Everything That Made News In Entertainment From The South (October 22 - 28)
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.
Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam launch their next film (Tamil)
Actor Kamal Haasan and director Mani Ratnam are all set to join hands again after over three decades. The two had last made a film together in 1987, with the gangster drama Nayagan. The legendary film was India’s official entry to the Oscars that year and earned Haasan a National Award. The duo will now be joining again with the film KH234.
The film was launched earlier this week and the ceremony was attended by Mani Ratnam, Kamal Haasan, and AR Rahman, who joins as the music director. The film is backed by Ratnam, Haasan, R Mahendran, and Siva Ananth under the RKFI and Madras Talkies banners, along with Udhayanidhi Stalin Red Giant Movies. Mani Ratnam’s frequent collaborators Ravi K Chandran is the cinematographer while Sreekar Prasad handles the editing. The new entrants to the team are action directors Anbariv, who worked with Haasan on Vikram.
Raj B Shetty’s Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye gets a release date (Kannada)
Actor-director Raj B Shetty is set to return to the director’s chair with the romance Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye. The makers have now announced that the film will be released on November 24. The film stars Siri Ravikumar in the leading role with Raj Shetty, Balaji Manohar, and Gopalkrishna Deshpande in supporting roles.
The film is written and directed by Raj B Shetty and is backed by actress Ramya under the Applebox Studios banner. The film will be distributed by KRG Studios. Praveen Shriyan and Midhun Mukundan return to collaborate with Shetty as the cinematographer and music director respectively.
Vikram’s Thangalaan gets a release date (Tamil)
Chiyaan Vikram will be next seen in the period film Thangalaan. The film is directed by Pa Ranjith, who collaborates with the actor for the first time. The film has been in production for more than a year, and the makers announced that the film will be released on January 26, 2024. The film is set in pre-independent India and is based on an incident that occurred in the KGF mines. The makers also announced that the first teaser of the film will be released on November 1.
Thangalaan is directed by Pa Ranjith, from a script written by him and Tamil Prabha. The film is backed by Studio Green and Neelam Productions. The film also stars Malavika Mohanan, Daniel Caltagirone, Parvathi Thiruvothu, and Pasupathy. GV Prakash Kumar provides the music for the film while Kishor Kumar and Selva RK handle the cinematography and editing respectively.
Manvitha Kamath joins the team of Capture (Kannada)
Actress Manvitha Kamath, who is known for her performances in the films Kendasampige and Tagaru has joined the cast of the horror film Capture. The film is directed by Lohith H and stars Priyanka Upendra in the lead role. Kamath reportedly plays the role of her daughter in the horror film.
Capture is said to be a film that is presented in the CCTV found footage format and will be the third collaboration between Lohith and Priyanka Upendra. The duo have collaborated before on the films Mummy - Save Me and Devaki. The film is produced by Ravi Raj under Shri Durgaparameshwari Productions and is aiming for a November release.
Dr. Shivarajkumar’s Ghost to get a spinoff (Kannada)
Dr. Shivarajkumar’s heist film Ghost has been running successfully after its release during Dasara. The film's director Srini has announced that he will be developing a spin-off film on Shivarajkumar’s character Dalavayi. The film was already a part of Srini’s Birbal films, which also made an appearance in Ghost. Srini mentioned that questions that were left at the end of Ghost would be answered in the Dalavayi spin-off film. The spin-off is set to be developed after Srini’s Birbal 2.
Suriya joins hands with Sudha Kongara again for his next (Tamil)
Actor Suriya, who is currently filming for the fantasy film Kanguva, recently announced his next film with director Sudha Kongara. The actor and director had last collaborated on the biopic film Soorarai Potru. Tentatively titled Suriya43, the film was announced earlier this week and also stars Dulquer Salman, Nazariya Fahadh, and Vijay Varma. The announcement came with a shot video that revealed the cast and crew of the film along with half of the title. The revealed half reads Purananooru.
The film is directed by Sudha Kongara and is backed by Jyotika, Suriya, and Rajsekar Karpoorasundarapandian under the 2D Entertainments banner. The film has music by GV Prakash Kumar, making it his 100th film.
Srinidhi Shetty joins the cast of Kichcha47 (Kannada)
Srinidhi Shetty is all set to join the cast of Kichcha Sudeep’s next film with director Cheran. The multilingual project will be produced by Sathya Jyothi Pictures and is still in the early stages of development. Sudeep is currently shooting for the film Max, which is directed by Vijay Karthikeya. Srinidhi Shetty will be playing the female lead in Kichcha47 which will be her third Kannada film. She was last seen in Vikram’s Cobra and KGF: Chapter 2.
First single from Ram Charan’s Game Changer gets a release date (Telugu)
Ram Charan is all set to collaborate with director Shankar Shanmugam on the film Game Changer. While the film is being simultaneously shot along with Shankar’s other film Indian 2, the makers have announced that the former will have its first single release on Diwali. Titled ‘Jaragandi’, the dance number is composed by Thaman S.
Game Changer is a political thriller which is directed by Shankar from a script by Karthik Subbaraj. The film also stars Kiara Advani, Anjali, Sunil, Jayaram, Samuthirakani, and Nasser. It is backed by Dil Raju under the Sri Venkateswara Creations banner, with Tirru serving as the cinematographer.
Vineeth Srinivisan’s next directorial begins shoot (Malayalam)
Vineeth Srinivasan returns to the director’s chair after the romantic hit Hridayam with the film Varshangalkku Shesham. The film began production earlier this week and reunites the director with producer Visakh Subramaniam.
The film stars Nivin Pauly and Pranav Mohanlal, along with an ensemble cast of Dhyan Sreenivasan, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Neeta Pillai, Aju Varghese, Basil Joseph, Neeraj Madhav, Nikhil Nair, Arjun Lal and Shaan Rahman. The film has music by debutante Amrith Ramnath, who is the son of singer Bombay Jayashri.
Chiranjeevi’s Mega156 starts filming (Telugu)
The makers of Chiranjeevi’s next film with director Vassishta Mallidi recently announced that the the team has started production. The film, tentatively titled Mega156 was launched with a formal puja ceremony. Deviating from the practice of starting the film with a shoot, the team mentioned that they would begin with the music composition and then start filming.
Mega156 is said to be a socio-fantasy film and is touted to be the mega star’s most expensive film to date. It is directed by Vasshishta, who last helmed the film Bimbisara. The film is backed by Vikram, Vamsi, and Pramod under the UV Creations banner. The film’s technical crew consists of Chota K Naidu as the cinematographer, MM Keeravani as the music composer, and Kotagairi Venkateshwar Rao as the editor.
Dileep and Vineeth Srinivasan join hands for a film (Malayalam)
Actors Dileep, Vineeth Srinivasan, and Dhyan Srinivasan are all set to come together for the film Ba Ba Ba. The film is directed by Dhananjay Shankar and is scripted by Fahim Safar and Noorin Shereef. Dhananjay was an assistant to Vineeth Srinivasan and made his directorial debut with the film. It is backed by Sri Gokulam Films.
Selvaraghavan onboard Ravi Teja-Gopichandh Mallineni film (Telugu)
Ravi Teja is all set to collaborate with director Gopichand Mallineni for the fourth time. The duo has previously worked together in Don Seenu, Balapu, and Krack. Currently titled RT4GM, the makers of the film recently announced that Tamil actor and director Selvaraghavan would be joining the cast of the film.
RT4GM is directed by Gopichand Mallineni and written by Mayuk Aditya, Srinivas Gavireddy, M Vivek Anand, and Nimmagadda Srikanth. The film is backed by Naveen Yerneni and Y Ravi Shankar under the Mythrie Movie Makers banner. GK Vishnu handles the cinematography while Naveen Nooli is the editor. The film has music by Thaman S and also stars Indhuja Ravichandran.
Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Dhruva Natchathiram gets a release date (Tamil)
Director Gautham Vasudev Menon’s much-awaited action thriller Dhruva Natchathiram is all set to be released on November 24. The makers released the official trailer recently which introduces to us a covert team of trained agents called ‘The Basement’. The film is supposed to be the first part, titled Chapter 1: Yuddhakandam. Chiyaan Vikram stars as John, a special agent in the eleven-member team. The film co-stars R Parthiban, Simran, Ritu Varma, and Malayalam actor Vinayakan, while director GVM makes a small appearance.
Produced by GVM, Dhruva Nathchaithiram - Chapter 1: Yuddhakandam, the film’s technical crew consists of cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa, SR Kathir, and others (due to its long production) while the music is by Harris Jayaraj, who returns to collaborate with Menon after eight years. The film was under production for over five years and is finally all set to hit the screens.
Kalyani Priyadarshan’s Sesham Mikel Fathima gets a release date (Malayalam)
Kalyani Priyadarshan will be starring in the comedy Sesham Mikel Fathima. The actress plays a person who is passionate about talking, and who hopes to make commentating her career. The makers have now announced that the film will be released on November 3. The film is directed by Manu C Kumar, who makes his directorial debut.
The film also features Shaheen Siddique, Aneesh G Menon, Sudheesh, Sabumon, Maala Parvathi, Femina George, and Sarasa Balussery. It is backed by Sudhan Sundaram and Jagadish Palaniswamy. Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran is the cinematographer while Hesham Abdul Wahab handles the music.