Everything That Made News In Entertainment From The South (13th – 19th December)

Here’s a recap of the significant stories in entertainment across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films, and sometimes the odd television series as well.

Sila Nerangalil Sila Manidharagal has an ensemble cast including Ashok Selvan, Reyaa, Nasser, Manikandan K, Abi Hassan, Anju Kurian, Praveen Raja, Riythvika, K.S. Ravikumar, Bhanupriya and Ilavarasu. The story is about four people whose lives get affected by one incident. The film is directed by Vishal Venkat with dialogues written by Manikandan K. Director of Photography is Meyyendiran and Prasanna G.K. is the editor. Music is composed by Radhan and Dhanush has lent his voice to one of the songs from the album.

Nani’s upcoming film, Shyam Singha Roy, is the story of a software engineer-turned-filmmaker and his tryst with law and human consciousness. In another time, Nani appears as a revolutionary writer Shyam Singha Roy. The film is directed by Rahul Sankrityan with original story written by Satyadev Janga and will release on December 24.

Keshu Ee Veedinte Nadhan, starring Dileep, is an entertaining drama surrounding Keshu, a father who has supposedly won the lottery. Urvasi plays his ‘cool’ wife who swears that Mohanlal wanted to cast her in his film but she didn’t like being called a film actor. The film is written by Sajeev Pazhoor, shot by Anil Nair and edited by Sajan. Dilieep and Dr Zachariah Thomas have produced the film which will stream on Disney+ Hotstar from December 31. 

Kunjeldho is RJ-actor-writer, Mathukutty’s debut as a director with creative direction by Vineeth Sreenivasan. The film is a story about a couple who fights against all odds for their love and companionship. Asif Ali is paired alongside Gopika Udayan, who makes her debut as well. It is shot by Swaroop Philip, edited by Ranjan Abraham and Shaan Rahman has composed the music. Produced by Suvin K Varkey and Prasobh Krishna under the banner of Little Big Films, it will release in theatres on December 24.

Theerpugal Virkkapadum, directed by Dheeran, stars Sathyaraj as a doting father and a doctor who takes on the system in this revenge drama. Smruthi Venkat plays the role of his daughter. The film is shot by ‘Garudavega’ Anji and edited by Noufal Abdullah. Prasad S.N. has been roped in as the music composer. It is produced by C R Saleem under the banner of Altari Movies. It’ll release theatrically on December 24.

Makers of Night Drive, starring Roshan Mathew, Anna Ben and Indrajith Sukumaran, released the film’s trailer this week. The thriller is directed by Vysakh whose last film was Mammootty-starrer Madhura Raja. The trailer shows a young couple who take night drives to spend time together, meet with an accident and the incidents that follow. The film is shot by Shaji Kumar, edited by Sunil S Pillai, music by Ranjin Raj and produced by Priya Venu, Neeta Pinto. 

Parampara is streaming platform Hotstar’s first Telugu original web series, directed by Krishna Vijay L and Viswanath Arigela. The series is a revenge drama set within a family as an underdog stands up to his ruthless uncle. It stars Sarath Kumar, Jagapathi Babu and Naveen Chandra in the lead roles, shot by SV Vishweshwar and edited by Tammiraju. Producers of Bahubali Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni have also bankrolled this project under the banner of Arka Mediaworks.

A fortune teller predicts to a millionaire that if his grandson returns, he might even become the prime minister of the country. The teaser then takes a turn, ending with a bhootham (genie) rising from a lamp. The film stars Vaibhav, Parvati, Munishkanth, Anandraj, Robo Shankar, Dindigul I. Leoni, Pandiyaraj, Murali Sharma and Kabir Singh. It is directed by Pari K Vijay, shot by Vinoth Rathinasamy and edited by San Lokesh with music composed by Hiphop Tamizha.

The teaser of Trigger begins by saying “Our father is our hero.” The film’s hero emerges from the shadows and goes on to say that he will never let his father lose. The film is directed by Sam Anton, starring Atharvaa, Tanya Ravichandran and Arun Pandian. Music is composed by Ghibran, shot by Krishnan Vasant, edited by Ruben and produced by Prateek Chakravorty and Shruti Nallappa.

Virataparvam, directed by Venu Udugula, is a love story of a woman from a village (Sai Pallavi) and a revolutionary, Ravanna (Rana Daggubati). On his birthday, the makers released a glimpse into his character as he narrates a powerful dialogue about revolting against oppression and fighting for equality. The film also stars Priyamani, Nivetha Pethuraj, Nandita Das and Naveen Chandra. It is shot by Dani Salo and Divakar Mani,  edited by Sreekar Prasad with music by Suresh Bobbili. 

The Telugu film Bheemla Nayak, a remake of the Malayalam film Ayyapanum Koshiyum, stars Pawan Kalyan and Rana Daggubati in lead roles. In a video that was released, the latter’s character, Daniel Shekar is introduced as the antagonist who doesn’t fear the police. Directed by Saagar K Chandra, dialogues and screenplay is written by Trivikram. The film also stars Nithya Menen and Samyuktha. Ravi K Chandran has been roped in as the cinematographer and Navin Nooli is the editor, while Thaman S is the music composer. 

The team of Valimai released an emotional video giving fans the long-awaited #ValimaiUpdate. 

Valimai, directed by H. Vinoth, starring Ajith Kumar, Huma S Qureshi, Karthikeya, Bani, Sumithra, Achyunth Kumar, Yogi Babu, Raj Ayyappa, Pugazh and others promises to be an action-packed film. The film is shot by Nirav Shah, edited by Vijay Velukutty and produced by Zee Studios and Boney Kapoor will be out on Pongal 2022. 

Actor Suriya announced his pan-India intentions as his next film Etharkkum Thunindhavan (ET) releasing in five languages – Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi on February 4, 2022. A peppy single titled ‘Vaada Thambi’ was also released this week, sung by G.V. Prakash and Anirudh Ravichander. The lyrics are penned by Vignesh Shivan. The film is directed by Pandiraj and music is composed by D. Imman. 

Director TK Rajeev’s Kolaambi, is set for a digital release after being screened at various film festivals on a brand new OTT platform, MTalkie. The film will be the platform’s first exhibition. Kolaambi has an ensemble cast including Renji Panicker, Nithya Menen, Rohini Molleti, Dileesh Pothan, Aristo Suresh, G Suresh Kumar, Late P Balachandran, Baiju, Vijay Yesudas, Manju Pillai and Sidharth Menon. Produced by Roopesh Omana, shot by Ravi Varman, edited by Ajay Kuliyoor, the film will be released on December 24.

Director Jithu K Jayan’s debut film Kallan D’Souza, starring Soubin Shahir, Dileesh Pothan, Surabhi Lakshmi and Hareesh Kanaran, will be released theatrically on January 27, 2022. It is produced by Ramshi Ahamed in association with Sandra Thomand and Thomas Joseph Pattathanam. 

Liger, starring Vijay Devarkonda, Ananya Pandey and the boxing legend Mike Tyson, is directed by Puri Jagganath. The film is a sports drama and will be released in five languages – Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi on August 25, 2022. Vishnu Sarma is the cinematographer, Junaid Siddiqui is the editor and the director himself and Charmee Kaur are producing the film in association with Karan Johar under the banner of Puri Connects. 

After much controversy over the medium of release of Mohanlal-starrer Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham, directed by Priyadarshan, the film had released theatrically on December 2. The film is streaming on Amazon Prime Video from December 17, just two weeks after its initial release, after which it was withdrawn from theatres. The film also stars Suniel Shetty, Manju Warrier, Arjun Sarja, Pranav Mohanlal, Kalyani Priyadarshan and Siddique and is produced by Antony Perumbavoor. 

Mythri Movie Makers, producers of Allu Arjun-starrer Pushpa, have announced a collaboration with Clap Entertainment for their next film titled Happy Birthday. The poster announces this as a “Pan Telugu Film” starring Lavanya Tripathi. Director Ritesh Rana is back with the same team as his previous film Mathu Vadalara. The film’s music is composed by Kaala Bhairava.

Director Sathyan Anthikad returns with a family drama film, starring Jayaram and Meera Jasmine. He announced the title as Makal and released a picture of the happy family from the film. The director’s last film was Njan Prakashan, featuring Fahadh Faasil and it won many accolades. Sathyan Anthikad won the Best Director award at South India International Movie Awards for the same. 

Aha studio and Applause Entertainment announced a collaboration to produce four bi-lingual Pan-Indian series. Their first offering is an adaptation of the book ‘Half Lion’ based on the life of Shri PV Narsimha Rao, former Prime Minister of India. The web series is based on a book of the same name written by Vinay Sitapati. The series will be directed by Prakash Jha. Half Lion will be released in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil in 2023.

Sony LIV announced that Maanaadu, starring Silambarasan TR and SJ Suryah, will be streaming on their platform from December 24. The Venkat Prabhu directorial is a political thriller set within a time-loop. It also stars Kalyani Priyadarshan S. A. Chandrasekhar, Y Gee Mahendran, Vagai Chandrashekhar, Premgi Amaren and Karunakaran. Music is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja. Richard M Nathan is the cinematographer, Praveen K.L. is the editor and Suresh Kamatchi produced the film under the banner of V House Productions.

The 2018 film, Humble Politiciann Nograj is a satirical comedy directed by Saad Khan, starring Danish Sait, Vijay Chendoor, Sumukhi Suresh, Roger Narayan and Sruthi Hariharan. The film will soon be streaming on Voot. It was produced under the banners of Pushkar Films, Lost & Found Films and Paramvah Studios. 

Hridayam, directed by Vineeth Srinivasan and starring Pranav Mohanlal, Kalyani Priyadarshan and Darshana Rajendran is a coming-of-age love story. A song that was released this week titled ‘Onakka Munthiri’ has a happy vibe, about the meet-cutes of falling in love. Penned by the director himself, vocals are by Divya Vineeth. It is composed, arranged and programmed by Hesham Abdul Wahab. The film will be out in January 2022.

He performs hook steps, choreographed by Sridhar. The dancer and actor plays a genie in the film with U.K. Senthil Kumar as the cinematographer. San Lokesh has been roped in as the editor and D.Imman is the music director. The film also features Ramya Nambessan. It is produced by Ramesh P Pillai under the banner of Abhishek Films. 

Debutant director PS Vinothraj’s film Koozhangal (Pebbles) has been nominated under the Best International Film category at the 37th edition of Independent Spirit Awards, 2022. The film has won accolades at several film festivals and is also selected as India’s official entry to the 2022 Academy Awards. It is produced and presented by actor Nayanthara and director Vignesh Shivan. 

The veteran playback singer P Jayachandran was conferred with the JC Daniel Award, the highest award given in Malayalam cinema, presented by the Kerala government. He has an illustrious career spanning over five decades with over 10,000 songs across languages – Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. The award will be presented to him by the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan.