Movies Time: October 2011

Monday 31 October 2011

’22 Female kottayam’-the new Aashiq Abu film

'Salt'N Pepper' fame Aashiq Abu who had been in the preproduction work of his 'Idukki Gold' has suddenly shifted his plans and announced his new movie in the title '22 Female Kottayam'(22FK). Another small film featuring Rima Kallingal and Fahd Fazil in the lead cast, the new movie will be scripted by Abhilash kumar with the support of Shyam Pushkaran.

The movie which carries an interesting tag line 'No bullshit' will have Rima kallingal as a character named Tessa Abraham while Fahd will become Cyril C Mathew. Planned to start it's shoot by the first week of December, this new movie will be shot at Mangalore and nearby locations .Shyju Khalid is the director of Photography while 'Chappa kurisu' fame Rex Vijayan will handle the music department. Sameera Saneesh, Vivek Harshan, Bava and Pappaya leads the other technical sides of the project which is said to carry an interesting plot and message. Produced by Ogee, the movie is expected to become another surprise winner of 2012.

Bhumika steps into Venky-Mahesh multistarrer

The biggest multi-starrer Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu starring Super Star Mahesh Babu and Victory Venkatesh in the leads is soon hitting the floors. We have informed that Samantha is zeroed in for the leading lady role in the film and she will be pairing opposite Mahesh Babu.

Now, the latest and interesting update is Bhumika is being considered for the role of other female lead alongside Venkatesh. The actress is said to have given her nod after the makers approaching her. Earlier, Nayanatara and Trisha names have been in buzz. However, the makers are yet to confirm the news.

Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu is being directed by Srikanth Addala and produced by Dil Raju under Sri Venkateswara Creations banner.

Wedding bells for Dhanya Mary Varghese

Young star Dhanya Mary Varghese has confirmed that she is going to marry shortly. The actress who had been to exceptional roles from her debut movie "Thalappavu' to the recent 'Pranayam' says that her fiancee is a businessman based on Thiruvanthapuram. The betrothal function will be held this month at Koothattukulam, while the marriage will happen only by the early months of next year. Dhanya is in the plans to say goodbye to films with her marriage.

The actress who considers the decision a very personal one, is not ready to add to the stories about whether her fiancee is an young actor from Thruavananthapuram who also heads some other business and construction firms. Dhanya who is currently in the sets of 'Ennennum Ormakkay' will also don the lead in the new movie 'Platform No.One' directed by Nizar.

Prabhas get two hot ladies for UV Creations film

BizHat has earlier informed that Mirapakaya actress Richa Gangopadhyay has been zeroed in to play one of the heroines alongside Prabhas in his new film to be directed by Koratala Siva.

Now, the latest news is the voluptuous beauty Anushka has been signed for the leading lady role. The duo has earlier teamed up for Billa and set the screens on fire with their igniting chemistry.

So, the Young Rebel Star will be romancing two hot ladies Anushka and Richa in his next flick. Vamsi Krishna Reddy and Pramod Uppalapati will produce the film on the banner of UV Creations. Devi Sri Prasad will render the tunes for the film. The regular shoot of this untitled film will commence in a couple of days.

'Bejawada' to release on November 25

Naga Chaitanya and Amala Paul starrer Bejawada has finally have a release date. The movie, which was originally scheduled for Deepavali release, is now hitting the screens on November 25th. "We are launching the music on November 4th and movie on Nov 25th," producer Kiran Kumar said. Along with Ram Gopal Varma, he is producing it.

A new trailer was released to the media.

Directed by Vivek Krishna, Bejawada is a fictionalized film based on true incidents of rowdy war in Vijayawada city 80's and 90's.

Velayudham movie review

Velayudham is a mass Masala film.

Velayudham movie review

Velayudham is a mass Masala film.

Saturday 29 October 2011

Billa 2 Movie Online – Preview

Ajith's forthcoming offering, 'Billa 2′, is a prequel to his 2007 blockbuster hit, 'Billa'. This film by Chakri Toleti showcases how a commoner who is an Eelam refugee, David (read Ajith), from the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu goes on to become Billa, one of the most feared underworld dons.

Ajith plays the titular role in the film with Parvathy and Bruna Abdullah playing his lead ladies and Sudhanshu Pandey in a pivotal role. Earlier, Huma Qureshi was supposed to play the main female lead; however she was replaced by Parvathy after the first schedule of the film, as the script underwent changes, which was after the makers watched Ajith's 50th offering, 'Mankatha'.

It may be mentioned that Ajith's 'Billa' that released in 2007 and was directed by Vishnuvardhan, fetched him more fans than ever and the movie was one sleek package with Nayanthara and Namitha on board and racy scenes.

An interesting aspect is that the director of this film, Chakri Toleti, will use an EPIC camera for filming. 'Billa 2′ is now the first ever Indian film to be shot using an EPIC camera. It was the same breed of EPIC Camera that was used by James Cameron to film 'Avatar'.

Audiences will also get to see a younger Ajith in this film as the script demands for it. The tunes for the film have been composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja who composed the songs of 'Mankatha' as well. Cinematography is by RD Rajashekar.

The film's logo that was recently unveiled has become quite a rage among thala fans, especially in social networking sites.

With thala Ajith playing the lead along with two hotties for the female leads, Yuvan's music and Chakri's direction, 'Billa 2′ that will release in April 2012 is definitely going to be one of the most expected films next year.

Cast: Ajith Kumar, Parvathy Omanakuttan
Direction: Chakri Toleti
Production: L. Suresh
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Friday 28 October 2011

TV actor Ronit Roy arrested for rash driving

Television actor Ronit Roy became the latest addition to the list of celebrities involved in rash and negligent driving when he was arrested for ramming his Mercedes into another car during early morning hours on Thursday.

Out of the four accident victims two are severely injured and undergoing treatment including surgery, the vehicles has also been considerably damaged in the accident.

Sneha Darera, one of the accident victims, who has filed a complaint with the police at Amboli, said that Ronit's car was at high speed when it collided with their car throwing her mother out of the car from the other side.

"My sister has sustained head injuries, my father's back is hurt and in pain. My mother's left arm has been dislocated, she also has suffered head and rib injuries," said Darera.

Darera did not rule out the possibility of Roy being drunk during the incident.

Meanwhile Ronit Roy's brother, Rohit who is also a TV actor tried to evade questions posed by the media and did not divulge any significant information.

"I don't have a clear idea about things as no one is telling me anything clearly, we shall come to know in a while," said Rohit.

As per latest reports, the actor has been released on a bail with a surety of rupees 12,000 by a local court.

Prachi Desai & Neil Nitin Launches Love n Latte Coffee Joint

Ra One review: "Well executed interesting concept!!!"

After months of hype, anticipation & exhaustive publicity, "Ra One" has finally hit the screens on the day of festival of lights. With Salman ruling the roost since the past two years, it's high time that SRK regained his throne as the Baadshah of Bollywood. As opposed to all his previous ventures which inevitably portrays him as the quintessential lover with his hands spread out & skewed posture, this time around he has touched upon the topic of superheroes. With "Enthiran" having set a bench-mark, it's now about raising the bar & SRK has busted about 150 Cr to ensure that's it on par with Hollywood. But the question now is whether it will be a profitable venture???

In the present day, video-games are a rage among the youngsters be it "Final Fantasy", "Resident Evil" etc., & this is the very concept that is being dealt here. Shekhar Subramanium (SRK) is the master brain of Barron Industries who are one of the world leaders in video gaming. However, Shekhar always fails to impart much of an impact on his son Pratheek (Armaan Verma). It is in this process of being his son's hero, that Shekhar comes up with his latest invention "Ra One", boasting of a villain even powerful than the hero. Just as things starts to fall into place, all hell breaks lose when Ra One enters into the real world with the aim of killing Lucifer (Pratheek's gamer name). In order to protect Pratheek, the most logical solution seemed getting the hero of the game, G One into the real world. So will Pratheek's desire for a powerful villain spell his own doom???

There is no denying the fact, that we Indians do cosy up to the sci-fi flicks churned out by Hollywood while imparting a step motherly attitude to our own efforts in the same genre. This is usually due to the lack of perfection & at times purely due to a pre-conceived notion that it feels illogical when we attempt it. Without doubt, SRK & Anubhav Sinha has taken a huge risk in making this dream a reality. Anubhav was ably supported in the scripting by Kanika Dhillon, Mushtaq Sheikh & David Benullo; and frankly speaking the concept was truly interesting.

Unlike Hollywood, where money isnt much of an issue recreating such a venture onto celluloid in India would require a strong financial backing & SRK along with Eros has more than ensured that. The VFX team under the watchful eyes of Jeff Kleiser ("Stargate" fame) was a revelation & has come up with the best effects ever seen in India. The same goes for the stunts by Andy Gill & Spiro Razatos, with stunning visuals by V Manikandan & Nicola Picorini. The music by Vishal-Shekhar was fantastic to say the least with "Chammak Chalo" & "Criminal" rendered by Akon setting the charts on fire.

SRK, Akon, Kareena & Anubhav Sinha

SRK as G-One was pretty good, but hasnt done anything that would make us look at him with awe unlike Rajni who blew our minds away with "Enthiran". It might be due to this very fact, that SRK has roped in Rajni for a guest appearance in his Chitti avatar, which had the audiences in a frenzy. Arjun Rampal as Ra One appears only in the 2nd half & he definitely looked menacing while Kareena as Sonia has imparted a decent act . However it was Armaan, who has delivered the best performance in the movie as he seemed confident & doesnt seem overrawed by the presence of such huge stars.

Verdict: Over all the movie was impressive with an interesting concept which was brilliantly executed. However, unlike "Enthiran", we definitely feel that there was scope for more death defying stunts as it seems too few & far apart for a movie of this scale. The movie will have a killer opening & without sounding boastful I believe that it's on its way to being one of the biggest hits ever. In short, I believe that you guys should definitely give it a try for its technical perfection!!!

Regards...Ben

Rating: 3.5/5

7am arivu review: "Linking the plots fails to make sense!!!"

Diwali is one festival which is looked forward to much gusto & mirth by Tollywood as it believes that the box office will also be metamorphically lit up. As one would expect, almost all of the major stars will inevitably have a movie on this auspicious occasion. This time around, its the much famed Suriya-Muragadoss-Harris Jayaraj combo's latest offering "7am arivu" which has caught the audience's imagination. After having enthralled the audience with "Ghajini", it's quite natural that the masses would settle for nothing less than a blockbuster. But can they live upto the hype???

If we browse through the pages of history, the first thing that strikes us is the undeniable fact as to how instrumental our country has been in contributing to the history of mankind be it science, maths, wealth, culture etc. But unfortunately, we Indians have a mindset that pastures on the other side are greener. Interestingly, Muragadoss has touched upon the topic of Bodhidharma, creator of the renowned Shaolin martial art who was believed to have hailed from the Pallava dynasty in Kanchipuram (6th century) which beyond doubt exhibits the ignorance of many of us.

Bodhidharma (Suriya) renounces his royalty & leads the life of an ascetic before settling down in China. Here, he imparts wisdom regarding medicinal plants and trains them in martial arts till his last breath. Fast forward to the present day, where China is involved in a fierce cold war with India & on the back of which they come up with Operation Red on whose completion they believe will have India on its knees. They entrust the task to Dong Lee (Johnny Tri Nguyen) along with the mission to eliminate the researcher Shubha Srinivasan (Shruti Hasan). So what was Operation Red & why was Shubha's death so necessary for the Chinese???

Muragadoss has come up with two interesting sections within the movie, one dealing with Bodhidharma & the latter on the present day crisis. The first 20 mins which dealt with Bodhidharma was outstanding to say the least & raises the expectations of the audience. But what then follows is a downward slide which finally culminates in a disappointing climax. Though the Operation Red idea was interesting, Muragadoss's attempt to connect the past with the present was whimsical. It might also due to the fact that I am a researcher, due to which I found many of the sequences totally absurd like seeing DNA though a microscope etc.

Cast & crew at the music launch by Dhanush

Coming to performances, Suriya was outstanding as the ascetic exuding calmness & wisdom while his present day avatar didnt have much scope other than flexing his muscles. This is one movie where the villain gets as much screen space as the hero & Johnny totally deserves it for his cold blooded attitude mingled with being drop dead handsome. Shruti Hasan has finally managed to come up with an act which deserves a word of praise after some forgettable movies. As for other aspects, Ravi Chandran's visuals were stunning while Jayaraj's music were hummable but the BGM for the villain left a lot to be desired for.

Verdict: There are no prizes for guessing that the film will garner an outstanding initial owing to the reputation of the crew & impressive promos. However, the loopholes in the script coupled with some repeated sequences such as the mass hypnotism will act as a dampener. In short, there is no harm in giving it a try if you dont pile up your expectations!!!

Regards...Ben

Rating: 3/5