First looks of Sarath Kumar’s ‘The Smile Man’, ‘Aazhi’ released on his b’day

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The units of two Tamil films, ‘The Smile Man’ and ‘Aazhi’, released their films’ first look posters on Thursday on the occasion of actor Sarath Kumar’s birthday.

Director Syam Praveen’s ‘The Smile Man’, which is being produced by Salil Das, happens to be Sarath Kumar’s 150th film.

Tweeting the first look picture, director Syam Praveen said: “Magnum Movies is happy to release the First Look of Sarath Kumar’s 150th Movie ‘Smile Man’.”

The film has cinematography by Vikram Mohan, music by Gavaskar Avinash, and editing by San Lokesh.

Actor Vijay Sethupathi released the first look of director Madhav Ramadasan’s ‘Aazhi’, in which Sarath Kumar plays the lead.

Tweeting the first look of the film, Vijay Sethupathi said: “Happy to release the First Look of 888 Productions’ Production No 1 starring Sarath Kumar on his birthday titled ‘Asahi’. Best wishes to the team.”

The poster of ‘Aazhi’ (which means Ocean in English) also had a social message urging people to say no to drugs.

Super excited to host first OTT edition of ‘Bigg Boss Kannada’: Kiccha Sudeep

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Celebrated Sandalwood actor Kiccha Sudeep is all set to host the first-ever OTT edition of the ‘Bigg Boss Kannada’. The digital format will be coming on the OTT streaming platform Voot.

Kiccha Sudeep said: “As the host for eight exciting seasons, ‘Bigg Boss Kannada’ holds a special place in my heart. This year, we’re glad to bring an entertaining twist to the tale with the first ever OTT edition.

As we gear up to premiere the show on Voot, I am eager to bring to the viewers an interesting format- 24×7 live action, interesting conversations, and plot twists, that will surely keep our viewers hooked as well.”

‘Bigg Boss Kannada’ has amassed great popularity in the previous years.

With a line-up of participants with interesting back stories and it’s fair sh

Entertainment, Film Updates
Celebrated Sandalwood actor Kiccha Sudeep

is of ups and downs, it has been one of the most popular shows in the reality TV segment.

The show will start streaming on Voot in August.

Makers of Nithiin’s upcoming film reveal Samuthirakani’s first look

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‘Macherla Niyojakavargam,’ a political action drama starring Nithiin, is one of Tollywood’s most anticipated films. Things are heating up now that the film’s producers have unveiled the first look poster of star Samuthirakani from the film.

The makers, who took to their social media websites to promote ‘Macherla Niyojakavargam’, released Samuthirakani’s poster, introducing him as ‘Rajappa’.

Samuthirakani, who plays ‘Rajappa,’ wears a traditional white dhoti and has a sharp and ferocious appearance. Samuthirakani appears to be full of authority in what appears to be his working office, which contains normal stationery.

The makers also hint at the kind of role he plays as they quoted: “Unanimous MLA of Macherla Niyojakavargam”, which depicts the kind of powerful role he plays in the movie.

He looks excellent as the adversary of the political thriller, and sources claim that the face-off sequences between IAS officer Nithiin and MLA Rajappa would be entertaining to watch.

‘Macherla Niyojakavargam’ is generating a lot of buzz as a result of the big campaigns and engaging promotional material. The movie also stars Krithi Shetty and Catherine Tresa as leading females.

 

Janhvi Kapoor’s ‘con-medy’ ‘Goodluck Jerry’ to release on July 29

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Actress Jahnvi Kapoor’s upcoming film ‘Goodluck Jerry’ is all set to release digitally on July 29.

Janhvi said: “GoodLuck Jerry has been an exciting experience as it gave me the opportunity to explore a completely unique genre. Siddharth has been a catalyst in truly bringing out the Jerry in me!”

“Working with Aanand L. Rai was an enriching and rewarding experience. To be a part of this film has been a dream come true.”

‘GoodLuck Jerry’ is a story of the survival of the wittiest when pushed to the wall. The film stars Janhvi as the docile yet gritty character along with a terrific ensemble including Deepak Dobriyal, Mita Vashisht, Neeraj Sood, and Sushant Singh.

The film marks Aanand L. Rai’s second association with Disney+ Hotstar, following the phenomenal success of the romantic fantasy drama ‘Atrangi Re’.

Producer Aanand L. Rai said: “In ‘GoodLuck Jerry’, we created a unique synergy out of moral dilemmas and life’s compulsions surrounding the turbulent life of a common man.”

Director Siddharth Sen added: “We have had very few female-led con-medy films. So naturally, with this film, we wanted to redefine the unusually known word, ‘con men’. Janhvi Kapoor pins the character perfectly in her portrayal of the character’s desperation to fight and protect her family.”

“The film’s pulp noir tonality presents comedy in a whole new dimension to viewers, and I hope that they like what we have in store for them.”

Gaurav Banerjee, Head – Content, Disney+ Hotstar & HSM Entertainment Network, Disney Star said: “Our subscribers really loved Atrangi Re and now Aanand is back with another film which has all his trademark strengths- amazing characters in a unique world. We hope you will wish Janhvi good luck as she takes on being Jerry!”

The film is all set to release on Disney+ Hotstar on July 29.

Kangana Ranaut unveils her Indira Gandhi look from ‘Emergency’

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Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, whose last film ‘Dhaakad’ performed miserably at the box office, unveiled her first look from the movie ‘Emergency’. The actress plays the late former prime minister, Indira Gandhi, in the film written and directed by her.

‘Emergency’, as the title suggests, is all about the state of internal emergency declared by Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975. It lasted till March 21, 1977, when the Janata Party was voted to power in a historic election.

The prosthetics, the wardrobe, and the demeanor are all reminiscent of the late prime minister. But critics were quick to point out that Kangana needs to work on the pronunciation of the word ‘Sir’.

Talking about the film, Kangana said it “reflects one of the most important periods in Indian political history which changed the way we view power and that’s why I decided to tell this story”.

She added: “Moreover, playing a public figure on the screen is always a challenge because one has to get the look, the characteristics, and the persona right. I spent a significant amount of time researching the subject and once I felt I had enough ammunition, I commenced on the film’s shoot.”

Kangana has played the late former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalitha in ‘Thalaivi’ and Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi in ‘Manikarnika’.

The film dialogues are by Ritesh Shah, who was previously associated with celebrated films such as ‘Kahaani’, ‘Pink’, ‘Raid’ and ‘Airlift’.

Sara, Janhvi reveal their near-death travel misadventures

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Bollywood actresses Sara Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor have opened up about their near-death travel misadventures in an episode of ‘Koffee With Karan’ Season 7.

Bonding over the scenic beauty of Kedarnath, Janhvi and Sara’s trip hit a roadblock as they faced two near-death experiences. When Janhvi chose a hike at Bhairavnath over walking a normal path, the duo was faced with an unexpected twist in their adventure.

Sara said: “We decided to go to Bhairavnath and there was a normal path for walking. But we thought ourselves to be better. We chose to hike instead. There was an 85 incline of just rocks and Janhvi is like let us just climb this.”

Though skeptical of climbing the incline, Sara shared that she was afraid of being called a “buzzkill”.

Admitting fear of kicking in, Sara mentioned how at one point, she was sure they would fall off owing to shaky rocks.

With no escape in sight, they found solace when they saw a fan coming toward them as they hung off the cliff.

Much to their dismay, he was of no help, as he only wanted to take a selfie with them. Eventually, Sara’s driver found them after almost 30 minutes of being stuck, and they were rescued with the help of special forces.

Adding to their woes, the weather too played foul.

Recollecting Sara’s choice of a low-cost no-heater hotel in a bid to save Rs 6000, Janhvi shared how this choice nearly froze them.

She said, “I had traveled to Kedarnath with two thermals, one puffer jacket, three shawls, two-track pants, and two sweaters. Karan, I wore every single piece of clothing I had owned and was still shivering.”

Adding that by the time, Sara returned to their room after meeting her friends, her lips had turned blue and she was shivering!

She even added that apart from the absence of a heater in the freezing minus 7 degrees Celcius weather, the bathroom in the hotel was also doubtful, “If I had sat on that pot, it would have shattered,” said Janhvi adding to her bad-hotel stay story.

‘Koffee With Karan’ Season 7 breaths of air on Disney+ Hotstar.

Vaani recalls how ‘Shamshera’ director’s narration helped her slip into the role

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Bollywood actress Vaani Kapoor is back with yet another YRF film in the form of’Shamshera’, where she has been paired opposite Ranbir Kapoor, who plays the titular character.

While for Ranbir, saying yes to the script was a “no-brainer”, Vaani was particularly bowled over by the narration that she heard from the film’s director Karan Malhotra.

‘Shamshera’ is Karan’s third film after the Hrithik Roshan-starrer ‘Agneepath’ (2012) and the 2015 release ‘Brothers’, which was the official remake of the Hollywood film ‘Warrior’.

The director has the same intensity and passion when it comes to narration and it reflects in his creative inputs that pop out during the course of narration, as told by Vaani.

Vaani said, “Karan is one director who is passionately involved in the process of narration. There are background sounds that he makes, he talks about the props, and paints a dreamy picture of a scene.”

While it may sound funny at the face value, it does help an actor to a great extent in Vaani’s opinion.

She told IANS, “This helps an actor a lot to get a grip on the narrative and the characters. Because you can envision it so well courtesy of his narration, everything comes to life and flashes in front of your eyes.”

“The narration of ‘Shamshera’ helped me to immediately pitch this character and design its dimensions accordingly. And, let me tell you, what you have seen of my character in the film’s trailer is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a lot more to her than meets the eye,” she added.

Acting is a job that requires artists to make rapid changes to their personalities because of the varied characters they portray. While some may find it easy to jump from one character to the other, Vaani is still learning to let go of her characters.

She said, “I am still learning to fully disconnect from what I have done in the past because your characters are an extension of your personality and they stem from you. It gets difficult to detach because I hold these characters very close to my heart, having lived with them and nurtured them for so long.”

Interestingly for her, the scenes which are fairly easy to pull off are the most difficult in her own words. While doing complex scenes or sequences comes naturally to her, the simplicity of a scene is something that she gets perplexed with.

Sai Pallavi impresses reviewers with ‘Gargi’, film gets U/A certificate

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Ever since the release of the film’s hard-hitting trailer, Sai Pallavi- starrer ‘Gargi’ has been the talk of the town. The film has now completed its censorship requirements and has been issued a U/A certificate by the Censor Board.

‘Gargi’ was shown to a significant number of members of the press earlier on Thursday, and the reviews appear to be unanimously good. As Sai Pallavi’s recent outing ‘Virata Parvam’ utterly failed at the box office, all hopes are pinned on ‘Gargi’.

‘Gargi’ is slated for a grand theatrical release on July 15 in Telugu, Tamil as well as Kannada languages.

Written and directed by Gautham Ramachandran, it has Kaali Venkat, Aishwarya Lekshmi, R.S. Shivaji, and others in key roles. Bankrolled by Blacky Genie and My Left Foot banner, the film is presented in Telugu by Rana Daggubati.

Daniel Kaluuya not returning for ‘Black Panther 2’

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British actor Daniel Kaluuya will not reprise his role in Marvel and Disney’s ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

According to ‘Variety’, Kaluuya played W’Kabi in ‘Black Panther (2018), the best friend and confidant of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), and the head of security for the Border Tribe.

Sources close to the project told Variety that Kaluuya was asked to return, but he had already committed to star in Jordan Peele’s upcoming horror film ‘Nope’.

Kaluuya has been nominated for Oscar for his starring role in Jordan Peele’s 2017 hit ‘Get Out’.

Production on ‘Wakanda Forever, directed by Ryan Coogler, got over in March and the film is set to release on November 11.

Following the death of Boseman in 2020, Marvel decided not to recast the role of T’Challa.

The sequel will instead explore other characters from the world of ‘Black Panther’, while also honoring the legacy left behind by Boseman.

Though it had been confirmed that stars of the original film, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, and Angela Bassett, would return, Kaluuya’s status in the second film was unclear until now.

‘Wakanda Forever’ also stars Dominique Thorne as a genius inventor, and Michaela Coel and Tenoch Huerta in undisclosed roles.

Kaluuya is currently gearing up for the release of ‘Nope’ on July 22. The sci-fi horror film stars Kaluuya alongside Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun and follows the residents of an isolated town who witness a mysterious event involving a UFO and set out to investigate it.

Kangana Ranaut’s look from ‘Emergency’ to be revealed on Thursday

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Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut is all set to unveil the look of her character in her upcoming film ‘Emergency’ in which she essays the role of late PM Indira Gandhi.

Kangana, who was seen as the fierce and enigmatic Agent Agni in her movie, ‘Dhaakad’ will be seen in an entirely different avatar in ‘Emergency’. She will be portraying one of the most powerful and famous politicians on screen.

She took to her Instagram handle to urge fans to look out for the first look of the film which will be unveiled on the YouTube channel of her production company ‘Manikarnika Films.’

“Subscribe to the official YouTube channel of @manikarnikafilms…And watch Emergency first look tomorrow”

The actress has roped in Oscar-winning makeup artist David Malinowski to achieve the right look. Malinowski won an Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for the movie ‘The Darkest Hour’ (2017).

According to the actress, the Emergency was a watershed moment in the country’s political history and she was keen on showcasing that period on celluloid.