LYCA Producers of 2.0 , -India's costliest film set shop in Bollywood

 

Even as the media is buzzing with the news that Shankar has issued an ultimatum to LYCA to start Indian 2 shoot or wait till he comes back from another project that he is to start soon, comes the news that LYCA has on board Aashish Singh Director of  Netflix to head the Mumbai office that will be producing Bollywood movies in future.

Bollywood Hungama has exclusively discovered that one of the biggest producers down south, LYCA PRODUCTIONS is now gearing up to explore the Hindi film space and they have already started to chalk out plans of making multiple films in the next financial year. “LYCA is one of the biggest names down south and they have piggy banked the costliest Indian film till date, 2.0 featuring Rajinikanth in lead with Akshay Kumar in a negative role. They are now set to takeover full-fledged production in Bollywood and the back end work to get a line up in place has already begun,” a source told Bollywood Hungama, adding further that their film slate in Hindi will be a blend of original stories and remakes. “The idea is to churn out good content that is appreciated by the audience and it’s all work in progress at the moment. They would make up for the deficiency of content in commercial space in Bollywood, and is aiming to collaborate with the top names of the film industry”, the source further told us.

That’s not all, LYCA has also got Aashish Singh, who is currently working as the director of Netflix India, onboard to head their journey in Bollywood.  Aashish has worked as production head at YRF on films like Tiger Zinda Hai, Sultan, Dhoom 3, Ek Tha Tiger, Chak De India, and Dhoom 2 among others. Singh has also been associated with Balaji Telefilms in the past as CEO. LYCA PRODUCTIONS is a sub-brand of leading international mobile service providers, Lyca Mobile, and apart from film production, are also looking to explore the exhibition and distribution front across the country and markets (Regional + Hindi). On 70th birthday of Modi, the official handle of Lyca Productions tweeted, “As mark of it’s love and respect for the Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji on his 70th birthday @LycaProductions is Privileged to present ‘Karmyogi’ -Tamil along with legendary film-maker #SanjayLeelaBhansali produced by #MahaveerJain directed by #SsanjayTripaathy #HBDDearPM” The film is written and directed by Ssanjay Tripaathy and is described as the “untold story from the life of the Prime Minister which has not been in the public domain so far.” 

In Tamil, LYCA is bankrolling Manirathinam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan. The film finished a schedule in Thailand and now after the relaxations of COVID, the unit is getting back the huge star cast to restart the shoot. Indian 2 ,the sequel with Kamal Haasan and directed by Shankar ( next after 2.0)  finished one schedule and has yet to resume shoot post COVID. The producers according to sources had asked Shankar to cut down the budget from Rs 400 crores. The director had given a Rs 200 cr budget but  LYCA wants it to be further cut down as theatrical business in India will take a long time to pick up .Kamal who is hosting the Bigg Boss 4 Tamil is to go in for a start to finish schedule of a film that will be his propaganda vehicle in the coming May . His party is contesting the polls to State Assembly.. Sources say that an audit team from London had found that there was widespread siphoning away  of funds at the Chennai office. Some production companies that received advance to start movies but are sitting on it has been asked to return it.

When Kodambakkam celebrated Ayudha puja with gaiety

 

Ayudha puja  was a special day for film journalists who did the studio rounds. We hopped from one studio floor to another and attended number of film launches, Apart from this, many producers who did no have launches too invited unit people and their regular technicians to come to the office and take part in the concluding part of the 9 day festival. Dubbing - recording theaters, outdoor unit and processing labs to offices of all union offices of the film workers trade bodies wore a festive atmosphere.

Cars and bikes from T Nagar to Arcot road zipped across . It was literally a day of film workers who saw the occasion as the start of another year that offered them jobs. Producers felt that  this day heralded a  new prosperous year. This was one day when workers got cash as pooja gift apart from the customary pooja offerings. Wine shops and bars ran full house. Theaters had pooja releases. Pooja was the only festival which gave school- education institutions a 9 day holiday.

There were some producers who did not forget the workers of related establishments who had worked for their film. Kalaipuli S Thanu among some made it a point to go to the processing lab where his film had been processed and gave all workers a gift pack and cash. Similarly Editor and his team as well stunt masters team who were  engaged for the shoot were invited to the office and given gifts. Most of the dancers , stunt men, makeup  assistants, assistant directors are those who have no touch with the producers. But certain producers made it a point to draw up a list of such people who worked for them at some point or the other and gave them pooja gifts.

Studios made way to apartments and malls,  Labs turned into digital service providers manned by IT guys, Editing suites were housed in two BHK flats, many other digital offerings like DI VFX and so on came and all of the people working on it were PG in the  respective fields. Producers lost or rather saw no reason to interact with them.Everything became impersonal.

It was no more necessary for any personal interaction with film journalists. The PRO took care of it. Publicity on visual media was all paid for nobody needed any favours. When a press meet of around 25-30 people was held then , today it is in the range of 200. The number of fly by night producers and directors outnumbered the ones who made movies constantly.

Now the COVID virus has put a permanent lockdown on Kodambakkam puja festivities. Films are made with 100 men and in total silence. Theaters are closed. Sun TV which used to run special programmes on Puja releases is now running a programme of a film shot after COVID restrictions were lifted and it will be coming first on Sun TV and not theaters !!!. The film is for a Diwali release. The days when a carry bag with apples, oranges, bananas, betel leaves, nuts, packets of puffed rice, rice flakes, fried green dal, and palm sugar and envelope with a 500 -1000 Rs note given to workers has become a thing of the past.

As I was the Chief of Screen bureau , my peon waited for me to give him his cash envelope. All the puja was done by him and so all the materials went to him. As Screen was a weekly, It was an unofficial holiday. The peon however saw  to it that he collected his cash gifts from others, a day before. All computers , doors, cupboards bore the sandal wood paste. Unlike other office cabins, mine had no Gods and Godesses on the wall. It had blowups of Big B, Madhuri, Rajinikant, Kamal, Vijaykant, Mammooty and so on. A desktop calendar of Sivaji gifted by his fans. My peon spared these GODS on earth from sandal wood paste and vermillion.

Update NOC got - After censoring why did Censor with held Suriya's Soorarai Pottru certificate ?

Suriya’s Soorarai Pottru (SP) censor certificate with cut list goes missing on CBFC website. The search with the film title leads to a list of the film songs and promo video totaling 7 that have been censored and the portions ( words ) that have been muted or replaced. Media reports said that the film trailor of duration 1.52 minutes with English subtitles was censored with a U and CBFC officials was praise for the actor and the film. Suriya was quoted as saying that he was waiting for the NOC from IAF. As it had come, the censoring took place. The CBFC certificate of trailor was dated June 6^th. Cert no DIS/1/ 196/2020 -Che . Later indiatimes published a CBFC copy of certificate given to  film SP . It was dated 9^th July. Cert no DIL/1/29/2020-Che . Duration 153.04 Long Digital Suriya Sivakumar 2D - ENTERTAINMENT PVT LTD U.

Having got the U certificate and praise from the CBFC officials, on October 22^nd, Suriya says that more NOC has to be got and so censoring will get delayed. The delay is in the actor’s words - "A few new NOCs are still pending for approval, and we understand the wait is inevitable as this adverse time is demanding more and more focus on the nation and its priorities, than anything else! Unfortunately, the wait for the film's release will now be a little longer than anticipated,"   So is this why CBFC pulled out censor details of SP? It finds in the list of films certified in July but no cut list is available.

Was CBFC misled in giving a certificate by stating that all NOC was got from IAF ? Or did IAF after watching the trailor, asked CBFC to hold back release?. After Gunjan Saxena film, there was criticism that IAF base and aircrafts were used in a film which showed men pilots as MCP’s.

Interestingly a look at CBFC censor cut detail of the song Mannurkada shows that the lyrics for which it  had gone to court and got a rap as it  found to be provocative, was to be muted. Court ordered to be removed from the film. The cut list says – Keezh jaathi udambukkulla keezh jaathi udambukulla oduradhu saakkadaiyaa",- word keezh jaathi has to be muted, vide June 5th cert no VIS/1/193/2020-Che. Was the song released without cuts or before censoring? Related ; https://southfilmy.blogspot.com/2020/09/suriyas-pro-dalit-stance-to-promote.html

 

Suriya’s Soorarai Pottru (SP) censor certificate with cut list goes missing on CBFC website. The search with the film title leads to a list of the film songs and promo video totaling 7 that have been censored and the portions ( words ) that have been muted or replaced. Media reports said that the film trailor of duration 1.52 minutes with English subtitles was censored with a U and CBFC officials was praise for the actor and the film. Suriya was quoted as saying that he was waiting for the NOC from IAF. As it had come, the censoring took place. The CBFC certificate of trailor was dated June 6^th. Cert no DIS/1/ 196/2020 -Che . Later indiatimes published a CBFC copy of certificate given to  film SP . It was dated 9^th July. Cert no DIL/1/29/2020-Che . Duration 153.04 Long Digital Suriya Sivakumar 2D - ENTERTAINMENT PVT LTD U.

Having got the U certificate and praise from the CBFC officials, on October 22^nd, Suriya says that more NOC has to be got and so censoring will get delayed. The delay is in the actor’s words - "A few new NOCs are still pending for approval, and we understand the wait is inevitable as this adverse time is demanding more and more focus on the nation and its priorities, than anything else! Unfortunately, the wait for the film's release will now be a little longer than anticipated,"   So is this why CBFC pulled out censor details of SP? It finds in the list of films certified in July but no cut list is available.

Was CBFC misled in giving a certificate by stating that all NOC was got from IAF ? Or did IAF after watching the trailor, asked CBFC to hold back release?. After Gunjan Saxena film, there was criticism that IAF base and aircrafts were used in a film which showed men pilots as MCP’s.

Interestingly a look at CBFC censor cut detail of the song Mannurkada shows that the lyrics for which it  had gone to court and got a rap as it  found to be provocative, was to be muted. Court ordered to be removed from the film. The cut list says – Keezh jaathi udambukkulla keezh jaathi udambukulla oduradhu saakkadaiyaa",- word keezh jaathi has to be muted, vide June 5th cert no VIS/1/193/2020-Che. Was the song released without cuts or before censoring? Related ; https://southfilmy.blogspot.com/2020/09/suriyas-pro-dalit-stance-to-promote.html

 

Biopic on LTTE Prabhakaran to release on November 26

 

After Muralitharan biopic, a hashtag on Medhagu, a biopic on slain leader of LTTE V Prabhakarn, is now trending. The biopic teaser released is supported heavily online by supporters of LTTE. The film is being released on Nov 26^th to mark the 66^th birth anniversary of Prabhakaran. Recently the British Court ruled that the ban of LTTE was not warranted. The film is directed by T Kittu and produced by Tamil Eelazha Thiraikalam. Medhagu means His Excellency in Tamil.

The film has a Chennai connect. Journalist Anita Pratap was able to interview Prabhakaran in his hideout in Chennai. It was the first ever time that Prabhakaran had spoken to a press reporter. Later she as part of the Indian Press team that landed in Colombo to cover the ethnic war was available to get rare photos and insights into the war torn Jaffna. Her speech on Prabhakaran is shown in the teaser.

Except for Babu Jayakumar of Deccan Chronicle, other newspapers have ignored this trending tweet and teaser.

Update : Akshay Kumar drops Bomb from title -BanLaxmmiBomb hashtag gets trending - Akshay Kumar faces heat on Tamil remake

 

After censoring, producers including Akshay Kumar told censors to give a certificate with the name Bomb in the title. So it is Laxmii Akshay Kumar has learnt that if you become a turncoat, then face the music. He defended Bollywood and said drugs do exist like in every industry and asked media to not generalize it .  NCB was then interrogating a battery of actors suspected of drug links . This out of synch with the probe initiated after Sushant’s death has hurt those who felt that Akshay has let them down. The trailor – title and poster of Laxmmi Bomb has led to creation of  hashtags - ShameonAkshayKumar ,BoycottLaxmmiBomb s that are trending. After Tanishq Ad, this film is said to most targeted for promoting Love Jihad and like  Sadak 2 will face heavy online hate reviews.   

The reason cited by LaxmmiBomb haters is many. One is the hero name is Asif and the ghost that possess him is a Hindu transgender woman called Laxmi. So Laxmi the Goddess  of wealth is depicted as a transgender ? The poster has a backdrop of Goddess Laxmi on it and it shows Hindu Gods in bad light. How dare you call our Goddess Laxmi a Bomb ? Laxmi is our Mata. A tweet -It’s India not Canada. Yahan Devi Devtaon Ki puja Ki Jati Hai Mazaak Nahi Banaya Jata!. Apart from all this the hero Asif has a GF called Priya – Love Jihad again. One tweet said -I thought u were different from all those bunch of Bollywood jokers!
But u too r same!
Why didn’t u name ur upcoming movie as AYESHA-BOMB ? Why u named it Laxmi-bomb?
So u mean to insult HINDU-RELIGION Right?
We will show u our reactions

To top it all two more fuels to the raging fire - Shabina Khan  producer of Laxmi Bomb  is allegedly a Kashmiri separatist. No friend of Hinduvata , Aamir Khan tweets – What a great trailor and waiting to see the film. Now the Hinduvata forces are divided on the silence of their leaders on the sacrilegious LaxmiBomb. One section feels that as Akshay is a Modi supporter, the issue is being brushed under the carpet. They are asking why Arnab Goswami is not screaming and asking for a ban. ( Arnab has now to scream about BARC and Mumbai police to save his pants )

 Akshay getting  the National Award with Priyadarshan as Chairman of jury was seen as a Hinduvata gift. Priyan had headed a TV channel that promotes BJP. Akshay has donated the highest sum ever by an individual to the PMCares fund. Tushar Kapoor is the co-producer of  the film .  Now Raghava Lawrence the director- actor who did the original and remakes it in Hindi says they wanted to retain the original name Kanchana which means golden in Sanskrit and later to suit Hindi audience it was made as Laxmi. The Bomb tag came as the character is like a firecracker throughout the film and also that the film is releasing for Diwali. He did not think that changing the Hindu name of  the original movie character to a Muslim in Hindi would later be a problem. Both the roles are done by Akshay in Hindi.  In the Tamil version, Lawrence  plays Asif role which is called Raghava and Laxmi role is Kanchana acted by Sarath Kumar.

The Raghava Lawrence team says that the film is actually a mix of Muni and it sequel Kanchana . The producers Khan and Kapoor wanted to throw out Lawrence as he was according to them outdated in filmmaking craft. They designed a poster and released it on their own. Lawrence decided to quit on that day but Akshay Kumar took over the dealing with him and everything went on smooth. Lawrence team says that their boss a Christian by birth added Raghava to his name as he is a devotee of Raghavendra Swami. He has publicly announced that he would join Rajinikanth’s  political party.  

Another fall out of the anti-LaxmiBomb campaign is  that a little noticed Aditya Kriplani film – Tikli and Laxmi Bomb is getting attacked by irate netizens on Google review. Tikli and Laxmi bomb – a book based on sex workers, their lifestyle and the fight to run their community by women and for the women, has been adapted into a feature film. Actresses Chitrangada Chakraborty and Vibhawari Deshpande play Tikli and Laxmi respectively. It also has Suchitra Pillai essaying a pivotal role in this film.

Vijay Sethupathi bows to Muralitharan's wish - Not doing biopic

 As expected, Vijay Sethupathi has in a statement announced that he will not be doing the film 800, a biopic on Sri Lanka spinner Muthiah Muralitharan. He shared the copy of Muralitharan's statement requesting Vijay to drop out of the biopic and the actor added Nandri Vanakkam. Thanks Welcome.

Muralitharan statement -"I am releasing this statement because of the controversies that have surrounded my biopic film 800. Due to a few misconceptions, there has been a huge opposition for Vijay Sethupathi and I am very much aware of this development. I will never want an impeccable talent like Vijay Sethupathi to face any such tough situations because of me. I hereby request him to withdraw from this film and focus on his other projects.

I do not want him to face any problems in his cinema journey in the coming years. I thought my story would be a source of inspiration for the youngsters and cricket aspirants and that is the reason why I agreed to make this biopic. I have complete faith on the production house who have assured that the film will be made. I will lend my support to them at any given juncture. My heartiest thanks to all the good hearted people who extended their support to me during this tough time".

Serious Review of Tamil Cinema torch bearers anthology - Putham Pudhu Kaalai”

A serious review of an anthology by Tamil Cinema's most brilliant - torch bearers - Wrong timing of release mars a film. Putham Pudhu Kaalai” should have streamed in the 2-3rd lock down (LD) and everybody would have loved it and thanked the brilliant directors. For one it says that after 21 day first LD, all can travel as they please . No E Pass. Cinematic liberty that all viewers would have liked it. What a fantasy !!!

Two is that the humane approach of the elders when their children and grandchildren ( all of them have been leading a self centered life so far) come visiting during COVID time. Instead of shutting the doors on them and being safe, they make kaapi and allow them to share bedrooms - wifi - kitchens. All u need is oximeter - oxy cylinder. no masks gloves etc.

Three - Junkies trapped without stuff would have gone bonkers -If u are deprived of cocaine then sing a Rahman song to wean away from the urge. Coke also brings the best lyrics out and one should have a person with pen and paper to jot it down. Poor Leela Samson - she had only an IPad I guess. Geeks would love it as LD helps them say Love to coke sniffing swinger girl.

Four : Story shuttles between two generation of horny men and woman who are aroused by the LD announcement. Bridging the generation gap in just one episode. Hats off !!!. Looking forward to seeing Capt Gopinath as Dalit crusader on Oct 31.

For those living in the underbelly of society there is an episode that says tamarind rice given free during LD is better than Kodambakkam's fake notes and all the religious channels that predicts miracles during LD. Miracles do happen to Kodambakkam guys in form of notes stashed in car tyres .

A positive note to all directors - producers that nothing is lost. There is always a miracle - some OTT is going to pick up a hustled up stuff made with friends- relatives- hangers on and shot in own bedroom or kitchen and still get paid for it.

Update - Archana -Don't belittle ex boss Suresh - Remember Comedy Time days on Sun TV warns viewers of Bigg Boss 4 Tamil

VJ Archana ,a wild card entry is getting on the nerves  of housemates for her I KNOW ALL attitude. Though the last week saw her getting a favorable response from housemates, there seems a building resentment against her and fear that she might have a cakewalk to the title. Kamal added his bit saying that she has seen the reaction of public on social media about the contestants and hence armed with that info . Shiva Kumarr , hubby of ex Bigg boss contestant Suja Varunee, tweeted that Archana a VJ by profession , calling baldy Suresh in terms used for people of equal age ,did not probably know that this man was the only one person in Sun Network who had direct access to Kalanithi Maran and was producer of hit shows - PEPSI UNGAL CHOICE that launched Uma and also seemed to have forgotten her Comedy Time days in Sun with Chitti Babu. 

 Going by the list of payments to contestants in Bigg Boss 4 Tamil the channel has drawn up a list of non performers who show no sign of getting into the game. Veteran actress Rekha  tops the list as she comes in the Rs 2 lakh per week category and she has been evicted. Followed by her is Jithan Ramesh who draws the same salary.  The producers feel that Rekha has to go while Jithan Ramesh can be given yet another chance. In the same salary comes Aari, Rio Raj, Arthangi Nisha and Ramya Pandian. All of them have been told to pick up as they barely scraped through.  Kamal pointed out to Arjejeeth that he was e saved from eviction even fore the exit episode as the viwers voted to save him before he got the card.

Running down the list of titles gifted by Archana, Kamal told Ramesh to not play the diplomat and the same to Nisha, all in top bracket. Ramya is the only one in this top bracket who  got audience votes.

The second category is the Rs 1- 1.5 lakh per week. Here the worst performer is folk singer Vel Murugan who has niether regaled with his hit songs and also picked up a fight with Suresh Chakravarthy ( same bracket income) over a petty issue. Suresh in this income group  tops the performer list and has Sanam Shetty, Shivani Narayanan, Samyuktha and Balaji. Of these, Sanam , Shivani and Balaji are doing their best to heat up proceedings. Samyuktha though a model is coming out as a introvert in the House.

The least paid is Anita, Gabrilla , Som Shekar  with Rs 1 lakh. Producers feel that Anita  is giving more than her money worth followed by Gabriella. while Som was pulled up Kamal saying that it is time he stopped playing the puppet and started performing on his own. If not ...

Archana's salary remains a well kept secret and that among all the housemates, it is she who has the most visibility in the public through her Zee Tamil shows and became a household name after her interview of Rajinikanth on TV. She comes into play only after one week when she will have to face the housemates nomination votes.

On the business outlook of show :

highest is Tamil TV industry trackers say that the Star Vijay  Bigg Boss 4 is in for big trouble as the  TRP ratings show that except for the launch, the weekly shows are only in the 6^th position. TV soaps are in the other top positions. The launch episode occupied the 3^rd slot in ranking and if this slot is not kept intact with the subsequent weekend shows in which Kamal Haasan appears, the channel is in for major trouble. If the third position slips then other serials would jump up . This could signal that the urban viewers are deserting the reality show. The IPL season and also the availability of the OTT platform are two major hurdles that the channel will have to overcome.

Update - Radhika says Chitthi 2 will run though she pointed out SunRisers keeping Muralitharan as team coach

 

Radhika says that her tweet about SunRisers IPL team retaining Muralidharan as coach would not affect her working with Sun TV. She said that Chitthi 2 was not going to exit the channel and it would continue to be telecast. She said the channel did not mix business with politics. Rumours erupted after the tweet of Radhika parting ways with Sun TV the owners of Sun Risers IPL. The poor TRP rating too was a cause of concern for the channel.

Radhika Sarathkumar has in a tweet asked why SunRisers IPL still retains Muthiah Muralitharan as its Chief Coach when the team is owned by a Tamilian ( Kalanithi Maran of Sun TV). Radhika is also a producer of TV serials in Sun TV and her has Sri Lankan origin. Vijay Sethupathi facing flax from political parties for playing Muthiah Muralitharan  the spin bowler ,is working out a exit plan from the film 800 . There is a penalty clause as well costs including returning the advance money if it is not honored. Dar Pictures the Indian arm is in talks with the overseas partner on this matter.As many from Kollywood are asking actor Vijay Sethupathi to withdraw from the film, the producers issued a statement to say that the film has no anti Eelam thoughts. Fans are enraged after seeing their idol in the motion poster sporting the jersey with the Sri Lankan flag . The actor on the sets of Laabam confirmed to a daily that the film as scheduled will be launched on Oct 31st. If the protests continue, the makers and overseas distributors of Thalapathi Vijay's  Master is worried as majority of the online  protests is from countries outside India. Sethupathi plays the baddie in Master. 

Producers statement -  “The film is a journey about a man who hails from the Tamil migrant community, going on to become the highest wicket taker of all time. The film does not make any political statement favouring any community. The film is intended to be an inspiration for the younger generation to achieve their dreams irrespective of the difficulties they come across in their journey. We as the Producers assure this film will not showcase any scenes that would belittle the struggles of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka or hurt their sentiments in any way. Art is beyond boundaries; it unites people all across. Artistes belong to the world. We wish to spread only the positivity, love and hope.”

Online protests erupted after the title and motion poster of the biopic of legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan’s film 800 was out. The hashtag #ShameonVijaySethupathi on Twitter is trending.

தமிழி

@southindiann

 

Tweet says The flag that kills thousands of Tamils, give death threats, treat the minorities as second class...what an audacity that

@VijaySethuOffl 

is proud to bear that blood stain flag on his chest. You are a sell out. #ShameOnVijaySethupathi

The motion poster is like a graphic novel,   shows  that 800 will be taking against the backdrop of the civil war that  ravaged Sri Lanka. for nearly three decades. the clip shows  Muralitharan recognize his love for cricket, train and become a world class spin bowler despite a raging war and hardships. The motion poster release of the film was  launched on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 Tamil with Muralitharan and Sethupathi on October 13 from 6 pm ahead of the IPL. match between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad. . Directed by MS Sripathy, 800 will see Vijay Sethupathi play the role of the Sri Lankan spin legend.

The stunning visual of the ‘motion poster’ is an image of Vijay Sethupathi  showcased at the end which bears an uncanny resemblance with Muttiah Muralitharan. It actually left many  initially confused if it was the cricketer or the actor.  The motion poster also highlights in its brief  duration that the biopic will not be just about  the cricketer’s career but also the religious, political and ‘chucking’ episode in the match which could be material for  controversy. Rana Daggubatti of Hyderabad’s Suresh Studios is co-producer.  Murali is a supporter of the Rajapaksa regime which annihilated the LTTE .

To add fuel to fire, Vijay Sethupathi has got  support from none other than Namal Rajapaksa, the son of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was the Sri Lankan President when  security forces had executed the genocide against Tamil people. On October 8, hours after Vijay Sethupathi made the announcement, Namal Rajapaksa took to Twitter, "Amidst the chaos, the great news of #VijaySethupathi playing the role of legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in the upcoming biopic ‘800’ is great news. It is only fair that actor of such great calibre play the role of our cricket legend. I wish #MakkalSelvan all the best for his upcoming role & look forward to watching the film." 

In defense of Muralitharan, it is pointed  out that one should wait for the film to be over and that he played for CSK in IPL also married to a Chennai Tamil girl. He also holds an OIC card as his earlier parentage was from TamilNadu. Tamil Guardian reports - Earlier this year, Muralitharan backed the leader of the National Freedom Front and prominent Sinhala Buddhist nationalist Wimal Weerawansa at Sri Lanka’s general elections, in a show of his continued support for Sinhala extremism.

Murali has also previously been critical of Tamil Nadu himself, stating “if there is a problem within your family, do your neighbours interfere?”. “Tamil Nadu politicians do not understand the problems of Sri Lankans,” he added. “They should allow our government to get on with governance.”In 2013, Tamils in the North-East criticised the cricketer, with the Councillor P Sritharan of the Chaavakachcheri Urban Council stating,

“Perhaps, Muralitharan was playing cricket overseas when the Tamil people in the North were suffering and scores of young men and women disappeared. He has hurt the feelings of the Tamil people, grieving the loss of their loved ones, by undermining their struggles.”

Hundreds of comments have been posted across social media platforms since the announcement was made this morning, calling on the actor to boycott the project. Though the actor is yet to respond, there will be growing pressure on Kollywood to consider the project.

 

 

Multiplex theaters across India will not screen Khaali Peeli as it came on OTT

 

 The National chains will not be screening Khaali Peeli in their cinemas. It is because the film is already released on OTT PPV (Pay Per View) format by Zee. This comes as a suprise as exhibitors were open to screening films that were released in OTT. Industry feels that this hardening of stance is after the producers decided that no new releases will pay the virtaul print fee to the service providers and this means that the theaters will have to bear the cost. .

The reason for not screening is if one of the film is screened it would set the trend of screening the film simultaneously on OTT and theater, which they don’t want to get it set. Hence any films that’s going to premiere on OTT first wouldn’t be having a theatrical release like upcoming films including Akshay Kumar’s Laxmmi Bomb, Abhishek Bachchan’s Bhuj, Alia Bhatt’s Sadak 2, etc.

Also, similar thought has been taken by most of Single Screen holders and Independent Cinema chains of not screening the OTT films and supporting the theatrical norms which is been set from a long time now. Hence, mostly Khaali Peeli would be shown at very few screens as per sources.

It is a directed by Maqbool Khan. It is produced by Ali Abbas Zafar with Zee Studios and Himanshu Mehra. The film also features Jaideep Ahlawat as the baddie.

Covid restrictions stall Kangana Raut's Thalaivi climax shoot

 

The climax of biopic of Jayalalithaa has been put off as it  cannot shoot with not less than 350 junior actors. The COVID protocol does not permit more than 100 people on the sets.  “The makers wished to film the sequence on a large scale with about 350 people. Since the guidelines suggested that only 33 per cent of the original crew strength can be present on a set, the director had held off the filming of this sequence until it was safe to shoot with a crowd. But now, with the biopic almost complete, the team is currently trying to figure out a way to shoot the climax.. We have barely 15 days of shoot left in the final schedule. We are evaluating how we will shoot the crowd sequence; we are hoping the situation will improve by November.” the source further added.

Directed by A. L. Vijay and produced by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Shailesh R Singh the story based on the life of J. Jayalalithaa., the film began shoot after six months. Apart from the crowd scenes, there is social distancing norms to be kept.

Kangana recently shared some stills from the sets of Thalaivi. She captioned it, “Good morning friends, these are some stills from yesterday’s early morning scene discussion with my absolutely talented and most affectionate director A.L Vijay ji, there are many amazing places in this world but the most soothing and comforting to me is a film set #Thalaivi”

Update Simultaneous on Hotstar - Star Vijay -Mookuthi Amman of Nayanthara- Webseries with Kajal Agarwal and Taamanaah

Sun and SunNxt to release  Sundar C - Prasanna film , remake of Maya bazar (kannada) Nayanthara Mookuthi Amman on

 Diwali  at Hot star and Star Vijay and to join with same pattern is Zee5 . Live Telecast , a webseries starring Kajal Aggarwal and directed by Venkat Prabhu, Karthik Subburaj produced fun show Triples with Jai - Vani Bhojan, November Story with Tamanaah and My Perfect Husband with Sathyaraj and Seetha.

 Meanwhile QUBE – The Market Leader among Digital Service Providers (DSP) has come to the rescue of the struggling theatrical business. QUBE has announced a film distribution package for producers that discounts Virtual Print Fee (VPF) for new releases by 50%. This will help the Producers and Distributors immensely. This Special Package will ease the financial burden of releasing new movies in a difficult period post lockdown. The offer will be available for a minimum billing of Seven Shows till December 31st, 2020 unless extended. This will be the first good news for the theatrical business post the Pandemic. The rest of the DSPs are also expected to follow in the next few days. It is known that the Central Government has allowed the reopening of the theaters with a limit of 50% occupancy from October 15th . 

Among the top three film distribution areas, Chennai and Chengalpet distributors backed the TFAPATN (Association of Active Tamil Film Producers (TFAPA)) move to not pay the Virtual Print Fee ( VPF) to any of the digital service provide. 

Producer TG Thyagarajan says, “In an industry like ours, where 90 per cent of films fail at the box office, producers of small and medium-budget movies suffer a lot due to the VPF amount. It’s true that distributors and exhibitors are also facing various challenges. We need a win-win situation. When we spoke about this at the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, we learnt producers of all south industries are opposing the VPF rates.”

Zee Studios being the first Bollywood Studio has mailed to all the Cinema Chains and Digital Service Providers about not paying the VPF amount for the screening of Khali Peeli in their Cinemas, they are yet to receive the reply on the same. Also, National Cinema has not been screening Khali Peeli for the same could be one of the reason of that. Apart from Zee Studios, Bengali Film Producers and Distributors who are set to release 10-12 Film on Durga Puja has also informed that they won’t be paying the VPF and even the Gujrati & Punjabi films producers and distributors are in support of eliminating the VPF Module.

Non National Cinema Chains (apart from PVR Cinemas, INOX Leisure Ltd, Carnival Cinemas, Cinépolis Cinemas, Movie Time Cinemas) and Single Screen are also in support of scrapping VPF module as this would save them from paying assured digital guarantee amount to distributor irrespective of the film’s fate if failed at box office and also hope they would be able to screen the small and mid-size films as the producer wouldn’t have a burden of the VPF cost while screening and making it wide release of the film. Backing the scrapping of VPF Module Non National Cinema Chains Holder has also demanded that they should also rethink of terms of Cinemas Release Plan restriction, that has bounded by National Cinema Chains as the other Cinema Chains feels left out for the screening of the small films like Kaamyaab, The Tashkent Files etc.

Vijay Sethupathi enters Bollywood with remake Of Maanagaram -Big B joins Prabhas- Deepika film ,Dhanush heroine Rajisha Vijayan in news

 

Vijay Sethupathy will be making his Hindi debut with the remake of Tamil film  Maanagaram directed by Santosh Sivan. The film has Vikrant Massey will essay Sundeep Kishan's role in indi. Veteran actor Sanjay Mishra will also be playing a significant character in the movie Sethupathy's role is  a pivotal one and it is already in the Tamil film and not an addition. Sethupathi will dub in his own voice. When IndiaToday.in contacted Santosh Sivan to share an update on the recent development, he said, "It's not final yet. We will make an announcement once things get confirmed." Meanwhile Yogi Babu has given his voice for Santosh Sivan's  Malayalam- Tamil film Jack and Jill. It stars Manju Warrier and Meanwhile Yogi Babu has Santosh Sivan is waiting for the release of the Malayalam- Tamil film Jack and Jill. The voice for the introduction scenes in the film  will be a crucial one. Prithiviraj has don it for Malayalam film.

A big announcement made today by the makers of Prabhas starer.that  Legendary actor  Big B has joined the Prabhas and Deepika Padukone for an upcoming project. The project is helmed by Mahanati fame director Nag Ashwin.The production house of the film Vyjayanthi Movies, today made a big announcement on social media. Previously Big B had worked in Chiranjeevi’s Telugu film. Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy

The film Love, starring Shine Tom Chacko and Rajisha Vijayan ( currently acting with Dhanush in Karnan), will be released in theatres on October 15 in the Gulf first. The makers claim that this is also the first Indian film to do so.The film, one of the first Malayalam films to be shot and completed during the lockdown, it was shot in a single apartment in a few weeks with a minimal crew. It is Khalid Rahman’s third film after Anuraga Karikkin Vellam and Unda. Ashiq Usman, whose last production was Anjaam Pathira, is backing it.

Why Bala's Varmaa was seen as bad launchpad of Dhruv Vikram ?

 

The answer to why Bala’s Varmaa version of Arjun Reddy did not find favour with producer and Vikram is evident  after watching the film released on OTT. Bala has removed the aura that went with the larger than life image of the hero, thereby defeating the primary reason that the remake rights were bought to launch Vikram’s son Dhruv. The hero character in Varmaa comes out as a guy who does not deserve any sympathy as all his doings and the sufferings he undergoes are all the fruits of his thoughtless actions. He is inconsiderate man who has nothing for his close friends who mean well and on whole he comes out as a character that is full of flaws and habits and feels no need to be compassionate towards him. This goes just opposite to the Arjun Reddy character where you feel that despite his shortcomings , if he had got love and compassion in his life, he could have led a good life. Yet another aspect underplayed in Varmaa is that the hero is considerate to women.

The opening introduction scene of hero who is told by a married woman to get lost as her hubby is at the door and he asking the woman to pray to his prick with folded hands to make him go away is something that is quite novel intro. Now producer is at fault as he should have asked some other director who can do a faithful remake or make a even larger than life character of the hero. The choice of Bala was wrong.

Bala ,if he did what Gireesya ,a member of Telugu director of the original had delivered, then many would write an epitaph saying that for money, an iconic director has buried his brains in  his balls. He has given a very neat romance and we see Dhruv being the chip of the old block. In fact the scene where Varmaa on first meeting with the girl he falls in love at first sight, tells her to go and get a cup of tea. A straight throwback to Sethu- when Vikram meets Abitha.

Megha Chowdhury is apt and delivers so also supporting actors especially  Easwari Rao do the adequate. M Sugumar’s cinematography and Raadhan music and BGM is a plus. One does not feel that the duration of the film was too short and had missed the gist of the original (it was 3 hours). If you keep aside Arjun Reddy  and see it as a film , it is worth watching

Will Bala- Dhruv Vikram Varmaa get mauled like Ranasingam ?

The film Ranasingam with Makkal Selvan Vijay Sethupathy was badly mauled by the virtual pirates as it came on a platform which worked on a pay per view model. Now  Chiyan Vikram’s son Dhruv’s  film Varmaa directed by Bala is slated for a release today on little known OTT platforms -  Simply South and Tentkotta  abroad and The Ally , Shreyas ET and Shemaroo me in India as a pay per view plan.. It is quite logical to infer that Zee5 which has a big base of premium subscribers could not convert a fraction of its Tamil film viewing subscribers to go to Zee Plex to pay Rs 200 for a one time viewing, Simply South would be a disaster. Varma  is the remake of a Telugu film that was directed by Bala and had Vikram’s son Dhruv in the lead. This dream launch pad turned sour as the producer E4 felt it was a bad remake and decided to keep it in the cold storage. Move was obviously backed by Vikram. The job was entrusted to another director and the approved avatar was Aditya Varma. The film sank. Now Bala watchers  would want to see how the film was tackled.

Zee Plex move has created a bad name for OTT in Tamil Nadu. The growing belief is that other OTT platforms will also take this route and all those who paid a yearly subscription will now have to pay Rs 200 for every new movie and that the money already paid has gone down the drain. The 6 hour validity for a single per movie subscription is another deterrent. Amazon and Netflix have announced new releases and originals on the same platform that the subscribers had paid for. This has come as a consolation. Except for a few cities in Tamil Nadu, no other place can ensure uninterrupted power. Even in many apartments, the generators are put in use manually after a power breakdown. Inverters has to be linked to modems and TV screens, The high speed broadband which is now limited to Chennai for a fast movie streaming  too is prone to cable breakages. Once the subscriber pays up the conditions come into play. People may not be willing to pay for a single film whose price equals the subscription cost of an OTT platform for a month, say experts. Piracy is another issue in India. For smaller films, the model will bring in more revenues.

The choice of Ranasingam for trying out the pay per model is also a wrong choice. Movies with a niche content and relatively new faces and those that have would not get theatres would stand to gain as the budget is low. For a producer to pay for a Star like Vijay Sethupathy (even if he took a fraction of his salary) and the resultant costs that go into a three hours edited film to choose the pay per view model is very high risk. In Indian market where pirates rule, this model is high risk.

The overseas market is however buoyant as films like Ranasingam in normal times would not come to theaters. The film is getting a nod from Malaysian authorities to go on air through ZeePlex. The theaters too are ready to also screen the film. The overseas market buyers feel that those seeking OTT platforms and ones coming to theaters are different. They would not face any erosion on this count. It means that the OTT and overseas markets have now become revenue for producers and only theaters will have to come on board.

 

 

 

Akshay Kumar Laxmi Bomb to release on OTT and theaters - Will Suriya's SP follow ?

 

Laxmi Bomb the Akshay Kumar- Kiara -Lawrence directed film is likely to have a simultaneous release in theaters and OTT. Nishabadam the Anushka film is to release in theaters as  Telangana exhibitors have told producers that they are willing to release films like V of Naani and even Nishabadam, both an OTT release. They are also willing to go for a simultaneous release of other films. Now the question is whether Tamil Nadu and other Southern States follow suit? This move would benefit theaters as it will bring back crowds in areas where OTT penetration is less. If Soorarai Pootru of Suriya will have a simultaneous release, it could be the biggest boost to theaters. “We are not sure if the Telugu producers will release their films immediately after the theaters open. We are fine to release the movies which already released on the OTT. We may even try to bring the audience to theaters with small films and old movies,” the Telangana exhibitors body said

Nishabdham’ couldn’t entertain the OTT audiences , as there was unanimous poor talk on the movie right from its first show on Amazon Prime. Not only the critics, but even audiences also expressed the same about the movie. Nevertheless, the producer of the movie, Vivek Kuchibatla was  planning to release the movie in January 2021 at limited theatres in India and also in a few countries like in the US, Japan , Australia, New Zealand and a few other countries. The producer thinks the failure of  ‘Nishabdham’ is because it is a  movie with appeal  to global audiences because of the presence of American actors and technicians. But, critics and audiences in India didn’t see the presence of American actors as an added advantage for the movie. The producers say, there weren’t many expectations on the movie prior to the OTT release. The trade thinks that the makers were lucky enough to choose the direct OTT release instead of waiting for a theatrical release. It would have been a washout,

Reliance , producers of Sooryavanshi, the Akshay film, has announced that it would not come for Diwali. This gives Laxmi Bomb the much needed time in the theaters and OTT to recover the money. It had already planned a simultaneous overseas release.  Hollywood studios are merging and Universal India operations will shut down and Warner Bros will be taking it over, In turn Universal will distribute Warner’s film in Australia and New Zealand. After Disney acquired Fox,, this is the second acquisition.