Chiyaan Vikram Producer is Nivin Pauly heroine / HIT 2 Story Copy Case / Lal Drishyam 3 Official

 

Riya Shibu a 20-year-old young producer from Tamil cinema, is now playing the lead opposite Nivin Pauly in the film directed by Akhil  Satyan.  Her brother is Actor Hridu Haroon who has acted in Tamil film Thugs and in the Internationnally acclaimed film All We IagineShe already proved her talent as an actress, producer, and distributor. She recently produced Veera Dheera Sooran, starring Vikram, with actress Dushara Vijayan as the female lead and SJ Surya as the villain. Actor S. J. Suryah also lauded Rhea, calling her the backbone of H.I.R. Pictures and predicting a bright future for her as the successor of her father, renowned Kollywood producer and distributor Shibu Thameens. He humorously remarked that he wasn’t sure whether to call her a heroine or a producer. Her father  distributed blockbuster films like RRR, Don, Vikram, and Jigra while also producing movies like Puli, Inkokkadu, and Saamy 2.

In addition to handling her production responsibilities, she is also pursuing her studies at Loyola College in Chennai.

Actor Nani's film HIT 3 directed by Sailesh Kalanu which hit screens on May 1 has found itself in trouble several weeks after its release.

The film is now hitting headlines for alleged copyright infringement. Writer Sonia Vimal has filed a petition in the Madras High Court, claiming that HIT 3 borrows from her unpublished work Agent 11 and Agent V.

HIT 3 Faces Legal Trouble After Madras High Court Issues Legal Notice

While Soniya describes herself as an admirer of Nani, she states that the film's original story was taken from her scripts. She had submitted drafts of her work as part of the legal evidence.

Madras High Court has issued notice on a the writer's plea alleging that the movie starring Nani is an unauthorised adaptation of her story. The notices read “HIT: The Third Case (HIT 3) was an adaptation of her registered script and to permanently restrain the respondents from assigning any further rights of the movie and from committing any further acts of infringement."

Soniya had also asked for rendition of accounts of the profits made by the movie and for payment of damages and compensation at the rate of 20 percent

Soniya had submitted that he had written the original script and had registered it with the South Indian Film Writers' Association on 4th August, 2021. She said that she had sent the synopsis of the original script to Nani on 8th August, 2022, with an intention to collaborate and work with him. However, there was no response.

We had reported how Drishyam 3 will be Mohanlal’s first Rs 300 crore film . Read : https://southfilmy.blogspot.com/2025/06/dhanush-kubera-more-awaited-than-aamir.html .Malayalam superstar Mohanlal is all set to reprise his iconic role as Georgekutty in the much-awaited Drishyam 3. The actor made the official announcement on June 21 via a teaser video shared on Aashirvaad Cinemas’ YouTube channel and his social media platforms. Directed by Jeethu Joseph and produced by Anthony Perumbavoor, the third instalment will begin filming in October 2025.

First look at Georgekutty in Drishyam 3

The 40-second teaser offers a thrilling glimpse of what’s to come. It opens with a close-up of Mohanlal as Georgekutty—calm, intense, and ever-protective of his family. The teaser then cuts to behind-the-scenes footage, showing the actor with the director and producer. As the screen fades to black, text flashes: "Lights, camera, October." The caption of the video reads, "October 2025 — the camera turns back to Georgekutty. The past never stays silent. #Drishyam3."

 

Mammootty-Mohanlal film title Patriot revealed

 iFinally Mammootty- Mohanlal film directed by Mahesh Naryanan title is `Patriot’, This was revealed by Sri Lankan Tourism Board welcoming Mohanlal to the Island Nation for second schedule of the film. Fahadh Faasil, Darshana Rajendran and Kunchacko Boban are taking part in the second  schedule. The first schedule included Mammooty. “South Indian cinema legend Mohanlal has chosen Sri Lanka as the perfect backdrop for his latest Malayalam film Patriot and his second visit to Sri Lanka.  So far 8 schdules has been completed. Mammootty and Mohanlal have worked together in over 55 films . The duo have earlier collaborated on the 2013 release ‘Kadal kadannu oru Mathukutty directed by Renjith.

Reports say that screenplay has been changed to make Kunchacko and Mohanlal role lengthier.

In a now-deleted or quietly overlooked Facebook post, Sri Lanka’s official tourism page appears to have named the project while promoting the country’s rising popularity as a shooting destination. Whether it was a PR slip or a clever bit of viral marketing, fans are all over it — dissecting, decoding, and delighting in the possibility that the title has been revealed before the filmmakers intended.

It was in the 1980s that Mammootty and Mohanlal established themselves in the industry as big stars. Interestingly, here we are talking about an instance when Mohanlal appeared as a character named as Mammootty. It was during the first half of the 1980s that the much loved actor had played a character with the name Mammootty. Yes, we are talking about the 1984 movie Manasariyathe, in which Mohanlal had played a character named Mammootty. The film had featured Nedumudi Venu in the lead role and Mohanlal too, essayed a crucial role in this movie. Mammootty, the character played by Mohanlal in the movie appears only halfway down the movie, but the character has a crucial part in the development of the movie.

Mohanlal has appeared as Mohanlal in a couple of films. In Manu Uncle, the Mammootty starrer, the actor played himself doing a memorable cameo. Similar was the case of the movie Kadal Kadannoru Maathukutty, in which he appeared as himself.

At the same time, he has also portrayed characters named Lal in some of the films. How can we forget the Sarvakalashala, in which he is fondly called as 'Lalettan' by all? Similarly, Mohanlal essayed a character named Lal, in Lal Americayil.

Kamal - Abhirami liplock faces Mani axe ? / BBMalayalam and Lal / Madras Matinee v/s Thug Life

 Is Mani Ratnam chopping off the liplock between Kamal and Abhirami ? This is latest buzz. The question raised by a Reddit user is : ""It's two consenting adults, but still, they could have cast someone older to be Kamals's wife." …

Many forget that Abhirami and Kamal played wife and husband in Virumaandi. To top it there was a liplock scene that takes place inside a well’s steps. Annalakshmi taking the role of both his wife and his Mother in his life as a substitute of his late grandpa, who he loved so much makes their relationship more divine.

Asianet has started airing the logo of BiggBoss Malayalam. The logo has alphabet ‘L’ on the left side and ‘7’ on the right side  The ‘L’ on the logo indicates Lalettan  ‘7’ indicates the season numberThe logo was released on Mohanlal’s birthday . The Hindi dub of L2: Empuraan has finally arrived on OTT after a record-breaking theatrical run and release in other South Indian languages via streaming. You can now enjoy it on JioHotstar. In addition to its March 27 theatrical release, the political action thriller in Malayalam has been available on the platform along with Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada dubs since April 24. Today's release of the Hindi version enhanced the film's reach to a wider pan-Indian audience.

Madras Matinee starring Sathyaraj- Kaali Venkat is set to take on a day later the gigantic combo of Thug Life Produced by Madras Talkies. Produced by Madras Motion Pictures Productions, directed by Karthikeyan Mani, and starring Sathyaraj and Kaali Venkat, 'Madras Matinee' is a  drama depicting middle-class life and will be released iworldwide on June 6th.

The film's team has released the official poster for the theatrical release of the film, which has created a stir among fans with its first look poster and title look.

The film, which wonderfully portrays middle-class life and its aesthetics on a different platform, has been created to be enjoyed by all fans.

The film stars Sathyaraj, Kali Venkat, Roshni Hari Priyan, Shelly, Vishwa, George Marian, Archana Sandhu, Sunil Sugatha, Madhumita, Sams, Geetha Kailasam, Bhanupriya and many others.


Anand G. K. has handled the cinematography and K. C. Balasarangan has composed the music for this film. Sathishkumar Samuski has handled the editing and Jackie has handled the art direction. The film is produced by Madras Motion Pictures Productions. Moment Entertainment is the executive producer. The film is presented by leading film production company Dream Warrior Pictures.

The film will be released in theaters worldwide on June 6th.

 

AK GBU behind Vidamuyurchi on OTT / Thodarum - Kerala's REAL HIT

      OTT viewers seem to have liked Vidamuyurchi of Ajith more than Good Bad Ugly. The first week viewership for Vidamuyurchi was 3 Million and Good Bad Ugly: 2.6 Million

As per the data by Netflix from May 5 to May 11, Good Bad Ugly, in its debut week, garnered a viewership of 2.6 million on Netflix against 6 million viewing hours and secured the 8th spot in the globally trending list of top 10 non-English films on Netflix, which is ruled by ‘Exterritorial’ at number 1 this week. GBU  is trending at the number 1 spot in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka on Netflix in the top 10 non-English films of the week. It has also found a spot in the top 10 non-English films of the week on Netflix in 10 other countries, including Mauritius, Nigeria, Bahrain, Maldives, and others

Kerala filmdom has not got any film that has collected Rs 100crores net within the State. For the first Thodarum has collected Rs 100 cr at the Kerala box office. A Nett means money got by Producer after taxes, distributor- theatre share deducutions.. ₹ 101.65 Cr [Mal: 98.95 Cr ; Te: 1.85 Cr; Ta: 0.85 Cr] is Sacknik figure on Day 18. In terms of gross the producers claimed that it has touched Rs 100 crore gross, a first in Kerala box office. Mohanlal’s new release is only 19.5 crore away from the highest-grossing Malayalam film of 2025. Interestingly, the top spot is also owned by Mohanlal‘s L2: Empuraan. With the said target, Mohanlal will also cross a net box office, earning 200 crore at the Indian box office in the year 2025.

First 100 Cr Grosser in Each South Indian State:

• Tamil Nadu—Robo [2010]
• Andhra Pradesh—Baahubali [2015]
• Telangana—Baahubali 2 [2017]
• Karnataka—Baahubali 2 [2017]
• Kerala—Thudarum [2025]

Here are the top 5 highest-grossing Malayalam films of 2025.

1.     L2: Empuraan: 106.6 crore

2.     Thudarum: 87.13 crore*

3.     Alappuzha Gymkhana: 43.29 crore*

4.     Officer On Duty: 31.60 crore

5.     Rekhachithram: 27 crore

Sivakarthikyan with Siruthai Siva and MohanLal / Shame on Prabhas trends

 Sivakarthikeyan is  to choose Siruthai Siva as director. Along with this SK also has not liked the story told by Venkat Prabhu and told him to make changes. Reason being that VP story has resemblance to Doctor subject. So VP and SK project right now looks bleak as Venkat Prabhu doesn’t want to modify as it would kill the soul of the film. So there are possibilities that the project might get dropped. Sathyajothi Films had backed SK- VP film and now whether they will back Siruthai Siva is not known.

Mohanlal after Jilla in which he played father to Thalapthy Vijay is set to play Dad to Sivakarthikeyan in SK24 directed by CIBI. Actor Sivakarthikeyan is reuniting with Don (2022) director Cibi Chakravarthi and Don co-star SJ Suryah on a new movie, which will reportedly have Rashmika Mandanna playing female lead. While official announcements on the project are yet to be out, it has now been revealed that this film is titled Boss. 

The official X page of Prabhas’ Salaar  shared a post related to ceasefire announcement, which faced backlash from netizens. the makers of Salaar created an official page for the movie on X before its release, with an ID – @SalaarTheSaga. Fans used to get updates about the film; even today, the page is very active. Yesterday, after the ceasefire was officially announced, one smart post was shared on the page. Salaar is originally titled ‘Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire‘, so the makers shared a small clip of the title card showing ‘Part 1 – Ceasefire’ on the official X page, thus making a statement about the ceasefire agreement with Pakistan. As soon as the post was shared, it received mostly negative reactions from netizens.

Many thought that the makers of Salaar were using the country’s serious issue to promote their movie. One X user directly targeted Prabhas by writing, “Shame on Prabhas.” One user criticised the production house for the post by saying, “Have some shame @hombalefilms. Use common sense at least.”

Another X user commented, “Shameful, insensitive, lack of respect towards the armed forces. Promoting your movie at such times is absolutely pathetic. Prabhas and gang shameful.”

One netizen said, “Wtf yeah koi tumara promotion ka time nahi h !! Come on yr have some sense in your brain.”

Jeyam Ravi 's wife and kids face eviction / Mohanlal creates record-Son new film title explained

 Aarti Ravi , wife of Jeyam Ravi aka Ravi Mohan reacting to report that she continues to be Aartijeyamravi on Instagram, she pointed out that divorce has not been granted yet. Reacting to her hubby’s photo with Kenishaa at the wedding, she termed it as  "carefully curated appearances and photo captions," . Though she was labelled a gold digger, she has in the interim periods not got any monetary help from her hubby and  that she faces eviction notice served by the bank after her hubby asked them to do so. Two children stay with her. She wrote that if she wanted she could have secured her future long back but she placed trust first above transanction. Taking a dig at Ravi who said that his kids are his pride , she wrote- "They deserve security, not shock. Stability, not silence. They are too young to understand legal clauses, but old enough to feel abandonment." , She signed offl "This is not vengeance. This is not spectacle. This is a mother stepping into the fire—not to fight, but to protect. I do not cry. I do not scream. I stand tall, because I must."

Kushbu commented; My girl is a strong woman.

As Mohanlal’s Thudarum crossed the Rs 100 cr gross domestically, his son Pranav’s upcoming film title has been revealed -Dies Irae.

Dies Irae is a Latin poem from the medieval period that features accentual stress and rhymed verses. It depicts the Last Judgment, where a trumpet calls souls to stand before God’s throne, with the saved receiving salvation and the unsaved being cast into everlasting fire. It is most famously associated with the Roman Rite Catholic Requiem Mass, also known as the Mass for the Dead or Funeral Mass. It's a poem sung for the dead.

The film, which reunites writer-director Rahul Sadasivan with cinematographer Shehnad Jalal (Bhoothakalam, Bramayugam), is backed by Night Shift Studios and Y Not Studios, has music by Christo Xavier, art direction by Jothish Shankar and editing by Shafique Mohammed Ali.

While specific plot details remain under wraps, director Rahul Sadasivan hinted that audiences can expect something distinctly different from his previous work9 Brahmayugam). He explained that the film explores a completely different emotional spectrum, one that resonates with the new generation, and features a fresh narrative style and mood compared to his earlier project.

Meanwhile Thudarum joined the 10M club and became the 2nd Malayalam film to do so. Mohanlal achieves a record-breaking feat at 65, with back-to-back 10M USD milestones. Reports M9.

Malayalee hearthrob Roma is a Diamond merchant / Mohanlal loses to Chiyaan on OTT

 Malayalam film viewers got an answer to where is Roma who acted in NoteBook, Chocholate ?. She was clicked by a fan at the Airport. She is busy looking after the Diamond business and has mines in Karnataka and South Africa. She is still single and full devoted to her family business. When she made her debut, her father owned a jewelry store in Sowcarpet, a suburb in Chennai which is inhabited by Rajasthan natives who mostly do trade in gold and diamonds. Roma’s parents are Sindhi’s but are from Trichy in Tamil Nadu. She made her debut in the Telugu film Mr. Errababu in 2005. Her first film in Malayalam was Notebook (2006), directed by Rosshan Andrrews. Her second film was July 4 (2007), directed by Joshiy. Her third film Chocolate (2007) which she starred alongside Prithviraj Sukumaran was successful. Vellepam was her last film in 2021. The movie, which is a romcom laced with fantasy, has Akshay play Joseman, who is a Jesus Christ lookalike in the film. Noorin Shereef plays the female lead in the film, which also has Roma, Sreejith Ravi and Leona Lishoy.

 L2 Empuran  released with Chiyaan's Veera Dheera Sooran and both came same day on OTT but different platforms. Empuran lost the viewership to Veera and in JioHotstar it is competing with a B grade Hindi film Meri Husband ki Biwi. Read on 

Mohanlal L2 Empuran failed to beat the debut week viewership of Chiyaan Vikram’s Veera Dheera Sooran, which arrived in the same week.

Veera Dheera Sooran arrived on Prime Video and garnered a viewership of 3.2 million in its debut week. Chiyaan Vikram’s film took second place on the list of the top 5 most viewed films that arrived on OTT this week.

Rated 7 on IMDb, Veera Dheera Sooran stars Chiyaan Vikram along with SJ Suryah. The Tamil period drama earned 42.71 crore in its lifetime in India and ended up being a losing affair at the box office. Meanwhile, Malayalam action biggie L2: Empuraan was also a losing affair despite earning 106.6 crore at the box office!

Mohanlal’s L2: Empuraan, after a roaring box office run, has arrived on the JioHotstar and opened with a decent viewership in the first week. In fact, it garnered 57.8% higher views than the Hindi film Mere Husband Ki Biwi, which is also streaming on the same platform.

Mohanlal’s action biggied managed to garner 3 million views in its debut week, taking the third spot in the list of most-watched streaming originals in India for the week of April 28 – May 4, 2025, estimated based on audience research by Ormax.

Oppam Hindi - Saif Ali Khan blind and Kalari expert v/s Akshay Kumar

 

• Those who have seen Oppam the Malaylam film directed by Priyadarshan should read this. Others will not understand what is being written here. Report based on  Mid-Day states that Saif Ali Khan will be learning Kalaripayattu for his role in the Hindi remake of the Malayalam film "Oppam". He will be taking a two-month break after finishing Rahul Dholakia's movie to attend workshops on how to play a blind man and then travel to Kerala to train in the martial art. The character in the remake is described as a skilled martial artist who is also blind. 
• We think CVN Kalari in Thiruvanthapuram would be right place for Saif to learn.

Now it seems Priyan in his second innings in Bollywood is going to remake Oppam and of course it is Akshay Kumar and with Saif Ali Khan. Both owe a lot to Priyan as in their earlier career stages , it was he who gave them films. Now you may think that Akshay is doing Mohanlal role and Saif the Samudrakanni role. Saif after declaring that his Adipurush outing was a mistake has decided to correct it by playing Lalettan’s role. Akshay’s film after film as a patriotic guy wants to play Samudrakanni role. Remember Robot 2 0 ? . At first Priyan wanted Samudrakanni itself to act in Hindi but Akshay wanted it.

So you imagine them in the respective roles, Now Saif as blind guy and Akshay as bad guy is fixed. Other regulars of Priyan will fill the other roles. You can let the imagination run riot.

Now the biggest surprise is that Saif is learning Kalaripayattu, Kerala’s martial art. So the blind man is going to use Kalaripayattu to fight bad guys. Oppam’s USP was that Lalettan as blind man and his helplessness in fighting those who want to frame him for murder. But in modern Bollywood, Saif is not going to get any sympathy like Lalettan gets from Mallu audience and so he has to fight his way against his enemies and that includes Akshay.  Imagine physical clash between blind man who is Kalari expert and tough guy. Goosebumps ! Even Saif intro can be in a Kalari class. Finally you wonder if Saif is really blind.

Oppam does not have glam element but can Bollywood go without it. So Priyan would elevate the roles of lady SI and also the caretaker role played by Sona Heiden. Even the role played by Meenakshi of the kid that Lalettan carries on his shoulder could be upgraded to a teen girl and a Loverboy wooing her.

• Music played a big role in Oppam’s suucess. Wonder who is doing it as Priyan usually brings guys from Chennai to do it and that too in his Chennai studio.  M G Sreekumar song a must.Brinda Master choreography is inevitable. Priyan has always said that no one in Bollywood can match Lalettan. So no comparisons here. Difficult to get even actors  to replace  Chemban Jose. We are in for exciting times. So far Priyan has been good at remakes and wishing him all luck.

After Yaro Yarodi now Jinguchaa- Vaishali rocks / Thudarm Ending and Vijay sethupathi role

 

Marathi singer Vaishali Samant’s recent feat—25 years after singing Yaro yarodi in Ratnam’s much-loved Tamil film, Alaipayuthey (2000), she has reunited with the filmmaker and A R Rahman for a Tamil film again.  She has crooned Jinguchaa for the upcoming movie, Thug Life.   Tamil song credits the singers are Vaishali Samant, Shakthisree Gopalan & Adithya RK.The Hindi version of the song brings fresh vocal firepower to .. Sukhwinder Singh, Ronkini Gupta, Aashima Mahajan, and Vaisha li Samant...
It comes as another hit for Samant after Aaya re toofan from Chhaava earlier this year. She reveals that it was during the recording of the Chhaava number, also composed by Rahman, that the maestro suggested she sing Tamil songs again. Months later, she was in the studio, singing Jinguchaa. To Samant, working with Rahman is like “enrolling into a university.” “Every language carries its own cultural charm. With Jinguchaa, it was a challenge to pronounce the words like a Tamil native. In a day and age where voices come and go, Rahman sir adds the punch that makes a song stand the test of time. I hope we can continue working together for the next 25 years too.”

Thudarum Ending explained l What is Vijay Sethupathi role in it ?

Mohanlal’s character, Shanmughan alias Benz, was a stunt artist, and Vijay Sethupathi’s character, Anbu, was his colleague. Unfortunately, during an accident, in a bid to save Benz, Anbu dies. Shobana’s character, Lalitha, was Anbu’s wife, and together they had a 4-year-old son named Pavi, who eventually grows up and is portrayed by Thomas Mathew.

Following Anbu’s death, Benz marries Lalitha, taking on the role of Pavi’s stepfather. The family chooses to leave Tamil Nadu, since the stunt artists involved in the accident that claimed Anbu’s life were blacklisted. As a farewell gesture, Benz’s employer, the fight master, gifts him a black Ambassador car, which Benz continues to use for his work. Eventually, Benz and Lalitha welcome a daughter into their family.

Decades have passed, and Pavi is now in his college years. He is in love with Mary George, portrayed by Aarsha Chandini Baiju, but her father, George, played by Prakash Varma, is against this relationship.

A minor incident changes Benz’s life forever. The Ambassador was seized during a routine vehicle check conducted by the police for transporting narcotics. Benz wasn’t transporting narcotics; he had given the vehicle to a service center, and the mechanic, while in his custody, transported the narcotics. When Sub Inspector Benny apprehended him in a bid to escape, the mechanic beat him up. As a result, the vehicle was seized and held at the police station, and Benz was informed that the vehicle would only be released once the police got their hands on the mechanic.

One night, Pavi is taken to the police station, where George is the station house officer. There, he and his subordinate, Sub Inspector Benny, portrayed by Binu Pappu, kill Pavi for being in love with George’s daughter and threatening to reveal some of George’s secrets. Afterwards, the dead body is stuffed into Benz’s black Ambassador car.

That same night, after Pavi’s tragic death, Benz visits the police station to ask George to release his vehicle. George agrees and instructs Benny to return the car. However, Benny initially hesitates, as George isn’t aware of the body still being inside. Benny then informs George that the body is still in the car. Later, George decides to hire Benz’s Ambassador as a taxi to attend a colleague’s sister’s pre-marriage party.

Upon arriving at the event location, Benny takes the key to the Ambassador from Benz. After some time, Benz is instructed to drive them to a remote area deep in the jungle. Initially hesitant, Benz reluctantly agrees. During the journey, tension builds between him, George, and Benny. The colleague, whose sister was about to get married the following day, is also present in the vehicle.

As they drive, George reveals a chilling information: there is a dead body in the car, that of a young man who had been involved with the bride. They killed him because he had compromising videos of her.

With no choice but to comply, Benz follows their orders. After disposing of the body, he returns home. When he checks the boot of the car, he finds blood and a wallet. In his panic, as the dog barks, he accidentally throws the wallet into the bushes. Distraught, he forgets about it and cleans the car, trying to return to his normal life.

Benz soon realizes that his son is missing, and an investigation begins, raising suspicions in his mind—especially when he notices his son’s Pulsar bike at the police station. That night, Benz decides to search for the wallet he had thrown into the bushes. When he retrieves it, he is shocked to find that it belongs to his son.

At the same time, a landslide occurs at the location where the body was disposed of. During the rescue operation, the body is discovered by the rescue team. It is quickly identified as Benz’s son.

George and Benny concoct a false story, claiming that Benz was behind the murder. They accuse the siblings of having an incestuous relationship, suggesting that Benz killed his son because of it. To back up their fabricated story, the police violently beat both Lalitha and her daughter in an attempt to force them to confess to these false allegations.

Meanwhile, Benz kidnaps the police officer who was present when he, George, and Benny disposed of the body. The officer claims he had no knowledge of the murder and was only asked to guide them through the jungle. Benz is eventually captured by the police, but George, with the help of Benny and officers from the armed reserve camp, plans to have Benz killed. The plot fails, and Benz manages to kill Benny and escape from the police.

As George persistently torments Benz’s family in an attempt to capture him, Benz reaches out to George. He tells George to come to his house, where his daughter, Mary, is home alone. When they meet, a struggle ensues, resulting in Benz killing George. Mary witnesses the entire ordeal.

Later, Mary visits Lalitha and her daughter during Pavi’s funeral. As the story reaches its conclusion, Benz is shown being escorted to court in handcuffs. Outside the courthouse, Mary stands with Benz’s family, fulfilling the promise Pavi made earlier, Mary is now considered part of Benz’s family. A reporter approaches Benz, asking if he killed his son. Benz answers truthfully.

 

Kamal Haasan old script is Thug Life - Treatment Mani style / Thudarm costly mistake

After the story of Thug Life has been revealed, we come to know that actually the story and script was written by Kamal Haasan almost two decades back. After Mani Ratnam read this, he decided to go further and both of them together co- wrote close 20% of the screenplay.

The film line looks close to Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. ( CVV). The story of that film is about an aged Don who finds out that one of his 3 sons was the one who attacked him. Between all of this, the concept of it is how the brothers fight among each other, and how a 4th man, an apparent dishonest police officer, comes into play, and how everything was his sketched plan to eliminate the whole family. In CVV there was so many distractions that the core plot got lost. In Thug Life the father- son conflict is just one dimension of the subject. The bound script of what is now called Thug Life was finished over 40 years ago. Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam were supposed to collaborate in 2002 for a film based on the Rashomon Effect. But the collaboration didn’t materialize, and the concept later developed to become Virumaandi in 2004.

The treatment to gangsterism in Thug Life will be different from his films - Thalapathi, CCV, and even Raavanan. It moves away from the style of grand songs- action and drama added to it. The film will cover the heated drama between the gangster family and will also cover the dirty politics of the outside world. There are many surprising things in this film, one of them is how responsibly and genuinely they have crafted the Father and Son bond, which has been very well done by Kamal and Simb

Thudarum makers who played down the publicity of the film did a blunder by not reeleasing the Tamil version of it at the same time. The reviews for the film with subtitles is good. Given that in Kerala the film collected Rs 28 crores in 3 days, the Tamil print would have taken it to Rs 100 cr club. The Telugu version is doing very well.

In the first three days, Thudarum earned Rs 28 crore gross in India, out of which it collected Rs 20 crore gross in Kerala. The film earned Rs 40 crore from the overseas collections, taking the worldwide gross collections to Rs 68 crore. This means that the Mohanlal-starrer has scored the second biggest opening weekend in Malayalam cinema, overtaking Prithviraj Sukumaran-starrer Aadujeevitham, that earned Rs 64.85 crore in its four-day opening weekend in 2024

Cameraman P C Sreeram `BOLD' tweet on Empuran / Mrunal Thakur for Allu Arjun- Atlee film

 Empuran post 27 censor cuts made voluntarily by Director is now streaming on JioHotstar. The viewership is very dull and the newly censored version to famed cinematographer P C looked like a comedy film. Though in his earlier post he asked Empuran makers to not make any cuts , buckled down when it came to his tweet on Empuran. Within minutes of backlash to his tweet, he deleted it.

PC Sreeram Calls 'L2: Empuraan A Comedy' In The Now Deleted Tweet

PC Sreeram posted "Empuraan on OTT is a comedy.” The comment did not go well with netizens, triggering criticism across social media.

A few weeks ago, cinematographer PC Sreeram urged director-actor Prithviraj Sukumaran not to make edits despite mounting pressure from right-wing groups.

Applauding the director-actor for showing the “truth” in the film, he said, “Truth threatens, thus Empuraan stands tall.

The film landed in controversy for its portrayal of communal violence, which is said to be a recreation of the Gujarat 2002 riots. Terming the depiction ‘anti-Hindu’, several right-wing groups threatened to boycott the film.

Directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, L2: Empuraan is a political action drama produced by Lyca Productions, Aashirvad Cinemas, and Sree Gokulam Movies, the film is available to stream in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.

Several users expressed their displeasure, stating that they did not expect such a critical comment from a respected personality like Sreeram. He soon deleted the tweet.

 

Mrunal Thakur ( Sita Ramam) has finished her look test for Allu Arjun- Atlee film. Already Deepika Padukone and Jhanvi Kapoor are in talks and only agreement papers need to be signed. BoxOfficeWorldwide Verdict

Internal trade buzz indicates a possible release in late 2025, perhaps over the festive season, and an extensive campaign across the country.

Given the current high-water mark of Jawan‘s ₹1100+ crore worldwide, trade insiders will be watching this venture closely. If the female cast is quickly locked, as expected, and the film fulfils Atlee’s claim of delivering white-knuckle drama, this could be expected to aim to outdo Jawan.

Also, the movie is a massive shift for Mrunal Thakur, and it could take her into the big league of commercial actresses. Her fan base continues to expand, and this mainstream actioner could prove a key that unlocks a whole new audience for her.

Mohanlal Condolence message gets slammed / Thalapathy Vijay Jana Nayagan sales record

 

Mohanlal’s condolence message to families of Pahalgam massacre has met with volley of abuse. Main charge is that he acted and promoted a film Empuran that glorified Islamic terrorism. Read replies;

 

I'm sorry to be rude but your latest movie literally glorified foreign Islamic mercenaries and you lost a lot of goodwill by choosing to associate with that crowd. So, spare us the theatrics while we are mourning our people

This tweet is just for formality. You will make Empuraan 2.0 which will be contrary to this incident. Any way, all the best.

Be happy, Lalettan. It's Zayed Masood's rightful revenge!!

L2: Empuraan is set to stream on JioHotstar. Producers Aashirvad Cinemas announced the news in a tweet. Their post read "L2: Empuraan will be streaming from 24th April only on JioHotstar."

Set against the backdrop of Kerala’s political landscape, L2: Empuraan delves into the themes such as power struggles, and corruption. The story follows the life of Jathin Ramdas, played by Tovino Thomas, who once held power as the state’s Chief Minister. However, his greed leads to widespread corruption, leaving Kerala in turmoil. As chaos escalates, several demand the return of Stephen Nedumpally, who they feel, can restore stability.

Jana Nayagan's Tamil Nadu theatrical rights has been sold to Romeo Pictures for a record deal of Rs. 90 Cr. 

 

 Jana Nayagan's Tamil Nadu distribution is the highest ever sale made for a Vijay film in the state. Reportedly, Romeo Pictures will officially finalize the deal this week. 

 

Jana Nayagan Rights

• OTT - Amazon Prime Video (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada)
• Satellite - Sun TV
• Tamil Nadu Theatrical - Romeo Pictures (Front Runners)
• Overseas - Phars Films
• Europe - 4 Seasons Creation
• UK - Boleyn Cinemas

 

 

 

 

 

Simran spoke about Laila / Empuran team to clash for Onam / Yash Hindi stuns Hindi bhaiyaas

 New input to Simran-  Jyothika issue , Guessing game is on ; Others believe the comment could be targeting Trisha, who recently worked with Simran in Good Bad Ugly alongside Ajith Kumar. Another name that popped up was actress Laila, her co-star in Sabdham. It is not Trisha as film was not released when Simran spoke on stage in March. Sabdham was released in February, 2025 . Laila and Simran while working in Parthean Rasithean did not share good vibes and in Pithamagan it was Laila who got meaty role. Laila was approached to do Andhagan role that went to Simran says source.  Andhagan was released on August 2024.

In an awards show, Jyotika was asked about her friendship with Simran. She said, "I've told this several times, Simran is my favourite actress. When I entered the industry, my mom told me to copy Simran, become as slim as her and dance like her. "

Several are guessing that she is talking about actress Jyotika, who recently starred in the series Dabba Cartel, hinting Simran's use of the word "dabba" as a subtle reference. However, no official word has come from either side, leaving the matter open for netizens to specualte.

Simran and Jyotika have starred together in Vaali and 12B.

After Empuran, Prithviraj and Mohanlal are clashing at the box office with two of their awaited films and joining them is Fahadh with his film. Epic clash is on ONAM. Mohanlal – Satyan Anthikad combo that has never failed with Hridyapoorvam, Prithviraj with Vilayath Bhudha and Fahadh Faasil with Odum Kuthita Chadum Kuthira are the three films to compete. Never before has these three heroes clashed at one time. Prithviraj directed Empuran starring Mohanlal is coming on JioHotStar on April 24^th.

In a video shared by ANI, Yash, dressed in a simple white shirt and sporting his trademark long beard, humbly expressed his feelings in Hindi after the darshan. The Kannada star said, “Bahot khushi huwa. Shiv ji ka aashirwaad chahiye tha. Aur main Shiv ka bahot bada bhakt hu. Bachpan se mujhe… mane-devaru bolte hai. Ghar ka Kuldevta bhi Shiva hai. Bahot khushi huwa. Woh vibration hi bilkul alag hai, hum jis tarah se baithe the, samay kaise chala gaya pata hi nahi chala. Dhyan mein baith gaye toh bahot accha laga. Sabka bhala ho, sabko achha ho, sabko abhivrudhi mile.”

This roughly translates to, “I felt very happy. I needed Lord Shiva’s blessings. And I am a big devotee of Shiva. Since childhood… we call him ‘Mane Devaru.’ Shiva is also the family deity at home. I felt pleased. That vibration is truly unique, as is the way we were sitting — we didn’t even realize how time passed. Sitting in meditation felt really good. May everyone be blessed, may everyone be well, and may everyone progress.”

Kannada superstar Yash, known for his powerful performances in the KGF franchise, recently visited the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Temple in Ujjain. Before the shooting of Ramayana, a much-awaited mythological epic, the actor went to the temple to visit Lord Shiva and seek blessings for the new venture.