Gabbar Sing 2 to arrive soon

Gabbar Singh 2 To Arrive Soon!

Power Star will be back soon with Gabbar Singh 2, the Muhurat Function of which happened at Filmnagar Temple in Hyderabad last week. Gabbar Singh, which was released in 2012 had set a record of being the highest grossing movie in Tollywood in recent memory. The movie will be directed by Sampath Nandi and is produced by Sharrath Marar. The music will be composed by Devi Sri Prasad. The shoot of the movie is expected to begin in April and Pawan Kalyan will be acting in the movie along with the Telugu remake of Oh My God. The heroine and the rest of the cast is yet to be finalized.

It is expected that Gabbar Singh 2 will be high on action and comedy just like Gabbar Singh. The people behind the movie says that the movie will not be a sequel or prequel and the only constant would be the police officer protagonist played by Power Star. Another important factor that will work for the movie is the music by DSP, who is on a roll after delivering superb music in 1-Nenokkadine. DSP's music in Gabbar Singh was widely appreciated.

It is going to be festival time for Power Star and DSP fans this Dusshera season when the movie is expected to hit the theatres.  

Nivin Pauly: New Star On The Block

Nivin Pauly: The New Star On The Block

Saumesh Thimbath

Even while the sheen of 'new generation' is waning fast, many talented youngsters which the deluge brought with it has build successful careers. One such success story is Nivin Pauly's. Nivin made his debut in Vineeth Sreenivasan's first directorial outing, Malarvadi Arts Club, and subsequently hit a high with the director's second feature Thattathin Marayath. Thattathi Marayath did to Nivin what Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai did for Hritik Roshan – he became the hottest and sexiest Malayalam actor overnight. Then followed characters like an ordinary fisherman in Sathyan Anthikkad's Puthiya Theerangal, a scheming and villainous godman in Aashiq Abu's Da Thadiya and an NRI who does not take pride in being called an Indian in Shyamaprasad's English. Next was Alphonse Putharen's Neram, which became a roaring success taking Nivin's popularity and satellite value to newer heights.

2014 started with a bang for Nivin. Fashion photographer Abrid Shine's first feature 1983 is running to packed houses three weeks after its release. Nivin's portrayal of Rameshan, a die hard fan of Sachin and

a local cricketing hero, who realizes his dreams of being a professional player through his son, has earned praise from many directors including Priyadarshan and Jeethu Joseph. The movie, which was also a tribute to the cricketing genius that is Sachin, has struck a chord with the audience who has not completely come to terms with his retirement. His next release, directed by another debutant Jude Anthany Joseph, Om Shanthi Osana, was released a week later to register a massive theatrical performance.

Nivin Pauly is undoubtedly the most happening young actor in Malayalam at present. Nivin's humble demeanor and lack of any airs adds to his popular appeal.

Making of a remake

Copy-Act

M K Sinu

Expecting a slam-dunk hit, producers are making a beeline to the remake of last year Malayalam money-churner ‘Drishyam.’ For a material that has yielded bounty in Malayalam, there is a market outside Kerala, too – by sheer movie market size in each language. Linguistically speaking, in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, & Kannada. Big theatrical markets. Some booty to be made there.

Ever wondered why our movie going junta never like watching the original with subtitles? The reason, we are subtitle-phobic. We believe subtitles are preserve of art films. And that's surely the reason for the continuing remake. Prabhu Deva made a career out of South remakes in Bollywood.  

 

Coming to the fact of the matter. We have Venkatesh & Meena in Telugu, Kamal Hassan and Ravichandra in Tamil and Kannada respectively for Drishyam’s remake.

Hindi remake is in the pipeline. The scout is on for a superstar who has to act father of 2 adolescent daughters. Hard to find. Heroes don’t age on-screen in Bollywood. Ergo, change the script to suit the Hero. Too true to believe. Right?

Now the change in the script. Ekta Kapoor who has acquired the remake rights in Hindi just discovered – Drishyam is reportedly inspired by Japanese author Keigo Higashino's book, ‘The Devotion Of Suspect X.’ She now plans to make a film based on this book. Being presumptuous.      

 

We’ll have to give in to our ticket-buying public. They love watching a hit film from other language in the language they speak or understand. Some unalloyed joy of cinema.

Last heard, Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi starrer Ishquiya is to be remade in Tamil with Mohanlal and Arya in the lead. If my memory is serving me right, Abhishek Chaubey’s second instalment Dedh Ishqiya had a theatrical release with subtitles. For the record, Dedh Ishquiya is a commercial hit.    

Veteran Director Balu Mahendra Passes Away

Veteran Director Balu Mahendra Passes Away

Nandini Raja

Being one of the most influencial cinematographer for more than 4 decades, Balu Mahendra was a technician who embraced change and moved on with technology. Born in 20^th May 1939, he belongs to those early FTI graduates who literally revolutionized Indian film making, be it in terms of technology or with storytelling.

Started his career as a cinematographer in Malayalam with the move Panimudakku, he made his debut direction with the Kannada movie Kokila for which he won The National Award for Best Cinematography and with Nireekshana in Telugu.   Moondram Pirai in Tamil and Sadma in Hindi, are the most critically acclaimed movie of Balu Mahendra. The movie is made after the trauma from the suicide of his wife, actress Shobha; an unexpected loss of love.

His first film in eight years, after 2005’s ‘Athu Oru Kanaa Kalam,’ with ‘Thalairmuraigal’, Mr. Mahendra has, for the first time in his career, tried out the digital camera, more specifically a Canon 5D DSLR, to shoot the film.

It took 74 years for him to realize that he is matured enough to be in front of the camera, when he decided to play the role of a religious fanatic grandfather - Subbu in the movie “Thalaimuraigal”.  The first & last on-screen presence of the legend.  

RIP Balu Mahendra.

The Week That Was

Sinu & Saumesh

Matter of Heart and Heartless

This week Bollywood saw two releases. One, insane girl meets sane boy in the Dharma Productions Hasee Toh Phasee. Odd couple inviting trouble, batty Parineeti Chopra Vs loser Siddharth Malhotra. There are moments of brilliance in the proceeding and sometimes the narrative is whittled away. Be that as it may, save your admiration for the performances, especially Parineeti Chopra.

Shekhar Suman's Heartless deals with the subject of anesthesia awareness. Plot of a botched up heart surgery is at the heart of the matter. An attempt by Sekhar Suman to resuscitate Adhyayan Suman's career in Bollywood.  

Mani and Mummy Return

So it is more or less confirmed – Mani Ratnam's next will be a movie starring Telugu superstars Mahesh Babu and Nagarjuna, the first time the two actors would be coming together. The movie will be the comeback vehicle for Aiswarya Rai Bachchan after her pregnancy. It is reported that Sruthi Haasan is also cast in the movie. Not much about the movie is made public still. The movie would be released in Tamil and Telugu. Mani Ratnam's earlier outing Raavan/Raavanan could not create much of a ripple. The fact that Ms.Rai Bachchan is making a comeback is what makes the project important to the media. Lets hope that our own desi master has something new to offer and is not just fulfilling the duties as a Bachchan 'family director'.

Happily Engaged

The hot and happening couple of Malayalam Film Industry, Fahadh Fassil and Nazriya Nazeem got engaged today at a private function in Trivandrum. The marriage is fixed for August 21. The couple met the press and commented on the two questions that has been doing the rounds since the news of their affair became public – 1) will Nazriya continue to act in movies post-marriage? 2) isn't the age gap between them a cause for concern (for whom, we don't know)? Nazriya replied that she would continue acting after the marriage, but added the interesting caveat that 'family is the priority' (ahem!). For the second question, the answer was given by Fahadh who dismissed the possibility of any marital discord arising out of the age gap. Is there anybody else who feels that each answered to the question meant for the other?

The End of New Generation

The End of The 'New'

Saumesh Thimbath

It appears that curtain is coming down on the 'new generation' trend in Malayalam cinema. Malayalam film industry saw the highest number of releases last year (158), but many had a theatrical run for less than a week. The major reasons have been the poor technical quality and messy production that had lately become the hallmark of the movies that came with the tag of 'new generation'. The decision of TV channels to tighten the criteria with which they acquired satellite rights added to the crisis. It is reported that nearly 70 films are awaiting release.

Though the sentiments that led to the new phenomenon were shared by the insiders of the film industry and the audience alike, the trend took a turn for the worst last year. Many 'new generation' films were shot on DSLR cameras, the quality of which is inferior to the high-end film cameras that the audience are familiar. A significant lack in quality applied to other departments like sound recording, screenplay and acting too. The generous use of swear words and outright sexual remarks led to the family audiences taking exception to these movies.

In a way it appears that the stupendous success of Drishyam was symptomatic of the impending demise of 'new generation'. Drishyam brought the family audiences back to the theater proving an important point about Malayalam film industry – given the size of the Malayalam industry, movies that do not cater to the family has a lesser chance of success.  

One By Two released online

Movie Release? 

Let's Take It Online!

From making movies to promoting it, the internet has become the one-stop-shop, with the crucial ingredient for success being 'innovative thinking'. Abhay Deol, who has earlier come across as a sensible actor, has proved his mettle as an innovative producer with One By Two, by releasing the movie on Facebook along with its theatrical release. The movie can be watched on the official page of the movie on Facebook, the viacom18 page and Abhay Deol official page at $4.99 for a 48- hour rental. But anybody who wants to watch the movie in India will have to haul themselves to the theatre as the online rental is only for internet users abroad, so that the theatrical run of the movie would not be affected in India. The move was obviously not to show off how digital-savvy the makers were, but due to the relative difficulty in getting an overseas release. It is the first time ever that any movie is released online along with its theatrical release and the model seems promising for many independent and small scale films made in the country. With a sizable number of NRIs who might not be able to catch up with the movie even if it released abroad, online releases could be the way forward in reaching more audience.

Abhay staged a 'black eye' protest at an award function against T-Series who tried to acquire the audio rights of the movie. Let's see if the new innovation he has brought to the movie's release will leave him with a feather on the cap or another symbolic 'black eye'.

The Week That Was

Saumesh Thimbath

Happy Birthday Brahmanandam! 

Brahmanandam, one of the most brilliant comedians in the country turns 58 today. He has acted in over 1000 films, a distinction shared by very few actors in the world. Brahmanandam started his career in 1987 in the movie, Aha Naan Pellanta and continues acting till date. Brahmanadam is famous for his unique expressions and versatility.

We wish Brahmanandam a very happy birthday!!

Jain Ho trails

Salman Khan's much-hyped Jai Ho has opened to good response, but not to the expectation of the actor and his fans. Jai Ho was supposed to be Salman's answer to Aamir Khan's hugely successful Dhoom 3, which currently holds the record of being the highest grossing Bollywood film to date. The movie collected 17.04 crore rupees on the first day to Dhoom 3's 33.4 crores. The box office clash between Jai Ho and Dhoom 3 in terms of numbers is not just a clash between the box office standings of Salman Khan and Aamir Khan, but also between Yashraj Films and Eros International.

The Cost of Perfection

Baahubali, S S Rajamouli's historical fantasy which is in the filming stage, will have a VFX budget in the range of 80-85 crore rupees. The VFX budget is greater than what Rajamouli has spent on his earlier movies, Eega and Maryada Ramanna. It is reported that there would be more than 5000 shots that will have computer generated images (CGI) and other visual effects. The VFX budget is greater than what was spent on any other recent Indian movies.