"Makaramanju" on July 1st.

It has been quite a while since the film MakaraManju directed by Lenin Rajendran has been clicked in IFFK, before normal releasing and now the time has come for it public release.
The film is hitting the screens on July 1st and this marks the debut of the noted cinematographer and director Santosh Sivan as the hero. He is pairing up with the talented Karthika, who get alot appraisal through her latest tamil film KO.

The film is about celebrated painter Raja Ravi Varma's life at a certain stage in his life. Nithya Menon, Mallika Kapoor, Shamna Kasim, Vishnupriya, Bala,Jagathy Sreekumar, Saiju Kurup also includes the cast.
The film was met with critical acclaim. It was one of the five Malayalam films to be screened at the International Film Festival of India. It won the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Malayalam Film at the International Film Festival of Kerala. Makaramanju Special shows screened on June 28th evening at Sree and was full with VIPs and MLAs.

Urumi Is Sheer Magic - Maniratnam

A special screening of 'Urumi' was arranged for the South India's greatest director Maniratnam at Chennai. The preview that was organised a day before the release at real Images, Chennai has Mani in all praise for his friend and Camera man Santhosh Sivan, who had worked with Mani in many hit films including the latest 'Raavanan'. Urumi is sheer magic, a very convincing movie that is huge' said Mani after the preview. He also made an SMS to Santhosh Sivan who was back to promotions of the movie at the capital city.


Source: http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/malayalam/article/65454.html

Santosh Sivan's quest for beautiful locales

Whether it is his breathtaking Ashoka or the beautiful Anandabhadram, Santosh Sivan's quest for mesmerizing locales is neverending. Similarly, the cinematographer turned director is back with some never-seen-before locations in his upcoming multistarrerUrumi. This time, Sivan has chosen some interior spots in Malshej Ghats, Maharashtra and Chalakudy forest, Kerala.

But according to lead actor Prithviraj, the shooting of Urumi was no bed of roses. "To reach the location, we first travelled by car and then a tractor. Finally, there was a long walk involved before we reached the location in Malshej Ghats, Maharashtra. It was physically as well as mentally taxing, but we are all happy with the effort as the film has come out better than expected," Prithvi was quoted saying.

Source: http://malayalam.galatta.com/entertainment/malayalam/livewire/id/Santosh_Sivan_quest_for_beautiful_locales_47849.html

Genelia completes Urumi shoot

Bubbly girl Genelia has completed the shoot of Urumi, directed by India’s most proficient cinematographer-turned-filmmaker Santosh Sivan in Tamil, Hindi, English and Malayalam. "That was a wrap for me on Urumi. Prithviraj is truly a fabulous co-star and Santosh Sivan is the bestest ever! I'm so glad I did this film, it marks my entry into the Malayalam industry. Fingers crossed, but raring to go," she tweeted.

According to Prithviraj, the climax scene is the most massive in Mollywood till now. Starring Prabhu Deva, Arya, Nithya Menon, Tabu and Vidya Balan in pivotal roles, Urumi is based on the attempted murder of Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama, who arrived in Kappad near Calicut, on May 20, 1498. The film is about a group of men who plotted to kill the famous explorer Vasco Da Gama for his cruel deeds.

Source: http://tamil.galatta.com/entertainment/livewire/id/Genelia_completes_Urumi_shoot_46798.html

PRABHU DEVA GETS BUSY

Noted filmmaker from Bollywood Sanjay Leela Bhansali has reportedly signed up Prabhu Deva to direct a Hindi flick. Sanjay had several rounds of discussion with Prabhu Deva following the success of the Salman Khan starrer Wanted before signing him up.

Prabhu is currently busy with the shooting of the Santosh Sivan-directed Urumi, in which he plays the lead role. He is also engaged in directing a Jayam Ravi starrer and has been roped in by GK Films to wield the megaphone for a film that will have Vishal playing the hero.

Regarding the Hindi project, we hear that Akshay Kumar will be the protagonist and talks are on with a leading actress to play his arm candy.

Source: http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/sep-10-03/prabhu-deva-17-09-10.html

Tabu, Vidya roped in for dance numbers

Even as Vidya Balan completed the shooting of a special song in Santosh Sivan’s Urumi came the news that Tabu is also doing a dance number in the film. The Malayalam film is a period drama set in the 15th century and revolves around the killer of Vasco Da Gama. Prabhudeva and Genelia D’Souza are playing the lead roles.

“Vidya is performing an oracle number which is based on the traditional Mohiniattam dance form. She is a good dancer and was all set to perform the number after four days of rehearsals. But Vidya’s part extends beyond the dance number as she is a character in the film,” said Sivan, adding that well-known South dance director Ulhas has choreographed the sequence.

Sivan said that Tabu was also shooting for a song in the film. “Tabu is doing a number with Prabhudeva and actor Prithviraj that will be shot in an open ground. Ahmed Khan has choreographed this sequence,” said Sivan.

The shooting of Urumi is presently on and the film will release by the end of this year.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Tabu--Vidya-roped-in-for-dance-numbers/678549/

’Urumy' starts in Mumbai

‘Urumy' the movie that is expected to be a path breaker in Mollywood will start its shoot today. Scripted by Shankar Ramakrishnan, this period film will be shot at many locations near Mumbai and in Kerala.

Directed by Santhosh Sivan, the movie features young superstar Prithviraj as Kelu Nambiar, the leader of a group trying to kill Vasco Da gama , who landed in Kerala in 1498. Genelia D Souza, Vidya Balan, Prabhu Deva and good number of actors from Bollywood are also part of the cast of this thriller movie, which will be produced by Santhosh Sivan and Prithviraj.

Source:

http://actorprithviraj.blogspot.com/2010/07/poster-of-urumi-with-technical-crew.html

http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/malayalam/article/59684.html

Ananthabhadram

Finally I get to write about the Malayalam film Ananthbhadram. :) Being a big fan of Prithviraj, I wanted to see all his films, so I saw Ananthabhadram.It was a really different film,from all the movies I have seen before,it was about Black Magic.

Story: The movie is basically about Ananthan(Prithviraj) who comes back to his mother's village Sivapuram to light the holy lamps at Shivakavu a dark temple, as per his deceasesd mothers(Reavathi)'s wish. But, the Black Magician, Digambaran(Manoj K.Jayan) there opposes for him to light the lamps, so he can steal the stone that Ananthan's family has been protecting forever. On the other side Chemban(Kalabhavan Mani) and Bhama(Riya Sen) are used for his evil Black Magic.Also,meanwhile Bhadra(Kavya Madhavan) and Ananthan fall in love, but Bhadra is about to become a devi(goddess) so she has to choose between her love and to become a goddess.

This is just the outline of the story. :) The actual movie is more deeper and better and more interesting lol :D

The story (which was written by Sunil Parameswar),like I said before was something different from movies I have seen before. I mean I haven't a movie with Black Magic as its central topic,which I found pretty cool and interesting. Santosh Sivan handled it perfectly, I saw no flaws in the movie,everything was just right. He did both the direction and the Cinematography. Cinematography was awesome! :D Especially in the beginning, with all the lamps, the scene looked gorgeous,and the song Pinakkamano, was shown wonderfully. :D

The performances done by the cast was great mainly: Prithvi,Kavya, Manoj,and Kalabhavan. Kalabhavan was amazing as the blind person,I mean wow! :D Manoj suited really well for the role of the evil black magician,he was really evil looking. :D Riya didn't have much dialogues,but even when she did she had a stone face which was annoying,but she is a good dancer though. :) Okay, Prithvi and Kavya,I would say this is their best movie together! :D Wow, their chemistry rocked in the scenes they had together! :D They looked adorable :D But, Individually they were great too :D Prithvi was really good transitioning from a happy-go-lucky kind of guy in the beginning to a more serious, and a person who understands the surroundings. There is scenes where he has split personalty which he acts out really well,I can't pick out any mistakes. So, this movie also scores for Prithvi,and is one of his bests. :) For Kavya it is the same, she was great in every scene, especially in the second half, when everything started happening. She looked very gorgeous in this movie! :D

Music for this movie had a classical touch to all the, since it the story was based in a village background. It also reminded you of old Kerala,with the beautiful instruments M.G.Radakrishnan used. I liked all of them but my favorites are : Pinakkamano,Malamalooya,Vasanthamundo,and Minnayum Minnum. I thought the best track was Pinakkamano, because it has such wonderful instruments used and the singers were sooting an romantic. :)

Fun Facts:

1.The movie was dubbed into Telugu in 2006 and Tamil in 2009 as Sivapuram

2.The Song Pinakkamano was a tribute to the famous painter Raja Ravi Varma

3.Santosh rejected Vidyasagar for the film's music and gave the movie to M.G Radhakrishnan to get the right tunes.

4.Sabu Cyril was supposed to direct the film,but when he got busy with Anniyan he was replaced by Santosh

5.Meera Jasmine was replaced by Kavya Madhavan.

This movie will be one of the best Malayalam movies and will remain a classic. :) No one will forget the mesmerizing music,either. I love this movie lots, is one of my favorite Prithviraj movies :D Will love this movie forever! :D If you haven't seen it, please see it you will love it alot! :D

Sources:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/38/84616938_1b74d0a216.jpg

http://actorprithviraj.blogspot.com/2010/06/ananthabhadram-unseen-posters.html