On The Sets

MALAYALAM
Priyam
Sanal turns director
Sanal, who graduated from the School of Drama, Trichur turns film director with Priyam. He has cast the present day crowdpuller, Kunchacko Boban in the lead with a fresh female face, Deepa, as heroine. Sab John’s story has three children playing decisive roles. The three children who get orphaned by the death of their parents in a motor accident are brought up by their uncle who is just a student. The uncle who is studying for engineering takes up the upbringing of these children as the prime responsibility. His actions, decisions and even tastes and dislikes are controlled by the three children. All of a sudden a girl comes into the family. The girl has actually come hunting for her childhood playmate. She becomes part of the family as a help, looking after the children. It is the love between the two and the role which the children play in this to get them united which forms the theme of Priyam.
Sab John said Kunchacko Boban has a totally “different” role to play. So far, Kunchacko has been doing only teenage romeo roles. In this he is acting as a youth who has a heavy responsibility to shoulder. The role should help him come out of the set image.
Sruthi Raj, NF Varghese, Jagathy Sreekumar, Indrans and Manka Mahesh are also in the cast. Ashwin, Arun and Manchima play the three children.
Vipin Mohan is the cinematographer, Sreekar Prasad will edit. S Ramesan Nair’s lines have been set to tune by Benny-Ignatius duo. Sab Entertainments will distribute the film produced by Smrithi Creations.

TELUGU
Nagulamma
Ramya Krishna as snake goddess
“This is the first time I am playing a snake goddess, though I’ve acted as a deity in Ammoru and other movies. Whenever the central character (played by Maheswari) is in trouble, I come to her rescue in this film titled, Nagulamma. And this is the first time, I am acting under veteran director KSR Doss. It’s a great feeling playing the role,” said Ramya Krishna, after completing her scenes for the movie under the supervision of choreographer Sreenu and director Doss, who is known for his action flicks.
Producer K Sukku is a happy man as the movie has been completed as planned in a 37-day shoot. “The graphics are a highlight and we are allotting 40 days for the work. Ramya’s role appears at regular intervals in the film and will be a major attraction. The film revolves around four major characters portrayed by Maheshwari (in a double role), Prithvi and Arun Pandyan. Post-production for the film is in in progress, and the movie is likely to be released in March.
Music by Dina, cinematography by Pushpala Gopikrishna, editing by K Ravindra Babu and stunts by Raju are the major technical credits. Lakka Radhakrishna has written the dialogue and director KSR Doss also writes the story and screenplay. Sri Sai Nilayam Productions is the banner.


Adbhutham
Amarkalam in Telugu
Producer V Satyanarayana’s banner, Venkateswaralayam, is offering the Tamil superhit, Amarkalam to the Telugu viewers as Adbhutham. A musical hit starring Ajith and Shalini in the lead, the film shot music director Bharadwaj (for Telugu audience Ramani Bharadwaj) to fame overnight all over Tamil Nadu. SP Balasubrahmaniam’s four-and-a-half minute breathless song made all the difference and is still a chartbuster. SPB rendered the Telugu version of the number at Shashi Studios, Chennai on Republic Day. Popular Telugu lyricist Veturi wrote the song in his inimitable style which is bound to appeal to the viewers.
Says SPB, “Rarely do we find such a right mixture of characterisation, literary value and composition. Adbhutham is one such rare blend. Such movies stimulate the artiste in us. Basically, the music director Bharadwaj has a literary bent of mind. And this has made it possible for him to come up with such an excellent idea of composing a breathless song without an interlude. Director Charan’s imagination in capturing so well the sequence on celluloid is worth mentioning. And we are proud to have a writer like Veturi Sundara Ramamurthy, who wrote such a wonderful lyric which will be long remembered. I hope the song and the film will be a big hit in Telugu too.”
Veturi who wrote the 89-line marathon wonder is of the opinion that today, dubbed films offer more job satisfaction to the lyricists than ‘straight’ Telugu films. And Adbhutham is one such film he enjoyed writing. Music director Bharadwaj who made his debut with a Telugu film, hopes to make a reentry with Adbhutham.
Producer Satyanarayana waited for writer Veturi, for a full three months to record the songs, which speaks volumes for his commitment to quality, said dialogue witer Sriramakrishna. The film is slated for release this month February.

Naga Gowri
When man becomes snake
Producer Pinjala Subba Rao completed the graphic work for PSR Pictures, Naga Gowri, a sociofantasy directed by Chozharajan with Gauthami, Srividya and Nizhalgal Ravi in the lead. “Gauthami plays a devotee of the Nagadevta. She marries a pious man, who turns into a snake. To bring him back to human form, she takes him on a pilgrimage. How her villainous uncle tries to sabotage her mission and how she ovecomes the ordeals form the rest of the story,” says Rao. He plans to release the movie in February.

Hunters of the Golden Cobra
In search of the treasure trove
There is a big boom in the dubbed versions of English movies. K Narasimha Reddy and Ramesh are releasing the dubbed version of the movie on a quest for treasure, Hunters of the Golden Cobra in Andhra Pradesh, after its big success in Tamil Nadu.
“Like in The Mummy, here too, the lead players are on the hunt for a treasure trove, this time in a thick jungle. Their journey takes us into a world of adventure, horror and suspense,” says the producers. David Warbeth, Armol Sista, John Steele and Allen Collins are in the cast. The film is directed by Anthony M Dawson.

TAMIL

Kannu Thorathu Paar Amma
Ranjith, Sangeetha teamed
The success of Devi has resulted in many producers trying to create similar films with different deities, stressing on the graphics to keep the audience engrossed. The success of many English films has clearly shown that graphics can be a selling point in films. United & Co, the distributors for over 505 films, has now entered production and in Kannu Thorathu Paar Amma they have spent Rs 1 crore on graphics alone.
Its director, Selva LC, who had assisted K Vijayan for many years, turns independent and tells the story of a goddess in a village temple who leaves the temple and goes away because of the people’s sins. No amount of persuasion is able to bring the Godess back to the temple. Sangeetha is confident that she will be able to bring back the goddess but Ranjith, who owns the temple and the land, wants to sell it off or build a factory. He however asks Sangeetha as to whether she will marry him if he does not demolish the temple and she agrees. How the goddess is brought back to the temple forms the story. Sangeetha is in a double role, as she plays the goddess also.
Cinematography by Siva Manohar and music by debutant Eswar enrich the film, which is soon to be released all over Tamil Nadu by the producers themselves.