Who is more brilliant? Mammootty or Mohanlal?

Balachandra Menon on his first job

Magic Lamp

Anupama (Meena) is a rich and spoilt girl living in Bangalore. Her ambition is to become an airhostess. She has finished her interview and is waiting for her appointment letter. But her rich family is very much against the decision as they consider the job below their status. Having lost her parents at a very early stage, she has an aged grand father and two uncles who have a eye on her wealth, as they want their respective sons to marry her. The sons Mohana Krishnan a Vetenary doctor and Omana Kuttan an Ayurvedic doctor are competing with each other for her attention. To escape from marriage she weaves stories about her fictious lover Dr. Nanda Kumar (Jayaram). The cast also includes Samyukta Varma, Divya Unni, Indraja, Jagathy and Cochin Hanefa. The story is by Ranjith. Songs tuned by Ouseppachen are sung by Jesudas, Chitra, M.G.Sreekumar. The film made under the banner of Brigade films is produced by P.T.Harris Thiruvambadi and directed by Haridas.

Parakkum Thalika

After a long gap director Thaha is making a film with current hot favourite Dileep. The story is about Unnikrishnan a young guy who roams around Cochin in a bus. When his father gets killed in a road accident, he sues the owner of the vehicle who offers him a bus as compensation. Initially he is happy about the idea of being a bus owner, but soon he realizes that it is not easy to run a bus. He ends up selling his house and other belongings to run the bus for marriages, school children etc. But in no time everything comes to an end, as the papers and documents of the bus were not correct and later the bus becomes the home of Unnikrishnan. His constant companion and cleaner of the bus, Sundaram is his only solace. The cast includes new comers Nitya Das and Keerthi Chatterji. Harisri Ashokan. Haneefa and Oduvil. Noted Tamil film director P.Vasu appers in the film as Shanmugam a minister of Pondicherry. Parakkum Thalika is produced under the banner of Kalasangham by M.M.Hamsa. V.R.Gopalakrishnan has written the screenplay and dialogues for the story of Govind Padman and Mahesh Mitra. Lyrics of Giresh Puthenchery are tuned by Ouseppachen. Salu George is the cameraman and this film is sure to be a family entertainer.

Ganesh - New Role

Ganesh Kumar a film artiste and busy television star has become a minister in the A.K.Antony government in Kerala. The only son of controversial Kerala Congress (Pillai) strongman Balakrishna Pillai, Ganesh is the first film star ever to be a minister in Kerala. Ganesh however will still do select roles in films and television, if he finds time from his busy political schedule. His decision is going to create some controversy in Kerala politics. Ganesh a man with a Casanova reputation was married to Dr Yamini but is now on the verge of a messy divorce. Meanwhile his friends in the industry say that Ganesh, a fine actor should stick to television instead of wasting his time in Politics.

Jayaram in a Jam

Jayaram, whose movies were not releasing for the last four months mainly due to financial problems, suddenly finds himself in a jam. Two of his movies are releasing on the same day - Naranathu Thampuran on May 18 and Sharjah To Sharjah and the long delayed Uthaman on May 25. Jayaram is worried now because too many releases back to back will spell disaster for him. Last week he called a meeting of the producers of the films and pleaded with them to space out the releases and at least give a two weeks gap between the films. But all the three producers ended up blaming each other for the delay and are adamant to release their films as planned earlier. Jayaram has now taken a decision that he will give his dates only to established producers who have enough money to complete their films on time.

The son also rises

Yet another “child” star is making his debut. Super star Mohan Lal’s nine year old son Pranav, better known as Appu, is making his debut with Onamman(number one). The Onamman is Mohan Lal and Appu plays the childhood of the character. After Jayaram’s son Kalidasan was introduced last year in Sathyan Anthikad’s Kochu Kochu Santoshangal and won a award for the best child artiste, it has become a fashion for the superstars to introduce their children. Only Mammootty is adamant that he will not introduce his teenage son in any film even as offers are plenty. But Mohan Lal’s son Appu a sixth standard student in Chennai, is only making a one film appearance as the shooting which is going on now in Cochin coincides with his summer holidays. Onamman is an action thriller directed by Thambi Kannanthanam.

‘Dependable’ Dileep

Today in Malayalam cinema there is acute shortage of saleable “heroes”. The number one star Mohan Lal had his fourth flop in a row with Kakakuyil. Suresh Gopi with Randam Bhavam turning out to be a total washout is almost finished. Jayaram with three of his films yet to be released due to financial problems has become a high-risk proposition. The evergreen Mammootty whose Dubai may never see the light of the day has wisely switched over to arty films. So then who is the real hero? The trade now swears by Dileep whom they call ‘Dependable’ Dileep, ever since he drew the crowds for that mega hit Tenkasi Pattanam eventhough Suresh Gopi was the hero of the film. According to a top producer, who is now running after Dileep for a date: “Why pay Mohan Lal Rs 75 lakhs, Mammootty Rs 50 lakhs or Suresh Gopi Rs 25 lakhs when their films don’t manage to get a decent initial at the box-office?” Dileep who has recently hiked his rates to Rs 15 lakhs is the most viable hero at the box-office. His latest film Parakum Thalika has sold like hot cake in the three areas in Kerala even before the film has been completed. And theatres are willingly to pay fancy advance to the distributor some thing unheard for a Dileep film. And to top it all even Mohan Lal and Mammootty want him to appear in their films. Dileep is playing the role of a side kick to Mohan Lal in Kamal’s Chakram.

The new Avatar

If the Tamil Kodeeswaran resulted in its anchor marrying the show’s producer, the Malayalam version (also called Kodeeswaran) on Surya TV, has brought good fortune and maturity to Mukesh its anchor. Mukesh is a very talented actor who somehow never made it to the top because of his roving eye. Right from his S.N College days at Kollam, Mukesh used to be involved with some girl or other. It was no different when he joined movies and ended up marrying a woman who was much elder to him - Sarita. The Mukesh - Sarita marriage never worked because he was two-timing her. Mukesh had a fling with Vani Viswanath, which resulted in Sarita walking out on him. But after he signed Kodeeswaran good friend Mammootty asked him to take his career more seriously. Mukesh made it a point to treat women as friends and not as objects of love. It seems to have worked as Mukesh and Sarita has kissed and made up. And Kodeeswaran has not only given a new image and a career boost to this one time Casanova, but has also made him richer by a lakh per episode.

Mammootty – Back to Work

After a six month hibernation Mammootty has donned the grease paint for a Malayalam movie. It is for director T.V. Chandran’s offbeat film Danny where Mammootty sports a French beard for the first time. The mega-star was keeping away from mainstream Malayalam movies because he was getting frustrated with delay of his prestigious Dubai, which has been censored and carries rave reports. But unfortunately the producer has run a deficit and theatres are not willing to cough up further advance for the release of the movie. So after wasting nearly six months trying to get Dubai cleared of its financial mess, even Mammootty has given up on the film being released. T.V.Chandran’s Danny will be an offbeat movie based on a true incident during the liberation struggle to bring down the first communist government of E.M.S.Namboodiripad during 1958-59. This will be followed by Vinayan’s murder mystery based on the recent 'Aluva family mass - murder', where the mega star will play an investigative officer with Dilip playing a negative role and the film will be an Onam release.

Ishtam

"Chinku-Achu"'s "Ishtam" describes the story of the "Ishtam" (ie. Love) between a father (Nedumudi Venu) and his son (Dileep) and the problems that happen eventually. The shooting is in progress at Trichur. And the heroine, Navya Nair - a plus one student - is a new actress introduced to the Cine field through this picture. The story : Is it possible for a father and his son to live like friends always? Sharing everything; with no secrets between them? Siby Malayil answers this question through this touching, but humorous film. Mr.Krishnan Kuttimenon is now doing some business at his native, after a long successful business-life in Singapore. Since his wife had died earlier he has been living with his two sons, Vipin (Sreenivasan and Pavan (Dileep). Mr.Menon is very much affectionate and close to his sons. They are not mere father and sons, but also friends! But as the time passes, everybody leaves them and now, there is only the father & the son Pavan. They are now living one for each other. No secrets among them; enjoying life just like friends. But as time passes again, some secrets are there in their personal life. Eventually Dr.Menon tries to hide some matters from Pavan; Pavan gets surprised - "What happened to him? There is something different in whatever he says now." Finally Pavan decides to find out the mysteries behind his father's indifferent behavior….. Navya handles the role of "Anjana" who is coming from the U.S. Do the problems between the father & son have any connection with her?

Shambho Mahadeva

And now, here's some good news for those who love comedy - Mukesh once again has been busy in the Cine Field in the wake of the record success of the Priyadharshan-film, "Kakkakkuyil: - a dream start of every one who enters into the field after a break. His glittering performance in the film shows that he is undoubtedly an ever time comedian, and has his scope unlimited in the coming days. And, this is the 2nd film for Aswathi Menon as a heroine, after the Rafi-Mekkartin film - "Sathyam Sivam Sundaram". The Story: As the name of the film specifies this is the story of two guys Shambu (Mukesh) & Mahadevan (Byju) and the problems created by their lovers(?) - Pooja Varma (Rasika) and Kalyani (Aswathi Menon) who had fallen in love with them in two different circumstances. Shambhu, a business man, somehow gets introduced to a girl, Pooja Varma on his business tour at Trivandrum. And however he comes to know a lot of news - Pooja is the daughter born for his father, Man Madhan Pillai in some other relation! And Pooja has disappeared some where during his travel. But unfortunately (or predictably?) she reaches Shambu's home itself!; when Shambhu was not there, Pooja tries to convince Mr.Pillai with some documents, that she is his own daughter and finally he accepts everything. But, see what happens when Shambhu reaches the home! Mr.Pillai is not ready to admit her as daughter. And the way he behaves is very interesting - he pretends to be in deep love with Pooja and makes his father realize that both are going to marry! Naturally, like any loving father, Mr.Pillai comes into the play with strong opposition against their move and tries hard to separate them…… And finally, who wins the game? In between, everything is turned upside down - some more unbelievable, shocking truths are revealed unexpectedly and the story takes a new turn as a result of these events. And the director, Suresh Babu has been successful in his attempt to describe these events as a perfect humorous story. Now, what are the roles played by Byju & Aswathi in this film? Do they have any connection with those truths revealed at last? Wait and See on the Silver Screen!

Krishna Gopal Krishna

"Kudumba Cinema Samvidhayakan" (ie director of family films) - that's the pet name for Mr.Menon in Kerala. In this new film, "Krishna Gopal Krishna", Mr.Menon makes a different approach compared to his conventional methods and styles, which were suitable for family films. But this doesn't mean that it'll be a good film for enjoying with full family. And what Mr.Menon has done is just taken care of adding "everything" needed for all type of viewers; but not giving any special importance to anything. The movie is based on a small story of the book, "Kaanatha Sulthanu Snehapoorvam", which is presented by Mr.Menon to Vaikom Muhammed Basheer. As usual, in this film too, Mr.Menon introduces a new actress for Malayalam - Ms.Sreeja Chandran who is handling the character "Radha" in this movie. Stars: Balachandra Menon, Sreenivasan, Lal, Siddique, Manoj.K.Jayan, Madhupal, Venuji, Sreeja Chandran, Suvarna Mathew, Mini Nair, Kalpana, Priyanka, Kottayam Shautha, Geetha Nair. Story of Direction : Balachandra Menon. Production : K.F.D.C and V & V.

Ravana Prabhu

Now, there is good news for Mohanlal fans - coming soon is another promising movie - "Ravana Prabhu" filled throughout with the electrifying action by the super star. This film is the second part of the old super hit - "Devasuram". Whats special about this film is that while Mohanlal & Nepolian represents the hero ("Mangalasseri Neela Kandan") and villain ("Mundakkal Shekaran") in "Devasuram", the same pair again are in the same roles as a continuation of their old rivalry. Mohanlal represents the character, "Mangalasseri Nedakandan Kartha", as the son of "Mangalasseri Neelakandan" and Nepolian handles the role, "Mundakkal Rajashekharan", as the nephew of "Mundakkal Shekaran". This film once again proves the Super star's talent to handle both comedy & serious roles effectively. Most of the actors of Malayalam appear in this film with important roles. This film is the first venture for Ranjith as a director. Shooting started on May - 10th. Stars : Mohanlal, Nepolian, Siddique, Jagathi, Ratheesh, Manoj.K.Jayan, Vijaya Raghavan, Jagatheesh, Saikumar, N.F.Varghese. Vasundara Das, Nalini Direction: Ranjith Production : Antony Perumbavoor.

"We want more" - Samyuktha, Kavya & Geethu Mohandas

What do they want more! Nothing but money! Yes, all these three new born heroines of Malayalam have increased their rates suddenly at a time with the super Mega Success of their (?) film, "Thenkashippattanam". Every one of them have done their roles excellently up to their maximum potential, in this film. It's very difficult to find out who is the heroine in that film! Any how, the movie became one of the ever time Malayalam super Mega Hits. Naturally, what these young beauties think - "Undoubtedly, it is our talented performance that made the movie a Mega Hit." So, without wasting their market value, all came to the unanimous decision - "We want more".

Restless Heroine

The lovebirds of Malayalam cinema Biju Menon and Samyukta Varma have under parental pressure decided to indefinitely postpone their wedding. Samyukta after the super success of Tenkasi Pattanam is not only the number one but also one of the few heroines, who is a Malayalee by birth. All top heroes including Suresh Gopi says that she has a very bright future ahead. The Devayani - Rajakumaran marriage was an eye opener to Samyukta, when she saw the producers deserting the top heroine after her wedding. Today Samyukta is so much in demand that her father has taken VRS to look after her career. Her family has made her swear on her favourite deity 'Guruvayoorappan', that she will not marry Biju Menon for the next two years. Poor Biju whose career just refuses to take off does not like her to continue with acting. Samyukta has pleaded with him to wait patiently for another year. Her argument is that she wants her family to be well settled before she marries him. Meanwhile she is allowed only to speak to him from her mobile and her parents always accompany her for her shoots.

Last Resort

For out of work Tamil heroines, Bollywood rejects, and unknown Mumbai models the last refuge seems to be Malayalam films. A plethora of non-Malayalee heroines are ruling the roost today in Malayalam mainstream and soft-porn movies. If Shakeela, Maria, Sajini, Sharmeela and others are doing strip tease, then out of work Tamil top heroines like Meena and Kausalya (Nandini in Malayalam), Mumbai’s little known models like Arzoo and Vidya Iyer are all grabbing heroine roles opposite Mohan Lal, Mammootty and Jayaram. Never before in the history of Malayalam cinema has there been such a famine of Malayalee girls on screen. With the marriage of Manju Warrier to Dileep two years back, there has been dearth of Malayalee heroines. There are only two Malayalam speaking heroines today – Samyuktha Varma and Kaviya Madhavan. The ex-Tamil heroines and the Mumbai starlets provide a lot of glamour and they get Rs 7 to 10 lakhs for a two-week shoot. Malayalam cinema strangely today is totally hero dominated and girls are only meant for display. What an irony for an industry, which has produced the finest women dominated films with an array of the best actresses like Sharada, Sheela, Jayabharati, Seema, and above all Manju Warrier. Even talented Malayalee girls like Divya Unni and Abhirami have left for green pastures of Kodambakkam.

Chippy ties nuptial knot

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, May 24: The south Indian teenage star Chippy has tied the nuptial knot to film production executive Ranjit. The marriage was registered at a Registrar’s office here and Chippy’s parents objected to it. The industry sources said the two were in love for quite some time. Chippy made her debut in Bharathan’s Padheyam during her schooldays. She had acted in a host of films including the instant hits like Sphadikam, Devaragam, Adyathe Kanmani, Sopanam and Ee Puzhayum Kadannu in Malayalam. He entered the Kannada film world assuming Shilpa as her screen name and went on to become one of the most sought-after teenage heroines there. She is also recipient of a number of awards including the best actress award of the Karnataka Government. Ranjith had worked as a production executive for several films, including Valyettan, Summer in Bethlehem, Narasimham, Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu and Devadoothan.

Chakram

The Mohan Lal – Dileep starrer Chakram has come to a screeching halt because the writer Lohitadas and director Kamal could not develop the story line. They have been rewriting the story to suit the image of Mohan Lal. The basic thread of the film is that Mohan Lal is a lorry driver and his ‘Kili’ (cleaner) is Dileep and the heroines are Lakshmi Gopalswamy and Mumbai model Vidya Iyer. After Kakakuil‘s cold reception at the box-office, Mohan Lal is a worried man. He feels that the story lines in his films are very weak and almost all of them look similar. The Kamal-Lohitadas director – writer team has been desperately scouting for a story that will fit in with Mohan Lal’s rough and tough image. But after Dileep fractured his hand while shooting for Chakram, Kamal immediately shouted “Pack up”, because the story line was not expanding to his liking. Now both Kamal and Lohitadas have decided to take a break before they start work again on Chakram

Sharjah to Sharjah

Too many Jayaram films releasing almost simultaneously has caused great harm to his career. Sharjah to Sharjah is in the same genre as Naranthu Thampuran, except here it is more slapstick and loud. Venugopal a former assistant of the late Padmarajan has failed as the director of Sharjah to Sharjah. First he has a wafer thin story line written by the A.K brothers – Sajan and Santhosh, which falls flat on its face. Nandan (Jayaram) is a football player whose brother is working in Sharjah. His father is the former Justice Viswanathan Menon (Madhu). One day Nandan leaves for Sharjah, to save his brother, who is accused in a murder case. In Sharjah Nandan comes to know that his brother is innocent. But the laws of the land are so archaic, that the legal department wants a signed statement from the murdered persons family that they have forgiven the person accused of the murder. Nandan comes back to Kerala, where the murdered man’s family stays. How he enters the family and gains confidence posing as their long lost son from Sharjah forms the rest of the story. The whole film has been contrived and one can see the continuity jerks in the story. The AK brothers have written the script obviously on the sets. Jayaram has sleep walked through the movie, while Aishwarya the heroine appears in a few scenes and Mohan Sithar’s music is a let down, technically the film looks dated. On the whole a shoddy work.

Controversial Kuttan

The 50th day posters of Karumadi Kuttan has Kalabhavan Mani without a stitch of cloth. It showed a sobbing Mani in the nude as the producer Samson and director Vinayan thought it would be a further boost to the super hit film. But on the contrary Mani’s nude poster has created a furore in the state. Ladies and children who were patronising Karumadi Kuttan in a big way started boycotting the movie. The director Vinayan had actually taken the scene from the film where the character played by Mani a dumb-wit is brutally attacked by the villain Rajan.P.Dev and his dog. The dog attacks Mani and tears his clothes off leaving him naked and sobbing loudly. In the movie the censors have trimmed the scene, but in the poster a close-up of the naked Mani has been blown up. Fearing the wrath of women’s organisations, which were tearing down Shakeela film posters in Kerala, Vinayan under pressure was forced to withdraw the poster. And in some posters they even tarred the nude portions of Mani’s body. The villain of the piece turned out to be director Vinayan, who wanted to show his hero in the nude before Aalvanthan’s release where Kamal Hassan is shown in the nude.

Sister Act

After Chippi eloped with Production Controller Ranjith, her parents Shaji and Thangam had raised a hue and cry. They believed that Chippi was at her peak in Kannada films and she could have made big money. The peeved parents have quickly recovered and introduced Chippy’s younger sister Divya to movies. Divya has changed her name to Jayalakshmi and is the heroine of Anil Babu’s comedy film Kumara Sambhavam, produced by Kireedam Unni, the man who discovered Manju Warriar in Sallapam. Numerologically the name Jayalakshmi will click according to producer Kireedam Unni. The film will also make comedian Harisri Asokan a full-fledged hero. Chippi has wished her younger sister all the best and is hopping that she fulfils all the aspirations of her parents.

Pushpasharam

Today a Mohanlal- Mamooty-Suresh Gopi film is considered a risk in Kerala but a Shakeela film is a safe investment. Hardly a week goes without release of a Shakeela movie. Unlike former glamour queen Silk Smita who has a seductive face and a suggestive body language Shakeela is just too obese. And still the way in which her films has stormed the theatres has defined logic. The latest Shakeela movie "Pushpasharam" is the story of a young man who continuously evaded all marriage proposals. It is the story of 'Psycho' who is constantly engaged in trapping lovely girls and after marrying them experience pleasure from them for few days after which he murders them. The film, as usual, ends with glamour queen decimating the villain and saving the hapless girls. The director of "Pushpasharam" is Purushan Alappuzha who is well known for directing masala films . The other glamour artistes include Sindhu, Hema and Uma Maheswari, besides them Shakeela, today's star-queen has taken the lead.

Suresh Gopi proves his boldness and heroism in real life too

It was on the day of the last Assembly election that our super star Suresh Gopi proved that he is really a hero and also bold enough not only on the silver screen but also in real life too. We know, that a lot of people's names had been removed from the new voter's list, published just a few days before the Assembly election. But nobody dared to approach the authorities with their complaint against this action. But see, what our super star has done when he knew about it: He realized the seriousness of it only after he had reached the polling booth with his wife and mother-in-law. He found that his mother-in-law's name also had been removed from the list. The very next moment, he reacted against it and approached the concerned authorities & asked them the reason; but they were helpless; they just did their duty; nothing more. Then, what to do? He decided to boycott the election and all the three left out of the polling booth without casting their votes. Thus, he has justified his heroic roles played in the films, in which he was absolutely a role model.

Attention, Bachelors!! A dream chance for you to marry Ms.Vani!

Yes, really, it is a golden (or challenging?) chance for the young, handsome, smart youth! Our "action-rani", Vani Viswanath has finally realized herself that it is high time for her to get married… She wants the most suitable life partner for her. May be, she can find him during her air travels! Anyway, if she finds anybody suitable for her, she will get his horoscope from him. She also says that she possess enough discrimination to understand whether a horoscope is a good one or not. What can we understand from all these? Our Vani might have thought that every young man of Kerala is getting out of his home every morning, keeping a horoscope always with him! More over, it also sounds that among those who are eligible for her to marry, she needs only 24 hour air travellers! doesn't it? Anyway, it'll be nice to remind Ms.Vani one thing... just like her there was so many other glamour beauties who had competed to get these types of 24 hour air travellers and those who had settled at Mr.George Bush's country; And, most of them succeeded in attaining that 'great goal',too. But what happened to them after their great marriage and honeymoon? Have you ever thought about it? Most of their husbands packed them back to their natives, just when they lost their bed-room interest… And these beauties started again indulging into their old profession. Anyway, let's wish Ms.Vani to get an excellent horoscope!

Minor injuries are following Dileep during shooting

Don't worry about Dileep; It's quite natural to have some accidental injuries during shooting. But for our Dileep, this may be too much, even if it's so. It was during the shooting of Sibi Malayil's "Ishtam", at Trichur, he had the first one - a minor injury on his head due to a photographic glass plate. It became a great news in the newspapers too, even though it was not at all a serious one. The second one happened during the shooting of the Mohanlal film, "Chakram", directed by Kamal and shooting at Pollachi - a small fracture to the bone in his palms. But that's not at all a problem for Dileep. He is always ready to play his remaining part in the film, even though his arms are covered with bandage. See, what a commitment he shows!!

Playing with God

Hit maker Vinayan’s new film Rakshasa Raman is an action packed family entertainer where Mammootty plays the role of Ramanathan, a police officer. The film due for release on Onam day is running into trouble, even before the shooting is over. The Viswa Hindu Parishad has objected to the title “Rakshasa Raman” as it might hurt the religious feelings of Hindus. They cannot fathom, the Rakshasa (demon) before the name of Ram, the deity. Director Vinayan is cool about the issue as he feels that the hero of the film has negative shades and the name has a “title value” in it.

Bharthavudyogam

It is a socially accepted fact (especially in India) that for the family life of a couple to be stable and to be peaceful, the husband must possess a good job compared to that of his wife; The wife may or may not have a job, as they wish. Anyway its compulsory for the husband to possess one. Now, what happens when the husband is unemployed and his wife is employed? Surely, they cannot lead a successful married life; and the husband will have to face a lot of hardships too, including mental (or some times physical!) harrassment from both his wife and his neighbours. Sometimes, you might have seen these type of couples in your life. Well, thats the basic theme for this film. The story… Unnikrishnan (Jagadheesh) is a newly married young man from one of the royal, great families in his native place. Since his great old family is having a lot of wealth and property, he does not even try to get educated, or to be self dependent. In his views, everything is a waste of time and money. His only interest was to lead a luxurious life on behalf of his great ancestors. But, his fate's decision is quite unexpected…. His great family loses almost all of its property and wealth, and Unnikrishnan becomes a pauper. Fortunately, since his wife (Athira) possessed a job, he could eat three times a day and sleep well, without knowing the want of poverty. His wife was an employee in a bank. So during the day he had to remain in his house looking after everything including the kitchen work. Since he was living without any job, depending entirely on his wife, he had to suffer the ridiculing and harassing comments of his neighbours. "A fool who is living in the house itself, sending his beautiful wife to work"….that was his neighbours comments about him. Really, Unnikrishnan does not know anything about what his wife is doing in the bank. He does not even try to know about it either. Unfortunately, one day he comes to know that there is some secret relationship between the bank manager and his wife; He becomes angry and eventually their family life collapses… What happens next? Whether Unnikrishnan makes his wife obedient to him? Or any divorce? God only knows!!!

Caught in the act

When the yellow magazine “Fire” published pictures of small – time actress and TV star Beena Antony from a porn video, it created a ruckus in Kerala. A little known web site Madalasa.com is said to have put up scenes from Beena’s Blue movies. But so far nobody has seen the web site, Madalasa.com and now “Fire”, claims it has crashed out. But poor Beena has been at the receiving end as she has been flooded with hate mail from all over India and Gulf. A sobbing Beena told Sify.com “Those pictures which appear in “Fire” magazine has been morphed. A vicious campaign has been unleashed against me by certain vested interests. Why torture me further?” Added to that there are one or two call girls operating in Kochi who claim that they are Beena Antony and lure customers. All this has further tarnished the image of this soft-spoken TV actress who is much in demand.

Jayaram turns arty

Jayaram is quite worried after the failure of Naranathu Thampuran and Sharjah to Sharjah. His last five films have failed to recover their cost and his box-office ratings have been falling. Jayaram known for his lighthearted comedies is currently working on an art film, with Suhasini playing the female lead. They are going to come together in noted writer M.T.Vasudevan Nair’s Theertham, directed by Kannan, a documentary film maker attached to Trivandrum Doordarshan. Jayaram’s role is portrayed in different stages of life. He even plays a seventy plus old man who comes to the famous Mookambika Temple to meet his old flame. Jayaram has given bulk dates to Kannan, as his astrologers have predicted that the film may get him not only National but International recognition also.

Shakeela Becomes Hot, Hotter And Hottest

Sex bomb Shakeela till yesterday, was a hot property only in Malayalam cinema but now she seems to be the hottest property in Tollywood. Today, she has 23 of her Malayalam soft porn movies dubbed into Telugu. She is now called the Lady Mohanlal, as she is as busy as Mohanlal, the superstar of Kerala, and in fact much more in demand than the superstar himself. She charges Rs 1 Lakh per day. Shakeela, who lives in Chennai, it seems has now built a posh house for herself in Trivandrum, as she has to repeatedly go to Trivandrum for shootings. With Shakeela making waves in Tollywood too, there seems to be no end to her popularity.

Praja

Mohan Lal, the Malayalam mega-star on the request of his fans is back to what he does best – action drama with punchy dialogues. Yes, he has started shooting for writer Ranjit Panikkar and director Joshi’s big-budget action adventure Praja. Last week they were shooting at the Pearce Leslie guesthouse in Fort Cochin with Mohan Lal playing underworld don Zakir Ali Hussain, dressed in white pajamas and red kurta. The film is said to be on the underworld’s grip on Kerala politics. The hard-hitting dialogues written by Ranjit Panikkar and the action scenes of Mohan Lal are going to be the highlights of the film, which may turn out to be another Narasimham. Aishwarya, Lal's lucky heroine in Narasimham is once again teamed up with him. She plays the IPS officer Maya Mary Kurien. M G Sreekumar has sung a Hindi song in the film which will be picturised on the superstar. Rest of the cast include Biju Menon, Vijayaraghavan and Cochin Haneefa.

Coming, for the first time in Malayalam - Cinema Comedy Awards

Yes, for the first time in the history of Malayalm film world, Cinema comedy Awards are going to be presented. This plan has been established by Kerala Talkies dot com with the co-operation of KFDC. The awards will be presented for the best comedy film, comedy actor, actress, director, script writer, supporting actor & actress, etc of the movies of the last year. The awards will be distributed in a function conducted in the Gulfar International Convention Centre at Cochin on August 4th of this year. The award winners will be selected first by short listing four or five names for each award, and then through the opinion poll conducted by their website.

Dubai Atlas film awards: Mammooty selected best actor

DUBAI: JUN 14 : Veteran Malayalam actor Mammooty has been selected for Dubai Atlas film'sbest actor award for his spectacular role in the film Dada Sahib. . Lakshmi Gopalaswami is the best actress. Kochu kochu Santhosangal is adjudged the best film. The awards were decided on the basis of gall up poll conducted among Gulf Malayalees. The best actor award carries a cash prize of one lakh rupees. Best supporting actor is Dileep (Film: Joker) and best supporting actress is Kavya Madhavan (Madhura nombarakattu). Vinayan who directed Dadasaheb grabbed the best director award.

Agninakshatram

Directed by Karim, an erstwhile pupil of late movie legend Bharathan, the movie casts superstar Suresh Gopi in the lead role. He plays the role of Thalakulathur Thambi, an expert in the keralite martial art Kalaripayattu. He is a new generation propagator of this age-old ritualistic form of warfare. He fuses the skill of the mind and body to discover the true potential of man. He is being hired by Thirumangalam Kovilakom to be entrusted with the responsibility of protecting his daughter ‘Rudra” played by Baby Sanika. Rudra is a girl with a superhuman tint and a particular behavioral capability to invoke the sixth sense activism. She predicts all future events with ease and her capabilities bring her both friends and foes alike and the central theme is thus carried forward in a mixture of misticism and suspense. The story is an inspiring combination of myth and lore. Supporting roles are played by Siddique, Biju Menon, Jagathy, Madamb, Indraja, Aiswarya etc. Raveendran composes music and Shibu Chakravarthy scores the lyrics. Songs are sung by Yesudas, Chitra, Biju Narayanan and Radhika Tilak. B.Lenin (editing), Sreeni (art direction) and Peter Njarakkal (production controller) are shaping affairs behind the camera.

Mazhameghapravukal

A movie with a difference- that's how best you could speak of this picture which exposes the thin lines between men, women, acceptance, romance and the beauty of the inscape. This is Kavya's picture; one that has given this glorious little girl the chances to discover her-self. At least that is what it seems, quite knowingly or unknowingly she transforms her talents to an even break. She plays the role of a teenage village girl- 'Malu'. The character is one that breaks it's shell to imbibe our conscience to the limits hitherto unknown to the viewer. Its all new; the movie, the story, the presentation and the characters. The story is set in a remote village which the writer S.G. Dev and his wife Sathyabhama makes their home. He comes in and lends support to a young girl and boy. The boy is called Sreekuttan, played by teen idol Krishna. Malu lives next door and she leads a menacing band of kids around the whole place. She has a fiancé whom she hates like hell. Malu's father dies shortly and S.G.Dev adopts her. Dev has a real son who works in the army. Malu hears his stories often being said among family members. Owing to Sreekuttan's interests in Malu, Dev decides to conduct their marriage. Malu quite unexpectedly breaks down at this point. She has committed the folly of loving her folklore idol- 'Shyam'. She has never had a glimpse of him; yet she is madly in love with him for some obscure reasons her childish mind had kept for herself. Lalu Alex plays Shyam while T S Raju plays Kavya's father. Other characters are being brought to life by Subair, Meena Ganesh, and Pragathy to name a few. AR Rahman's assistant Sreeram has composed the music for the film and Girish Puthenchery has scored the lyrics. The film is all set to be an entertainer. Director Pradeep is working hard to find the hairline balance for the landscape and inscape equations of the commonplace human mind. The film is expected to be released in February.

Unnathangalil

Unnathangalil is another narration of underworld rivalry starring Manoj K Jayan, Lal, Jagadish, Mammukoya, Babu Antony, Mala, N.F. Vargheese and Indraja to name a few. Mohanlal also makes a guest appearance in the movie. Directed by Jomon, this is a movie with action jazz and street spice. The picturisation is being completed in Cochin in Kerala. The technical team comprises of veteran technocrats like Muralidharan (editing), Sreeni (Art director), Jayamohan (Make up), Vajramani (dress designer), Chandran Monalisa (stills) and Devassykutty (communications). Mohan Sithara composes music for the movie and Girish Puthenchery writes the lyrics. The story revolves around a balance of power and friendship equation. Velubhai is the theme character. He left Cochin for Bombay years back to make good and expand his underworld empire to the north. Cochin was handed over to his most faithful associate - Antony. Antony grows bigger and is mature enough to swallow the town whole. His intimidating comments about Velubhai send bad chills down his spines. Velubhai then decides to outmuscle Antony and recapture his home empire. The story is taken ahead from this point by the introduction of two new youths at Cochin- Michle and Siva. Michle was attracted to the glamour of the underworld and Siva wanted to lead a simple and peaceful life. Their intimate friendship is running in to rough seas.

Disclosure

Why did Divya Unni quit Malayalam and migrate to Tamil films? The truth is that, she was forced to quit the industry by Parvathy, super star Jayaram’s wife. According to the grapevine Divya Unni was having a torrid affair with Jayaram, before Parvathy tracked them down to a flat in Kochi. Parvathy confronted Jayaram and threatened to commit suicide and also go public about it. At that time a shaken Divya Unni had given her the word that she would never ever act opposite Jayaram. Later she walked out of two films she had signed with Jayaram. However this is not the first time that Parvathy had blown her fuse. Earlier Parvathy had a showdown with Manju Warrier before her marriage to Dileep. She had at that time alleged that Manju was trying to entice her husband. Today most of the heroines are trying their best not to act opposite Jayaram, fearing Parvathy. The trouble is that Jayaram has roving eyes and his wife just does not trust him with any of his heroines.