Here's a recap of the significant stories in entertainment across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films, and sometimes the odd television series as well.
In Venky Atluri's upcoming film SIR (Vaathi in Tamil), Dhanush is not just a lecturer, but a lecturer who can pack a few punches and punch dialogues. The movie seems to unfold in the 90s, and Dhanush is named after Independence activist and teacher Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
The film also co-stars Samyuktha Menon, Sai Kumar, Tanikella Bharani, Samuthirakani, Thotapalli Madhu and Aadukalam Naren, among others. It is a GV Prakash Kumar musical. The movie has been lensed by J Yuvraj and produced by Naga Vamsi S and Sai Soujanya, under the banners Sithara Entertainments – Fortune Four Cinemas and Srikara Studios.
A series of accidents take place at the 13th hairpin bend located on the way to Ooty from Mettupalayam. But is it an accident-prone zone or is there a supernatural element attached to it? The plot revolves around a bus that travels to Ooty and the events that take place during the travel. Arulnithi plays a police officer who happens to board the bus for some investigative purpose.
Directed by Innasi Pandiyan, the film stars Arulnithi and Pavithra Marimuthu as the lead pair. It is produced by S Kathiresan and co-produced by Sekar Babu. Ron Ethan Yohann has composed the music, Arvinnd Singh has cranked the camera and SP Raja Sethupathi has handled the editing.
At the center of the film is a period romance set in the 60s, between Sita Mahalakshmi (Mrunal Thakur) and Lieutenant Ram (Dulquer Salmaan).In the present day, when Afreen (Rashmika Mandanna) and her friend (Tharun Bhascker) are asked to find Sita Mahalakshmi within 10 days and hand over a 20-year-old letter written by Ram, they go on an adventure into the past by learning about Ram's backstory.
Directed by Hanu Raghavapudi, the film has been produced by Chalasani Aswani Dutt and Swapna Cinema and presented by Vyjayanthi Movies. The movie has music by Vishal Chandrasekhar and cinematography by PS Vinod and Shreyaas Krishna. The romantic thriller is all set to be released on August 5 in Telugu, Malayalam, and Tamil languages.
Releasing on August 5 in theatres, Atharvaa's Kuruthi Aattam is an action entertainer. When a small fight erupts off the Kabaddi field, both teams develop a grudge which leads to revenge, kidnap, fights, and class issues.
The film is directed by Sri Ganesh and stars Atharvaa, Priya Bhavani Shankar, 'Datho' Radha Ravi, and Radhika Sarathkumar in important roles. Dinesh Purushothaman has lensed the film and Anil Krish has edited the film. Kuruthi Aattam, a Yuvan Shankar Raja musical, is produced by T Muruganantham.
A press notice regarding the Telugu Film Producers Guild deciding to halt shootings from August 1 was released. It read that "Post-pandemic with the changing revenue situations and increasing costs, it becomes important for producers to discuss all the issues we are facing as a community of filmmakers. It is our responsibility to better our ecosystem and ensure that we are releasing our films in a healthy environment." So all producer members have decided voluntarily to withhold shootings to discuss workable solutions.
Directed by Haroon, the Web teaser presents a mix of Mysskin's Psycho and Ram Kumar's Ratsasan. Four girls kidnapped by a serial killer/rapist hatch out a plan to escape and decide to fight till the end.
Web stars Natty, Shilpa Manjunath, Motta Rajendran, and others. Produced by V. M. Munivelan, the film has music by Karthick Raja. While Christopher Joseph has shot the film, Sudharsan R has handled the editing.
Vishal in Laththi teaser reminds you so much of his 2008 cop version Satyam. The whole teaser takes place in an abandoned building with Vishal fighting against all of the city's gangsters at once with his laththi. Though he appears to be badly hurt with blood oozing out, he delivers several punch dialogues, threatening the rowdies.
Laththi is written and directed by A Vinoth Kumar and produced by Ramana and Nandaa under Rana Productions. Yuvan Shankar Raja has scored the music, Balasubramanian and Balakrishna Thota have lensed the film and NB Srikanth has handled the editing.
Marrying your best friend could be the right thing, but what if you don't look at her beyond just a friend? This Oh My Kadavule remake stars Darling Krishna, Sangeetha Sringeri and Roshini Prakash in the lead. Releasing in theatres this September, the major highlight of the film is the role of the late actor Puneeth Rajkumar who has played the role featuring Vijay Sethupathi in the original.
Directed by S Nagendra Prasad, the film has a special song appearance by Prabhu Deva, The film also co-stars Nagabhushana, Arya, Sundar Raj, Sadhu Kokila, Rangayana Raghu, Yogaraj Bhat, Sudha Belwadi and Malavika Avinash. It is produced by PR Meenakshi Sundaram and R Sundara Kamaraj under the banner Parsa Pictures. V2 Vijay Vicky is the music director, Jeeva Shankar is the DOP and JV Manikanda Balaji is the editor.
After his recent outing in Nenjuku Needhi, Udhayanidhi Stalin has teamed up with director Magizh Thirumeni for his next titled Kalaga Thalaivan. The makers recently released the motion poster of the film. Udhaynidhi is expected to play a leader, and Nidhhi Agarwal plays the female lead. The film's music is by Srikanth Deva.
Mindiyum Paranjum, directed by Luca fame Arun Bose, has the National Award winning actress Aparna Balamurali teaming up with Unni Mukundan. The story is said to be revolving around a married couple Sanal and Leena. The film is produced by Salim Ahamed.
Releasing theatrically on August 12, Macherla Dhamki sees Nithiin playing an IAS officer of the Macherla area and Samuthirakani as an MLA. MS Raja Shekhar Reddy has written and directed the film, which is produced by Sudhakar Reddy and Nikitha Reddy. While Prasad Murella has lensed the camera, Mahathi Swara Sagar has scored the music and Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao has edited the film.
Director Arun Matheswaran released a new poster from his film with Dhanush titled Captain Miller, on the actor's birthday, July 28. Produced under Sathya Jyothi banner, the film is a GV Prakash Kumar musical.
Music composer Hesham Abdul Wahab took to Instagram to announce that he will be making his Tamil debut in the film starring National Award winner GV Prakash. Hesham Abdul Wahab rose to fame with his music in Hridayam. He is also foraying into the Telugu industry with Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha starrer Kushi. The cast and crew details of GV Prakash's film are yet to be revealed.
Kotthu starring Asif Ali and Roshan Mathew is scheduled to be released in August. The film is written by Hemanth Kumar and directed by Sibi Malayil. Touted to be a political thriller, the film is produced by Ranjith and PM Sasidharan under the banner Gold Coin Motion Picture Company. It co-stars Nikhila Vimal, Sudev Nair, Suresh Krishna, and Vijilesh Karayad. While Jakes Bejoy and Kailas Menon have scored the music, Prashanth Raveendran has handled the camera.