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A first trailer has been unveiled for feature directing debutant Shuchi Talati’s “Girls Will Be Girls,” world premiering at Sundance’s world cinema dramatic competition.

The film is set in an elite boarding school in a small Himalayan hill town in northern India and follows the story of Mira, a 16-year-old girl whose sexy, rebellious awakening is hijacked by her mother who never got to come-of-age. Malayalam cinema actor Kani Kusruti (“Pada”) is playing one of the leads. The film marks the debut of emerging actors Preeti Panigrahi and Kesav Binoy Kiron who also have lead roles.

“Girls Will Be Girls” is an India-France-Norway coproduction. Producers include India’s Pushing Buttons Studios and Crawling Angel Films and France’s Dolce Vita Films (2019 Venice and Cairo winner “A Son”). Pushing Buttons is an outfit founded by Indian actors Ali Fazal (“Death on the Nile”) and Richa Chadha (“Gangs of Wasseypur...

EntertainmentA number of awards went to ‘Nna Thaan Case Kodu’ and ‘Ila Veezha Poonchira’.For his uncanny transformation from a sleeping James to a happy-go-lucky Sundaram in Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam, Mammootty, one of the most respected actors in the south, won the Best Actor (Male) award from the government of Kerala – his eighth, counting best and special jury awards from the 80s. Along with him, young Vincy Aloshious won her first state accolade for Best Actor (Female) for the tough title character she played in Rekha, who moves on from love to crude vengeance, literally letting her actions speak louder than words. Director Lijo Jose Pellissery, a habitual maker of fantastical cinema, won the Best Film award for creating Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam. Mahesh Narayanan, an editor who turned to direction with Take Off, won the Best Director award for Areeppu, which told the relatable story of a couple who go...

ListicleHeadlined by stars like Rajinikanth, Ram Charan, Mammootty, and Fahadh Faasil, these films challenge how Dalit and Adivasi lives have so far been represented in cinema from the southern states.Cinema from the southern states have seen a wave of anti-caste films that challenge how caste is represented on our screens. Kollywood in particular has seen many such movies in recent years, with several helmed by Dalit directors such as Pa Ranjith and Mari Selvaraj among others. The success of these films in both box office takings and wide-spread popularity among audiences and critics alike have certainly created a trend of anti-caste movies. These films have banked on some of the biggest stars in their respective industries like Rajinikanth, Ram Charan, Mammootty, and Fahadh Faasil to draw in movie-goers, while simultaneously challenging how Dalit and Adivasi lives have been represented so far. Here’s a list of films in Telugu,...

MollywoodTwo other recently released Malayalam films ‘Pada’ and ‘Veyil’ will also be streaming on Over-the-top (Ott) platform Amazon Prime Video shortly.Tnm StaffScreengrab/ YouTubeThe makers of Tovino Thomas’s recently-released Malayalam film Naradan announced on March 29 that the film will be streaming on Over-the-top (Ott) platform Amazon Prime Video from April 8. Sharing the announcement, Amazon Prime Video shared a poster on Tuesday, March 29 and wrote, “Watch Tovino Thomas and Anna Ben, in Aashiq Abu’s Naradan.” The film hit the big screens on March 3. Directed by Aashiq Abu, the film features Tovino Thomas, Anna Ben, Sharafudheen, and Vijayaraghavan in main roles. Naradan is the dramatic journey of Chandraprakash, a journalist working at News Malayalam. He is a talk show host and television news anchor with a huge audience appeal. He is under pressure to do stories that will increase the channel's rating from his editors and bosses. When a fellow journalist,...

Cinema‘Pada’ is based on a real life incident that took place in 1996 Kerala, when four activists held a District Collector hostage to protest the Adivasi Land Act Amendment passed by the Left government.Sowmya RajendranScreengrabPada, a Malayalam film directed by Kamal Km, is centred on an unusual hostage drama based on real events. On October 4, 1996, Wr Reddy, then Palakkad District Collector, was held hostage in his own office by four Adivasi rights activists who waved explosives and a gun at the crowd. Their demand? The withdrawal of the amendment to the Adivasi Land Act 1975 that was passed by Ek Nayanar’s Left Democratic Front (Ldf) government that year. Many tribal people saw the amendment as the government cheating them of their rights. The two-hour thriller has Kunchacko Boban, Vinayakan, Dileesh Pothan and Joju George in the lead. The film, which has won critical acclaim, is among the few Malayalam...

ReviewThe film, directed by Kamal Km and based on real events, features Kunchacko Boban, Vinayakan, Joju George and Dileesh Pothan in the lead.CrisScreenshot from 'Pada'Building tension moment by moment and then maintaining it for two whole hours of a movie has to be an art. In Pada, Kamal Km’s new film, there is at first the suspense of not knowing what’s happening, then the happening itself, and then the anxiety of how it will end. Going against the usual long disclaimers of distancing itself from any real incident, the film starts off by saying it is based on true events. Actors Kunchacko Boban, Vinayakan, Joju George and Dileesh Pothan appear from four different corners and barely let you breathe, as a very important story about Adivasi rights gets told. If by retelling the incident more than 25 years later, Kamal – the film’s writer and director – meant to...

Director Kamal K M’s much-awaited Malayalam film ‘Pada’ which features Kunchacko Boban, Vinayakan and Joju George in the lead, will release on March 11, instead of the earlier announced date of March 10. The film has triggered huge interest among film buffs and fans as it is based on real-life events that occurred in Kerala. […]...

MollywoodThe film, directed by Kamal Km, has a bevy of talented actors including Dileesh Pothan, Unnimaya Prasad, Kani Kusruti and Prakash Raj.Tnm StaffSomething is brewing. Three men are walking briskly from different directions. There is tension in the air. You expect a poorly planned crime, maybe a kidnapping mission or a bank robbery or worse an explosion. That’s the kind of scary picture the teaser of the new Malayalam film Pada presents. Three talented actors – Joju George, Vinayakan and Kunchacko Boban – play these three men we just described. The film is written and directed by Kamal Km, who once made a well-appreciated movie called ID. Kamal is not a director to stop with three great actors, he has included in his film the talented Indrans, Dileesh Pothan, Prakash Raj, Unnimaya Prasad, Shine Tom Chacko, Salim Kumar, Kani Kusruti, Sajitha Madathil, Sudheer Karamana, Tg Ravi and a whole lot of other actors.