Thugfluencers Event Report/ Nagarjuna Back in BB Telugu/ Kubera Tamil goes cheap/ Samantha shifts OTT

 The Thugfluencers Event

REDDIT Discussion; Tamil cinema has completely collapsed to the point where they must now rely on a group of so-called social media influencers with at least 10,000 followers to market their work. The majority of these individuals are untrustworthy, hate-mongers, cringe content producers, and truly have no idea what the movie industry is all about.

The end of this era must be imminent.

Omment; GSKGalaxy

•1d ago

Kanni

say what u will, i think the PR team for the movie knows exactly what they are doing. they obviously dont gaf if these so-called "influencers" know shit about the film. but each of them will make their own instagram reel about the experience, and the fact these many influencers are making a reel about it wld drive the popularity of the film to make sure the ordinary person would watch it. or at least make them aware of it.

ps: tho i still dont know why they thought it was okay to call this THUGFLUENCERS. its sending me istg 😭😭😭

 Mid Day reports The launch was an extraordinary affair—The Thugfluencers Event- it was an experience, a full-blown, immersive festival for fans, creators, and influencers who descended from across the country to witness the storm that is Thug Life.

About the trailer launch event

The evening saw the titans of the film grace the stage—Kamal Haasan, Mani Ratnam, A.R. Rahman, Silambarasan TR (STR), Trisha, Abhirami, and Ashok Selvan—each met with roaring applause and standing ovations. As the trailer rolled on giant screens, the atmosphere electrified with gasps, cheers, and goosebumps. Kamal Haasan’s fierce transformation and magnetic screen presence, Ravi K. Chandran’s arresting visuals, and Rahman’s soul-piercing score came together in a montage that evoked power, pain, and purpose. At its core, Thug Life promises a saga of revenge and betrayal, told through the eyes of a man who refuses to be tamed.

The evening also featured candid talk sessions with the cast, where Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam opened up about their collaboration after 36 years. Rahman spoke about how the score is as much a character in the film as the protagonist. STR, Trisha, and the supporting cast shared their experiences of working under Mani Ratnam’s legendary direction and matching steps with Kamal Haasan's powerhouse performance.

To everyone’s pleasant surprise, the Hindi trailer of Thug Life was also unveiled on time, which is not often seen in the case of pan-India biggies. So, in this case, the makers deserve full marks. Thug Life has agreed to Multiplex Associaton of North India to not release the OTT before 8 weeks of the theatre release and so major theatre chains are to screen it in North India. Trailor reviews are positive. Koimoi  reports ; Overall, Thug Life’s trailer promises a crazy ride filled with high-octane action sequences and drama, over a power struggle, of course, with a Mani Ratnam touch.

Nagarjuna Akkineni will return for Season 9 of Bigg Boss Telugu and will reprise his role as the host. There is no change in his contract, and Balakrishna is not stepping in.

Bigg Boss Telugu began with NTR hosting the first season, followed by Nani for the second. From the third season onwards, Nagarjuna took over and has been successfully anchoring the show. In contrast, for the Tamil version, Vijay Sethupathi recently replaced Kamal Haasan, which sparked speculation about a host change in the Telugu version as well.

Initially, it was rumored that Vijay Deverakonda would host the upcoming season to appeal to a younger audience. Later, reports claimed that Nandamuri Balakrishna would take over, riding high on the popularity of his talk show “Unstoppable with NBK.”

However, all these remained mere speculation. Nagarjuna is officially returning to host the show once again. ( telugucinnema.com)

List of probable BB Malayalam contestants are out and no change in host is to take place as Lalettan is very much committed to the show. More so after Empuran L2 was bought by JioHotstar.

Kubera The film’s Tamil Nadu theatrical rights have been bagged by Romeo Pictures, and the rights are said to be valued at 20 Cr on an MG basis. To achieve the target, 40 Cr gross is enough for the film to achieve breakeven, which is for sure a great deal for the distributor, as Dhanush’s Kuberaa’s Tamil Nadu rights have been underpriced. The reason for the film being sold at such a moderate price is that it was projected as a Telugu film, as it has been directed by a Telugu director. The situation is much more similar to Dhanush’s other bilingual movie, Sir [Vaathi].

For the Sir movie also, the same happened, as it did extremely well in Telugu and collected more than 40 Cr gross in Telugu states, whereas in Tamil Nadu it closed under 40 crores.

Samantha Changes OTT platform says no to cut in fees

Samantha Producer of Subham has now signed a deal with JioHotstar for OTT rights after refusing to take a cut in price offered by Zee who had agreed to buy the OTT and TV Telugu rights. Post theatrical release, the film got mixed reviews and an average status at box office.

Aakash Baskaran l Assistant Director to Producer ; ED after him

 Meet Aakas Baskaran :Assistant Director to Vignesh Shivan in Naanum Rowdy Thann which ignitedlove affair between Director and heroine Nayanthara and film was produced by Dhanush, he is a Producer of three films with a combined investment of Rs 500 crores, Baskaran was AD to Perisamy in Amaran. His wife is

 

Aakash Baskaran the Film Producer whose house for the second day is searched by ED is today most searched guy on net Last time when Dhanush and STR who are not pals danced together on stage and Nayanthara was seen sitting couple of chairs away from Dhanush at Aakash wedding was a surprise., She is facing a Rs 10 crore compensation suit from Dhanush. All this happened at Aakash Baskran’s wedding. Let us go a little back. In 2024, Akash Bhaskaran got married to Dharaneeswari, daughter of businessman CK Ranganathan, who owns Cavinkare Pvt Ltd. Her mother is Thenmozhi,  great granddaughter of late DMK Chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

Dharaneeswari's brother, Manu Ranjith, is married to actor Vikram’s daughter, Akshitha. Aakash Bhaskaran launched Dawn Pictures, a film production company headed by him.

Akash Bhaskaran initially made his debut as an assistant director with the film Naanum Rowdy Than directed by Vignesh Sivan, and later worked as an assistant director in films such as Kathu Vaakula Rendu Kadhal, Pavakathaigal, and Amaran. It shocked everyone that an assistant director suddenly became a producer.

When Dhanush's upcoming film Idli Kadai was facing financial difficulties, he took it upon himself to produce it. After that, he has also produced Parasakthi, a film directed by Sudha Kongara starring Siva Karthikeyan, Jayam Ravi and Atharvaa, and Simbu's STR-49, and in a very short period of time, he has been producing such mega-budget films. Not only this, he is also directing and producing the film Idyam Murali, starring Atharvaa.

His maiden project is Dhanush's Idly Kadai, which will release in theatres on October 1. The film is also directed by Dhanush, and co-stars Nithya Menen, Sathyraj, Parthiban and Shalini Pandey.

He is also producing Sivakarthikeyan's Parashakti. directed by Sudha Kongara and starring Sivakarthikeyan, Ravi Mohan, Atharvaa and Sreeleela. The film is produced on a budget of Rs 200 crore.
Dawn Pictures is the banner behind Silambarasan TR's STR 49 directed by Ramkumar Balakrishnan. It stars Santhanam, Kayadu Lohar and VTV Ganesh as well.

Aaksh also turns director with Idhayam Murali. The film stars Atharvaa Murali, Kayadu Lohar in lead roles, alongside Preity Mukhundhan, Natty Subramaniam, Niharika NM and Thaman S.

Baskaran Akash is currently associated with 6 companies in various capacities such as Director and Individual Promoter. He serve as a Director at THAMMAMPATTY SWARNA MAALIGAI JEWELLERS PRIVATE LIMITED , AAKASH BASKARAN CREATIVE STUDIOS PRIVATE LIMITED, DAWN PICTURES PRIVATE LIMITED, THULI STUDIOS PRIVATE LIMITED, AAKASH BASKARAN PROPERTIES PRIVATE LIMITED

 

Aakash Baskaran, producer at Dawn Pictures came under The Enforcement Directorate (ED) scanner on May 16, for producing several high-budget films worth Rs 400-550 crores - all at the same time.

Samantha is no Home Breaker -Details / Chiyaan with Rajamouli- Mahesh ? / Manju next Tamil film details

 

Those who were calling Samantha as home breaker need to check again as Raj with whom she is seen around had divorced his wife way back in 2022. They have a son from that marriage. In fact a photo of Raj  with a girl was posted as his daughter. The girl is co director DK’s daughter. “Samantha and Raj are considering moving in together and are scouting for properties. They have the intent to live together and are working in that direction."

It was also clarified that Raj divorced his former wife Shyamali in 2022 and grew close to Samantha while working on Citadel. "Raj got officially divorced to Shhyamali in 2022 and found love in Samantha after they collaborated for Citadel. Meanwhile, reports about Raj being spotted with his daughter are false. He doesn’t have a daughter, and the kid he was spotted with is his co-director Krishna Dk’s daughter,” cleared the source

ON four occasions, Sam had posted her with Raj and now the fifth was after Shubham , her maiden Production . Actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu penned a special post on the success of her film Subham, and a picture from the grid featured her with Raj Nidimoru. One picture shows Raj posing for a picture near a poster of Subham. Another picture features him helping her during her cameo as Maatha, and one sweet picture even shows her cozying up to him in what looks like a aeroplane

Manju Warrier next Tamil film is with Arya- Gautham Karthik titled Mr X and is directed by FIR fame Manu. It has Sarathkumar, Raiza Wilson, Anegha among others. Film is nearing release.

Chiyaan Vikram is the latest to join the SS Rajamouli- Mahesh Babu film is the buzz. After reports said that Prithviraj had dropped out of this project, Vikram was mentioned but after the former reported for the shooting, it died down. Now once again the buzz puts the name of Chiyaan Vikram and this time for a different role. Vikram had said that he and Rajamouli are pals and in talks and that they might just join. 

Kamal Haasan- As a Director I would have Died on the Streets / June Biggies List

 Kamal has released an interview with the Hollywood  Reporter today, yet another  brilliant one. Though most of it is known to scribes down South , some were striking like the scripting of Thug Life. Recently the team gave several interviews for the Telugu media which will be released soon.

ON why Kamal took up acting full time;

Kamal Haasan shared that K Balachander liked his story and used it in the film Zara Si Zindagi. At 19, Kamal told him he wanted to be a director, but Balachander said it would be a tough life and he might end up riding in autos. He told Kamal to become an actor instead. Kamal said, “Forget riding an auto rickshaw, I would’ve probably died in one had I not taken his advice."

The famous actor said many of his talented friends died sadly on the streets. He remembered what Balachander told him and decided to focus on acting. “The died on the streets," he said, looking back on the advice that Balachander gave him. “That’s how I decided to totally go into acting. If I had made that mistake, he would’ve been right… I’ve seen many of my friends die like that… That is why I am grateful to Mr Balachander, because I could’ve gone down that route. I would’ve died with my angst, with my unfulfilled dreams, in an auto rickshaw. And nobody would know that there is a dead body in the auto rickshaw."

More at https://www.hollywoodreporterindia.com/features/interviews/kamal-haasan-interview-thug-life-and-nayakan-make-you-understand-the-futility-of-violence

Promo shedules l Note A R Rahman Australia concert missing

The Schedule:

Okay so here is the planned schedule.

• TRAILER LAUNCH TAMIL - MAY 17TH
• TRAILER LAUNCH HINDI - MAY 20TH
• TRAILER LAUNCH MALAYALAM - MAY 21ST
• TRAILER LAUNCH TELUGU - MAY 22ND
• AUDIO LAUNCH - MAY 24TH AT SAIRAM COLLEGE
• PRE RELEASE EVENT (DEHLI) - MAY 26TH
• PRE RELEASE EVENT (BANGALORE) - MAY 27TH
• PRE RELEASE EVENT (TRIVANDRUM) - MAY 28TH
• PRE RELEASE EVENT (VIZAG) - MAY 29TH
• PRE RELEASE EVENT (MALAYSIA) - MAY 31ST
• PRE RELEASE EVENT (DUBAI) - JUNE 1ST
• THUG LIFE RELEASE - JUNE 5TH.
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  ·         Starting with Thug Life starring Kamal Haasan, which will release on June 5th worldwide. The film is carrying great buzz, with the promotional content also impressing the majority of the audience. The film is also the combo of Kamal Haasan and Director Mani Ratnam, who re-united after nearly 3 decades.

  ·         Hari Hara Veera Mallu, starring Pawan Kalyan, which faced multiple shoot delays and release postponements, has finally locked its release date on June 13th. The film is a period drama directed by Krish and A.M. Jyothi Krishna.

  ·         Kubera starring Dhanush is directed by Sekhar Kammula. The film has been scheduled to release on June 20th worldwide. The film also stars Nagarjuna in a crucial role and also has a good buzz.

  ·         Kannappa starring Manchu Vishnu is a heavy budgeted film based on the devotee of Lord Shiva, Bhakta Kannappa. The film will release on June 27th. There are high expectations of the film due to its large scale making and visuals.

   

   

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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

Lokesh as hero pooja today / Priyanka Mohan- Nivin Pauly in Benz / Karthi Sardar 2 Hindi Prologue clicks

 Sources said that Lokesh Kanagaraj’s debut film as a lead kicks off with a pooja today. The film will be directed by Captain Miller Arun Matheswaran, and the shooting begins in a week. The movie will be produced by Lokesh Kanagaraj himself under the G Squad banner, along with Passion Studios and The Route banners. 

Lokesh Kanagaraj frequently shows up on screen in the movies that he directs. His appearance in ‘Master’ with Thalapathy Vijay thrilled fans, and he also appeared in the music video for ‘Inimel,’ written by Kamal Haasan. 

More Details about LCU Benz launched yesterday.Latest addition is Priyanka Mohan

Raghawa Lawrence will play the lead role, while Madhavan and Nivin Pauly play crucial roles. Now, actress Priyanka Mohan joins LCU, as she will play the lead actress in Benz.

The film will have a big craze among audiences as it is an LCU project, and they are waiting for more details of the movie. Lokesh directed all three films of the Lokesh Cinematic Universe, but for the first time, an LCU film was directed by another filmmaker. The story, screenplay, and production will be done by Lokesh Kanagaraj.

The film is titled Benz, and it was announced long ago but was delayed. Finally, Benz Film’s official pooja ceremony was done, and the shoot started yesterday. Directed by Bhagyaraja Kannan, the film’s music will be composed by Sai Abhyankar.

 Karthi is pushing his boundaries to deliver a pan-Indian success with Sardar 2. If Sardar 2 ends up as a successful venture for Karthi, it may open up a new market for him in North Indian states.Sardar 2 is in the final stages of shooting, and the team is aiming for a Diwali release. This movie is being developed as a pan-Indian project, and the team has now officially released the prologue in Hindi.

Karthi has more sequels in the pipeline than most Indian actors currently. Besides filming ‘Sardar 2’, a sequel to his hit spy thriller Sardar, he has also committed to ‘Kaithi 2’, the highly anticipated sequel to the Kaithi blockbuster by Lokesh Kanagaraj.

Adding to the excitement, there’s buzz around sequels to Karthi’s earlier hits like ‘Khakee’. While there were initial talks of a sequel to ‘Kanguva’, the film’s poor performance at the box office may have shelved those plans for now. However, fans were thrilled to spot Karthi in the climax of ‘Hit 3’, which unofficially hints that he will take the lead in ‘Hit 4’, further cementing his role in the growing Hit universe.

Nayanthara's Pradeep film release date / Why Samantha company is Tralala Moving Pictures ?

 Nayanthara and SRK should have collaborated in Chennai Express but the former turned it down saying that personal reasons. It seems a song featuring SRK and her was to be be choreographed by Raju Sundaram. Raju is brother of Nayan’s ex BF Prabhdeva, The role went to Priyamani.

Nayanthara next Production with Lalit Kumar and directed by hubby Vignesh Kumar release date has been out. The romantic sci-fi drama Love Insurance Kompany has locked its release date for September 18, 2025. Directed by Vignesh Shivan, the film will give a mix of romance and futuristic storytelling. The project ensembles a star-studded cast featuring Krithi Shetty, SJ Suryah, Yogi Babu, and Gouri Kishan, with Pradeep himself playing the lead.  Nayanthara also gave a shoutout to her husband Vignesh's upcoming film and dropped the video. Sharing the clip, she captioned, "Come FALL IN LOVE, this FESTIVE SEASON♥️♥️✨✨ ✨✨

Love Insurance Kompany was originally announced with actor Sivakarthikeyan, but the earlier version was shelved. Now reimagined with Pradeep at the helm, the film is being produced on a grand scale.

The film's technical crew is nothing short of top-tier, with Anirudh Ravichander composing the music and Ravi Varman handling the cinematography. Pradeep E Ragav is on board as the editor.

The song featured in this highly anticipated film has been released and has been viewed by more than 33 million viewers, setting a record. In this context, it has been announced that the film will be released in theaters worldwide on September 18th. Following this, the film's songs, teaser, trailer, sneak peek, etc. will be released in succession, the film team has said.

Meanwhile, the first song from the film, which was released in the Pradeep Ranganathan - Vignesh Sivan - Anirudh collaboration, has been well-received by millions of viewers, and it is noteworthy that there are great expectations among the fans and the film industry for the songs of the film and the film itself.

About Pradeep's upcoming films

Adding to the excitement, Pradeep also stars in another upcoming film titled Dude, slated for a Diwali 2025 release. Directed by debutant Keerthiswaran, the film stars Mamitha Baiju of Premalu fame and will feature music by Sai Abhyankkar. However, it won’t be a solo festival release as Dude is expected to clash at the box office with Dhruv Vikram’s Bison, sparking early buzz.

In December 2023, Samantha launched her own production company, named Tralala Moving Pictures under which she produced her first film Subham. A horror-comedy, Subham has hit theatres on May 9, and opened to positive reviews at the box office.

As part of the film's promotions Samantha Ruth Prabhu discussed the reason behind the film production house's name to journalist Baradwaj Rangan.

Talking to Galatta Plus, Samantha Ruth Prabhu said, the Tralala is from Brown Girl in the Ring song. To which the anchor was surprised, as the song released in 1978, and he didn't think Samantha would know of it. She said "I put myself in the ring, in a man's world."

For the unversed the song is from the album Nightflight to Venus by Boney M. The lyrics goes "Brown girl in the ring Tra la la la la there's a brown girl in the ring Tra la la la la la." Samantha had once mentioned on social media that it is one of her favourite songs, which she listened to while growing up.

A statement by the actress about two years ago, read "Very excited to announce my production house, Tralala Moving Pictures! Tralala Moving Pictures aims to produce content representative of new age expression and thought. A nurturing space which invites and encourages stories that speak to the strength and complexity of our social fabric. And a platform for filmmakers to tell stories that are meaningful, authentic and universal. (Inspired from one of my favourite songs growing up. Brown girl is in the ring now...) (sic)."

Director Nandini Reddy recently revealed that Samantha had told her that she will ensure pay parity for everyone who worked on her production, tentatively titled Bangaram, under Tralala Moving Pictures. Samantha was last seen in Raj and Dk's Citadel: Honey Bunny.