Film buffs get ready for Onam season

Onam, is one of the most important festivals for Malayalees all over the world. From time immemorial, Onam has also played a major part for Malayalam films. And for all top heroes, a project that releases on Onam is considered prestigious. It is the only time of the year, when superstar films clash with each other.
For theatres all over Kerala,the Onam period is exciting, as it rakes in the moolah.Superstar films clash with each other, as they release simultaneously. But today the scenario has changed as all major stars have an understanding with each other that their films will not release on the same day as audience get divided and they lose out on the all-important opening weekend collections , which matters the most.



2006 Onam season has already kickstarted with Mammootty’s Bhargavacharitham Moonam Khandam, Mohanlal’s Mahasamudram and Pritviraj’s Classmates which has hit the screens, over the past two weeks.Next week Suresh Gopi’s Pathaka , and Dileep’s Don are also releasing.

This release pattern ensures that the films do not clash with each other and also gives a chance for the ardent fans to catch up with an Onam release every week

Saranya is Mohanlal’s heroine!

Mohanlal has created history by being paired with Poornima Jayaram (Poornima Bhagyaraj) and now her daughter Saranya. It is first time in world cinema that a hero had the chance to act opposite mother about 26 years back and now with the daughter!
Saranya (21) is Mohanlal’s heroine in Ranjan Pramod’s Photographer. Remember that Mohanlal and Poornima had made their screen debut with Fazil’s Manjil Virinja Pookal (1980) in which they played husband and wife. Later they went on to be a romantic pair in films like Onnanu Nammal and Nanayam.

Poornima told Moviebuzz: “When this offer came her way, we didn’t hesitate to think twice. I think it is a great opportunity for Saranya to do a film with Mohanlal and learn the nuances of fine acting. The film has a great technical crew and we will be going to Kozhikode next week for the shoot”.

On why Saranya has not signed any Tamil film, Poornima was quick to reply: “She wants to go slow and do good films. Right now she is busy with the studio (Cutting Edge) that she is looking after.”

Poor opening for Mammootty's Bhargava

Mammootty’s Onam release Bhargava Charitham Moonam Khandam has got a poor opening at the Kerala box-office.


The film could turn out to be Mammootty’s biggest flop in recent times. On day two — when Kamal Hassan’s Vetayadu Vilayadu released to full houses at Kavitha theatre in Ernakulam—Bhargava... collections dropped drastically.

And by Sunday, after Mohanlal’s Mahasamudram released, Bhargava... collapsed.

‘Current’ Bhargavan has short-circuited Mammootty’s impressive track record at the Kerala box-office. The film is turning out to be a bigger flop than his earlier Prajapathy.

Mahasamudram---Review

What is the safest way to make a box-office hit in Malayalam? Hire Mohanlal and get to rework his mass formula- a larger-than-life do gooder, punch line dialogues, some adipoli songs plus at least four kidilan fight scenes!
The magic formula works once again in Mahsamudram a film strictly for his fans directed by Dr S.Janardhanan, a television serial maker who has nothing new to offer. In fact Janardhanan has helped himself by taking scenes from various films and the climax is a straight lift from a Telugu film Sye. And Innocent’s character reminds you so much of what he had done earlier in Sathyan Anthikkad’s Manasinakkare.

Still, the film is a watchable as it is racy and the plot mixture of high seas romance and action along with an adrenaline pumping football match. But sadly Mohanlal’s first attempt in 26 years to be a fisherman is no patch on other sea faring movies in Malayalam like the classic Chemeen or Mammootty’s brilliant Amaram.

Isahak (Mohanlal) is a Christian fisherman with a heart of gold and looks after the entire expenses of an old-age home run by a priest (Jagathy Sreekumar), where his mentally challenged father Velankani (Innocent) is an inmate. Isahak is a cool guy who is also the star football player for his club ‘Beach Eleven’ of Puthenkara, their rivals are ‘Seven Star’ from Mattukara another fishing village controlled by bad guys. Ishahak falls in love with Devi (Laila) of Mattukara and her brother (Riza Bava) swears revenge.

They wed in the high seas and plan to spend their first night on the boat but her brother plans to cremate them there, which accidentally leads to Devi killing her brother in the melee. Devi is arrested and sent to jail, which leave Isahak heart broken and melancholic. Meanwhile the bad guys kidnap Velankani and the ransom demand is that Isahak should not play the crucial match for ‘Beach Eleven’ in a tournament! At the same time, Devi comes out on parole and Isahak is caught between his love for her and duty towards his father and team which leads to a gripping climax.

There is a huge star cast of supporting actors like Rahman, Jagadheesh, Niyas, Sai Kumar, Krishna Prasad, Indrans among others. Shaji’s camera especially the football scene shots of Mohanlal’s introduction scene and the way he heads a goal are fantastic. Janadhanan himself has written the dialogues including the punch line which Mohanlal says during a game when it gets rough- Pankayam pidicha kaiyum, Goal Adicha kalum aanu… As usual there is one good melody tuned by M.Jayachandran Kando Kando… Kadal Kandittu… sung by Venugopal and Chitra being the pick of the lot.

There is absolutely no chemistry between Mohanlal and Laila, as she looks fragile and timid with hardly anything to do. Mohanlal does his usual superman act and steers this uneven film on his broad shoulders to the winning post. At the best, Mahasamudram is just a time pass Mohanlal masala for Onam sadya

Can the young guns boom?

Malayalam cinema is controlled in a spider like web by the two superstar-Mammootty and Mohanlal. The Malayalee audience from Neyyantinkara to New York just refuses to accept new comers and young heroes and their loyalty and devotion to the masters-M&M is total and unflinching.
Nobody has been able to crack the code and yesterday’s newcomers like Kunchakko Boban, Pritviraj, Indrajeet, Vineeth, Jayasurya, Madhu Warrier, Manikuttan, Siddharth, Jishnu, Sunil, Arun etc have all failed to connect with the audience. None of these heroes have been able to churn out a hit on their own strength at the box-office.

Why is it that Malayalees as a whole refuse to accept and encourage young blood when Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and even Kannada cinema whole-heartedly support young actors? It is still a mystery that is yet to be solved as the two M’s continue their stranglehold over the Kerala box-office!

Meanwhile the trade and those who are craving for a change are praying that two films releasing shortly - Lal Jose’s Classmates and Roshan Andrews Notebook will make the difference and do the wonder.

Classmates-

It is a campus love story with Pritviraj, Indrajeet, Sunil, Jayasurya and Kavya Madhavan. Lal Jose has spent nearly Rs 2 Crore to give the film a chic look as it release for Onam. Lal of ‘Lal Films’ who made his money through superstar films is aggressively marketing Classmates.

Notebook

Roshan Andrews the director who made that path breaking film Udayananu Tharam is completing a film with an all new star cast and releases for Ramzan. This film is produced by P.V.Gangadharan of ‘Grihalakshmi Productions’ one of the reputed banners in Malayalam. It is a teenage love story set in the prestigious Lawrence school, Lovedale in Ooty.

Says Roshan: “I believe that if the story and packaging is good, then the film will click irrespective of the stars.” Andrews is introducing a host of teenagers like Sooraj, a Bangalore Malayalee, Maria from Kottayam who is a relative of Arundhati Roy and Parvathy the Kiran TV anchor. Rama another Mallu girl from Chennai, Majo a musician from Kochi and Anna from Changanacherry are also in Notebook

Dileep is `Chakkarapottan

The magic pair of Malaylam cinema is back! Yes, Dileep and Kavya Madhavan the most popular pair in Kerala are back in Lohithadas directed Chakkarapottan being produced by Seven Arts Films.
The shooting of the film will start at Lohi’s favourite location-on the banks of Bharatapuzha in Shornur from Monday Aug 14. Says Lohi: “I was sitting on Chakkarapottan script for the last few years. It is very moving tale which is etched in reality. Dileep has a knockout role.”

In a way, Dileep owes a lot to Lohithadas his one time mentor who made him a star with that off-beat film Joker. Says Dileep: “I think Lohi sir is the best scriptwriter whose characters are not only well defined but is also rooted in reality.”

The others in the cast are Sai Kumar, Harisri Asokan, Cochin Haneefa, Bindu Panikkar etc. The lyrics of Vayalar Sarathchandra Varma are tuned by M.Jayachandran, camera is by Rajaratnam. It is Lohi’s 11th directorial venture.

Seven Arts, once leading Producers-distributors is making a comeback to Malayalam cinema after 10 years with Chakkarapottan, which they are producing and distributing. The film is tentatively slated for release on Ramzan day (October 24).

Half yearly report- Superstars Rule

The superstar domination continues in Malayalam cinema during the first half of 2006. It is undoubtedly Mohanlal and Mammootty who rules the roost in Kerala with Dileep and Suresh Gopi trailing behind.
There were 25 releases between Jan 28 and June 30. Among them 9 films turned profitable with Rasathantram turning out to be a blockbuster. Thuruppu Gulan a super hit and Chinthamani Kolacase, Lion, Balram Vs Taradas and Vadakkumnathan being hits.

Madhuchandralekha, Kilukkam Kilukilukkam and Tanmatra will recover its cost and breakeven. Mohanlal’s Rasathantram is breaking all existing records and in 50 days this family entertainer grossed an amazing Rs 10.60 Crore and in the long run it will get a distributors share of Rs 6 Crore from theatricals alone.

What makes Mohanlal and Mammootty so hot in the trade is that their films take a fantastic opening. The worldwide phenomenon is that films which take a bumper opening in its opening weekend (Fri to Sun) will turn out to be a winner. Now following the new trend, producers in Malayalam are also trying to come out with maximum number of prints like 45 to 50.

The youth brigade of Pritviraj, Jayasurya, Arun and others continues to struggle and could not make any ripples at the box-office. The trend of overdependence on star system has resulted in less number of films and cost of making star movies have shot up. Heroines from Kerala are making a beeline to Kollywood and among them Bhavana has made rapid strides with Nitya Das, Mamta Mohandas and others following suit. At the same time out of work girls in Kollywood like Sneha, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, Laila, Aditi Rao and Padmapriya are in great demand in superstar films

Bumper opening

Mohanlal’s Keerthichakra has surprised the trade by taking a bumper opening all over Kerala. There were a lot of negative reports about its director Major Ravi before release, but now Ravi has made his critics eat crow!
At Thiruvananthapuram, Ajantha, the first two days at five shows per day it has taken 100 percent opening and grossed Rs 2.87 Lakhs. The buzz around the film is positive and people feel that Major Mahadevan, the character played by Mohanlal is the answer to the Kashmir problems!

In Malabar area of Kerala at Kozhikode, Apsara theatre people gave a standing ovation in the climax scene especially when Mohanlal speaks about Kashmir Muslims love for India and blames foreign mercenaries for creating all the tensions in the valley.

Producer R.B.Chowdary who had a big release with 46 prints will make more money on Keerthichakra than its Tamil version Aran, which has taken a poor opening in Tamilnadu.

Janmam` gives way to `Pathaka

Producer-distributor ‘Tharangini’ Sasi and his uncle director Joshy has decided to postpone their Onam release Janmam to Ramzan and instead release their long overdue Pathaka for Onam.
Now Suresh Gopi’s Onam release will be Pathaka which may open on Sep 1 depending on the availability of theatres.

Pathaka directed by K.Madhu is said to be the controversial story of former Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty. Some changes have been incorporated in the story to suit the political changes in the state.

Onam release dates!

Some of the Onam releases that we had listed earlier have changed. Films slated for Onam do not want to clash with the biggies and eat into each other’s collections. Added to that the Noyambu (Ramzan fasting) period, is starting in the third week of September.
So with Noyambu period starting almost two weeks after Onam, the distributors decided to prepone the releases. As a part of it the Jayaraj directed Aanachantham released on Saturday (Aug 5) in most centres, without any fanfare.

Next week, (Aug 11) Kalabhavan Mani’s Red Salute will be releasing. On August 18, Mammootty’s Bhargavacharitham 3am Khandam will open. Mohanlal’s Mahasamudram on August 25, On September 1 Dileep’s Don and Lal Jose's Classmates are slated for release