Thiruvananthapuram, July 23: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded a yellow alert in six districts of Kerala on Sunday, July 23. The districts are Idukki, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, and Kasaragod.
The IMD has forecast heavy rainfall in these districts over the next 24 hours. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea off Kerala, Karnataka, and Lakshadweep coasts till July 24.
The IMD has also warned of isolated heavy rainfall in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, and Malappuram districts on Monday, July 24.
Shocking news coming from Bengaluru city is that a woman who booked a Rapido ride faced a horrifying nightmare of sexual harassment. The incident took place in the Southern part of Bangalore City on Friday where a woman for reaching home had booked a Rapido bike taxi.
The victim in this case is Athira Purushothaman. She had been forced to book the bike taxi as she got all other autos rickshaws canceling out the ride. The victim was getting back to her home from the protest of Manipur violence that happened in Town Hall.
Through her Twitter account, she had explained the full incident. She tweeted that the assigned bike in the Rapido app was different from the bike which came to the pickup. When she asked about the different bike the Rapido driver reasoned that the assigned bike is under repair. After reaching near a remote area the driver started riding the bike with one hand and started behaving inappropriately (masturbating). Due to fear, she remained silent throughout the ride and asked the Rapido driver to drop her off 200 meters before her home location. But the trouble didn’t end there, the Rapido driver started to call and message her through WhatsApp. Since she paid for the ride through a UPI transaction, the Rapido driver got the victim’s number easily.
Athira Purushothaman also shared the screenshot of the chat which came from the Rapido driver. So she blocked him on WhatsApp but the weird Rapido driver was calling her from many other numbers.
Soon the tweet of Athira went viral and Bengaluru Police noticed and responded to her tweet saying “We have informed to @sjparkps to take necessary action in this regard, Please DM your contact number”.
On Saturday morning the case was registered at the SJ Park Police Station and later the case was moved to the Electronic City police station. Around 2 pm the suspect Kuruvettappa got arrested and charged with Section 354A IPC (Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment).
This is not the first time several cases like this have been reported against Rapido drivers. Another woman from Bengaluru also faced sexual harassment from a Rapido driver where she was forced to jump off from a running bike taxi after she was groped. A Case was registered against the Rapido driver and got arrested.
Devanandha, the child actor who played the role of Kallu in the Malayalam film “Malikapuram,” has responded to the criticism that he was snubbed by the Kerala State Film Awards jury. In an interview with Manorama Online, Devanandha said that he respects the jury’s decision and that he is happy for the other child actors who won awards.
“When there are so many talented actors competing, it is only natural that only one person can win the award,” Devanandha said. “I congratulate the other child actors who won awards, and I wish them all the best in their future careers.”
Devanandha also expressed his gratitude to the fans who have supported him and to the filmmakers who have given him opportunities to act. He said that he is excited to continue his acting career and that he hopes to win a Kerala State Film Award in the future.
The Kerala State Film Awards are one of the most prestigious awards in the Malayalam film industry. The awards are given out annually by the Government of Kerala to recognize excellence in Malayalam cinema.
This year, the award for Best Child Actor was shared by Tanmayi Soul and Master Da Vinci. Tanmayi won the award for her performance in the film “Vazhakkil,” while Master Da Vinci won the award for his performance in the film “Pallotti Naayantees Kids.”
Devanandha’s performance in “Malikapuram” was widely praised by critics and audiences alike. He was particularly praised for his emotional range and his ability to convey complex emotions on screen.
Despite not winning an award, Devanandha’s performance in “Malikapuram” has helped to establish him as one of the most promising young actors in Malayalam cinema. He is sure to have a bright future ahead of him.
STAR CAST: Vijay Antony, Ritika Singh, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Raadhika, Siddhartha Shankar, Murli Sharma, Arjun Chidambaram and many more.
PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Infiniti Film Ventures, Lotus Pictures
MUSIC DIRECTOR: Girish Gopalakrishnan.
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Sivakumar Vijayan.
EDITOR: RK Selva.
PRODUCED BY: Kamal Bohra, Dhananjayan Govind, Pradeep B, Pankaj Bohra.
REVIEW BY SAKTHIPRIYA KS
•POSITIVES:
1: Story.
2: Cinematography.
3: Songs and background scores.
4: The performance of Meenakshi Chaudhary.
5: Editing.
•NEGATIVES:
1: Average Direction.
2: Half-baked screenplay.
3: Unsatisfying climax.
4: Performance of Vijay Antony
5: The movie is lagging at many points.
6: Poor work of CGI
7: Sets made by the art department.
•Detail review and analysis of the film:
The movie Kolai was based on a real-life unsolved murder (the 1923 murder of Dot King). Balaji Kumar directed a crime thriller debut movie named Vidiyum Mun ten years ago and had now come up with a crime thriller movie ‘KOLAI’. The movie started with an introduction of a model and aspiring singer Leila (Meenakshi Chaudhary) had been murdered in her flat. The case is given to Sandhya Mohanraj (Rithika Singh) who gets help from her mentor and former Police investigative officer Vinayak (Vijay Antony) to solve this mysterious case. Vinayak is in the misery of his dying daughter in the hospital and his wife is also separated from him and undergoing personal traumas, so to make his life ease he endorses Sandhya to solve the case. They start enquiring about a few fellas in Leila’s life including her singer boyfriend Sathish(Sidhartha Shanker), a Model photographer Arjun( Arjun Chidambaram), an agent in the modelling industry (Murali Sharma) and a guy who portrays himself as Leila’s assistant named Babloo (Kishore Kumar) were the main suspects of the murder. Vinayak and Sandhya together try to uncover the mystery and who will be the murderer will be the rest of the story.
The story behind the murderer is unconvincing and cliche to me. Even though the movie looked like a Hollywood film, sometimes it had been lagging in many places and not engaging and the VFX of the movie was poor in my perspective. The movie seems soulless to me and doesn’t create a deep impact and consistency to watch the movie. The movie seemed to be lifeless and the sets by the art department seemed to be exceptionally artificial. The Characters were not strongly appealing and connected to the movie in my view and the writer failed to make a good rapport and failed to connect the flick. The director’s thought process is quite appreciative for a particular metaphorical imaginary scene of Vijay Antony hanging from a cliff holding her daughter’s hands delivers a powerful impact on his emotion. The only optimistic outcome in the movie is the good music by Girish Gopalakrishnan.
The screenplay of the film did not have the required elements to attract my viewing experience. The writing went flat and predictable on many points also I was not able to engage myself with the premise of the murder investigation. The writer was trying to bring up some moments but the investigation methods in the film didn’t make any surprise. The twist and turns in the screenplay was having less potency and due to the lack of continuity, the new findings in the investigation was failing to make an impression. There are numerous unexpected occurrences in the plot and most of them didn’t merge well with the ongoing situations. The subplots in the screenplay were supposed to create an impact but the poor writing was making the crucial situations boring. The climax was utterly disappointing because the reason behind the crime and the motive of the killer is something we have seen before. The psychological perspective in the climax felt forced and the thinking of the writer felt unnatural and absurd. The emotional angle between the father and daughter could have been executed in a better way. I didn’t feel any sort of attachment or connection with their relationship and the bonding between the father and daughter looked weak.
•SO WHAT’S HOT:
1:The visionary of the director to bring something new, like a kind of modern cinematic experience.
2:The thriller mode which the director maintained till the climax.
3:The curiosity to know who is the killer.
4:Some of the unique frames.
5:The different kinds of composed background scores.
•SO WHAT DIDN’T WORK OUT:
1:The poor way of writing doesn’t give any influence and the emotions were not having feelings, and the sorrows and pain didn’t draw my attention.
2: Even though the director had a new gen idea but he failed in the execution of the movie.
3: The screenplay failed to create an impact.
4: The reason and the motive of the murderer were not convincing.
5: CGI and visual effects were poor.
•HOW ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE OF ACTORS:
Vijay Antony, Ritika Singh, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Raadhika Sarathkumar, Siddhartha Shankar, Murli Sharma, and Arjun Chidambaram were the main characters of the movie and they had given their best in their portions.
Vijay Antony came up with a grey-headed, old typical look and with as usual body language and voice tone. The police attitude and the way he expressed his dialogue were mediocre. Rithika Singh as a brave investigative officer did her best and John Vijay as her higher officer made natural and good acting. Meenakshi Chaudhary was the soul of this film and had given an authentic natural acting. The look of Meenakshi Chaudhary was gorgeous and her body language had suited her character well. Also, her emotional scenes were good and she managed to maintain impressive realistic acting. The actor who played the villain role did a decent job, the facial expression was nice but he needs to improve his dialogue delivery. Raadhika Sarathkumar has also given a screen appearance three to four times but her presence didn’t make a change or influence.
•HOW WAS THE MUSICAL DEPARTMENT:
Girish Gopalakrishnan is the music director who composed the songs and background score for the film. In the emotional scenes, the background scores were neatly tuned but the tedious way of writing and cliche did not let the background score produce an emotional attachment. The song ‘Paartha Nyabagam illayo’ beautifully sung by Shreya Ghoshal was pure bliss to hear. The song ‘Neerkumizho’ sung by Girish G and Sid Sriram expressed a deep affinity of a father towards his daughter. Other songs like Kelvi Mattum Thangudhey, Nesam Maruma and Yaar Nee were also satisfactory and all the lyrics penned by Vivek never fail to win the listener’s heart.
•WHAT’S BEHIND THE FILM :
The technical aspect of the film was moderate, the makers had tried to bring out something new but only the cinematography and editing had worked out. The CGI and visual effects in the film were disappointing. The cinematography by Sivakumar Vijayan and editing by RK Selva is the only thing I liked in the technical department. The frames and shots looked vibrant. The camera movements and the close-up frames gave a unique feel and the lighting method implemented in the film was good. The editing of RK Selva was normal, and the transition of the scene was fine. The CGI in the film was a disaster and the poor visual effects created a bad impression and atmosphere. The work by the art department was ordinary, in some scenes, the made-up set was matching but for crucial scenes, the set work looked unnatural.
•OVERALL:
So overall the film Kolai had given me a bad experience and I didn’t enjoy the film because of the poor script and moderate direction. The performance of Vijay Antony was unconvincing and he followed his usual style of acting. Meenakshi Chaudhary and Rithika Singh did a notable performance but it was not enough to save this sinking ship. Therefore, to conclude I won’t recommend this half-baked investigative thriller, watch it at your own risk.
The title of the Indian Sci-fi Epic ‘Project K’ is now officially titled ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ and was revealed at the ongoing San Diego Comic-Con.
In the teaser, we can see a man asking “What is Project K?” The question remains mysterious and creates a thrill. Project K is now officially titled ‘Kalki 2898 AD’. The makers of the film including Prabhas and Kamal Hassan have joined together to launch the first glimpse at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2023.
The most interesting fact is that for the first time in history, an Indian film marks its debut at the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2023. The producers of the film Vyjayanthi Movies and the director of the film Nag Ashwin can be proud of taking the Indian film industry to untouched heights.
Before the teaser an official first-look poster was unveiled by Prabhas and Vyjayanthi Movies and it was heavily criticized by the netizens due to the lack of quality. The world of the internet claimed that ‘Project K’ will be the next disaster in the film career of Prabhas. But the promising first glimpse revealed at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) is a gigantic reply for everyone. From the teaser, it’s evident that ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ is going to offer something new, a different kind of cinematic experience is what the teaser is promising.
‘Kalki 2898 AD’ is made on a massive budget of $75 Million, making it one of the most expensive Indian films of all time. The film also has a huge star cast of Prabhas, Kamal Hassan, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Disha Patani and Pasupathy. The details of the other actors are yet to be revealed and currently ‘Kalki 2898 AD’(Project K) is one of the most anticipated films in the Indian film industry.
‘Kalki 2898 AD’ is based on Hindu mythology and according to Hindu mythology, Kalki is the tenth and final incarnation of Lord Vishnu who appears to end the Kali Yuga. The quality of the teaser is brilliant, the actor Prabhas looks energetic and ravishing and also the production quality is top-class. In the teaser, we can see that “When the world is taken over by darkness, a new force will arise,” so let’s wait and watch to know the world of ‘Kalki 2898 AD’.
Lucknow: Court orders to conduct survey and submit report on Gyanwapi Masjid. The court directed the ASI ( Archaeological Survey of India) to submit the scientific report by August 4. The order was passed by the District Court of Varanasi. The court has given permission to conduct the survey from 8 am to 12 pm. The court also demanded that the weight check should be conducted without harming the rituals in the mosque.
Four women approached the court demanding that the Archaeological Survey of India conduct a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi complex, except for the disputed Vaju Khana. The demand was to conduct scientific tests including carbon dating on the suspected form of Shiv Linga found during the earlier video survey at Gyanwapi Masjid. They argued in the court that the mosque has a Shivalinga and should be given an opportunity to worship.
Thiruvananthapuram: State film awards announced. Mammootty won the best actor award for ‘Nanpakal Nerath Mayakam’ and Vincy Aloysius won the best actress award for ‘Rekha’. Ratheesh Balakrishna Phuduwal’s ‘Nna Than Kes Kodu’ was chosen as the best popular film while Lijo Jose Pellissery’s ‘Nanpakal Nerath Mayakkum’ won the best film award. While Ratheesh Balakrishna Phudhuwal won the best screenplay award, the jury chose Mahesh Narayanan as the best director for the film ‘Ariyippu’.
Other awards
Best Actor: Mammootty ( ‘Nanpakal Nerath Mayakam’ )
Actress: Vinci Aloysius (Rekha)
Best picture: ‘Nanpakal Nerath Mayakam’
Best Director: Mahesh Narayanan (Ariyippu)
Best Character Actor: PP Kunhikrishnan (Nna Than Case Kod)
Character Actress: Devi Verma (Saudi Vellka)
Second Best Picture: Adithattu.
Special Jury Mention (Director): Vishwajit S. (Image: Edavaramb), Rareesh (Vettappattikalum Ottakakrum)
Best Kids Movie – Pallotti 90s Kids
Best Debut Director – Shahi Kabir (Ilaveezha Poonchira)
Best Popular Movie- Nna Than Case Kod
Best Choreography – Shobhipaul Raj (Thallumala)
Best Dubbing Artist – Pauly Wilson (Saudi Vellakka)
Best Dubbing Artist (Male) – Shobi Thilakan (19th century)
Best Makeup Artist – Ronax Xavier (Bhishma Parvam)
Special Award for Transgender/ Women Category: Shruti Saranyam (B 32 to 44).
Best Playback Singer – Mridula Warrier
Best Playback Singer – Kapil Kabilal (Pallotti 90s Kids)
Best Music Director- M Jaya Chandran (Aisha)
Lyricist: Rafiq Ahmed
Background Music: Don Vincent (Nna Than Case Kod)
Child Actor (Female) : Tanmaya (Vazhakk)
Child Actor (Male): Master Da Vinci
Special Jury Mention (Actor): Kunchacko Boban (Nna Than Case Kod), Alencier (Apan)
Mumbai: Search is in progress in Maharashtra’s Raigad landslide. So far 16 people have died in the disaster. 23 people were rescued. A landslide occurred in Irshalwadi village of Raigad at around 10:30 pm on Wednesday.
About 50 houses collapsed. About 100 people were injured. The search is in progress under the leadership of the National Disaster Response Force with the help of a dog squad. Heavy rains continued in Raigad and the rescue operation was hampered. The threat of landslides still exists in the region.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the accident site and announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the family members of the deceased. Apart from Raigad, Thane and Palghad districts are on red alert. An orange alert has also been announced in Mumbai.
The iconic leader Oommen Chandy’s burial took place at St George Orthodox Church at Puthuppally, Kottayam. For the last three days, more than ten thousand people from Kerala had conveyed their respect and gratitude for their favorite leader. He was a strong unshaken politician who stood up with courage and a man who fearlessly faced all the controversies. He is an example of modesty, also his nature of even befriending his enemies, and his compassion for helping the needy without despair are the qualities that every politician should follow.
Oommen Chandy was called ‘People’s Leader’ because no matter what happens he always stood up for the people and he never betrayed the trust that the people gave him. To have a last look the people from the various parts of Kerala gathered for three days and nights relentlessly and this proves that he was a trustworthy leader for the people of Kerala. The funeral arcade which starts from Trivandrum to his hometown Puthuppally was having a massive crowd and all the people had waited to bid their last farewell. Now the veteran Congress leader is resting in a specially constructed tomb at St George Orthodox church cemetery at Puthuppally and let’s pray for his soul.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, President Droupadu Murmu, former Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and ex-MP Rahul Gandhi expressed their condolences and praised the life and works of Oommen Chandy to the public. The film stars like Mammootty, Kunchacko Boban, Suresh Gopi, Dileep, and Jagadeesh paid tributes to the mortal people’s CM Oommen Chandy. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K Stalin and Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan have also visited and paid tribute to the mortals of Oomen Chandy.
On the other hand, the popular Malayalam actor Vinayakan had shamefully posted a live video on his Facebook account in which he was disrespecting Oommen Chandy by telling “Who is Oommen Chandy and why three days of mourning had been declared in the state on his demise”. The video went viral and he was heavily criticized by the netizens and people of Kerala. Later, Vinayakan removed the video from his account after the heavily extensive criticism. Soon, a congress activist lodged a complaint against the actor for unwantedly commenting on the departed political leader.
Oommen Chandy served as the Chief Minister of Kerala twice and he became the longest-serving MLA by representing the Puthuppally constituency for five decades. It’s the end of a great political chapter and without thinking much I can say that he will remain as an asset to the people of Puthuppally and no one can replace him.
Kozhikode: A four-year-old boy from Kozhikode has been diagnosed with Japanese fever. A child from Chevarambalam was diagnosed with the disease.
The child has been undergoing treatment at the Govt. Medical College for two days with symptoms like fever, headache, neck pain, inability to look at light. The disease was confirmed in the medical college microbiology department. It has also been sent to Pune Institute of Virology for further testing.
