Malayalam Movie News

Annual Movie Award for Sreenivasan Veteran actor, director and scriptwriter Sreenivasan will be presented the Annual Movie Award for the best script writer for his Katha Parayumbol (2007), directed by M. Mohanan. He was selected for the award through a public poll conducted in India and Arabian countries. The awards will be given away on 4th December, 2008. Kadha Parayumbol, indisputably one of the best compositions of Sreenivasan, is about a rare friendship, between a village barber and the reigning superstar of Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan appears in the lead as Balan, the village barber, while Mammootty plays superstar Ashok Raj. Recently, Kadha Parayumbol was simultaneously remade in Tamil as Kuselan and in Telugu as Kathanayakudu with Tamil superstar Rajinikanth in the lead role. Ace director Priyadarshan is now busy with the Hindi version titled Billoo Barber with Irrfan Khan and Shahrukh Khan. Check out Celebrity and Movie Photo Galleries.

Mohanlal as Alexander Varma Alexander the Great, directed by Murali Nagavalli with Malayalam superstar Mohanlal in yet another histrionic like Devasuram (1993) and Bharatham (1991), will start shooting at locations of Dubai and Mumbai from February, 2009. Mohanlal has allotted only 40 days call sheets to complete his portions in this film. According to Murali Nagavalli, who made his debut as an independent director with Mohanlal starrer Wanted in 2004, Alexander the Great is not a historical film, but a comical racy entertainer in which Mohanlal will play Alexander Varma, son of a Malayalee father and an Anglo Indian mother. The movie evolves around the strong relationship between Alexander and his brother. Interestingly, Mohanlal will not have a heroine in this film. Siddique, Jagathy Sreekumar and Innocent will appear in key roles in this film, to be produced by V.B.K. Menon under the banner of Anugraha Cine arts. Scripted by debutante C. Balu, Alexander the Great will feature songs penned by Gireesh Puthencherry and set to tune by Ilayaraja. Other details are awaited. Check out Mohanlal's Photo Gallery.

200 films in IFFK The 13th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), to be held at Thiruvananthapuram from December 12 to 19 in association with the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy (KSCA), will feature nearly 200 films, including 50 from the category of world cinema. The festival aims at presenting a selection of the best of World Cinema and a competition section especially devoted to films from Asian, African and Latin American countries. Renowned African director Idrissa Kudirikov will be the Jury Chairman of the festival, while Latin American Film maestro Fernando Berry will be the Chief Guest. In the category of Malayalam film, 7 films (Ranjth's Thirakkatha, M. Mohanan's Kadha Parayumbol, Madhupal's Thalappavu, Rupesh Paul's Laptop, T.V. Chandran's Vilapangalkkappuram, Anjali Menon's Manjadikkuru and Jayaraj's Gulmohar) will be screened during the festival. 14 Malayalam films, including Akasagopuram and Adayalangal, have also been included in the competition category. Meanwhile, KSCA has already introduced online booking for balcony seats at venue theatres of IFFK to avoid rush at theatres just before the screening time during the festival. Delegates will be able to access the Internet from the venue theatres, where internet kiosks will be set up exclusively for the delegates who can book the seats a day or two days in advance. More than 7,000 delegates attended the festival last year, and the number is expected to increase this year. Online delegate reservation for IFFK has already begun. The last date for registration is November 30th. Contemporary World Cinema, New Malayalam Cinema, Retrospectives of Major filmmakers, Homage and Tributes, Contemporary Indian Cinema, Short films and Documentaries are the categories of the festival. The Golden Crow Pheasant Award (Suvarna Chakoram), the Silver Crow Pheasant Award (Rajata Chakoram), Best Debut Film Award (Rajata Chakoram) and Audience Prize (Rajata Chakoram) are the major awards to be presented.

Court directive on MACTA logo Harikumar, Chairman of the Federation of Malayalam Cine Technicians' Association (MACTA) has stated in a press release that the Ernakulam district court had restricted other organizations from using MACTA's name and logo, after the court found some individuals misusing the name and logo of the association. Earlier, MACTA had filed a complaint with the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate alleging that Film Employees' Federation of Kerala (FEFKA), a breakaway faction of technicians in the Malayalam film industry, used the name of the association to collect money from its members. Later, the court had instructed Tripunithura Hill Palace Police to probe on the case against FEFKA on the charge of cheating. However, FEFKA, which was formed after a dispute in director Vinayan-led MACTA, had denied all allegations by the MACTA federation. Check out Celebrity and Movie Photo Galleries.

Music awards presented Noted Malayalam music director Poovachal Khader has been presented the first P. Bhaskaran Master Award by the Kerala Transport Minister Mathew T. Thomas during the 6th anniversary celebrations of the All Kerala Mappila Sangeetha Academy on Thursday in Kozhikode. The award carries a plaque and citation. Music directors Joy Vincent and Suresh Sivapuram shared the first Devarajan Master award while singer Jyotsna was given the M.S. Baburaj award. The Mahakavi Moyinkutty award went to noted Mappilappattu singer Kannur Salim (Kannur) and Feroz Babu (Malappuram), while the Monisha award, instituted in memory of late actress Monisha, was presented to Heera Nambudiri. Vellayil Aboobacker, who contributed a lot to Mappilappattu, was honoured on the occasion. Check out Celebrity and Movie Photo Galleries.

Suresh Gopi teams up with Harikumar The team of Paranju Theeratha Vishengal is coming together again for their next venture. Suresh Gopi and Lakshmi Gopalaswami played the lead roles and the director was Harikumar in Paranju Theeratha Vishengal which was a complete washout in the box office; the trio is back, hoping to strike gold this time around. Their forthcoming film will be shot in and around Kochi; the others in the cast include T.G. Ravi, Jagadheesh and Indrans. Shyam Dharman is the music director and M.J. Radhakrishnan is the man behind the camera. Harikumar's previous films Sukrutham and Udyanapalakan, both featuring Mammootty, were critically-acclaimed hits. Check out Suresh Gopi's Photo Gallery.

Char Sou Beez Govindan Kutty, the popular television presenter, turns his dreams into reality by writing the screenplay of Char Sou Beez. He became popular as an anchor by presenting campus based programmes. His talk shows featuring the cast and crew of newly-released movies are a huge hit among TV audiences. Char Sou Beez will have Kalabhavan Mani in the lead role. Mani, although without any hits for quite some time, does not see any fall in the number of films offered to him and continues to sign movies. Mani will have two heroines, Navya Nair and Dhanya. Vinod Nair, under the banner of Cinema Paradiso, produces the movie with debutant Ramesh Babu as director. Another highlightis that script writer-director Ranji Panikkar is penning the songs for the film set to tune by Jassie Gift. The other cast mambers include Jagathy, Salimkumar, Cochin Haneefa, Suraj Venjaaramoodu, Jaffer Idukky and Kochu Preman. Shooting will begin in December. Check out Photo Galleries of Malayalam Movies and Artists.

Siddharth to wed Anju Siddharth, son of renowed Malayalam director late Bharathan and actress K.P.A.C. Lalitha, debuted as an actor with director Kamal's blockbuster Nammal (Malayalam) in 2000. After a short career in acting, this young hero stepped in his father's stream, working behind the camera. He is currently assistant director to Priyadarshan. Now, the news is that Siddharth will soon marry actor Jagathy Sreekumar's niece Anju, a dentist. More details are awaited. Galatta.com wishes all the best to this upcoming filmmaker. Check out Celebrity and Movie Photo Galleries.

Shobhana is back National Award winning actress Shobana is nowadays more busy with her Chennai-based dance school Kalarpana which was launched in July. She has invested nearly Rs. 2.5 crores into this cultural centre for classical dance. This exponent of Bharatanatyam was last seen on the Malayalam big screen in director Joshy's Mampazhakkalam (2004). After a few years' gap from Malayalam films, Shobhana is now back with Naale, a film by debutante director Manu. A major highlight of the Naale is 'Janapriya Nayakan' Dileep who teams up with Shobhana for the first time. The film, which also features script and dialogues by the director himself, will be produced by Narayanan Nagalasserry under the banner of Nagalasserry Films. Naale will have M.J. Radhakrishnan cranking the camera; lyrics penned by Mullanezhi will be set to tune by Rajesh Mohan. Other cast members include Sai Kumar, Manoj K. Jayan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Devan, T.G. Ravi, Shafna, Priya Raman, Sukumari, Sangeetha Mohan and Ambika Mohan. The movie will start rolling in a few months. More details are awaited. Meanwhile, Shobana will appear in a cameo role in director Pramod Pappan's big budget film Musafir, starring Rahman and Mamta Mohandas in the lead. Scheduled to complete shooting within November, Musafir is slated for Christmas release. Check out Celebrity and Movie Photo Galleries.

Mammootty's Pokkiri Raja After the super hit of Rajamanickam (2005), in which superstar Mammootty plays a comic hero named Bellary Raja (a local thug and rich buffalo dealer) for the first time in his career, the mega star is getting ready to enact yet another 'Raja' character named Pokkiri Raja in a film with the same name. Produced by Tomichchan Mulagupaadam under the banner of Mulagupaadam Films, Pokkiri Raja will be directed by Vaishak, a television anchor and associate of directors Johnny Antony and Joshy. The film is scripted by the Udayakrishna-Sibi K. Thomas duo. Jassie Gift will score the music. More details are awaited. Meanwhile, Mammootty's much-anticipated Vande Mataram, which was planned for release this Christmas, has been re-scheduled to Pongal 2009. The film is simultaneously being produced in Tamil as Aruvadai and Arjun and Sneha are also in the cast. Interestingly, Love in Bangkok and Pazhassi Raja, Mammootty's other big releases in 2009, will be released in the same Pongal period. Check out Mammootty's Photo Gallery.

Film festival on secularism, spirituality A three-day international film festival, organized by the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO), an ideological wing for the students in Jamaat-e-Islami, will be held at the Kalpaka Auditorium, Kozhikode from November 21. A package of films and documentaries that centre on secularism, family, relationships and spiritual quest will be screened. Half Moon, an award-winning Iranian film by Kurdish filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi, Le Grand Voyage by Ismail Farouk, 400 Blows by Francois Truffaut, Iraq in Fragments by James Longley, Amu by Shonali Basu will also be screened in the festival, another highlight of which is a contest on campus films. The treatment of different subjects in these films will be discussed in sessions in which prominent film makers are expected participate. The festival is open to the public. Check out Celebrity and Movie Photo Galleries.

Ajantha in December Ajantha, director Rajppa Ravisangar's much-anticipated multi-lingual magnum opus which was unfortunately in the cans for a couple of years, is finally ready to see the light of day in December 2008. Shot simultaneously in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, the film is scripted and produced by the director himself with a whopping budget of more than Rs. 5 crores under the banner of Alora Movie Club. Ajantha is a music-based love story revolving around an upcoming playback singer, Anand, who sings in music festivals and at private parties. His dream is to become an established playback singer as well as a music director. He falls in love with Ajantha, a blind playback singer. An eye specialist reveals that Ajantha can see if she undergoes an expensive surgery. The movie develops over how Anand earns money for his fiancée's operation. The film stars different South Indian actors in each language version. Ramana and debutant Vandana Gupta feature in Tamil; Saikiran and Vandana in Telugu; Venkatesh and Honey Rose in Kannada; Vinu Mohan and Honey Rose in Malayalam. There are totally 36 songs in the film in four languages and maestro Ilayaraja has scored the music for lyrics penned by S. Rameshan Nair. Ilavarash handles the camera. Editing is by V. Jaishankar. The crew claims that the film will look like an English film and be remembered by the next three generations. Also in cast are Manobala, Madan Bob, Mahadevan, Balu Anand, Bob, Balaji, Crane Manohar, Varalakshmi, Mukundan, Parthasarathy, debutante Swathi, Madhavi, Padmini, Waheeda and Chithiram Seenu. Check out Ajantha Photo Gallery.