THE LEGENDARY FILM

‘Pazhassi Raja,’ which brings together M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Hariharan and Mammootty after 18 years, narrates the story of a battle for independence. “We shot a few scenes in Chennai earlier this month and the rest of the film will be shot in Kerala,” says director Hariharan, who is confident that he would be able to recreate the magic of ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha.’ That film by the trio had conquered the box office as well as the critics. Superb visuals, fine performances, melodious songs and unforgettable dialogues turned the film into a classic.

Mammootty is playing the title role of ‘Pazhassi Raja.’ In fact, Mammootty has given life to many memorable characters penned by M.T. ‘Aksharangal’, ‘Anubandham’ and ‘Utharam,’ and ‘Sukrutham’ saw the actor breathe life into the characters created by the writer. His portrayal of Chanthu in ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha’ had caught the spectators’ imagination. M.T.’s Chanthu was a tragic hero. So is Pazhassi Raja, one of the first to revolt against the British in India.


Says Hariharan: “M.T. and I discussed a few other themes before we decided to make a film on Pazhassi. We felt that Pazhassi Raja had not got the recognition he deserved, especially outside Kerala, for his contribution to the freedom movement. The 1857 Sepoy Mutiny is considered the first freedom fight, but Pazhassi Raja fought the British 50 years before that, in the jungles of Wayanad. My film is about how he fights the British by organising a tribal force in Wayanad and how he gives up his life for the cause.”

Kanihaa plays Pazhassi’s wife. Padmapriya plays the other major female role in the film. “Actually, I am nervous.I have heard so much about M.T. and Hariharan that I am in awe of them. Although Malayalam cinema has always given me great roles, my character in ‘Pazhassi Raja’ is quite different from anything I have done before. I am playing a tribal girl opposite Manoj. I also get to do a lot of fights as I am the one who leads the female warriors. I am happy that I am part of two major films in Malayalam this year – Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s ‘Moonnu Pennungal’ and ‘Pazhassi Raja.’”

Also in the cast of ‘Pazhassi Raja,’ which is produced by Sree Gokulam Movies, are Sharath Kumar, who makes his debut in Malayalam cinema as the commander-in-chief of Pazhassi, Biju Menon and Jagathy Sreekumar. “It took me a long time to finalise the cast; I had even gone to Bollywood to find a girl who could play Pazhassi’s wife before I zeroed in on Kanihaa. The film will also have artistes from Hollywood and Britain,” says Hariharan.

The director admits that ‘Pazhassi Raja’ is his most challenging assignment yet. “This is an even bigger film than ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha.’ Making a period film is not like a making a contemporary film. Period films call for a lot of home work and each shot has be filmed carefully. A lot of time has been spent on the script and preparations of ‘Pazhassi Raja;’ I sought the help of artist Namboodiri in designing the costumes. ‘Pazhassi Raja’ will not be just another Malayalam film. It will be dubbed into English and will be shown all over India and abroad too. A film of this magnitude requires a producer who loves good cinema. I have found such a producer in Gokulam Gopalan,” says the veteran director. O.N.V. Kurup and Gireesh Puthenchery have written the lyrics, which have been set to tune by Ilayaraja. The film will reach cinemas in December.

Mammootty prepons Kamal film

Mammootty held discussions with director Kamal for a new film that is to start in a short while.

According to the discussions, the project which was earlier planned for the last months of 2008 will be preponed to a nearer date.

The film will be one of the first projects in Malayalam of Adlabs, the film production division of the reliance group.

Kamal is planning a small budget family drama with Mammootty like his previous hit 'Rappakal' for this project.

Kamal was last seen with Mammootty in 'Karutha Pakshikal' which won much laurels and awards for its various departments, but was a non starter in the box office.

Vande Matharam' for january
(various sources)

Mammooty's bilingual 'Vande Matharam' will make a release by the end of this January, as per the present plans.

The film is produced by Henry under the banner of Pankaj productions which will also have action king Arjun in a surprise cameo.

Directed by T Aravind, the film titled 'Aruvadai' in Tamil is presently in the dubbing stages. The producers are planning to make a simultaneous release for both the versions. But as Mammootty have another action film ‘Raudram' geared up for January, the producers may be forced to delay the release until February.

After a long time, Mammootty is acting in a bilingual film.

Directed by Karthik, debutante, a former associate of Mani Ratnam., the film has Sneha doing the female lead.

The first schedule of the film titled Vande Matharam in Malayalam was completed in Chennai last week.

The director was considering the same title initially for the Tamil version, but it looks as if he backed off when he realized that the name isn't Tamil enough to claim tax exemptions.

And so he finally fixed the title of the Tamil film as Aruvadai.


Mammootty has been acclaimed for his performance both in Tamil and Malayalam films. However, the actor has been concentrating more on his Malayalam ventures since some time. His last release in Tamil was Junior Senior. He has lot of hits and super hit in tamil like azakan, makkal aadchi, arashiyal, thalapathi, aanantham, marumalarchi, ethirum puthirum etc.. Now the actor returns to Tamil films with his Tamil movie Aruvadai, which will be released in Tamil Nadu and Kerala simultaneously. The Telugu version will obviously be released in Andhra Pradesh. . Mammootty will appear as a initially self-centred policeman; Sneha will take off in her role of an airlines pilot

*THE BIG PLANNING*
(Renji - Renjith teams up
IndiaGlitz [Monday, December 03, 2007] )



Renjith is planning to make a sequel to one of his earlier films, but in the scripts of another big name in Malayalam - Renji Panikkar. The giants in the scriptwriting field is planning to come together to make a film on the character of Nanda Gopal Maarar, the guest role that Mammootty did in the super hit Mohanlal film 'Narasimham'. As per the initials details, Renji Panikkar who did a story based on this character, told about this to Renjith, the original scripter of 'Narasimham'.

Renjith who got interested in the storylines immediately agreed to direct the film. The film will be an investigative thriller, which will start its shooting after the completion of the full scripts.Recently Renjith wrote the script for Mammootty's film Nasrani and Renji is directing Roudram of Mammootty.Lets wait and see.

New awards for Mammootty and Meera Jasmine

(news source)

congratulations !mammootty and meera
AMMA awards announced for the films of 2007, Mammootty and Meera bagged the honors. Annual Malayalam Movie Awards, (AMMA), initiated by U A E postal departments and snow white, which was announced yesterday, saw the top stars adorn the best in acting departments for their performances in ‘Ore Kadal’, ‘Rathrimazha’, ‘Big B’ and ‘Mayavi’. ‘Ore Kadal’ was selected as the best picture while Adoor Gopalakrishnan was named the best in direction. The other awards announced includes

Best screenplay - Iqbal Kuttipuram
Cinematography - Azhagappan
Singers - Yesudas, Sujatha
Music dirctor - Ouseppachan
Lyrics - Anil Panachooran
Supprting actors - Lalu Alex, Ramya Krishanan
Comic star - Suraj Venjaaramoodu
Villain - Saikumar
Popular film - Arabikkatha
Costumes - S B Satheesan

The awards will be distributed on the eighth of this month in a function organized at Dubai by Asia Vision and Indish Creations. The awards were announced according to the S M S and, Email received on various nominations.

ROUDRAM-get ready to clap your hands

(from various sources)
The shooting of Renji Panicker's Roudram with Mammootty in the lead role is fast progressing in Kochi. Mammootty once again puts on the Khaki again and this time he is Narendran, assistant commissioner of police.

Narendran, a law graduate, becomes a cop in the footsteps of his father, who had died in an encounter. He is deputed to investigate a murder that turns out to be a murky affair. He has to take on some powerful names and how he handles it all is narrated in the film.


Sai Kumar plays a baddie with a difference and has some interesting mannerisms.Manju, who makes her entry into films without any prior experience, plays the wife of the hero.

Vijayaraghavan plays Purushothaman Pillai or Appichayi with a paralysed arm and shares a peculiar relation with Sai's character.
Renji Panicker made his debut as a director with Bharat Chandran IPS two years before."I get exhausted after completing a film and need some time to rejuvenate," he says, explaining the reason for the hiatus. He is almost always associated with high voltage action dramas in which the heroes and villains spit fiery dialogues.


Roudram is being produced by Shahul Hameed Marikar and Anto Joseph under the banner of Marikar films. The film will hit theatres towards the end of 2007.
Like the ever "clap blockbuster" film "THE KING" ROUDRAM also will be croud puller.
Renji also plans new films with mammootty.