All eyes on Suhasini and team who pick 2020 Best of Kerala Films

 Suhasini and team has a tough task in choosing the best of 2020 Kerala film awards. Unlike before, most of the films competing for the honour are seen by non- Malayalee audience too through OTT platforms. The results till now a regional news is to become a national one after the announcement,

Going by the entries the contest will be on following lines. Actors category : Biju Menon ( Ayyappannum Koshiyum), Fahad Fazil ( Trance,Malik C U Soon), Jaysurya ( Vellam , Sunny), Indran (Velukakka Oppu ka), Suraj Venjaramoodu ( The Great Indian Kitchen) and Tovino ( Kms and Kms, Forensic). Actresses: Shobana (Varane avashyamundu) Anna Ben ( Kapella), Nimisha Vijayan ( Great Indian Kitchen), Parvathy ( Varthamanam), Samyuktha Menon ( Wolf, Vellam).

Directors : Sachy ( Ayyapanum Koshiyum), Mahesh Narayanan ( Malik, C U Soon), Syamaprasad ( Kasimnte Kadal) Dr Biju ( Orangemarangalude veedu) and Harikumar ( Jawalamukhi). Debutant directors :  Mohamed Mustapha ( Kapella), Anup Satyan ( Varane Avashyumundu) and Shahnavas ( Sufiyum Sujathayum).

Music directors : Veterans M G Radhakrishnan (Sufiyum… ) and Jakes Bejoy ( Ayyapanum ----) who gave chartbusters will compete with newbies Khalid Rahman ( Love), Riji ( Kho Kho) and Siddharth ( Varthamanam).

Interesting part is that 6 directors have submitted two films under their name. 80 entries which includes 4 Children’s film. For the first time two preliminary juries  will  shortlist - one headed by Director Bhadran ( Spadikam) and Kannada director P Seshadhri. The shortlisted films will be seen by the final jury comprising of Mohan Sithara ( music director), cinematographer CK Muraleedharan,  sound designer Harikumar Madhavan Nair and critic and script writer N Sasidharan. Critic Dr PK Rajasekharan is appointed as the chairman of the jury that selects best book and article on film. Film critics Dr Muraleedharan Tharayil, Dr Bindhu Menon and C Ajoy ( member secretary of Kerala Chalchitra Academy) are part of this jury.

Screenings for the preliminary juries have begun.

Andal ; Film on identity crisis of Sri Lankan Tamils in India enters Dhaka Intl Film Fest

Apart from Jaysurya's Sunny, te Malayalam film ‘Aandal’, which deals with the problems faced by Sri Lankan Tamils ​​in India, has been selected for the Dhaka International Film Festival. The film has been selected for the World Cinema category at the 20th Dhaka Film Festival. The film is directed by Shareef Easa and stars Sri Lankan Tamils ​​alongside Irshad Ali, Abhija, Dhanya Ananya and Sadiq.

The Tamils ​​who were taken to Sri Lanka by the British for plantation work in the 1800s were handed over three generations later under the 1964 Shastri-Sirimavo Pact. They were rehabilitated en masse in Nelliampathi, Gavi, Kulathupuzha and Rameshwaram. They survived by fighting jungle and hostile habitats. Beyond inadequate considerations, the identity crisis continued to haunt them. Andal tells of the discomforts of human beings whose minds were lost in the soil in which they were born and raised. The film explores how the Sri Lankan Tamil life is being affected by the repercussions of refugee life around the world, ranging from historical internal conflicts between the two countries to the assassination of the LTTE and Rajiv Gandhi, war and terrorism.

Andal is the second film of the cast of ‘Kanthan The Lover of Color’ which won the State Government Award for Best Film in 2018. The film is being produced by Irshad Ali and Anwar Abdullah under the banner of Heartcraft Entertainment. Written by Pramod Koveri. Cinematography by Priyan, Executive Producer Vinu Kavanat, Nishant AV, Music by Ranjin Raj, Editing by Prasobh, Sound Design by M Shaiju. The Dhaka Film Festival will be held in January 2022.

Rajinikanth v/s Salman Khan v/s Akshay Kumar v/s Varun Tej clash at DIWALI BOX OFFICE :and MANY MORE

 Trade circles feel that Sun Pictures will not move release date of `Annaatthe'  from Diwali to Pongal as the competition is more severe in the latter festival. As on record, Annaatthe is scheduled to release on Diwali in November. The two major markets that Rajnikanth film has to collect is Tamil Nadu- Andhra /TS. After that comes the North Indian areas and Kerala . The buying price of Rajinikanth film is highest in the mentioned first two States.

Bollywood trade circles confirm that Akshay Kumar's Sooryavanshi is the only confirmed release for Diwali and in AP/ TS, it is  Ghani the Varun Tej film. Salman Khan's Antim is still undecided about the release as it is opting for a OTT and theater release simultaneously. If this pattern follows, Multiplex theaters in North India will  allot screens to Annaatthe and Soouryavanshi as they do not allow films without a four week window from OTT release date. There was a talk that Akshay film is a remake of Tamil hit Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru and that instead of nomadic bandits, the line has been changed to terrorists  holed up in Pakistan controlled Kashmir. Director Rohit Shetty has denied this news.

Coming to AP/ TS, Varun Tej comes from the Chiru family ( son of Chiru's brother Nagendra) and the film is persented by Chiru's brother in law All Arjun, theaters will devote more screens. However, if Annaatthe comes, it will get equally good number of screens as Rajinikanth mass pull in these two States is intact. Shifting to Kerala, next week ( October first week ) will see theaters open. Mohanlal's Marrikkar will release by October end and leave November free for Rajinikanth film.

The Pongal scenario is that it will be clash of Ajith's Valimai v/s Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu Sarkari Vaari Paata  and pan-India actor Prabhas Radhe Shyam. This means that Tamil Nadu theaters will have to share screens between Ajith and Rajinikanth film and it is not a good idea for both distributors. Annaatthe will get practically very little screens in AP/ TS as Mahesh Babu and Prabhas as big names.

If there is no big Bollywood film on January, then a couple of days prior, on December 22, The fourth installment of The Matrix franchise is also releasing internationally. Apart from John Wick star Keanu Reeves and returning actress Carrie Anne-Moss, The Matrix 4 also features Priyanka Chopra Jonas in a role. Kabir Khan’s ’83 (December 24), the Shahid Kapoor sports film Jersey (December 31) and Rohit Shetty’s Ranveer Singh starrer Cirkus (December 31) lined up for release. If any of these films turn  out to be a hit, theaters in mid January would be blocked.

Blood bath at Tamil Nadu Box office ; Kodiyil Oruvan enters Week 3

 

Films released on September 24th in Tamil Nadu theatres have been mercilessly shunned by the moviegoers. Theater owners say that even a worst film at the box office collects close to a Rs 1 lakh gross in a day at one releasing center. This time the collections were so low as Rs 12,000 ( twelve thousand rupees) gross collection in Chennai. Good News is that Kodiyil Oruvan which did well in two weeks enters third week with a sizable number of screens still screening it.

Out of the many disasters this week, Pei Mama with Yogi Babu as selling point did the best with Rs 11 lakhs gross for first  three days. Other disasters that  collected in thousands were Cindrella, Veerapuram,, chinanjiru kiliye , Devadas Brothers and Choo Mandra kali . English film Shaang Chi continued its decent run.

Lack of new releases and better than the ones that came afresh last Friday, Friendship and Laabam continued as it was still getting anything around Rs 2- 3 Lakhs collections per day. By October 1, Rudra Thandavam is set to bring cheer to theaters especially in the single screens across the State.

Rudhra Thandavam : Thala Ajith Machan film most awaited on October 1

Rudhra Thandavam directed by Mohan G is the most awaited film for these reasons. One it comes from the makers of Draupadi, highest grossing Tamil film of 2020. Two-  as it is raised the hackles of the those who term it anti- Christian and those who say an expose on the scam going on in name of Protection of Civil Rights Act is need of the hour.  Three-  the media bashing after the release of the trailor. All round opinion was that Mohan G was like he did in Draupadi ( previous release) using once again  caste plank to sell  his film.   Four - To top it the film makers roped in BJP H Raja to view the film in a preview along with Puthiya Thamizhagam Krishnaswamy and other like minded political outfit leaders.. After the show, H Raja added more mileage by saying that the film was an expose on the  prevailing caste system and  a section of the media and powers. that were supporting it. Film trade believes that if not for H Raja, Vijay's Mersal would have bombed. Six- Machan Richard acts as hero and Thala fans are maha excited. ( Machan means brother-in-law) . Seventh- Gautham Vasudev Menon known as GVM is the fav of trending tenny bopper romantics and he plays a Periyarist  ( going by trailor) and so we have comments like How come you are part of a casteist film ? etc etc.  Eight- Section in Twitter says film will not release oin Tamil Nadu and H Raja takes up the challenge.

Box office wise, in 2020, the most profitable film of Kollywood was Draupadi. It beat all other biggies in terms of investment and returns. Close to Rs 70 lakhs investment, the film did a business of Rs 8-10 crores. The distributor 7G Siva did not profit from it as he sold it off for a profit of Rs 2-3 crores. It was the theaters  and other distributors who gained. Now Siva has come back with a bigger budget and Moahn G ,whose previous film's content got swallowed in the criticism that it was technically a very bad film has got on board Farook the ace ad-film cinematographer.

Mohan G says that the film is about how a person who converts from Hinduism to Christianity  continues to use his  caste benefits got by birth  for Govt jobs and admissions to educational institutions and practices Christianity. He said it was depriving the Hindus of weaker sections and hoodwinking Christianity. He said that once the double standards come out in the open, Christians will be the major backers of the film. Misuse of PCR act was another issue raised in the film. Mohan says that in Draupadi he exposed the lopholes in land registrations and the Govt installed CCTV cameras in Sub Registar offices. After this film, there will be a look into the PCR cases, he said.

Director- Cinematographer Rajiv Menon daughter to debut as heroine

 

Ace Director- cinematographer Rajiv Menon's daughter Sarswathi is to make her deubt as heroine, says reports online. No further details are available. Saraswathi had given her voice for a song  in Sarvam Thala Mayam    directed by her father. Unconfirmed reports say that she is to act in a film directed by Arun  Matheswaran  and opposite Vasanth Ravi as hero.

Arun had directed the film Rocky (2020) which had Bharathiraaja, Raveen Ravi and Vasanth in the cast. He is currently directing the film Saani Kaayidham starring Selvaragavan. and Keerthi Suresh. Vasanth Ravi is an MBBS and did a brief stint in the healthcare industry before shifting to acting. He studied in Rajiv Menon school of acting. Ravi's debut film Taramani directed by Ram got him critical acclaim and also the Star Vijay and Filmfare 's  best debut actor award.

Sarswathi is currently working as director in her father's Mindscreen company. The news comes on the heels of Aditi, daughter of director Shankar making her debut as actress.

OTT and Hindi dubbing rights saves flop Tamil films

 Laabam and  Thalaivi, two Tamil films, rejected by the  theater going audience , was a profit earner for the producer- thanks to OTT -  Hindi dubbing and  Satellite rights. The main reason for this is presence of  Vijay Sethupathi in Laabam and Kangana Ranaut in Thalaivi who have become the favourite of the OTT  platforms. In case of Vijay Sethupathi, the reason is that his presence as villainy - character actor across multiple languages  and opposite top Stars has given him a pan Indian image and hence the OTT platforms believe that the film of his will get viewers in  non Tamil languages.

The  business details of Laabam is - Rs 10 crores invested by Seven Seas banner and Rs 10 cr remuneration of Vijay Sethupathi. Big payment made-  Rs 2 cr to director Jananathan - Rs 1 cr to Sruthi Haasan and Rs 50 lakhs to Music director D .. On the table profits -  Total Rs 18.50 cr . Breakup : Rs 8 cr from Netflix,  Hindi dubbing rights - Rs 2 cr,  Sun TV - Rs 6 cr and overseas Rs 50 lakhs.  Theater revenue :  Rs 3.5 cr got as MG from distributors for theater release ( though need not be given but  will be refunded since it is a disaster. Close to Rs 1 cr on publicity and Qube charges for distribution by producers in many areas were also added to loss. Out of Rs 6.50 cr on table profit, nearly 5 crores had to be  forgone due to theater loss.  Net Result is that Vijay Sethupathi is left with Rs 5 cr . In short if he was just an actor he would made Rs 10 cr .

If Netflix and Hindi dubbing rights  money was not so huge, Laabam would  have left producer with just Rs 3.5 cr . It was Vijay Sethupathi's pan South presence that saved the day.

Thalaivi was produced  at Rs 75 cr ( including Rs 10 cr incurred for interest due to shooting being stopped due to Covid 19) The film was bought by Zee for Rs 85 crores. The film was certified in Tamil - Telugu versions. Producers made a profit before release.  Zee sold the film on a  profit sharing basis to Trident Arts. Two weeks theater run in Tamil Nadu is sort of no loss - no gain for distributor- Zee.  If  producers had not got the Zee deal, and followed the four week window norm by theaters  plus OTT , they would have got not more more than Rs 45 cr ore from OTT.

Presence of Kangana Ranaut ( said to have been paid  close to Rs 30 crores for dual versions) had got Zee intrested in the Jayalalithaa biopic. Apart from the sale to Netflix and Amazon OTT which gave Rs 42 crore , Zee would market the film's Telegu- Tamil versions in all the four  South languages TV channels it owns. It also will screen in the Zee's multiple Hindi channels.

Sun TV regains No 1 - Star Maa slips to 3rd - Star Plus No 1 in Hindi belt

Sun TV recouped the No 1 position in Week 37 and send Star Maa ( Telugu) that staged the coup last week) to third spot. Star Plus stayed at No 2 in the BARC All India Ranking of paid TV channels ( Entertainment genre). The ranking shows that Star Vijay which was at  5th  spot slipped to 6th and lost ground to Star Utsav. Colors stayed at Fourth spot.

The Hindi speaking market continued to be ruled by Star Plus.. Two other Star channels- Star Pravah and Star Utsav are among the top 5. Sony SAB and Colors are the two channels outside Star network that are in top 5.

South the scenario is different. With multiple languages spoken, SUN lead the Tamil segment with a huge difference and made it No  with 2714.62 (000s) AM. Star Maa in Telugu was second, Star Vijay in third spot and Zee Kannada climbed from 5th spot to 4th and displaced 4th spot held by Zee Telugu.

Zee Tamil has launched reality show Survivor two weeks back. In Tamil serials, Sun leads in 4 of the 5 top slots. Star Vijay's Bharathi Kannamma is the only one in top 5.

Sunny ( Malayalam) - Locke inspired ? Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum ( Tamil) ; Fails to connect

 In 2013 a movie Locke got  Tom Hardy the best actor award from LA Film critics Association. Replant the same plot in Covid times and change the settings - it is Sunny. This film will no doubt get  Jayasurya  a couple of awards .  Even to the viewer who has not seen Locke , it is a disappointment as things move on there is nothing that holds you connected to the main character.  

Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum  lays the foundation for a very good story framework to unwind and starts out fine. It then begins to falter as it wants to squeeze in every issue going on to make it appealing to all sections of the viewers.  The director at times takes the Shankar style approach and shifts back to his  and then feels that the viewers could have missed the points and so he resorts to verbal explanation.

Sunny directed by Ranjit Sankar is set in a Covid 19 lockdown situation. By linking to the main character as a Gulf returnee, it connects to the Kerala audience instantly. What follows is a series of phone conversations with main character and the outside world. The film is intended to give hope to an audience that is undergoing lockdown and quarantine. Sadly , there is hardly any lockdown or quarantine in place today. To add to this the goings on just gives you a feel of a spectator and not some one who feels for Sunny. Technically brilliant as it requires quite a skill to keep you watching a guy in a hotel room for almost 90 minutes.

Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum  has given two good actors -  Mithun Manickam and Ramya Pandian. to Tamil screen. Arisil Moorthy does have the potential but probably to not take chances puts in all the spices into the dish to make his first offering, a delight to all. Needless to say M Sukumar is soul of the film and Krishh two songs in the first half are good but others ----

" Vijay not a super actor' comment to haunt Siddique as he plays Villain in STR- Menon film , A R Murgadoss - Doon School owner join hands

 

Thalapathy Vijay fans are peeved that Gautham Menon chose actor Siddique to play  the antagonist in STR  film Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu’.. A R Murgadoss , director- producer will join hands with OM Prakash Bhatt ( owner of Doon School that is famous for the it's ex students- Rajiv Gandhi  and friends) film that will be directed by Pon Kumaran who has directed Charulatha ( Priyamani) and who has written the story and dialogues  for Rajinikanth's Lingaa. 

Siddique in reply to a question about superstardom and  a good actor told a Malayalam TV channel that - "The Malayalam film industry is lucky enough that we have two big Ms- Mammootty and Mohanlal, both of whom are superstars as well as impeccable actors. Whereas, other industries like Tamil have a different scenario. People like Vijay may be a superstar, but he is not a super actor. It is his stardom that spurred him on in the industry. However, I believe Kamal Haasan is a good actor and superstar.". Malayalam actor Harish Peradi who acted with Vijay in Mersal replied - Vijay is a 'super actor, a superstar who is perfect for this generation. He's a super good human being.'

Pon Kumaran was assistant to K Bhagyaraj. He hit big time in Kannada was  Vishnuvardhana (2011). Kumaran success films were those that were remake of Malayalam films Mayamohini, His Highness Abdullah, and Ustad Hotel as well as the Telugu film Venkatadiri Express. He remade South Korean film Handphone and a Thai film in Kannada.

A R Murgadoss next outing as producer is 1947 - a Pan Indian film jointly produced by OM Prakash Bhatt. Bhatt, the owner of Doon Group of Institutions, has produced  Mann Fakira and Milan Talkies in 2019. Bhatt is currently producing a film The Great Man with director Tamilvannan and has Amitabh - SJ Suryah  and Ramya Krishnan in it. Tamilvannan had directed Kalvanin Kadhali, Nandhini and Machakaran ( Jeevan- Kamna Jethmalani)in Tamil.

Siddique said that after watching Malaylam film  Sufiyum Sujathayum’, Menon spoke to him about joining hands. He plays a Malayali character named Kunjukrishnan in the film. Siddique is know for hos portrayal of husband of the woman IPS officer in Drishyam and for films Odiyan- Hey Jude and Uyare. His last Tamil outing was Baskar Oru Rascal with Aravind Swami - Amala Paul. He played father to the bad guy. He has acted in  Shaji Kailas Tamil film  ( Ajith's Jana).

Kodiyil Oruvan success signals Tamil Nadu theater revival post Covid 2

 Tamil Nadu box office response after opening post Covid 2 shows that movie goers have started coming back. The response to Kodiyil Oruvan starring Vijay Antony  has surprised trade circles as it has a Net collection of Rs 7.87 cr for 7 days box office collections. It had a gross of Rs 8.15 cr. Vijay Antony who had created a market in Andhra/ TS after the success of Pichaikaran had  to lose out to new Telugu fims releasing, It collected a measly Rs 98 Lakhs.  The entire budget of the film was only Rs 2 crore.  Film's director Anandhakrishnan of Metro movie fame. Producer is Chendur Film Factory . Vijay Antony also has Pichaikaaran 2, Thamizharasan and Agni Siragugal in the pipeline. Aathimika is the heroine.

Vijay Sethupathi starrer Laabam termed a flop too had a decent collection of Rs 5.40 cr for a two week run. The film cost around Rs 60 cr ( including actor’s remuneration) . Vijay is the producer of the film. It had Shruthi Haasan in the female lead.  Even Thalaivi of Kangana Ranaut collected a net of Rs 5 crores from Tamil Nadu. The film’s publicity was underplayed and talk that it was coming out in a month’ time on Amazon Prime, kept many viewers away. In Chennai multiplexes, it had a good response. 

However not all films got a good reception. The film Friendship that went to town with cricketeer Harbhajan Singh making his debut and Bigg Boss fame Losliya playing a pivotal female lead bombed miserably. It total net TN collections  were around Rs25 Lakhs !. 

 

 

 

 

  

Update :Rajamouli v/s Boney Kapoor- Ajith's Valimai v/s Prabhas Radhe Shyam

 

 Boney Kapoor, producer of Ajith starrer Valimai by pitting his film against Prabhas- Pooja Hegde ‘s Radhe Shyam for Pongal 2022 January is said to be getting back at Rajamouli and the Telugu filmdom. He was peeved at the way Baahubali director Rajamouli announced  RRR release date on the same day that his film Maidaan with Ajay Devgn was to be released. No Tollywood trade leader or any biggie bothered to mediate on behalf of Boney, said a source.

Trade circles say that Boney by releasing Valimai for Pongal had ensured that Radhe Shyam would not get enough screens in Tamil Nadu. He also got Rahul of Romeo Pictures and distributor- exhibitor biggie Madurai Anbu of Gopuram films to be distributor of the film. Anbu has a stranglehold on the Kollywood trade.

Trade circles point out that Valimai’s business in Andhra/ TS was not as huge as Prabhas film would do in Tamil Nadu. By cutting Radhe Shyam to size, Boney was getting back at Tollywood. He was peeved that no body bothered to bring about a truce between him and RRR team.

However, battle royale will take place in North Indian markets. T series, producers of Radhe Shyam would checkmate Valimai. Boney ,says a source, has agreed to give Zee 5 , an earlier than four week window to telecast Hindi dubbed version and compensate the loss that he would incur in North Indian markets. A model that Thalaivi followed with Netflix.

There was speculation that Valimai will clash with Annaatthe of Rajini for Diwali. Later it was said that Thalapathy Vijay’s Beast would clash with Valimai for Pongal. Promo of Radhe Shyam tells us that like the love story of star crossed lovers- Romeo- Juliet, Heer Ranjha, the film too is about such a alove story. The love story starts on a taain ride in Italy. Melodious beats scored by composer Justin Prabhakaran, who last year delivered a blockbuster music album, Dear Comrade.

Annabelle Sethupathi review; There is a sequel and this really scares you

 Annabelle Sethupathi is truly a horror film as it announces that there will be a sequel to what you have just seen. This is the second time I got scared.  ( Previous was Kodiyil Oruvan. As I had a few guys scattered in the movie hall , it did not scare as much).This time, I was alone in my bedroom and the thought of a sequel made me scared. I woke up sometime towards morning as I got some visuals  about what director Deepak Sundarajan could do in the sequel.  .

Now if you are keen on plot - A vintage Palace owned by a white bearded guy ( Suresh Menon)  wants the place to be rid of ghosts haunting it. A friendly cop sends a group of thieves inside the building as he feels that the ghosts inside will run. Ghosts inside are waiting for somebody to free them from the building.  As it is a spoof, all the characters take a dig at the story- acting- dialogues. So there is nothing the YouTubers can tell about `Negatives'.

So Positives are - Tapsee Pannu - looks cute and pretty

Yogi Babu_ tongue in cheek dialogue delivery.

Vijay Sethupathi - short role but impressive.

Jagapathi Babu as a ghost - Very natural.

Cinematography makes use of the chances available.

Veteran actor Shanmughasundram son Balaji Sundaram debut film wins 27 International awards - to hit screens

 

Veteran actor Late Shanmughasundaram 's ( Kanaka's father in Karahatakarran) son Balaji Sundaram debut film Chinnanjiru Kliye" which has won 24 international awards and created a record! is to release on September 24th. The film deals with the father- daughter  bonding.. he film is produced and acted by Senthilnathan on behalf of Senpa Creations. The film is directed by Sabrinathan Muthupandian, who has directed various short films and won various awards. Balaji Sundaram, the son of the late actor Shanmugasundar, has made his acting debut with this film. The film has cinematography by Pandian, music by Mastan Kader, lyrics by Padmanabhan and editing by Geeta Kumaresh. Focusing on father-daughter affection, the film is elegantly and realistically created to illustrate the paradox of English medicine and the greatness of natural medicine, as well as to illustrate the glory of our natural medicine to the world and to highlight the commercial corporate business that pervades the medical field. The film has been highly praised by critics and fans who have seen it at world film festivals

Thala Ajith discuss World tour with Superbiker Maral Yazarloo

 

Ajith Kumar met with biker Maral Yazarloo in New Delhi to exchange experiences.jith met up with her to know of her experiences and seek her suggestions to enable plan his motorcycle tour around the world in the coming future

Norn and studied in Iran,,A fashion designer from Iran, Dr Maral moved to India 15 years ago and is one of the first three women to have travelled all seven continents on a motorcycle. Her one-and-a-half year journey didn't just include 64 countries: it also involved a wedding and a pregnancy. Halfway through her ride, in Machu Picchu, she married her now-husband Alex. The day after her wedding, she was off again, only to return home 11 months later. "I married a man who knew I was following my dreams and never asked me not to. He was my backbone and emotional support throughout."

( Source Conde Nas Traveller).

Ajith was seen at Taj Mahal in Agra. His film Valimai shoot is over and release date has to be decided.

Star Maa pushes Sun TV out of India Top 2 - Star Vijay Bigg Boss 5 on October 3rd

Star Vijay top rated Bigg Boss 5 is scheduled for October 5th start . In another surprise, Sun TV and Star Plus which was battling for No 1 position has been pipped by Star Maa the Telugu channel.  It has reached the second position and pushed Sun TV to third spot in the All Indian ranking released by BARC Mumbai: Star Maa, the Telugu GEC from Star Network has toppled Tamil GEC Sun TV to emerge as the top channel in the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India list for week 36 (4-10 September). The channel recorded weekly AMAs of 2838.83 as against 2494.98 AMAs in week 35 when it was at the third spot. Hindi GEC Star Plus found itself at the second position with 2817.67... 

The reason for Star Maa to cross Sun TV is said to be the start of the Bigg Boss  Season 4 . It restarted after the break due to Covid on September 4..  With host Nagarjuna  and after  Kalyani’s elimination on September 19, the housemates who are still competing for the Bigg Boss Telugu 4 trophy are Monal, Abijeet, Lasya, Sujatha, Ariyana, Syed, Alekhya, Devi, Mehaboob, Amma, Noel, Divi, Akhil and Gangavva. Kumar Sai and Jabardasth Mukku Avinash, meanwhile, are the wild card contestants. NTR’s Evaru Meelo Koteeswarulu the Quiz show is expected to bring Sun Gemini back to top as NTR's  hosting of Bigg Boss In Telugu ( first season) was a big hit. Sun bought the rights from the producers and shifted the show EMK from Star Maa. Results are yet to be seen

Read more at: https://www.mirchi9.com/movienews/ntrs-emk-geminis-biggest-opportunity-in-trp-ratings-game/

In Tamil Nadu, October 3 will see the start of Bigg Boss 5 with Kamal Haasan as host. On the other hand Zee Tamil's Survivor has caught the audience interest. Star Vijay claims that so far two promos of the show has garnered 20 + million views, highest so far compared to previous seasons. The Third promo was released on Sept 20th.

Though Sun TV slipped in the national ranking, it continues it No 1 position in the South. Second and third spots are Star Maa and Star Vijay. Fourth and fifth are Zee Telugu and Kannada.  The Tamil channel of Sun is alone holding ground and in other three States it has lost ground. IN Malayalam, Asianet continues the No 1 slot and all others - Flowers and Mazhavil Manorama in second and third being at a very low TRP rating.

In the case of Tamil serials, Sun TV's Roja and Star Vijay's Bharathi Kannamma are sharing the top spot. Other four spots are with Sun TV>

Thalapathy Vijay wants Court to stop his parents from cashing in on his name

 

Actor Vijay's rift with Director- Producer- Father SAC reached a zenith with the former asking Madras High Court to restrain his parents ( including his mother Shoba) from using his name and hold meetings. This move comes after reports came that Vijay Makkal Manram ( fans body) would field candidates in the upcoming local body polls in 9 Districts. The Manram was formed by SAC with his wife Shoba as Treasurer. The Manram run by 11 persons including the actor's cousin Padmanabhan had decided to enter the political fray by fielding independent candidates.

SAC had formed Vijay Makkal Iyakkam ( Movement) and given it for registration as a political party to the Election Commission. Vijay through his lawyer had informed the media that he was not associated with the movement and if anybody used his name it would invite legal action. However there was reports that Shoba had affixed her signature but without knowing the facts.

Padmanabhan was asked to vacate from a flat owned by the actor. Office bearers of the Iyakkam alleged that false cases were foisted on them by the police to silence them. In the past two weeks, SAC was active in  public meetings connected with film events and his talk about his son made news. In a function held two days ago he admitted that he and Vijay were on good terms.

SAC also started his YouTube channel in which he starts from the days he slept on the pavements of Chennai with the dream to be a director. He also recently spoke about his son being named Vijay after seeing that all earlier films of Salim Javed with Amitabh had Vijay as the character name to the hero. A senior journalists claimed that it was Nagi Reddy the Vijaya Vahunini studio banner who named the child as the actor's mother's father was then a studio manager. SAC denied this version.

SAC directed film ( 71st) - Naan Kadavul Illai had an audio release a few days back. Thalapathy Vijay as called by his fans has been steering clear of politics. His certain dialogues in films were interpreted as against AMMA and BJP. His film too faced a release problem created by then AIADMK regime. SAC was a DMK loyalist and close to Late Karunanidhi. He later fell apart and then aligned with Jayalaithaa. Vijay however did not publicly support this move. BJP's H Raja made it look that Vijay who is a Christian ( Joseph Vijay) was speaking against Hindus.

Prabhudeva says NO to Salman - firm on Quit Bollywood

 

Prabhudeva is firm that it is goodbye to Bollywood,  Sources say that he told Salman Khan that he was not willing to direct the Hindi remake of Tamil film `Veeram'. He has told his associates that he would be hereafter working as an actor in South films , He said that  he felt a creative block as a director and the last release Radhe with Salman had affected him as it was badly mauled by the media and  a total rejection  by Salman fans in even his strong areas like GCC countries.

 AS we reorted ,Prabhudeva had quit Bollywood after Radhe's failure but Saman called him back and told him to direct Veeram remake and then do Dabaang 4 . Salman felt that it was no fault of the director and was more of a bad release timing and market confusion. Prabhudeva has signed three films in Tamil as an actor.

It was Vijay starrer Pokirri that the choreographer did in Taml and was a super hit. It got remade in Hindi with Salman as Wanted. A bumper hit, he next directed Akshay Kumar in Rowdy Rathore , almost six years later and it was a blockbuster hit. ‘Ramaiya Vastavaiya’ in 2013 ( average hit) and in same year he directed Shahid Kapoor starrer ‘R…Rajkumar’ which also did well at box office. There was no looking back.

In 2014, his first flop was Ajay Devgn film Action Jackson. One year later he gave a big flop Singh is Bling with Akshay Kumar. Prabhudeva had till then remade his Telugu films and opted for a Korean subject for  Singh is Bling. Action Jackson and Dabaang 3 were two Hindi films that were not remakes but again it bombed. He opted for a Korean subject to do Radhe and it too bombed.  After Singh is Bling, Prabhudeva was missing for 3 years from Bollywood and took up acting in Tamil films. It was 2019 he surfaced with Salman film  Daabaang 3 and then  with Radhe.

Saaman who has Tiger 3 and Antim ( due for release next month) shares a great comfort zone with Prabhudeva and hence might just compel him to do Veeram remake, hopes the associates. Bollywood Industry is not in any state of shock on hearing about Prabhudeva's decision as he is ticked off as a spent force.