STAR STUDDED HARVEST-ONAM RELEASES

Star-studded harvest

Onam promises to bring a rich harvest of new film releases, writes KK Moidu


Top-ranking Mollywood actors, Mammooty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Dilip, Jayaram and “bachelor boy” Prithviraj are all waiting for the releases, which will coincide with the Onam festival. The superstars have a major task bringing back film buffs glued to their TV screens. All television channels will soon telecast blockbusters of these superstars and a variety of other Onam special programmes.
A major attraction during the festive season will be the Mammooty-Sreenivasan team’s pure entertainer, Bhargavacharitham Moonnam Khandam, directed by Joemon. Sreenivasan has written the film’s script and screenplay. Recently Mammooty and Sreenivasan worked together in Balram vs Tharadas and Prajapathy, but without much success. Mammooty’s early movies like Mela and Yavanika also starred Sreenivasan. Their later movies together were Artham, Sreedharante Onam Thirumurivu, Mazhayethum Munpe, Azhakiya Ravanan and Oru Maravathoor Kanavu . Some of these movies became superhits, though not because of the Mammooty-Sreenivasan partnership.
This was not the case in the Mohanlal-Sreenivasan partnership. Their combined presence in Sathyan Anthikkad films like TP Balagopalan MA, Gandhi Nagar IInd Street, Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam, Nadodikkatu, Pattanapravesam andVaravelppu etc. made those films superhits.
Director Priyadarshan also created box office hits like Thenmavin Kombathu, Mithunam, Akkare Akkare, Chandralekha, Kilichundan Mampazham etc. by banking on this partnership. The Lal-Sreeni team’s last hit was Udhayananu Tharam, directed by Roshan Andrews. After Udhayananu Tharam, Malayalam cinema got a fresh lease of life.
The Onam release Bhargavacharitham Moonnam Khandam is inspired by the Hollywood movie, Analyze That. That movie starred Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal and Lisa Kudrow. It is about a gangster Paul Viiti, played by De Niro, who returns from prison and approaches Dr Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal) for counselling.
Bhargavacharitham Moonnam Khandam, on the other hand is about Bhargavan (Mammooty) alias “Current Bhargavan,” a don who adopts a special method to eliminate his enemies. He controls the drug mafia. His hectic lifestyle upsets his mental balance and he approaches a well-known psychiatrist, Dr Shantaram (Srinivasan).
The frightened psychiatrist tries to avoid Bhargavan. However, when Bhargavan directly comes to the clinic, he gives in. Bhargavan’s problem is unique he has been losing his killer instinct, which is crucial for his profession. His association with Bhargavan turns Dr Shantaram’s life topsy-turvy.
Padmapriya plays Mammooty’s heroine in the movie. After the success of Kazhcha and Rajamanikyam, Padmapriya is tipped to be Mammooty’s lucky mascot. This will be the third time Mamooty film featuring her. Johny, Nikhitha and Mohan Jose play important roles in the movie, which has no songs. Noushad and Najeeb have produced the film under the NNS Arts banner. Market expectations are that the movie will be a crowd-puller.
Another superstar, who has completed 25 years on the Malayalam screen, Mohanlal, will hit the silver screen with the much-awaited Mahasamudram. The actor will play a fisherman for the first time and Laila will be his heroine. Mahasamudram is the debut venture of director Dr S Janardhanan. The very well-etched character, Isahaq, is likely to take Mohanlal to new heights. This will be third film that Mohanlal is doing an upcoming director, after Roshan Andrews’ Udhayananu Tharam. After the success of Udhayananu Tharam, he reconsidered his stance about working with new directors and accepted a role in Blessy’s Thanmathra.
In Mahasamudram, Isahaq (Mohanlal) is a fisherman, who also does social work and participates in sports like football. Isahaq’s wife Devi is arrested on murder charges on their wedding night. This hardens Isahaq’s heart and turns evil. His life becomes directionless and he encounters many problems as a result of this.
Five years later, when Devi is released on parole, an overjoyed Isahaq tries to return to his past virtuous life. But fate has some surprises in store.
Jagathy plays the local priest, who shares a special bond with Isahaq. Innocent plays Isahaq’s father, who loses sanity after his wife’s death. Other stars in the movie are Rahman, Sai Kumar, Santhosh, Babu Namboodiri and Krishnaprasad. The film has been shot on the beaches of Kollam, Vizhinjam and Alappuzha.
Mahasamudram is scripted by the director himself and music has been composed by M Jayachandran. Though several films have been made about the lives of fisherfolk, a few like Chemmen and Amaram have made a unique viewing. Janardhanan says his film has not used the sea as its background, though it plays an essential part. The film crew spent a couple of weeks in the sea, however, to shoot crucial scenes like Isahaq and Devi’s marriage, their wedding night and some action scenes of Mohanlal. Lal fans expect this film to give career a boost.
Dilip, another superstar who has given hits using his skills at humour, with roles like that of Radhakrihsnan in Chanthupottu, Kunhan in Kunhikkoonan etc., has changed tack to do action films like Chess. His Onam release, The Don, is directed Shaji Kailas, the director who gave Suresh Gopi the image of an action hero. He also created megahits with Mammooty and Mohanlal.
The Don is the story of an innocent man Unnikrishnan, who ends up becoming a dreaded gangster, Salaam (Dilip).
Unnikrishnan’s parents were killed and he is jailed for a murder he did not commit. A rich man Qasim (Lal) helps Unni to become Salaam. Gopika is the heroine. This is Dilip’s first movie with Shaji Kailas and he has worked hard and so expectations are also high. The director had planned the movie as a high-tech family entertainer. The filming was done at a rapid pace and the film’s music has been composed by Mohan Sitara.
Meanwhile, the original action hero Suresh Gopi and veteran director Joshi are coming together once again in Janmam. Joshi’s earlier hit with Suresh Gopi, Pathram, shattered box office records by garnering more than Rs 500 million in 25 days. In ran to full houses in 32 theatres across Kerala. The movie sought to expose newspaper barons involved in political meddling and other wrongful practices.
Janmam is an action/suspense thriller about Devarayar (Suresh Gopi), an orphan, who is taken to Veerakudi village by a truck driver and is later called Raayar. His parents were killed by suspected Naxalites.
Devarayar grows up to become a business tycoon and owner of several trucks. His word is law in Veerakudi village. He uses his money and muscle power to solve the social issues confronting the village. He also helps the villagers whenever they have any problems. A girl, whose education he sponsored is appointed the district’s collector. Devarayar marries the daughter of the truck driver, who brings him to the village. Soon he becomes a mediator in solving the problems of politicians as well.
When a toughie, Kaliappan, returns the village from jail, the idyllic peace is lost. Kaliappan sees an enemy in Devarayar. Why does he hate Devarayar? Janmam provides the answers.
The movie’s heroines are Gopika, Samvritha and Karthika. Biju Menon, Jagathy, Cochin Haneefa, Raju, and Anil Murali have important roles in the film. Shibu Chakravarthy and Ouseppachan have composed the music. The movie has been produced by Sasi for Tharangini Films.
Even though director Jayaraj’s Anachantham was supposed to be an Onam release, in order to avoid the competition with big-banner films, the movie has been released in theatres in Kerala. “God’s Own Country” is home to Kathakali, Kalaripayattu, Mohiniyattam, and Ayurveda and all of these have been featured in films. Elephants have not been given adequate footage, director Jayaraj decided to focus on this niche and the result was Anachantham. Jayaram, who owns an elephant, was considered the ideal choice to play the male lead in the film.
The film centres around Anirudhan (Jayaram), who loves elephants. Krishnaprasad (Sai Kumar), owns many elephants but does not love them. For him they are just a means to earn money. Television star Ramya Nambeesan makes her silver screen debut as a heroine. The movie also has Sreenivasan, Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy Sreekumar, Innocent, Captain Raju, Cochin Haneefa, Salim Kumar, Kaviyoor Ponnamma and KPAC Lalitha. The movie is a concoction of humour, family-based sentiments and values and has been shot in Ottappalam, Guruvayoor and Cherplassery.
At a time when Malayalam movies are still in the grip of superstars, youngsters like Prithviraj and Narian Sunil are doing a campus movie, Classmates, directed by Lal Jose. Both have hits in Tamil, where the competition is hot.
Classmates is about former students from the same batch, now working in different parts of the world, getting together relive the joys of their college days. Sukumaran (Prithviraj), who was once a firebrand leftist student leader. Sathisan Kanjikuzhi (Jayasoorya) belongs to the rival political grouping. Vasu “Vaalu” is his best friend and supporter. Indrajith is the college Romeo. Thara Kurup (Kavya Madhavan), a dancer, is the local legislator’s daughter. Another batchmate, Murali (Narain Sunil), a singer dies for unknown reasons. It was his idea that the group should meet 10 years after their graduation. Murali’s parents (Balachandra Menon and Shobha Mohan) are college lecturers, who arrange the get-together to make up for their son’s absence.
Though Malayalam TV channel are multiplying in numbers and most channels telecast movie-based programmes, good movies still manage to attract the public to cinema halls. Earlier the film producer’s association had banned actors, doing serials and stage shows, from acting in films. However, the film industry is still optimistic that festive occasions like Onam, Vishu, Christmas, New Year and Eid encourage the families to go to cinema halls. This is one major reason for the simultaneous Onam release of so many movies.