Mithun with Rajini in Jailer 2 / NTR changed WAR 2 END/ Mammootty IS BACK

 The post from Mohanlal comes in the wake of celebratory updates from the film fraternity, confirming that Mammootty has made a full recovery, ending months of speculation about his well-being. Fans immediately embraced Mohanlal’s gesture, flooding the comments with messages of love and relief. Many called it a perfect symbol of the brotherhood between Malayalam cinema’s two towering figures. Mohanlal and Mammootty have been friends and contemporaries for over four decades, and their bond continues to be cherished just as much as their films.

Malayalam cinema fans were overjoyed on Tuesday as social media filled with celebratory posts confirming that veteran actor Mammootty has regained full health. Close friend and producer Anto Joseph was among the first to express his gratitude, writing, “The prayers of countless people across the world have been answered. Thank you, God, thank you, thank you.” While he did not directly mention Mammootty, the post has widely been understood as referring to the actor, given the context and Anto’s close association with him.

Soon after, industry insider Anura Mathai shared his excitement, writing, “The wait will be over soon! With the blessings of the Almighty, our Mammukka is back. We all waited with love, prayers, and hope — and today our hearts are full. Love you ikka.” Actor Maala Parvathi also joined in with a heartfelt note: “There is no better news than this. Mammukka has regained full health. Grateful to the doctors who treated him, to everyone who cared for him, and to the hospital. Love. Yessss… The King is back!”

Finally, George Sebastian, long-time associate of Mammootty, shared an especially emotional message: “With eyes brimming with joy, I stand before you with folded hands. To all who prayed, who stood by me, who comforted me when it seemed nothing would happen -- to all my dear ones, I offer my heartfelt thanks!” The heartfelt tone made the post feel almost like Mammootty’s own words, further moving fans. Adding to the chorus of relief, veteran filmmaker Siby Malayil, Puzhu director Ratheena PT, producer C V Sarathi and others also shared affectionate messages on social media.

According to an India Today report, Mithun has been roped in for a full-fledged role, integral to the storyline of Jailer 2. He is said to join Rajinikanth for shoot this week itself.

For the unversed, Rajinikanth has made special appearances in two Mithun movies in the past - Bhrastachar in 1989 and Bhagya Devta in 1997. The sequel, Jailer 2, is currently being shot in Chennai and other parts of India. It is being positioned as a bigger and bolder follow-up to the first installment that won hearts across the globe. Mithun, on the other hand, is awaiting the release of The Bengal Files.

Putting an end to recent speculation, young director Venky Atluri has denied reports that Bollywood star Anil Kapoor is playing a key role in his upcoming big-ticket Telugu film starring Tamil superstar Suriya. “We haven’t even approached Anil Kapoor. I haven’t met him or even spoken to him over the phone. We don't know how these rumours cropped up, hence these reports are false and baseless,” clarified Venky Atluri.

NTR Jr made Aditya Chopra change the climax to please his fans says journalist Subhash k Jha. Despite this War 2 is Telugu is trailing behinf Coolie Telugu in Two Telugu States. According to a report by journalist Subhash K Jha in Deccan Chronicle, NTR character was to die in the climax but he had it changed to please his fans.

Coolie Falls Below Leo / Nagarjuna faces backlash

 Rajinikanth and NTR Jr missed creating box office history and Thalapathy Vijay is still the King of Kollywood Box Office. Cooolie Directed by Lokesh surpassed two out of three films from his own LCU (Lokesh Cinematic Universe). His film Kaithi collected Rs 6.4 cr on its opening day, while the Kamal Haasan-starrer Vikram minted Rs 37.5 crore on its first day. The only film that Coolie couldn’t surpass was Leo, starring Vijay, Trisha Krishnan, Sanjay Dutt, and Arjun Sarja. The 2023 film made an impressive Rs 76.2 crore on its first day and went on to make Rs 341 crore. Even though Coolie couldn’t beat Leo’s opening, it did leave behind several of Rajinikanth’s previous films. Coolie beat TJ Gnanavel’s Vettaiyan (Rs 31.5 cr), Nelson Dilipkumar’s Jailer (Rs 48.35 cr), Karthik Subbaraj’s Petta (Rs 14 cr), and S Shankar’s 2.0 (Rs 23 cr)

In Telugu states the film has collected more than 20 Cr gross and become the 1st ever film to do this from Kollywood. Pan-Indian star Prabhas has a rare record of a hat trick of 100 Cr opening grossers with Adipurush,  Salaar, and Kalki 2898 AD. Not even SRK could achieve it.  NTR’s last 2 films, RRR and Devara, opened with more than 100 Cr, and everyone expected that the War sequel will easily score an opening of 100 Cr and NTR will join this club.

But War 2 fails to open with 100 Cr+, and with that, NTR fails to match Prabhas’s record.

 

Nagarjuna villain act in Coolie has not gone down well with his core audience, They feel that he should stop accepting character roles and instead wait for right scripts and stage a comenack and point out Venkatesh as an example. Nag played a crucial character in Kuberaa, and it resulted in a mixed response from fans, as they liked his role in the 1st half, as there was a good balance, but in the 2nd half, the character was sidelined, and the film completely moved on to Dhanush’s side. After watching  Coolie , even the neutral audiences are disappointed, and fans are furious with Nagarjuna, as they are angry that he could do such a regular villain character for his stature.

Coolie v/s WAR 2 Telugu States Box Office Battle UPDATE

 Telugu movie fans see Coolie as a film in which Nagarjuna for first time in his career is playing a full fledged role and WAR 2 is NTR Jr Bollywood Debut and that too with negative shades. How will these heroes perform ? .NTR Jr intervention has not helped WAR 2 I Telugu States advance bookings. Bought for Rs 90 crores, Coolie takes a big lead over the War sequel, and the latter did not even give minimal competition to the former. Everyone expected that in Telugu states, the scenario would be reversed, but Coolie outperforms War 2 in Telugu states too, in advance bookings. Rajinikanth’s Coolie shatters Game Changer’s record and becomes the biggest opener of 2025. The film’s opening-day pre-sales worldwide are 90 Cr, and it is set to cross the 100 Cr mark before the shows begin. Rajinikanth and Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Coolie’s ticket hike in Andhra Pradesh has been granted. The film received an Rs 75 hike in single screens (incl GST) and an Rs 100 hike in multiplex screens (incl GST) for 10 days. The film also got the permission of the 5 AM show, along with War 2, much to the happiness of fans. Rajinikanth-Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Coolie and Hrithik Roshan and NTR’s War 2 ticket hikes’ request has been rejected by the Telangana government.

At time of writing WAR 2 in Telugu States is fast catching up. n the Telugu states, where cinema is second only to cricket in popularity, bookings for War 2 and Coolie are strong. As per early trends, Coolie initially sold more tickets than War 2. However, this morning, the scenario changed – War 2 is now leading in hourly ticket sales. n the last hour, Coolie registered 2.93K tickets on BookMyShow, while War 2 sold 3.64K tickets in the same period. If this trend continues until the evening, War 2 could surpass Coolie and give tough competition to the Rajinikanth starrer.

Either way, both films are set to post massive Day 1 collections in the Telugu states, that’s a certainty. Ultimately, the content will decide which film stands tall.As we reported that WAR 2 advance booking in Hindi belt is below expectation as it has touched Rs 30 crore and was expected to be in Rs 70 cr. But Coolie the underdog in Hindi belt has got Rs 7 crore. Rajinikanth and Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Coolie’s total overseas advance bookings have crossed the 2 million mark for the opening day, and the film is expected to break Leo’s opening (8 million) and to set a new benchmark for Kollywood. Despite the recent pickup, the overall advance numbers for WAR 2 Hindi are still below the blockbuster levels many had predicted. In a surprising turn, the final advance sales for War 2 are tracking to be lower than its 2019 predecessor, War—a scenario few in the trade could have imagined. Consequently, the opening day forecast has been adjusted.

The best thing for the film  Coolie is that, along with the Tamil version, the Telugu version is also contributing massively to the record pre-sales overseas.

 

COOLIE RECENSOR ; DETAILS / WAR 2 REVIEW/ COMPARISON WITH COOLIE

 

Coolie was censored a while ago with an A, but as the post-production is underway, it has been re-censored with some exciting things.

• Thalaivar will have a special “50 Years of Rajni” title card, which will be an upgraded version of his classic one- with Lokesh’s red chip touch.
• Muted the word “Banchoth”, and brand names of the liqueur used in the film.
• Permissions obtained to use songs from other films, in this film with the granted NOC.
• Anirudh has added several rap songs to different parts of the film, such as introductions, and fight scenes.

“Added the song, You’ve Got That Look, in the already certified visuals of a lady killing others and remembering her past.”

Looks like we are going to get another Agent Tina sort of moment in the film, but with someone else. Intriguing.

An additional 25 seconds have been added to the film from the original censored version, and new theme tracks have been added to crucial parts of the film.

Music work is done for the film.

It has been given a U/A in most of the parts of the world except India, where it’s an A.

• War 2 is alright. It won’t sweep you off your feet, nor is it too difficult to sit through.
• The action set pieces are well-staged and executed. The VFX, though vastly improved, might still bother elitist nit-pickers (whisper: Coolie fans).
• The songs are decent, and the dance sequence featuring Hrithik and NTR is a treat to watch.
• Alia Bhatt appears in an extended cameo as Agent Alpha. Yes, SRK makes an appearance as Pathaan in a solid cameo.
• The movie is not boring by any standards—it keeps you hooked with its well-established action sequences.
• The Hrithik-Kiara love track is the only weak link; it just stretches the runtime unnecessarily.
• NTR absolutely steals the show in the confrontation episodes with Hrithik. They’ve cleverly built NTR’s rage around an emotional issue.
• Hrithik looks really good and plays Kabir with ease. His entrance involves a katana fight with "Wolf."
• NTR's first fight is what we saw in the trailer. His six-pack is revealed in the same scene.
• There’s an underlying layer of suspense and thrill throughout the movie.
• Ayan did a decent job. He executed the action set pieces well with decent VFX. However, he faltered with the emotional core—which is ironically his strength. He succeeds in patches. He gets NTR’s emotional arc right, but Hrithik’s emotional conflict isn’t convincingly portrayed.
• Music and BGM are strictly adequate. They should’ve gone for someone from the South.
• Comparatively, the second half is better than the first—especially if you're into action.

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Coolie vs War 2 — Quick Comparison

• Better Story: Coolie
• Screenplay: First Half – Coolie Second Half – War 2
• Action: War 2
• Music: Coolie
• Fan Moments: Equal
• Direction: Coolie
• Acting: Equal

With these two dream-teams competing for theater screens in India despite their regional differences, it has come to notice that Yash Raj Films has reserved all of the 30+ IMAX screens in the country for their movie War 2. This includes the one IMAX screen in Coimbatore, and the two in Chennai, Tamil Nadu which is supposed to be the home turf for Superstar Rajinikanth and Coolie. 

 

It is worth mentioning here that as of July 2025, there are 84 IMAX-labelled theater venues across India. However only 30+ are reflected in IMAX Corporation's official digital screen count, focusing on screens they directly operate or license. It remains to be seen if Sun Pictures manage to get IMAX screens for Coolie in India. 

Will Rajinikanth break WAR 2 to be TOP 10 OPENER ? ./ Moksha Kushal Next

 The question is Will Rajinikanth Coolie collect more than Rs 83 crores on opening Day and enter top 10 openers, In a clash with War 2, Coolie will suffer outside Tamil Nadu, which restricts it from entering the top 10 Indian openers of all time at the Indian box office. Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan holds the 10th position on the list, with a day 1 collection of 75 crores. War 2 will easily join the list with a massive start, pushing Jawan out. With Jawan moving out of the top 10, Jr NTR’s Devara will ograb the 10th spot with 83 crores. To enter the list, Rajini’s film will need to surpass Devara, If Coolie maintains a huge  opening in all four States and an average opening in Hindi belt, it is possible. But trade puts it at impossible and here why

Due to Aamir Khan’s presence, Coolie will attract footfalls in the Hindi belt, but they won’t be that high as War 2 will mostly dominate in the Hindi market. Even in the Telugu market, Jr NTR’s presence will give an edge to the War sequel. With a considerable dent in Hindi and Telugu, the Rajinikanth starrer will fail to reach its full potential on day 1. Marking the debut collaboration between director Lokesh Kanagaraj and Thalaiva, the upcoming Kollywood magnum opus is enjoying an immense buzz around itself. Despite a clash, the film will crush War 2 in Tamil Nadu and will likely post record-breaking numbers. However, it will suffer significantly outside the Tamil market due to a clash.

After a year-long hiatus, Moksha Kushal has signed her second Kannada film, Moda Kavida Vatavarana. Directed by Suni, .

second film, Moda Kavida Vatavarana. Directed by Suni,  Know about Moksha

• Modeling: Started professional modeling at age 18 under Prasad Bidapa, a leading fashion guru in Bangalore, for two years.
• Participated in various fashion shows and represented her college in fests across Bangalore.
• One of the seven South Indian finalists of Miss Diva 2015.
• Film: Debuted as a lead actress in the Kannada film 'Navarathna', released in February 2020 and available on Amazon Prime.
• Other films include 'Ayana' (2017), 'Aadipurana' (2018), and 'Kotee' (2024).
• In 'Kotee', she plays the character of Navami, described as cheerful, active, fun, and relatable, sharing many similarities with Moksha herself. She considered this role a breakthrough opportunity and benefited from workshops with seasoned actors like Dhananjay.
• Recognized for her dedication and clarity as a director by Param, the director of Kotee.
• Reported to be selective in her film choices, prioritizing quality projects and roles that resonate with her and the audience, rather than focusing on box office numbers.
• Expressed a passion for acting, appreciating the opportunity to experiment with different personalities and avoid monotony.
• Faces challenges as an actress without a background in the film industry, particularly in securing meaty roles and finding strong production teams. 
• 
  

Social media presence

• Active on Instagram with the handle @mokshakushal, sharing photos and videos related to her life and career. 

In summary, Moksha Kushal is an emerging actress in the Kannada film industry with a strong academic and athletic background, known for her dedication to her craft and her thoughtful approach to choosing projects. 

Lokesh to Repeat Leo Record with Coolie / Thalapathy could not folllow Kamal's advice

Why Lokesh Kanagaraj will repeat Leo success with Coolie and Rajinikanth ?  Released in 2023, Leo marked the reunion of Lokesh Kanagaraj and Thalapathy Vijay after Master. With crazy hype on the ground, the film clocked a superb 66 crore net at the Indian box office on day 1.  This figure was possible after Leo clocked high figures in two Telugu States as well as in Kerala and Karnataka. Now Coolie will have to play second fiddle to War 2 that has NTR Je with Hrithik. But looks like Coolie is just a rampage in these States after the lukewarm response to War 2.

Coolie has many things going its way. It has many familiar faces, including Rajinikanth and Nagarjuna. And on top of that there is adequate commercial appeal with the massy BGMs and commercial visuals.

Read more at: https://www.m9.news/movienews/coolie-shock-to-war-2-in-telugu-states. War 2 is going to be a Hindi flavoured spy actioner with very little domestic Telugu touch. Barring the presence of NTR, there might not be too much to get excited for the Telugu audience.

As officially announced, Coolie is scheduled to release on August 14, 2025. In a solo release, the film would  definitely bag the biggest opening ever for a Tamil film, as War 2 is a Hindi film dubbed in Telugu – Tamil .  Vijay’s Leo holds the record of the biggest Kollywood opening at the Indian box office with its massive day 1 collection of 60 crore+.  Lokesh will match it or go one step more with Coolie.

   According to an earlier report by India Today, Kamal Haasan was asked about Vijay’s films in a television interview. The National Award-winning actor responded by saying that Vijay had given some blockbuster films, and he had even seen some of them. But Kamal Haasan also wanted Vijay to make good films like accomplished Hindi film industry actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. He further said that Vijay has the potential to do that. By saying that Vijay should make ‘good films’ like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, Kamal Haasan might have meant that he should do films that blend quality storytelling with mass appeal.

Interestingly, Kamal Haasan’s remark about Vijay came in the same year when the latter’s film Bairavaa was released in theatres. Although the film received an underwhelming response from several critics, Bairavaa reportedly became Vijay’s fastest film to breach the 100-crore mark at that time (Via Indian Express) Before that, Vijay starred in Atlee’s action thriller Theri, which is regarded as one of the most popular films of his career. Both these Bollywood stars were doing content-oriented films, which did well commercially. Perhaps that’s why Kamal Haasan cited Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan as examples and wanted Vijay not to focus solely on mass entertainers. An advice that Thalapathy could not take heed. Last film is Jana Nayakan.

According to an earlier report by India Today, Kamal Haasan was asked about Vijay’s films in a television interview. The National Award-winning actor responded by saying that Vijay had given some blockbuster films, and he had even seen some of them. But Kamal Haasan also wanted Vijay to make good films like accomplished Hindi film industry actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. He further said that Vijay has the potential to do that. By saying that Vijay should make ‘good films’ like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, Kamal Haasan might have meant that he should do films that blend quality storytelling with mass appeal.

Interestingly, Kamal Haasan’s remark about Vijay came in the same year when the latter’s film Bairavaa was released in theatres. Although the film received an underwhelming response from several critics, Bairavaa reportedly became Vijay’s fastest film to breach the 100-crore mark at that time (Via Indian Express) Before that, Vijay starred in Atlee’s action thriller Theri, which is regarded as one of the most popular films of his career. Both these Bollywood stars were doing content-oriented films, which did well commercially. Perhaps that’s why Kamal Haasan cited Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan as examples and wanted Vijay not to focus solely on mass entertainers. An advice that Thalapathy could not take heed. Last film is Jana Nayakan.

Thalapathy Vijay Jana Nayagan crucial scene rights for Rs 4.5 cr / Jhanvi Kapoor slammed

 

As per reports, a crucial good touch bad touch scene from Bhagavanth Kesari, will be included in Jana Nayagan as per actor Vijay's insistence. As per Telugu 360 website, Sahu Garapati, the producer of Bhagavanth Kesari has sealed the deal and quoted for Rs 4.5 crores.

When it comes to Nandamuri Balakrishna, it’s always spread that he gives speeches that are laced with not-so-understandable Telugu poems, and slaps fans and other anger issues. But then, beating all this negativity into the sky, director Anil Ravipudi made sure that he delivered the right message to everyone through Balayya’s powerful stardom. And the iconic good touch bad touch scene is a testimony of that.

The ‘good touch bad touch’ scene from Bhagwant Kesari stands out big time as the message is powerful for young girls about when should they worry about a man’s touch.

The way Balayya details the scene with his powerful expressions and explains to girls that one should not touch them at particular places is something needed for society right now. The likes of hero Rahul Ravindran felt that this powerful communication coming from Balayya would reach everyone in a week which other mediums will take ten years.

In a recent interview with BBC Asian Network, Bosco Martis talked about choreographers being left out while talking about hit songs. While he praised Vicky Kaushal for gracefully giving credit to him for his hit song Tauba Tauba, he talked about Chuttamalle from Devara going viral with no credit for him. "I wish Janhvi would have spoken about it in her promotions, but fine, it's okay.", said Bosco with a smile. He added, "If they don't realise it, I think, then they don't realise it. So, you do your work, and maybe it's a switch I don't know!" Going back through Bosco interviews , he had given gone gaga over NTR Jr dance movements in the song and kept silent about Jhanvi.

'Chuttamalle' song from Jr NTR and Janhvi Kapoor’s film Devara: Part 1 was an instant chartbuster. Although the song initially faced criticism and backlash for plagiarism, it continued to receive support from Jr NTR fans. The song was also trending high for the number of reels and memes that were made.

Nayanthara-Vignesh Shivan's Twin Sons

Nayanthara-Vignesh Shivan's sons are the latest fans to vibe to NTR and Janhvi Kapoor’s super hit song Chuttamalle. The couple’s twin sons, Uyir and Ulag are a huge fan of music director Anirudh Ravichander's rendition. A video shared by Vignesh shows his sons humming to the song while in a car as Nayanthara captures the adorable moment. The songs also recreated Anirudh's famous hook part 'aah' just at the right time – much to the mom Nayanthara’s awe.