Balan. K. Nair Passes Away

Veteran actor and Bharat awardee Balan. K. Nair passed away at Thiruvananthapuram on August 26th. He was suffering from pneumonia and other related complications. He had been ailing for a long time with other health problems. Balan.K.Nair was admitted to the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology on July 17th after a lump was spotted in his brain. Later he was put on ventilator and was showing signs of improvement when things took a bad turn on Tuesday, 23rd. The end came at 11:45 on Saturday. He was 68. Balan.K.Nair was awarded the Best Actor for his role in M.T.Vasudevan Nair's 'Oppol'in 1982. Later he became synonymous as a villian and did many memorable roles for which he will be remembered for a long time to come.

Summer Palace

Summer Palace is a thriller directed by M K Murali for Aruvi Creations. Kalivanam MP Radhakrishnan's three daughters go to a summer resort in a forest. Two of the daughters, newly married, are accompanied by their husbands and treat the trip as a honeymoon while the third girl who is unmarried falls in love with the son of the resort cook. Strange things start happening suddenly one night and one of the girl’s husband starts behaving abnormally. A Police Commissioner who has divine powers starts an investigation. The screenplay is by Pallaseri and camera is by Raja Krishnan. Music by Benny Ignatius. Mayuri, Sindhu and Anju Aravind are the three daughters. Devan, Hari Nair and Risabava star opposite them.

Sukanya

Sukanya is the story of a woman seeking revenge but in a novel way. Based on a popular short story by K C Karaikal, the film tells the story of Sukanya, an orthodox Brahmin girl who is considered to be a symbol of goodness and virtue. Sukanya, a medical student loves her neighbour, a jewellery shop employee. But before they can get married, the boy dies under mysterious circumstances. The Brahmin community blames her for the misfortune and she then marries Hari Krishnan, son of a Gandhian. After marriage she starts plotting against the politicians who plotted against her and her lover. She gets help from two strange quarters - a Police Commissioner and a rowdy. Vani Vishwanath plays Sukanya and has Sai Kumar, N F Varghese, Rajan P Dev, Janardhan, Jagathy and Indrans in the cast. Kaladharan is the director and music is by M Jayachandran. Camera is by Salu George. The film is produced by O K Productions.

Punyam

J K Productions recently launched their film, Punyam with a storyline based on mythology. Punyam is about two gandharvas who are doomed to lead their life in the netherworld due to a curse by Indra, the king of gods. On their way down, they come across a beautiful maiden living in an ashram and one of them is smitten by her. The consequences of that infatuation will be only known after the film's release. Laxmi Gopalaswamy plays the beautiful maiden and Boban Alummudan and Krishnakumar play the gandharvas in the film directed by Rajesh Narayanan. Story is by B S Mini. Cinematography is by Gopinath. Kunjumon and Nissar are the producers.

Dada Saheb

Vinayan’s Dada Saheb starring Mammootty in the lead was launched at Chetana recording theatre with Mohan Sithara recording the first song.Mammootty plays a dual role of father, a freedom fighter and his son, a military officer. Athira, a new face, makes her debut in the film. Music by Mohan Sitara. Produced by Sargam Speed Audio. Other casts are Nedumudi Venu, Siddiq, Saikumar, Cochin Haniffa, Kalabhavan Mani, Kaveri, Sangeetha, Mohan Sharma and others. The shooting work for the film will start from August 25 and it is scheduled for a Christmas release.

Untitled

Telugu actress and Rajya Sabha member Jayaprada will soon don the grease paint for a Malayalam production. With one Malayalam flick opposite Mammootty already to her credit, this time around she will star opposite Mohanlal in the Sibi Malayil directed film being produced by Kokers. Though not the film’s heroine, she will be playing an important role nevertheless. The heroine for the film has not yet been finalised. Similarly, Suresh Gopi will star in a film directed by Shajoon Karyal, who directed him in Dreams recently, with Kavya Madhvan being signed to play an important role while the heroine has yet to be decided.

Darling Darling

Vineet is back home after a long break. He acts in 'Darling Darling' directed by Rajesenan, as one of the two heroes, the other being Dilip, who is quite busy as his 'Balram' and 'Thausakkattu Poovu' became hits. Vineet is Chandrabose, whose pranks are causing much headache for his father Palathinkal Kuruppu (C I Paul). So Kuruppu decides to send him to Bangalore. Chandrabose meets his dearest friend Aniyankutty (Dilip) there. Aniyankutty is a little freak and he has been enjoying his life(with his parents in US, and with lots of money with him how else can he be!) He lives with his local guardian Appachan (Jagathi), who is appointed by Aniyankutty's parents to keep an eye on their son. But soon Appachan proves to be a good partner in Aniyankutty's games. Collecting the telephone numbers of pretty girls is his favourite hobby. He gives the numbers to Aniyankutty and prompts him to court these girls. As Aniyankutty goes on hover over these girls, Appachan enjoys watching all these plays. Back home, his father Kuruppu is very anxious about his son's activities in Bangalore. His anxiety has been growing boundless since one astrologer told him that his son would marry a girl from another cast. To prevent his son from doing so, he at once fixes a girl for Chandrabose and begins arrangements for his marriage. He asks Chandrabose to return back immediately. Now Chandrabose is back home with Aniyankutty. When they see the girl, Aniyankutty tries to prevent Chandrabose from accepting the proposal. Aniyankutty reveals the reason to Chandrabose. The girl is Puppy (Kavya Madhavan) who has been in love with Aniyankutty. Chandrabose is shocked on hearing this and says no to the proposal. But Kuruppu is very adamant in his decision and goes on with his plan. 'Darling Darling' reaches the critical moment here. The rest is intense drama which provides much lighter moments. With 'Darling Darling' Rajesenan is experimenting with another hero - Dilip, putting an end to his long term association with Jayaram which resulted in many a hits. The script is written by Sibi K Thomas - Uday Krishna Team, camera is by K P Nambiathiri. Ouseppachan gives tunes to the lyrics penned by S. Ramesan Nair.

Mazha Peyyumbol

K.J. Abraham Lincoln may be a new director, but he is not new to Malayalam filmdom. He has been one of the leading P.R.O’s of the Malayalam film industry for the past many years. And now, perhaps banking on the vast knowledge and experience that he has gained from his frequent visits to the shooting sets as part of his PR activities, Abraham Lincoln has decided to shift his career. Abraham Lincoln’s maiden directorial venture Mazha Peyyumbol has been shot with newcomers in the cast, with a really shoestring budget in just eleven days. That too without using any sort of artificial lighting or crane or trolley or reflector or outdoor unit. The film produced under the banner of Kerala Movie Makers tells a different story. Mazha Peyyumbol tells the story of Baputty, son of a freedom fighter who had laid down his life for the country. Baputty reaches Karachi before partition in search of a job, as he has to support an old mother, a mentally retarded younger brother and a younger sister. After partition he becomes a Pakistani citizen. Later when he reaches India, he finds himself an alien in the very same country for the freedom of which his father had sacrificed everything. And since he has a strong sense of attachment to his roots here, he finds it rather difficult to return after the period allotted for his visit expires. The law suspects him of being a spy and things take a new turn. Even his near and dear ones start questioning and doubting his intentions and that shatters his heart. Mazha Peyyumbol tackles this rather complex issue in a different and sensitive manner. Abraham Lincoln has tried to peep into human hearts, which are often not taken into account when the issue of political separation and boundaries comes up. Rarely only such bold films come up. Newcomer Dileep Shankar plays the role of Baputty. The story, script and dialogues are by award winning writer P.G.Johnson. Abraham Lincoln’s debut venture as a director seems to be probably something to be eagerly awaited for.

War and Love

Vinayan, after a series of hit films, now directs War and Love starring Prabhu this being his second starring vehicle in Malayalam after Kala Pani. Along with him is Laila, who made her debut with a Malayalam film directed by captain Raju, then went over to the Telugu screen to earn name and fame and is now trying her luck in Tamil films also Parthean Rasithean. Set against the background of the Kargil war, the story of Love and War revolves round Dilip, an army captain, and Laila, the daughter of a Pak brigadier, who are in love. Lt Col Sarathchandran (Prabhu) and Dr Hema are about to get married when the message comes that the Col has to report immediately to the barracks. Dilip, Jagadish and Kalabhavan Mani are the other members of Prabhu’s group. They are taken prisoner by the Pak and holed in a Pak jail run by Brigadier Jafar Khan (Mukesh Rishi). They are tortured by Pak soldiers to know whether a Pak top brass had actually died on Indian soil in the conflict but the Indian POW’s do not reveal. The brigadier’s daughter Nasreen (Laila) and Dilip fall in love and how this love becomes an issue to end the conflict is the climax. The film has top comedians and along with humour the film also reveals the human side to the conflict like the role played by Charuhassan, who is a Malayali from North Kerala, but is now on the other side of the border nursing a longing to see his relatives in India but at the same time he has bitter memories of him being dubbed a Pak spy when he visited India. Even the Brigadier has his roots in Kerala and his family speaks a smattering of Malayalam but he is a chronic India hater. Produced by Armada Films, Love and War has music by Mohan Sithara and cinematography by Alagappan.

Nakshtrangal Parayathe Iruthnathu

In the CR Sudesh-directed Nakshtrangal Parayathe Iruthnathu, Mukesh and Harisree Asokan, enact childhood friends who start many business ventures and end up with debts. One such venture was is an internet cafe and it too winds up but Mukesh atleast gets to know Divya Unni who is regular customer. One day, the friends stumble upon some old manuscripts of Mukesh’s father, who was an ayurveda practitioner. They start a medical center and soon it prospers and becomes a hit with the public and this irks a leading ayurveda pharmacy owner who tries to run this duo out of town. The film has music by Mohan Sithara and is produced by Grishmam Films. It is distributed in Kerala by Shirdi Sai Films.

Cover Story

After Priyadarshan’s KALAPANI, Tabu makes a reappearance in Malayalam films in Revathi Kalamandir’s Cover Story opposite Suresh Gopi. The action thriller directed by G S Vijayan is about the adventures of Vijay, a TV news reporter. Vijay and Police Commissioner Anand together expose many crimes, infuriating a very powerful lobby that wants to stop them in their tracks. Meanwhile, the duo finds Jasmine at many places in course of their investigation. This enigmatic girl slowly gets closer to both Vijay and Anand. Is it a ploy to break up the duo? Suresh Gopi is Vijay and Biju Menon is Anand while Tabu appears as Jasmine. Nedumudi Venu, Rajan P Dev, Nasar, Janardhan, N F Varghese, Sai Kumar, Sidiq and Risbava are the other artistes in the film. Music by Sarath, lyrics by Girish Puthencheri and cinematography by Venugopal are the other credits.

Nana Patekar In Malayalam Film

Hindi actor Nana Patekar has been signed up to act in a Malayalam film. The film is based on the life of Changampuzha Krishna Pillai, the romantic poet of Malayalam, who died of tuberculosis at a young age. Considered to be the 'Keats' of Malayalam literature, pain, pathos and pessimism were the keynotes of Changampuzha's poems. The young Malayalee lovers of his times drew inspiration from the pastoral elegy 'Ramanan' written by him. Ramanan' based on the tragic story of the poet's close friend and a poet in his own right Edappilly Raghavan Pillai who committed suicide at the age of 23 by hanging, was also filmed with the old-timers Sheela and the late Prem Nazir in the lead. The film on 'Changampuzha' with Nana Patekar who incidentally has a strange resemblance to the poet will be directed by V.K.Prakash whose 'Punarathivasam' won the National Award this year for the best Malayalam film. Girish Puthencheri's lyrics will be set to music by Jhonson. Definitely this is going to be a film Malayalees

Nedumudi as Jeevan Mosai

After anchoring KANNADI and directing Verukal for the small screen, journalist T N Gopakumar is all set to storm the bigger screen. And for his silver screen debut as director, lyricist and scriptwriter he has chosen one of the most acclaimed works in Indian Literature, Arogyanikethan by Tara Shankar Bannerjee. However, Arogyanikethan becomes Jeevan Mosai on the silver screen, the name referring to the central character in the novel. Nedumudi Venu would be portraying the title character, supported by an impressive cast including Srividya, Kavya Madhavan, Raghavan, Ganeshan, Krishna Kumar and Tara Kalyan. Parameswar Films will produce the film. The award-winning cinematographer Azhagappan would be behind the camera and Ramesh Narayanan will provide music.