Malayalam Summer Releases 0f 2009- A Sneak Peek
Malayalam Cinema has not been having a great run of late. After the phenomenal success of Twenty: 20, movies (both mainstream & offbeat) have been struggling to get accepted by the audience. So much so that average movies like Dileep’s Crazy Gopalan and the father-son combination of Sreenivasan and Vineeth Sreenivasan’s Makante Achhan have gone on to become hits. Both the movies had lukewarm starts (Crazy Gopalan was a Christmas release) but have managed to cling on at the box office and do well eventually due to lack of better choices. Mohanlal’s Red Chillies (directed by Shaji Kailash) had a great start and then evened out.
Considering all this the upcoming summer release schedule looks interesting. Summer is always considered a good time for Malayalam cinema. Reasons are,a)school & college holidays and b)important festivals like Vishu & Easter all ensuring that the audience is looking forward to a chance to go out for entertainment. Also the onset of monsoon starts towards end of summer and so all put together summer is the ideal time for movie releases in Kerala. Let’s take a snapshot of the main releases scheduled for Summer 2009.
1. Sagar alias Jackie, tentative release date- March 27th.Starring Mohanlal, Suman, Bhavana and directed by – Amal Nirad. This is the sequel to the Mohanlal- Suresh Gopi hit movie- Irupatham Nootrandu and going by initial reports, it looks like a well shot stylish film. Here’s hoping Amal Nirad repeats the magic of his earlier movie Big B ( Mammootty). The movie also marks the acting debut of Mohanlal’s son.
2. To Hariharnagar, tentative release date- April 2nd.Starring Mukesh, Siddique, Lakshmi Rai and directed by Lal, this one is the dark horse. It’s a sequel to the superhit comedy film of the early 1990’s- In Hariharnagar.The principal cast is the same. Lal of the erstwhile Siddique- Lal duo, who directed the first movie, is the director this time.
3. Vandemataram, tentative release date- April 12th (Easter Sunday).Starring Mammootty, Arjun, Sneha and directed by Aravindan, its an action packed movie and is a bilingual with the Tamil version being called Aruvadai. The movie has been delayed in the making.
4. IG, tentative release date- April 12th (Easter Sunday).Starring Suresh Gopi, Sai Kumar, Vijayraghavan and directed by B.Unnikrishnan. Though it’s a regular action movie for Suresh Gopi, B.Unnikrishnan is in form having directed last year’s hit Mohanlal movie – Madambi and so the movie is being talked about.
5. Mouse and Cat (earlier titled Moses.D.Samuel), tentative release date- April 14th (Vishu Day) – Starring- Dileep, Aswathy, Salim Kumar and directed by the veteran- Fazil. This should be a family entertainer with plenty of comedy thrown in.
6. Black and White Kudumbam , tentative release date- April 24th.Starring- Kalabhavan Mani, Jayasurya, Vinayaprasad and directed by Shaiju Anthikad. It’s a family entertainer again.
7. Sathyan Anthikad’s untitled film has a tentative release date of May 1st.Like all his other ventures, the name will be announced only nearer to the date of release. It has Jayaram and Kaniha in the lead and music by Ilayaraja. This movie again carries good word of mouth already.
8. May 1st is also likely to see the release of Mammootty, Kavya Madhavan starrer- Pattanathil Bhootham, directed by Johnny Antony. Going by Johny’s previous works like CID Moosa, Thurupugulan, Cycle, etc this should be a mass entertainer.
9. Passenger, tentative release date- May 7th. The star cast of Sreenivasan,Dileep, Mamta Mohandas is impressive. The director is Ranjit Shankar. It’s expected to be a comedy movie.
These are only some of the important movies lined up & the final tally of releases might see some changes. Also the elections in Kerala being on April 16th, the dates of some of these movies might get shifted. As a passionate lover of cinema and a keen follower of Malayalam cinema, I am looking forward to a satisfying summer for Malayalam cinema.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
what about Bodyguard?
I thought it was releasing for Vishu.
BIG.B was all style and no substance for me, hopefully Mohanlal charisma will pull it off for Jacky .
I am looking forward for I.G. been fan of suresh gopi since i was 5 years old.
Wow a fazil movie looking forward for that.
To harinagar,
looking forward for that i think it is the first time lal donning director mantle after the split.
@ Cinemausher- Bodyguard’s shooting schedule has got extended & as of now its expected to release in June/July otherwise it would have been in my list.
Yes Big B was all style & substance but thats what Amal Nirad wanted to show- a difference in Malayalam cinema.Hopefully Sagar alias Jacky would be better.
Even I like Suresh Gopi but his recent movies have been quite bad & I hope he bounces back with I.G.And yes I firmly believe To Hariharnagar is the dark horse- yes Lal has been focusing on production & distribution after the split with Siddique & so it would be interesting to see how he does this time.
@Sethu
Yes i want to know your views on Fazil.
Cinemausher- what do I say about Fazil my friend?
So I hope the new film of his does well.
He’s one of the better directors in the Malayalam film industry and especially in the 80’s & 90’s he’s been right on top with the best, making some really good movies.I love a lot of his work like Manjil Virinja Pookal,Ennennum Kannetante,Nokatha Dhoorathu Kannum Nattu,Manichitrathazhu,Aniyathi Pravu etc.For that matter even Harikrishnan’s which hardly had a story was plain fun & quite entertaining
Sethu,
When will I see a Tazhvaram again? Or a Chakram sans the OTT humor?
Rajesh- not for sometime atleast.There are some interesting projects lined up for the 2nd half of the year & I’ll write on that in due course.One such movie IMO could be Bhramaram from Blessy with Mohanlal in the lead.So wait & watch.I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Pazhassi raja???
Jai- As of now the release date of Pazhassi Raja isnt yet known.I think the production/post production work is yet to be complete.The 2nd half of the year should see movies like Bhramaram,Pazhassi Raja,Kutti Shranku etc.
Sethu
Only two movies in your list interests me..
1)Sagar Alias Jacky by Amal neerad …feels this guy is some one to watch out for with his craft.
2)To Harihar nagar….really really looking forward as the 1st part is one of my all time favourite.
Of late Malyalam movies do not intrest me as I feel our industry is long dead and buried.It would be difficult to come out with the names of 5 good movies u can remember in last 10yrs…
As Rajesh said….it will be great if you can post a write up on THAZVARAM….
I am sorry.. But I don’t understand the purpose behind such pieces.. They are like a report.. I am sorry Sethu, but I would like to know your POV about cinema a bit more.. All your blogs to me seem like reporting ventures.. There’s no real sensuality… I am guessing if u were writing a piece on Kireedam, you would probably write something like, “A great movie, about an unemployed young man and his righteous father entangled in the clutches of a myopic soceital view powered by great performances. Remade into Tamil with Ajith in the lead…” I am sorry, but tell me something I dont already know..Cinema is that kind of a medium, wherein revisiting heritage should be driven by an author’s zest to write about it in a way that opens newer perspectives and brings to light undiscovered facets.. About why something connects to your psyche.. Tell me something that has not already been phrased.. I am not trying to be a “HIGH-END PRIEST OF BLOG MORALITY”.. but I believe u r doing a great disservice to the medium by writing such “reporting ventures”..
Also read your piece on “Kadha Parayumbol”.. If u r wondering why Billu did not do well, I guess I wont have to look beyond that piece to give u the reason..
@ Jayakumar Iyer-
I am also personally looking forward to both the movies mentioned by you.Its just possible that the movies of Fazil & Sathyan Anthikkad might turn out to be good.Would prefer to wait & watch before I comment on the rest.
Ever since Sasi Kumar mentioned Thazvaram to be his inspiration when he was felicitated in Kerala recently I’ve been wanting to revisit the movie & then maybe write about it later.I guess I should do it sometime soon.
Makante Achhan(Avg),Redchillies(koothara),Love in singapore(Entammo),Hilesa(%^&%^&^).
Now a days malayalam is making garbages only
Anyway waiting for Pazhassiraja, Kuttisrank, bhramaram.
Lets see Amal neerad can bring subtsatnce in Sagar Alias than his camera angles and style.
Harihar nagar 2- hope will make fun..
I have been a avid follower of Malayalam movies. Unfortunately of late, I have not been able to catch up on some of the good ones. Thanks to Moser Baer I have been able to watch some of the new ones (no I have’nt been paid by them
). Recently watched Kayyoppu and liked it a lot. It was kind of a throwback to the Malayalam movies of the 80s. But sadly apart from one or two blogs related to Thanmatra, I have’nt seen any write-ups related to Kayyoppu, Paradesi, Akaashagopuram etc, either good or bad. It will be really great if someone can start reviewing these movies here.
Ravi- yes Moserbaer & Central Pictures have been doing a good job of releasing the DVD’s of the recent movies ( that too at affordable prices) and so one gets to see some of the better movies of late.Good that you also liked Kayyopu,Paradesi,Akashagopuram etc.Will write on such movies too shortly.
Sethu
My wife a Maharashtrian watches all the Malayalam movies along with me even though she dont understand the language well. Her all time favourite is Manichitrathazhu.According to her
Sathyan Anthikad should stop writing making movies on his own scripts as the standards of his movies is nose diving.
Sreenivasan is the most overrated actor in Malyalam movies even though a brilliant script writer.
She says todays Malayalam movies are on par with Marathi movies of 90s.
Just see the levels at which Malyalam industry has come down to…..
Latest update-
Sagar Alias Jackie to release on March 26th
( preponed by a day).
IG to release on April 3rd ( preponed from April 12th)
@ Jayakumar Iyer-
Its nice to know that your wife is passionate about Malayalam cinema too.I’ll agree with what she says about Sathyan Anthikkad’s recent movies.If you take his last 3 movies- Rasathantram,Vinodayathra and Innathe Chinta Vishayam one can see the fall in standards.While these movies are still good when compared to the rest of the movies coming out,its not in the same league of his earlier movies.
Wont really agree on Sreenivasan being an overrated actor.Yes its true that he’s essentially a brilliant script writer but I still think he’s a good actor.I think even recently his acting in movies like Udhayananu Tharam & Kadha Parayumbol was exemplary.
There is a surfeit of posts of this kind. I agree with sreehari. Reportage or wiki-like posts written by folks who almost crowd out the original authors. As a long time reader, it takes away from the strength of the site. Btw, sreehari is an old time writer here who I follow here apart from Subrat, Dabba or Phoenix. I am sorry abt such feedback but pls consider it as constructive and for the community.
@ Sreehari- I didnt realise that you were the PFC author Sreehari till Aarti pointed out.So I’m sorry if I sounded a bit heavy in my reply to your comment.
@ Aarti- I’m taking your comment as well as that of Sreehari in the right spirit & will try to avoid reportage or wiki-like posts wherever possible.But please understand that sometimes these posts are also needed.In this case I’ve been honest to admit that I’ve done reporting & with a specific reason.
i understand the emotions shared by Sreehari & Arti, but I feel this write-up never claimed to be an introspective take on the Malayalam cinema. for that, if my memory serves me right, Sethu had written a post titled “What Ails Malayalam Cinema Today” a month back or so.
IMO, these write-ups are consciously written with a purpose to repor what is upcoming in the holiday/festive season in Kerala. and there’s also the author’s take on what, in his opinion, is going to make the cut as far as quality or BO success are concerned. thats the begining andthe end of the intention of the post.
wiki-like or ‘reporting’ is also a form of writing, like we have various genres of movies being made. and we need all sorts of write-ups to satisfy our “cinematic-knowledge-quotient-enhancement”, be it a dissertation of the movie-industry in general, or a movie in particular, or a mere reportage, as some might prefer to call it.
considering the vast repertoire of diversified write-ups Sethu has to his credit, and being a conscientious author on this platform, I think he has the jurisdiction of offering what pleases him. to take it or not is entirely our cup of tea.
this is my personal opinion, without any bias or malice towards the parties involved, directl or indirectly.
Jha- you have summarised what I have wanted to say very well I must admit
Sethu Chetta, thanks for the effort. Looks like our summer is going to be very busy :-) I’m keeping my fingers crossed for 2 Harihar Nagar. I’ve a soft corner for Lal (a real good person), have interacted with him a few times. Amal’s film will be slick that is all. Hope he is able to some meat in the characters. Sathayan-Jayaram film is worth waiting for. And, Fazil, we can’t be sure until we see it, that is going by his last 2 films as director. I better not talk about Johnny Antony:p Any news about Kuttishranku?
Why is there such a fascination with Mallu directors for these silly English names? Its crazy ..the kinda names I see for Mallu movies these days.
Gattu- thanx for the feedback.And yes I agree that Fazil’s last few movies have been bad.Kuttishranku’s production is almost over as far as I know, I think the movie should see an early release in the 2nd half of the year.
Ani- yes the recent fad for English titles is quite irritating.I mean a Love in Singapore or a Mouse & Cat hardly sound inspiring
but I guess the fad will wear off soon!!!
Looking forward to watch all those movies u mentioned..Eventhough nowadays my first preference is Hindi movies..
The one I’m most interested in is IG. Suresh Gopi rocks, no matter if he’s rehashing his patriotic cop thing for the 1000th time. Dunno why, but I really enjoy watching him explode with those never-ending dialogues. The rest of the movies also seem a tad better than the rubbish that comes out of Malayalam cinema these days. But they seem hardly uplifting. To Harihar Nagar might be good, but I hardly think it’ll be anywhere near to the original. Movies like In Hariharnagar just happen; they cannot be made. That’s a fact with all great comedies, I believe…like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, Andaaz Apna Apna…that kind of magic cannot be recreated again !