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.
Three big films — Prabhas' Radhe Shyam, Rajamouli's RRR and Ajith's long-awaited Valimai — have postponed their releases again in light of the rising cases of COVID-19. New release dates are awaited. It is expected that other big films like Dulquer Salmaan's Salute will follow suit.
The bilingual, directed by Venky Atluri (Mr. Majnu, Rang De), will also feature Samyuktha Menon. Dhanush is expected to play a college professor in the film. It is being produced by Sithara Entertainments, music by GV Prakash Kumar, cinematography by Dinesh Krishnan and edited by Navin Nooli.
The film will feature Atharvaa, Rahman and Sarath Kumar. The filmmaker is also awaiting the release of Maaran, starring Dhanush and Malavika Mohanan.
The highly-acclaimed Malayalam film, The Great Indian Kitchen, directed by Jeo Baby is being remade in Tamil by R Kannan (Biskoth, Boomerang) starring Aishwarya Rajesh in Nimisha Sajayan's role and Rahul Ravindran in Suraj Venjaramoodu's. It is worthy of note that The Great Indian Kitchen was initially rejected by several OTT platforms before it began streaming on Neestream. After widespread appreciation from critics and audience alike, it is now available on Amazon Prime Video.
A trailer released earlier this week shows Kunchacko Boban and Aravind Swamy starring in a gangster saga titled Rendagam. The film is also being made in Malayalam as Ottu. It is directed by Fellini TP (Theevandi, Nizhal). It is produced by actor Arya's banner The Show People.
Director Jithu K Jayan expands the universe of the 2015 film Charlie with his next film Kallan D'souza. Soubin Shahir, who played the eponymous character in Charlie will play the lead in this film. It also features Dileesh Pothan and Surabhi Lakshmi, among others. Kallan D'souza is written by Sajeer Baba, shot by Arun Chalil, edited by Rizzal Jainy, music by Leo Tom and Prashanth Karma with background score by Kailash Menon.
The film will be produced by the actor's father R B Choudhary under the banner Super Good Films and directed by debutante Santhosh Rajan. The film also stars Kashmira Pardeshi (Sivappu Manjal Pacchai), VTV Ganesh, KS Ravikumar and Saranya Ponvannan among others.
'Naan Pizhai' is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, written by Vignesh Shivan and sung by Ravi G and Shashaa Tirupati.
In just a few weeks since its pan-Indian theatrical release, Pushpa: The Rise, directed by Sukumar, starring Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna and Fahadh Faasil is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. You can watch it in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.
Produced by Sameer Bharat Ram of Super Talkies, Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee is a coming-of-age film written and directed by composer Darbuka Siva, who has also scored music for the film.
Directed by debutante Abhimanyu, Bhamakalapam is pitched as a dark comedy thriller film. The film's cinematographer is Deepak Yaragera. Justin Prabakaran has composed two songs, and Mark K Robin has scored background music.
Andrea is playing a mermaid in an upcoming fantasy film to be directed by Dinesh Selvaraj (Thuppakki Munai). The untitled project will also feature Sunainaa, Munishkanth and Indumathi, among others. The filming has begun and the makers are planning a summer release.