by Lal Release.

Mohanlal, Vimala Raman in College Kumaran

ArtKerala — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:22:50 -0500

The shooting of Thulasidas' Mohanlal film titled College Kumaran is fast progressing in the capital city. It has been rumored that for this film, actor Mohanlal has received a whopping sum of Rs 12.5 million, the highest paid amount for an actor in the Malayalam film industry.

The film is set in the background of a college and Mohanlal plays Kumaran, whose gang consists of college students. For any function or study tour Kumaraettan (Mohanlal) is a must and is the life and soul of the college.

Vimala Raman is being cast opposite Mohanlal for the first time. She plays Madhavi, a college lecturer, who considers that Kumaraettan is spoiling the students. But that turns into love soon.

College Kumaran is slated to be Mohanlal`s Ramzan release. Vimala will have a matured look in the film in which she will be wearing only sari and designer blouses.

Balachandra Menon plays an important role in the film and has also Siddique, Salim Kumar, Sai Kumar, Suraj Venjaranmoodu, Shamna, Lakshmi Krishnamurthy. Story and screenplay is by Suresh Poduval, while music is by Ouseppachan.

Sivaji to be dubbed in Hindi

ArtKerala — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:21:21 -0500

With Tamil cinema super star Rajnikanth's latest blockbuster "Sivaji - The Boss" still running to packed houses in some pockets outside south India, the producers of the film have decided to dub it in Hindi and are planning a post-Diwali release.

Sivaji - The Boss will be dubbed in Hindi as the response for the film in Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities outside South India has been overwhelming," said S C Babu, CEO of AVM Productions.
"Some portions of the film will be re-shot to cater to the Hindi-speaking audience and Rajnikanth will dedicate three to four days in shooting," Babu told reporters from Chennai.

Asked whether Rajnikanth will dub his voice in Hindi, Babu said "indications are that he is unlikely to do the dubbing." However, the length of the film will be reduced to two and half hours from the existing three-hour duration as most of the Bollywood films do not exceed the time limit of 150 minutes.

Even though some of Rajnikanth's films were screened outside Tamil Nadu earlier, Sivaji - The Boss got a rousing response from people who thronged theatres in major cities such as Delhi and Mumbai.

Sivaji-The Boss has proved that language is not a barrier when it is Rajnikanth, Babu said.

Swanand Kirkire is penning the dialogues for the dubbed version and is likely to finish his work by October.

"But we are planning a post-Diwali release. We don't want to release a dubbed version during the festive season," he said.