Everything That Made News In Entertainment From The South (8 – 14 May)

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.

Dear Friend is said to be a story of five friends and an incident that takes place among them. In the teaser, Tovino Thomas is listening to music as he takes a walk at night along with his friends. He later reveals that the song is his own composition. 

Dear Friend is directed by Vineeth Kumar and written by Sharfu, Suhas and Arjun Lal. The film stars Tovino Thomas, Basil Joseph, Darshana Rajendran, Arjun Lal, Arjun Radhakrishnan, and Sanchana Natarajan. It is produced by Sameer Thahir, Shyju Khalid and Ashiq Usman under the banner Happy Hours Entertainments & Ashiq Usman Productions. Dear Friend is slated to hit the screens on June 10.

Nenjuku Needhi is the Tamil remake of the 2019 Hindi film Article 15. Udhayanidhi Stalin plays the role of an IPS officer who investigates a crime, essayed by Ayushmann Khurrana in the original. The film delves into the layers of caste politics and oppression in society. 

Nenjuku Needhi is directed by Kanaa fame Arunraja Kamaraj. It stars Udhayanidhi Stalin, Aari, Tanya Ravichandran, Shivani Rajashekar, Yamini Chander, Suresh Chakravarthi and Ilavarasan. Ruben is the editor, Dhibu Ninan Thomas is the music composer and Dinesh Krishnan B is the cinematographer. Produced by Boney Kapoor, Zee Studios & BayView Projects in association with Romeo Pictures present the film. It is scheduled to release on May 20.

F2: Fun and Frustration comically explores the marriage dreams and frustrations of two couples. F3 is also a romantic comedy, and this time the central conflict of the couples revolves around the concept of money and a robbery plan to become rich.

The Fun and Frustration franchise is directed by Anil Ravipudi. The film stars Venkatesh, Varun Tej, Tamannaah and Mehreen Pirzada in lead roles. It is produced by Shirish and presented by Dil Raju under the banner of Sri Venkateswara Creations. Devi Sri Prasad is the music composer and Tammiraju is the editor. 

Thuramukham, based on KM Chidambaram’s popular play with the same title, is said to be about hardships of labourers. The film stars Nivin Pauly, Indrajith Sukumaran, Joju George, Arjun Ashokan, Sudev Nair, Poornima Indrajith and Nimisha Sajayan. Thuramukham is directed by Rajeev Ravi, who handles the cinematography as well. The film is produced by Sukumar Thekkepat under the banner Thekkepat Films. It is scheduled to release in theatres on June 3.

‘Oh Sita Hey Rama’ is a soulful romantic melody from the film Sita Ramam. Helmed by Hanu Raghavapudi, Dulquer Salman plays Rama, Mrunal Thakur plays Sita and Rashmika Mandanna plays Afreen in this film. 

It is produced by Swapna Cinema and presented by Vyjayanthi Movies. Vishal Chandrasekhar is the music composer, Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is the editor and PS Vinod and Shreyaas Krishna are the cinematographers. 

Major is based on Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who saved several hostages in the 2008 Mumbai Taj terror attacks before being martyred. Adivi Sesh, who wrote the story and screenplay for the film, plays the role of Major Sandeep. The trailer gives us goosebumps worthy glimpses tracing Major Sandeep’s teenage and love life, his days as an aspiring soldier, and his courageous act in the 26/11 attacks. 

Major is directed by Sashi Kiran Tikka. Apart from Adivi Sesh, it stars Saiee Manjrekar, Sobhita Dhulipala, Prakash Raj, Revathi and Murali Sharma. Vamsi Patchipulusu is the cinematographer, and Vinay Kumar Sirigineedi &  Kodati Pavan Kalyan are the editors. It is produced by Sony Pictures Films India, Mahesh Babu’s GMB Entertainment, and A+S Movies. The music is composed by Sri Charan Pakala.

Directed by N Lingusamy, The Warriorr is a cop film starring Ram Pothineni, Aadhi Pinisetty, Krithi Shetty, Akshara Gowda and Nadhiya Moidu. Ram Pothineni plays a fearless cop named DSP Satya who is up against the antagonist played by Aadhi. 

The film is produced by Srinivasaa Chitturi under the banner Srinivasa Silver Screen. Devi Sri Prasad composes the music, Sujith Vassudev handles the cinematography and Navin Nooli is the editor. It is scheduled to release on July 14. 

On Sai Pallavi’s birthday, she announced her upcoming film Gargi by releasing a glimpse of the BTS and dubbing scenes. It looks like she plays a middle class woman who is caught in a web of confusion, trying to find the proof to clear the mess. Releasing in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, Sai Pallavi has dubbed for all three languages. 

The film is written and directed by Gautham Ramachandran and the music is composed by Govind Vasantha. It is produced by Ravichandran Ramachandran, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Thomas George and Gautham Ramachandran.

Anoop Menon directs, produces and acts in Padma, which looks like a comical take on the life of a psychiatrist. The teaser gives us glimpses of scenes where he is seen listening to the worries of his different patients and the worker at home making fun of it. 

The film also stars Surabhi Lakshmi, Mala Parvathy and Shankar Ramakrishnan. While Ninoy Varghese scores the music, Mahadevan Thampi is the DOP and Zian Sreekanth is the editor. The film is produced by Anoop Menon under the banner Anoopmenon storyz. 

Kamal Haasan’s Vikram is directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. It also stars Vijay Sethupathi and Fahadh Faasil in important roles. The makers recently released a lyrical song from the film titled ‘Pathala Pathala’, sung by Kamal Haasan and Anirudh Ravichander. The song has a peppy tune and local lyrics. 

Interestingly, Kamal Haasan has written the lyrics for the song and it is composed by Anirudh Ravichander. The film is produced by Kamal Haasan & R.Mahendran under the banner Raaj Kamal films International. Girish Gangadharan is the cinematographer and Philomin Raj is the editor. The film is slated to release on June 3. 

Suri is desperate to marry and starts liking profiles on Shaadi.com for fun. Soon he meets Shraddha and they decide to get married. But she calls it off a week before the wedding. How Suri, Shraddha and their families make this wedding happen forms the rest of the plot. 

The film stars Achyuth Kumar, Krishna Hebbale, Bharath GB, Siri Ravikumar, Pushpa Belawadi and Rekha Kudligi. It is directed by Rahul PK and co-written by Pooja Sudhir. Karm Chawla and Sandeep Valluri handle the cinematography. Midhun Mukundan is the music director and GS Gupta & Rakshit Shetty produce the film under the banner Paramvah Studios. 

Mahesh Vettiyaar is the director of Vellari Pattanam. The film looks like a comedy entertainer with Manju Warrier and Soubin Shahir playing siblings. The teaser shows a scene where they engage in a funny banter when Soubin returns home after a hectic day. 

The film is presented by Fullon Studios and is written by Sarathkrishna and Mahesh Vettiyaar. Sachin Shankar Mannath scores the music and Appu N.Bhattathiri handles the editing. 

Dhanush unveiled the first look of Andrea Jeremiah’s Anel Meley Pani Thuli. The title of the film is named after the song from Suriya’s Vaaranam Aayiram. Director Vetri Maaran produces the film under the banner Grassroot Film Company.

It is directed by debutant R Kaiser Anand. Santhosh Narayanan is the music composer and Velraj is the cinematographer. The film will skip theatrical release and directly stream on SonyLIV soon. 

Starting the promotions for Vijay Deverakonda’s Liger, the makers have released the first song ‘Liger Hunt’. The theme was released on Vijay Deverakonda’s birthday. The lyrical video also gives glimpses of him training and preparing for a fight. 

Vikram Montrose has composed the song and Bhaskarabhatla Ravikumar has penned the lyrics. It is sung by Hemachandra. Directed by Puri Jagannadh, the film stars Vijay Deverakonda, Ananya Panday and Mike Tyson. It is produced by Dharma Productions and Puri Connects. 

Gaalipata 2 is a sequel to the 2008 release Gaalipata. Directed by Yogaraj Bhat, the film stars Ganesh, Diganth, Pawan Kumar, Anant Nag and Nishvika Naidu. Arjun Janya is the music composer and Santosh Raj Pathaje is the cinematographer. The film releases on August 12. 

Priyan Ottathilanu translates to “Priyan on the run”. True to the film’s title, the protagonist Priyadarshan (Sharafudheen) is always on the run and is available everywhere, ready to run for anyone. Busy in completing multiple works he volunteers to do, he often messes up his personal responsibilities. There are many scenes in the trailer that cracks you up, hinting at a fun and entertaining film. 

Priyan Ottathilanu is directed by Antony Sony and produced by Santosh Thrivikraman. Aparna Das and Nyla Usha play important roles in the film. The story is penned by Abhayakumar K & Anil Kurian. PM Unnikrishnan is the DOP, Joel Kavi is the editor and Lijin Bambino is the music composer.