Latest news with #L2:Empuraan
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Hridayapoorvam teaser: Fahadh Faasil fan leaves Mohanlal open-mouthed as they discuss Malayalam cinema in Sathyan Anthikad's upcoming comedy. Watch
Hridayapoorvam teaser: After delivering two back-to-back blockbusters — the high-octane actioner L2: Empuraan and the hard-hitting revenge thriller Thudarum — Malayalam superstar Mohanlal is set to return to the big screen, this time with a light-hearted comedy. As he joins forces with his once-frequent collaborator Sathyan Anthikad, expectations are already sky-high for Hridayapoorvam. To keep the buzz alive, the makers recently unveiled the film's official teaser. The 65-second promo video not only offers a glimpse into Hridayapoorvam's fun little world but also promises the return of Mohanlal's much-beloved comic side, something audiences have been missing for quite some time now. While the teaser doesn't reveal much about the plot, it's been cleverly designed, highlighting what to expect from the Sathyan Anthikad directorial. Interestingly, it opens with a humorous exchange between Mohanlal's character and a North Indian youngster discussing Malayalam cinema. When Mohanlal mentions he's from Kerala, the excited youth launches into praise for Malayalam films. He reveals he's a huge fan, while his girlfriend likes Bollywood films more. Almost inevitably, the conversation turns to Fahadh Faasil. 'I love FaFa, man,' the youngster says. As Mohanlal curiously asks who 'FaFa' is, he replies, 'Fahadh Faasil! Aavesham, Kumbalangi Nights… What a performance! Eyes! Drama! Fantastic!' Though impressed, Mohanlal reminds him that the industry also has 'good senior actors'. The youth, however, maintains that he only cares about FaFa. Realising that he has no role there anymore, Mohanlal blesses him — in a style many netizens felt was a witty nod to Fahadh's iconic 'Nannayi Baa' moment from Aavesham — and walks away. The teaser then offers some lively shots introducing other characters of Hridayapoorvam and their dynamics, set against a cheerful musical score. It also highlights the camaraderie between Mohanlal and actor-editor Sangeeth Prathap's characters. Also starring Malavika Mohanan, Sangita, Siddique, Nishan, Baburaj, Lalu Alex and Janardhanan in key roles, Hridayapoorvam's story is penned by the filmmaker's son Akhil Sathyan, and its script and dialogues have been crafted by Sonu TP. The movie also features music by Justin Prabhakaran, cinematography by Anu Moothedath and editing by K Rajagopal. Marking Mohanlal and Sathyan Anthikad's first collaboration in 10 years — after a series of memorable films over the decades, including Appunni, Kaliyil Alpam Karyam, Adhyayam Onnu Muthal, Pappan Priyappetta Pappan, TP Balagopalan MA, Gandhinagar 2nd Street, Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam, Nadodikkattu, Pattanapravesham, Varavelpu, Pingami, Rasathanthram, Innathe Chintha Vishayam, Snehaveedu and Ennum Eppozhum — Hridayapoorvam will hit the screens worldwide on August 28, coinciding with the Onam season.
India Today
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- India Today
Top 7 Indian blockbusters of 2025
Top 7 Indian blockbusters of 2025 Jul 19, 2025 From historical epics to massy comedies and gritty thrillers, Indian cinema in 2025 delivered box office gold. Here's a quick look at the seven biggest blockbusters that ruled the year. Credit: Instagram/Adhik Ravichandran Note: All figures are based on data from and and denote collections in India. Credit: Instagram/Ajay Devgn Vicky Kaushal shines in this historical epic based on Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. The film stormed the box office with Rs 604.1 crore nett in India. Chhaava Credit: Instagram/Vicky Kaushal This comedy-mystery unfolds on a luxury cruise, where imposters fight over a billionaire's will. A laughter riot, it grossed Rs 218.33 crore approximately. Housefull 5 Credit: Instagram/Akshay Kumar Mohanlal returns as Stephen Nedumpally in this intense political thriller directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran. It earned Rs 123.25 crore gross in India. L2: Empuraan Credit: Instagram/Mohanlal A cocky basketball coach trains neurodivergent adults for community service and ends up transforming himself. The emotional drama minted Rs 195 crore gross. Sitaare Zameen Par Credit: Instagram/Aamir Khan Productions Venkatesh Daggubati headlines this festive Telugu drama, directed by Anil Ravipudi. It made Rs 186.7 crore gross at the domestic box office. Sankranthiki Vasthunam Credit: Instagram/Venkatesh Daggubati A don seeks redemption but must confront his violent past. This gritty action-drama struck a chord and earned Rs 180.75 crore gross. Good Bad Ugly Set in 1989, an honest cop battles corruption and power in Rajasthan. With its gripping narrative, it stands at Rs 173.44 crore nett and counting. Raid 2
India Today
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- India Today
South mid-year box office 2025: Malayalam-Tamil hold fort, Telugu-Kannada in crisis
Six months into 2025, only a handful of films have truly rocked the box office. While the Malayalam and Tamil film industries are faring relatively well, the Telugu industry has struggled after a few early Sankranti hits. The Kannada industry, meanwhile, is still searching for a ray of hope, having had an abysmal start to the was 2022 that marked the rise of South cinema with back-to-back hits across all industries. From 'RRR' to 'Vikram', 'KGF' and 'Kantara', these films won hearts not just in their native languages but across the country and even internationally. Since then, South cinema has consistently delivered memorable hits, often outperforming Bollywood, which is still trying to find stable footing in the post-Covid has been a mixed bag for the South industries as well. Many films, big-budget ones at that, which were considered safe bets, flopped big time, while the small and medium-budget films, which remained dark horses, turned out to be fan favourites. As July draws to a close, let us take a look at how the four South industries have performed at the box MAINTAINS MOMENTUM DESPITE INITIAL SETBACKIn 2024, Malayalam cinema held its ground while the other three industries grappled with back-to-back blows. This year, too, Mollywood has churned out many memorable films. But, this year, it maintained the equilibrium with big-budget entertainers and content-backed early months of 2025 were worrying - aside from the success of Asif Ali's 'Rekhachitram'. In February alone, 17 films released with a combined budget of Rs 75 crore. According to a report from the Kerala Film Producers Association (KFPA), the theatrical share of these films stood at a paltry Rs 23.55 saw Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran's 'L2: Empuraan' take over the box office. Despite being drowned in controversies, the film surpassed 'Manjummel' Boys' to become the highest-grossing Malayalam analyst Ramesh Bala exclusively told India Today, that 'L2: Empuraan', followed by the success of Mohanlal's 'Thudarum', Basil Joseph's 'Ponman' and Kunchacko Boban's 'Officer on Duty', were among the top performers. 'Thudarum' became the first film to collect Rs 100 crore in Kerala alone. The industry continued to deliver more films which performed fairly well (considering its moderate budget). Films like Naslen's 'Alappuzha Gymkhana', Tovino Thomas's 'Narivetta', Roshan Mathew's 'Ronth' and Dileep's 'Prince and Family' received positive reviews from critics and audiences first six months of 2025 exposed a pattern in terms of the audience's liking towards thrillers. While there were far and few exceptions, the majority of the hit films were MIXED BAG: ENTERTAINERS TRIUMPH OVER STAR POWERClosely following Malayalam cinema is Kollywood, which has had a mixed year so far. While there were a handful of films that dominated the box office, many big-budget anticipated films became duds at the box office. In the last six months, Ajith Kumar has had two releases - 'Vidaamuyarchi' and 'Good Bad Ugly'. His second offering remains the biggest hit of 2025 till June by collecting Rs 153 nett in India. Following 'Good Bad Ugly' is Pradeep Ranganathan's 'Dragon', which netted Rs 102 crore across for 'Good Bad Ugly', many superstar films, including 'Vidaamuyarchi', Kamal Haasan's 'Thug Life', Suriya's 'Retro', Vikram's 'Veera Dheera Sooran' and Dhanush's 'Kuberaa' (hit in Telugu) had an underwhelming run at the box office. Small and medium-budget films, including 'Tourist Family', 'Maaman' and 'Kudumbasthan', attracted family audience to the theatres and made them leave with a smile on their faces. 'Tourist Family' raked in Rs 61 crore nett at the domestic box office, despite being made on a modest surprise winner was the 12-year-old 'Madha Gaja Raja' outperforming director Shankar and Ram Charan's 'Game Changer' in Tamil Nadu. In fact, the Vishal-starrer was deemed the Pongal winner this Mathivanan, owner of GK Cinemas in Chennai, called 2025 summer the best in the last 2-3 years. "In our property, 'Good Bad Ugly', 'Dragon, 'Tourist Family' and 'Maaman' performed exceedingly well. Till May, we recorded great footfalls," he observed a pattern in Tamil cinema where pure entertainers turned out to be crowd's favourite. "This year, till June, belongs to entertainers. People are having a hard time in their lives and when they visit theatres, they want to be entertained," he a similar thought, trade analyst Ramesh Bala said, "There is a decline in number of hits. However, we can see an outright rejection when it comes to middling films. Audiences have been showing no mercy to films that reek of mediocrity. These films hardly mint Rs 1-2 crore gross and there are so many such films this year."TOLLYWOOD'S ROCKY ROAD POST-SANKRANTI CONTINUESTelugu cinema, aka Tollywood, had a rocky first half, unlike Tamil and Malayalam cinema. The year started off with the biggest disappointment when Ram Charan's 'Game Changer' hit theatres. With Shankar at the helm, the film earned Rs 131.2 crore gross in India, a dangerously low number for a film that boasts superstars. However, other Sankranti releases, Venkatesh 'Sankranthiki Vasthunnam' and Balakrishna's 'Daaku Maharaaj' compensated for the loss by earning Rs 187 crore and Rs 91 crore nett in Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi's 'Thandel', Nani's 'HIT 3' and Dhanush's 'Kuberaa' made a splash. Smaller films (in terms of budget), including 'Court: State vs a Nobody' and 'Mad Square' collected Rs 40.7 crore nett and Rs 50 crore nett, respectively. 'Kannappa', which hit theatres towards the end of June, received a lukewarm response. advertisementAnupam Reddy, former secretary of the Telangana State Film Chamber of Commerce, at a press conference in Hyderabad, said, "Looking back at the last six months, I can only name about six movies that actually did well at the box office and that clearly explains how the industry has fared so far."'Kuberaa' producer and exhibitor Suniel Narang pointed out that audiences are selective these days, while highlighting the current challenges. Stressing that content is king, the producer said, "Within hours of a film's release, opinions start flooding social media platforms like X, Instagram and YouTube. Real-time feedback heavily influences theatre footfall. Audiences are very clear about their choices - if they're investing in buying a theatre ticket, they want to be sure that the film is worth their time and money."SANDALWOOD HITS ROCK BOTTOMThe first half of 2025 has been terrible for Kannada films as the highest-grossing film (titled 'Choo Mantar') earned Rs 7.5 crore worldwide. The industry that gifted 'KGF' films and 'Kantara' hardly had any hits that even raked in double digits. Films like 'Agnyathavasi' and 'Edagaiye Apaghatakke Karana' received critical terms of box office numbers, 'Choo Mantar' topped the charts, and is followed by 'Maadeva' and 'Yuddhakaanda Chapter 2'. Now, the industry is looking forward to Rishab Shetty's 'Kantara: Chapter 1', and Shiva Rajkumar-Raj B Shetty-Upendra's '45' to revive the industry from the slump.A PACKED SECOND HALF OF 2025Ruban Mathivanan pointed out that the second half of 2025 looks "jam-packed with many important spectacle films lined up for release." Rajinikanth's 'Coolie', Dhanush's 'Idly Kadai', Sivakarthikeyan's 'Madhrasi', Pawan Kalyan's 'Hari Hara Veera Mallu', 'They Call Him OG', Prabhas' 'The RajaSaab', Vijay Deverakonda's 'Kingdom', Mohanlal's 'Hridayapoorvam', 'Kantara: Chapter 1', and many other tentpole films, apart from many other small and medium-budget films are set to smash box office in the months to first half of 2025 presents a tale of contrasts for South Indian cinema. However, with the success of the upcoming films, South cinema is poised for a potential revival.- Ends
News18
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Best Films Nominations For Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2025
A gripping crime thriller, L2: Empuraan continues the saga of Mohanlal's iconic character. L2: Empuraan
New Indian Express
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Mohanlal's 'L2: Empuraan' only Malayalam film nominated for best film at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2025
L2: Empuraan, the Malayalam blockbuster starring Mohanlal and directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, has secured a nomination for Best Film at the prestigious Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2025, reported OTTplay. The festival will take place from 14 to 24 August and celebrates cinematic excellence across Indian languages and genres. The film, which has been both a commercial success and a topic of controversy, is the sole Malayalam title competing in the Best Film category. Joining it on the list are Prabhas' futuristic Telugu epic Kalki 2898 AD, the Tamil emotional drama Meiyazhagan featuring Karthi and Arvind Swamy, and the Hindi horror-comedy sequel Stree 2 starring Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao. Also nominated in the same category are Maharaj, Superboys of Malegaon, and Homebound.
