First Look - Arjunan Sakshi

Movie - Arjunan Sakshi (Malayalam)

Director - Ranjith Sankar

Producer - S Sundararajan

Cast - Prithviraj, Ann Augustine, Jagathy Sreekumar, Nedumudi Venu, Mukesh, Biju Menon, Vijayaraghavan, Salimkumar, Suraaj Venjarammoodu, Suresh Krishna, Anand

Music - Bijibal

Cinematography - Ajayan Vincent

Editing - Ranjan Abraham

Art - Manu Jagadh

Release Date - 28th January 2011

And after a long time, I'm really excited about a Prithviraj film. Coming from the director of the path-breaking Passenger, this looks like a very interesting realistic thriller. Prithviraj who didnt exactly do well in 2010 with big flops like Thanthonni, Anwar and Thriller (and a breather in the form of Pokkiri Raja with Mammootty) can begin 2011 on a great note if the trailer is any indication. His Roy Mathews looks like an interesting character. The very pretty and talented Ann Augustine is cast as a reporter in her second film after her super-successful debut, Elsamma Enna Aankutty. With an impressive ensemble cast and great technicians lined up, it looks like Ranjith Sankar already has a winner up his sleeve. 2011 has started on a great note for Malayalam Cinema with Traffic garnering such terrific response from everyone who has seen it, let us hope Arjunan Sakshi continues the euphoria when it releases on January 28th. 

First Look - Tees Maar Khan

Movie - Tees Maar Khan (Hindi)

Producers - Twinkle Khanna, Shirish Kunder, Ronnie Screwvala

Director - Farah Khan

Cast - Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Akshaye Khanna, Salman Khan (Special Appearance)

Music - Vishal & Shekhar

Cinematography - PS Vinod

Story, Screenplay, Dialogues - Shirish Kunder, Ashmith Kunder

Editing - Shirish Kunder

Art Direction - Sabu Cyril

Background Score - Shirish Kunder

Release Date - December 24

Tees Maar Khan was in the news since the day it was announced. Firstly, for Farah Khan casting someone other than her best buddy and hero/producer of her first 2 movies - Shah Rukh Khan. The media went all out to show that Farah and SRK werent good friends anymore. But SRK kept saying things are all right between Farah and him, while Farah didnt miss any chance to make digs at SRK. Tees Maar Khan was written by  Farah's husband Shirish Kunder for him to direct himself, but when the script was ready, he felt that Farah would do more justice to the script than him. Shirish who had already worked with Akshay in his debut directorial venture Jaan-E-Mann (a very underrated movie), cast him again in the title role of Tees Maar Khan. The movie is about a smartass con-man, referred to as 'aadha' Robin Hood (following the footsteps of Dabangg's Robin Hood Pandey), because he steals money from the rich, but never gives it to the poor. Katrina Kaif plays a wannabe item girl and Akshaye Khanna plays a movie star in the movie. There are guest appearances by many A-List stars from the industry including Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt. etc. Sanjay Dutt has even given the voice-over for the trailer of the movie. Salman Khan appears in a qawwali dance number along with Akshay and Katrina, which is touted to be the highlight of the movie. Farah does not forget to take digs at her own previous movie Om Shanti Om, even in the trailer. She is one of the most successful and entertaining directors in the country and her films Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om have been absolute mad-cap entertainers. Vishal & Shekhar compose music for the movie while Shirish Kunder handles the Screenplay, Editing and Background Score. PS Vinod is in charge of Cinematography while multiple National Award winner Sabu Cyril, who enthralled us recently with his marvellous work in Endhiran, handles Art Direction. The film is jointly produced by Akshay Kumar, Shirish Kunder and UTV Motion Pictures. Tees Maar Khan promises to be loads of fun from the trailer and the stills.  

Catch Tees Maar Khan if you can on December 24th. 

First Look Poster - Billa 2

The first look poster of the sequel to the 2007 blockbuster Billa - Billa 2 was released by the team as a Deepavali gift to Ajith fans. Billa 2 is being helmed by Vishnuvardhan who also directed the suave and stylish first part of Billa. Billa was an updated remake of Rajnikanth's Billla (1980), which in turn was a remake of Amitabh Bachchan's Don (1977). Even Don was remade in 2006 starring Shah Rukh Khan by Farhan Akhtar and they have already begun shooting the sequel for Don in Berlin. But the storylines of the new versions of the story in Hindi and Tamil are entirely different. While Farhan Akhtar played around with the ending and created a twist of his own in the new Don, Vishnuvardhan remained faithful to the original story in his Billa. So the sequels are also bound to have different stories. There are rumours that Billa 2 may actually be a prequel to Billa since Billa dies in the first movie itself. Anyways, let us wait and watch what the team has to offer. Vishnuvardhan repeats the same team from all his movies - Yuvan Shankar Raja, Nirav Shah, Sreekar Prasad and Anu Vardhan. Ajith badly needs a hit now and 2011 is looking good for him with Venkat Prabhu's Mangatha and now Billa 2 lined up. The leading lady of the sequel is not confirmed yet. Nayanthara, who was the heroine in the first movie may or may not act in the movie, since there are rumours going around that she is going to get married in December. The poster looks cool and creates a certain curiosity level for the flick. And one good thing you can notice is that Ajith Kumar has done away with his 'Ultimate Star' tag. It started with Asal, and he continues that in this one also, which is a good thing. 

Preview: Endhiran - The Robot

Movie - Endhiran (Tamil)
Director - Shankar
Producer - Kalanithi Maran
Cast - 'Superstar' Rajnikanth, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Santhanam, Karunas, Danny Denzongpa, Kalabhavan Mani, Cochin Haneefa
Music - AR Rahman
Lyrics - Vairamuthu, PA Vijay, Karky
Cinematography - Rathnavelu
Editing - Anthony
Art - Sabu Cyril
Stunts - Peter Hein
Sound - Resul Pookutty CAS
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues - Sujatha, Shankar, Balakumaran, Karky
Release Date - October 1, 2010


The film that the entire country has been waiting for, Endhiran is finally getting ready for release during the end of this month. This mammoth production stars India's (or probably Asia's) most commercially viable Superstar Rajnikanth and one of the most beautiful and popular actresses in India, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, under the direction of Shankar who has an unbeatable 100% success rate in the Tamil industry. Initially financed by Ayngaran International and Eros, this movie was taken over in 2009 by media moghuls Sun Pictures after the previous producers backed out due to financial difficulties. Sun Pictures, who have been buying the rights and distributing Tamil films for the past 2 years (from Kaadhalil Vizhunthen to Thillalangadi), are venturing into production for the first time with this film. Academy Award & Grammy winner and India's biggest composer AR Rahman composes music for the film, while his fellow Oscar winner Resul Pookutty does the sound design. Multiple National Award winner Sabu Cyril does the art direction while the slick and stylish editor Anthony takes care of the editing. It was Shankar's dream project which he conceptualized 10 years ago, but couldnt make it because it required a humongous budget and there was no market for such films then. But after the stupendous success of Sivaji where he and Rajnikanth joined hands for the first time, he was convinced that with Rajni's star power and his direction, the movie would definitely find a market and reap huge profits. Shankar has written the script along with late veteran writer Sujatha and others like Balakumaran and Karky. 

The film was reportedly made on a budget of around Rs.150-200 crores making it the costliest film made in India. The audio release of the movie was held in Malaysia which was as grand an event as any of the Bollywood award shows. And in the previous week, the trailer launch event of the movie was held at Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai amidst much fanfare. The trailer, which is now being screened in cinemas across the country, is being celebrated by the devoted fans of Superstar Rajnikanth. The film will also release simultaneously in its dubbed Hindi and Telugu versions. The movie is expected with bated breath by fans of Rajnikanth and Indian Cinema across the world. 

Rajnikanth plays a dual role in the film. Scientist Vaseegaran (Rajnikanth) develops an android named Chitti (Rajnikanth again) with artificial intelligence. The robot slowly develops human natures and falls in love Sana (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), Vaseegaran's lady love. On the other hand, Danny Denzongpa is a rival scientist who wants to lay his hands on Chitti and use him for his own evil deeds. Endhiran is the story of the fight between Vaseegaran & Danny Denzongpa, with Chitti acting as a catalyst. And Shankar has promised that there will be a surprise in store like Motta Boss in Sivaji, in Endhiran as well. 


The music of the film is already a rage and topped the worldwide charts of iTunes in its release week itself. The movie is expected to release with 1500 prints all over the world in 3 languages. Here are some stills and the mindblowing trailer of the movie. 

First Look - Pranjiettan and The Saint

Movie - Pranjiettan and The Saint (Malayalam)
Director - Ranjith
Producer - Ranjith
Cast - Mammootty, Priyamani, Khushboo, Innocent, Siddique, Tiny Tom, Jagathy Sreekumar, Idavela Babu and others
Music - Ouseppachan
Cinematography - Venu ISC
Editing - Vijay
Art Direction - Manu Jagadh
Release Date - 10th September 2010


Ranjith's Pranjiettan and The Saint is a comic satire on the life of a rich Rice merchant based in Thrissur. Mammootty, after speaking in all kinds of slangs in his recent films, speaks up the very amusing Thrissur slang in this movie. The leading lady is Priyamani who is back in Malayalam after a stupendous performance in Thirakkatha. Khushboo is also present in a supporting role. The movie is slated to release on the Eid day. Mammootty's performance and Ranjith's script-direction make this movie an eagerly awaited project. 

First Look - Boss Engira Bhaskaran and Va Quarter Cutting

Movie - Boss Engira Bhaskaran (Tamil)
Director - Rajesh M
Cast - Arya, Nayanthara, Santhanam
Music - Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography - Sakthi Saravanan
Producer - K S Srinivasan, Udayanithi Stalin
Writer - Rajesh M
Release Date - 10th September 2010

Boss Engira Bhaskaran is a light-hearted romantic comedy coming from Rajesh who gave us the fun flick Siva Manasula Sakthi last year. It has good music by Yuvan Shankar Raja and the fresh pairing of Arya and Nayanthara as its main attractions. Santhanam promises to deliver loads of laughter with his comic act. Looking forward to the release of this film. 

Movie - Va Quarter Cutting (Tamil)
Directors - Pushkar & Gayathri
Producer - S Sashikanth, Dayanidhi Alagiri
Cast - Siva, SP Charan, John Vijay, Lekha Washington, Craig
Music - GV Prakash Kumar
Cinematography - Nirav Shah
Editing - Anthony
Writers - Pushkar & Gayathri


Pushkar & Gayathri made a very good debut with the rib-tickling fun trip Oram Po. Their new offering has an array of interesting characters and the trailer certainly builds huge curiosity levels about the film's content. Another interesting film to look forward to. 

First Look - Mangaatha

Movie - Mangatha (Tamil)

Director - Venkat Prabhu

Producer - Dhayanidhi Alagiri

Cast - Ajith Kumar, Nagarjuna, Premgi Amaren

Music - Yuvan Shankar Raja

Cinematography - Sakthi Saravanan

Release Date - Summer 2011. 

Okay, here's the first look of the much awaited movie Mangatha. The teaser was released along with Cloud Nine's Naan Mahaan Alla and was received with a thunderous response from the fans of 'Thala' Ajith all over Tamil Nadu. The film is a multistarrer which also stars the huge star from Telugu Nagarjuna along with Ajith. This movie is definitely a trendsetter, since it is the first time that a huge star like Ajith has agreed to work in a multistarrer in a long long time. This also marks the transition of director Venkat Prabhu into the big league of directors after his super-successful Chennai 600028, Saroja and Goa. Accompanied by his lucky mascots Yuvan Shankar Raja and Sakthi Saravanan, Venkat Prabhu says he will surely satisfy all the expecations of Ajith fans through this movie. Mangatha is Ajith's 50th film. The actor who is going through a rough patch after his films like Aegan, Asal, etc flopped, has to make a strong comeback and this looks the right opportunity. Nagarjuna returns to Tamil films through this movie after a gap of almost 14 years since he did Ratchagan (1996). Here's the teaser trailer of the movie. 

First Look - Paa

Movie - Paa (Hindi)

Director - R Balki

Producers - AB Corp Limited, Sunil Manchanda

Cast - Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Paresh Rawal and introducing Amitabh Bachchan

Music - Ilaiyaraaja

Cinematography - PC Sreeram

Release Date - 4th December 2009

Paa is one of the most eagerly awaited movies of the year. It has the regular combination of the father-son duo Amitabh and Abhishek, in very unusual roles. Abhishek plays father to Amitabh in this film, directed by R Balki who gave us a beautiful romantic comedy called Cheeni Kum in 2007, with Bachchan Saab and Tabu. 

The synopsis of the film goes like this -

Auro (Amitabh Bachchan) is an intelligent, witty 13 year old boy with an extremely rare genetic defect that causes accelerated ageing. He suffers from a progeria like syndrome. Mentally he is 13, very normal, but physically he looks 5 times older. In spite of this condition, Auro is a very happy boy. He lives with his mother Vidya (Vidya Balan), who is a gynaecologist. Amol Arte (Abhishek Bachchan) is young, progressive and a full of ideals, politician. He is out to prove to the world that 'politics' is not a bad word. He is a man with a mission. Auro is Amol's son. Paa is a rare story about a father-son, son-father relationship. 

From the synopsis, it looks like the idea of accelerated ageing came from the reverse ageing syndrome in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Anyways, lets hope its an original story. It will be interesting to see Mr.Bachchan perform as a child and Abhishek, as his father. Vidya Balan looks beautiful too. Seeing her on screen after a long time now. Paresh Rawal is also there in the cast. The cinematography is by PC Sreeram, one of the best cinematographers we ever had in the country. The music is by Ilaiyaraaja, and if the music heard in the teaser promo is anything to go by, I'm sure Paa would have a great musical score. The movie is scheduled to release on December 4th and here are the first look promos of the movie.