Latest news with #Tharun
Time of India
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Malayalam OTT Releases: 'Thudarum' to ‘Jerry': Must-watch Malayalam OTT releases this week!
Get ready for an exciting lineup of Malayalam films hitting OTT platforms this week! From gripping thrillers to heartfelt dramas, these four new releases promise captivating stories and stellar performances. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Dive into the vibrant world of Malayalam cinema with these fresh titles! 'Thudarum' Set against the serene backdrop of Ranni's hill town, Thudarum is a compelling drama that weaves a tale of human connections and personal struggles. This film explores emotional depth and resilience, making it a must-watch for fans of storytelling with heart. Now streaming on OTT. ETimes gave the film a rating of 3 stars, and our review read, 'Tharun, whose last film Saudi Vellakka won a National Awards, could have done better to have created a more subtle story; this very much has an '80s-'90s feel. For Mohanlal fans, his raw magnetism might be exciting, but with its loud and overwritten scenes, the acting lacks nuance all around.' Alappuzha Gymkhana | Song - Panjara Punch A vibrant narrative packed with local flavor, Alappuzha Gymkhana dives into the cultural tapestry of Kerala's backwaters. This film blends humor and drama, offering a fresh perspective on community dynamics. Catch it on SonyLIV starting June 5, 2025. ETimes review for the Naslen starrer read, 'Alappuzha Jimkhana may not offer the highs of Thallumaala, nor does it aim to. This is a slice-of-life narrative about kids who dream in fragments and grow up learning that sometimes the greatest win is just to stay on your feet. ' Jerry - Official Trailer 'Jerry' brings a light-hearted yet poignant story to the screen, focusing on relatable characters navigating life's quirks. Perfect for viewers seeking a mix of comedy and emotion, this film is available on SimplySouth from May 30, 2025. The movie features Kottayam Nazeer, Pramod Velliyanad and many others in pivotal roles. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Big Ben - Official Teaser A thrilling ride with unexpected twists, Big Ben keeps you on the edge with its engaging plot and dynamic performances. This Malayalam gem is ideal for those craving suspense and drama, streaming on SunNxt as of May 30, 2025. This thriller film features Anu Mohan, Vinay Forrt, Vijay Babu and Aditi Ravi in pivotal roles.
New Indian Express
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Jeevan Naidu: Peace of mind is success
He made us laugh with his comic timing, and surprised us with his intensity in serious roles. Jeevan Naidu, the actor known for his standout performances in films like Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi, Keedaa Cola, Jathi Ratnalu, and many more has effortlessly balanced humour and gravity on-screen. CE had the pleasure of catching up with him for an exclusive one-on-one interaction at his home after a delicious afternoon meal. How did your journey into films begin? I used to run a restaurant named Charcoal Barbeque. Many people from the film industry would visit, including Sai Dharam Tej and Viva Harsha. Harsha and I became close, and one day he suggested we make a short film together. That's how Drunk and Drive happened. We kept making more short films from there. The turning point came when one of my 10th-grade friends, Bharath who was also a classmate of Tharun Bhascker during engineering knew about my interest in films. He introduced me to Tharun. That's how my journey into cinema really began. Were you always interested in films? Absolutely. I've always wanted to be a part of this industry. But I was also practical, I knew I needed financial stability before diving in. Without a proper plan, I could have ended up on the streets. So I focused on building a career first and then slowly transitioned into films. How was your experience working with Tharun Bhascker and Brahmanandam? Working with Brahmanandam garu, someone we've all admired since childhood, was a dream come true. With Tharun, it's something else altogether, he's my mentor. He supports everyone he works with and keeps in touch with them. His entire team is shining now because he builds people up, not just casts them.
NDTV
13-05-2025
- Sport
- NDTV
Thailand Open: Former World Number One Kidambi Srikanth Bows Out In Qualifiers
Former world number one Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth failed to qualify for the main round of the Thailand Open 2025 as he crashed out of the tournament with a defeat in his second match in the qualifiers on Tuesday. In the first round of qualifiers, the world championships silver medallist ousted Sankar Subramanian 21-15, 21-17 but lost in the second against Tharun Mannepalli 21-15, 21-17. In his last eight outings, Srikanth, ranked 71st in the men's singles, has managed just one appearance in the quarter-finals, highlighting his turbulent phase. Last year, he made just one semi-final appearance after competing in 14 tournaments. Tharun, ranked 53rd, was the only Indian to advance past the qualifiers. He will continue India's challenge in the main draw, which kicks off on Wednesday. Before outwitting Srikanth, Tharun defeated Chinese Taipei's Kuo Kuan Lin 17-21, 21-19, 21-17 in the closely contested opener. Ayush Shetty, who stormed into the semi-finals of the Taipei Open Super 300 last week, opened his account with a dominant 21-10, 21-11 victory against Finland's Joakim Oldorff. However, in his second fixture in the qualifiers, the 20-year-old bowed out of the tournament following a 21-14, 22-20 defeat against Malaysia's Justin Hoh. Sathish Karunakaran's campaign also came to a bitter end after a 17-21, 21-12, 21-12 loss to Malaysia's Aidil Sholeh. In the women's singles category, Ira Sharma staged a flawless comeback to defeat Myanmar's Thet Hthar Htuzar 18-21, 21-8, 21-12 in her opener. However, she could not carry her winning momentum against Thailand's Thamonwan Nithiittikrai and lost by 21-12, 21-18 in the second. India's only mixed doubles pair in the qualifiers, Mohit Jaglan and Lakshita Jaglan, crashed out of the tournament with a defeat against Chan Yin Chak and NG Tsz Yau of Hong Kong China 21-8, 21-10. On Wednesday, Lakshya Sen, the Paris 2024 Olympics men's singles semi-finalist, world number 10 women's doubles duo Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly and the rising sensation Unnati Hooda will take the court. Listen to the latest songs, only on
The Hindu
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Malayalam director Tharun Moorthy Interview: We knew ‘Thudarum' will strike a chord with the audience
It is a hatrick for Tharun Moorthy. After the commercially and critically-acclaimed Operation Java and Saudi Vellakka, the filmmaker has scored big at the box office with Thudarum, headlined by Mohanlal and Shobana. Despite a predictable storyline, Tharun managed to draw in the crowds with the setting, treatment of the narrative and some incredible performances. Thudarum is the story of a common man, 'Benz' Shanmughan (Mohanlal), a former fight master in the film industry, whose life is thrown into disarray. Tharun believes he was destined to do the film because producer M Renjith had been trying to make this film for around 12 years with Mohanlal and the film was taken up by six directors in these years. 'I had written my first two films and was not sure if another person's story might excite me. So I had decided that if I didn't connect with the story I would not make it. But I loved the story [by KR Sunil],' says Tharun. A self-confessed Mohanlal fan, was he worried about meeting the expectations of the actor's fans? 'There was pressure. But, thankfully, majority of his fans stood by my vision. I had interacted with his fans' associations on this account. But the challenge I had was dealing with those who were misleading the audience with fan-made posters and imaginary content. We were all confident about the content. Even though we did not expect this level of success, we knew the film will strike a chord with the audience. We aimed at presenting a free-flowing narrative, from scene 1 to 92,' he says. Tharun is quick to point out that there has been no deliberate attempt to bring vintage Mohanlal on screen, referring to the buzz around the film ever since filming started. 'The only thing that Renjith chettan [producer Renjith] told me was that, if possible, let us bring the Mohanlal of Aye Auto in the first half. I tried and even included one of the dialogues from that movie, for instance, the famous line 'Go to your classes.'' Instead of creating a vintage version, the narrative weaved in a range of emotions that Mohanlal has showcased with aplomb throughout his career. 'Mischief, playfulness, romance, affection, love, downfall, fear, fury, revenge.... Shanmughan goes through all these emotions,' he says. His favourite scene? 'The scene were Shanmughan breaks down in the bathroom. I told Lal sir to cry without covering his face and collapse in the space available. We didn't expect him to fall that way. We all were stunned when he did that.' The conversation veers to his comment about 'sleeper cell' fans of Mohanlal that went viral on social media. 'I never expected the comment to become so popular! I had asked my direction team whether the movie would work for the new generation. That's when they mentioned those who have rooted for the actor in spite of his failures. They may not have gone to the theatre for many years and this film is for them, irrespective of their age. They are the sleeper cell fans,' says Tharun with a laugh. The filmmaker observes that he and Sunil were on the same page as the scriptwriters. The toughest to crack was the characters' journey through the forest in a car. 'Sunil had clarity about the mood, the ambience, the climate, and terrain. We had to work a lot on creating the setting — mist, darkness, festival, mystery of the forest...,' Tharun explains. The film was shot over 99 days in Thodupuzha, Palakkad, Kambam, Theni, Chennai, Ranni etc. The talking point of Thudarum has been ad filmmaker Prakash Varma, who nailed it as the menacing antagonist, CI George Mathen. How did he find him? 'Divine intervention, perhaps. I wanted a new face, with a specific look – bald head and thick moustache. Sunil, a friend of Prakash for many years, felt that he might be suitable for that role. He clicked a few pictures of Prakash without his knowledge and sent them to me. Later we convinced him do the role. He didn't want to end up as a liability. So we did an audition and screen test.' Tharun adds that Prakash, who dubbed for the character as well, went through the same process as any new actor would do. What about the way he says 'Hello'? 'That was our suggestion, and he was bang on.' Recently Jakes Bejoy, the film's composer, had mentioned about Tharun's contributions to the film's soundscape, especially 'the metaphorical references in the characters in music and sound' – kombu and chenda for Shanmughan, nagapattu and violin motifs for George, and wolf howl for Benny (Binu Pappu), referring to the characters as a tusker, a snake and a wolf respectively. 'The film has a close connection with forest and so I wanted to relate them to these animals, in accordance with the traits of these characters,' says Tharun. On the film's end note, 'Mohanlal Thudarum' (Mohanlal will continue), Tharun says, 'His story will continue. The character Shanmughan will live on, nursing his wounds. The idea came on the editing table.' He says that much thought went into title design as well. 'Thudarum is written in three ways — initially with no wounds, then with blood and wounds and finally with the sutures. People might probably take note of these only when they re-watch it. Even if they don't, that's ok. These ideas came out of our excitement for the movie.' Mohanlal was simultaneously shooting for Empuraan while acting in Thudarum. 'He slipped into Shanmughan, the common man, from Khureshi Ab'raam, the don, with so much ease. That comes from 47 years of experience.' The filmmaker adds that he chooses to ignore the discussions comparing the two movies. 'I am impressed by the visual scape of Empuraan. The scale at which Raju [actor-director Prithviraj] mounted the movie opened the market for Malayalam cinema in other languages. Empuraan is a big reason for Thudarum getting a big opening and entry into other markets.' The chat is incomplete without mention of Binu Pappu, a mainstay in Tharun's career. 'I think this is his best performance till date.' Tharun has already announced his next project, Torpedo, written by Binu and starring Fahadh Faasil, Arjun Das, Naslen Gafoor and Ganapathi.
The Hindu
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Photographer K R Sunil on how his story became the script for Mohanlal-starrer ‘Thudarum'
Photographer KR Sunil has always been a captivating story-teller. And he finds his stories in the unlikeliest of places — the streetside, a temple festival, a random conversation with a stranger, a police station. It was one such story that led to Mohanlal-Tharun Moorthy super-hit revenge drama, Thudarum. Twelve years ago, at his hometown Kodungallur, Sunil saw an elderly man anxiously looking over the wall of the police station. Intrigued, he began to observe him and it seemed that the man's gaze was fixed on the vehicles parked inside the compound of the police station. The expression on the man's face, a strange mix of worry and determination, says Sunil, sparked a series of thoughts in his mind. 'What if he was looking at his vehicle that was intercepted by the police and was wondering how to retrieve it? What if that vehicle was his possession? What if it was the one thing he truly valued in life? It was all so visual, I had to write it down as a screenplay,' says Sunil. The story, which revolves around Mohanlal's character Shanmugham (a taxi driver fondly known as Benz, owing to his obsession with his vintage Ambassador car), remixes reality with filmy twists and turns. For the photographer whose startlingly sincere frames have constantly pushed us to ponder over the human experience, writing for a film was new. 'Though I didn't have experience in scripting, I have nurtured some friendships in the industry, especially with stalwarts such as Kamal and Lal Jose. I have also assisted Rajeev Ravi on the camera in two films (Quotation and Rasikan) . These helped me shape my cinematic language,' he adds. Even during his early days as a student at the Fine Arts College, Thrissur, Sunil used to be a regular at Film Society screenings; he would watch commercial films, too. Fuelled by the energy of his fresh script, Sunil read it out to producer Rajaputra Ranjith, who found potential in it. 'He could easily relate to a character who was so obsessed with his car, he would go to any length to take care of it.' Ranjith eventually spoke to Mohanlal and producer Antony Perumbavoor, who were equally impressed with the story. 'They had seen and known people like Benz who were obsessed with their cars,' says Sunil. But cinema, with its uncertainties and vagaries, took its own time. It was in 2022 when Sunil happened to watch Saudi Vellakka, written and directed by Tharun Moorthy, that things took a turn. 'The film had a simple story told so compellingly that the scenes stayed with me. It struck a chord,' Sunil recalls. When Tharun heard the story, he knew too that it had all the makings of a good film. Tharun met Sunil in 2023, at Mattancherry, where he was showcasing his works. They decided to work together on the script and what followed was a joyfully creative exchange, says Sunil. 'Communicating with Tharun was easy and he offered quite a few suggestions, which I felt were suitable for the narrative, and we began work on a new script.' Sunil, who was present at most of the shooting locations, says it was an inexplicable experience watching Mohanlal emote the characters he created. 'We know Mohanlal as an actor. But as a person, he is extremely down-to-earth. People come from different places just to get a glimpse of him.' Sunil recounts how an elderly woman who was running an eatery near the shooting location in Thodupuzha brought a day's meal for Mohanlal, who gladly relished it. Sunil admits he is a bit overwhelmed by the response the film has been getting. 'The film has resonated with people across generations and the feedback is truly heartening,' he says. Sunil has quite a few stories in his head, but for now, he is concentrating on his upcoming photography shows in Goa and Mumbai.
