Malayalam Cinema: Summer 2011

SCHEDULE:

• 18 March: Christian Brothers. Dir: Joshy. *ing: Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Dileep, Sharath Kumar.
• 25 March: August 15. Dir: Shaji Kailas. *ing: Mammootty, Siddique, Lalu Alex.
• 31 March: Urumi. Dir: Santhosh Sivan. *ing: Prithviraj, Prabhu Deva, Arya, Genelia.
• 7 April: China Town. Dir: Rafi-Mecartin. *ing: Mohanlal, Jayaram and Dileep.
• 14 April: Doubles. Dir: Sohan Sinulal. *ing: Mammootty, Nadia Moidu.

Note: Of course, this schedule is suject to change. After all it's cinema of Kerala.

SEASON PREVIEW:

Mohanlal has 2 multistarrers in the line-up which are sure to rake in big bucks at least in the first week, but I'm not too sure if he can really be happy about it. This is playing safe to the core. Sure, 2010 sucked for him, but he really don't have to do this. To be frank, I'm more excited about the yet to be shot Pranayam , directed by Blessy. We can hope that these summer offerings will at least be good entertainers.

Mammootty, just like Mohanlal never loses faith in the macho-maker Shaji Kailas. The fact however is that the fate of this sequel to August 1 depends very much on S. N. Swami's script. The old man has been form out for a long time, but we can never write him off. Mammootty has to be praised for giving chances to new directors. The idea of the film being based on brother-sister relationship featuring stars in their middle ages looks interesting.

The most awaited movie of the season won't be any of these Mohanlal or Mammootty films though. The historical action film Urumi , directed by ace cinematographer Santhosh Sivan based on a plot to assassinate Vasco Da Gama was in news for a long time. In news mainly because of the star cast rather than other cinematic aspects though. The film boasts the presence of big names such as Prabu Deva, Arya, Genelia, Vidya Balan, Tabu and Amole Gupte along with lead star Prithviraj. Written by Shankar Rakamrishnan, writer and director of Island Express section of Kerala Cafe, Urumi is among the costliest films made in Malayalam with a reported budget of Rs.20 crores. The film is squeezed between biggies in the calender and thats not quite a good news for the producers.