Teaser of Siddharth's Chithha is here 

The makers of Siddharth's upcoming film Chithha unveiled the film's teaser on Wednesday. The film, helmed by SU Arunkumar, also stars Nimisha Sajayan as the female lead. Chithha will hit the theatres on September 28.

The teaser begins with Siddharth sleeping on the floor, cradling a small girl in his arms. As the teaser unfolds, we discover that the girl is his niece. The teaser that starts by showcasing the uncle and niece's affection segues into chaos that shows the cops and turmoils.  The teaser concludes with a shot of Siddharth wearing a mask and sitting on a bus, followed by a black screen that reads, " How far will you go for your child?" The teaser hints a thrilling drama centered on a child.

Here is the teaser 

In a previous conversation with CE, director Arun Kumar, known for helming Panaiyaarum Padminiyum, said that the film is a thriller drama. "There are many Tamil films that represent the sentiment of Thai mama (maternal uncle). This film wishes to talk about the love and affection of a Chitthappa (father's younger brother)." 

Chittha is backed by Siddharth's home banner, Etaki Entertainments, which has previously produced Kaadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi and Jil Jung Juk. 

The film will also be released in Telugu as Chinna. The technical team of Chithha comprises music composer Dhibu Ninan Thomas, cinematographer Balaji Subramanyam and editor Suresh A Prasad. 

Manoj Bharathiraja's Margazhi Thingal teaser is here

The official teaser of Margazhi Thingal, directed by debutant Manoj Bharathiraja was unveiled by director Mani Ratnam today, September 6. 

Starring his father and veteran filmmaker Bharathiraja in a prominent role, the film also has debutants Rakshana and Shyam Selvan as the central characters. The 1.17-minute-long teaser focuses on the story of two school students who are in love. When the female lead suggests opening out about their relationship to her grandfather, her boyfriend rejects the idea and asks her not to do so. The last few seconds showcase the woman revealing the secret to her grandfather. 

Set amidst a village backdrop, the makers have revealed in the teaser that the film would be a 'soulful love story'. 

While the film is backed by director Suseenthiran under the Vennila Productions banner, Ilaiyaraaja will score the music. Margazhi Thingal will have cinematography by AR Suriya and editing by Thiyagu.

It is to be noted that Manoj made his acting debut with Taj Mahal (1999), which was helmed by Bharathiraja.

Watch the teaser of Margazhi Thingal here:

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Kaavaalaa video song is here 

Among all the factors that hyped Rajinikanth's Jailer, the release of the song Kaavaalaa raised the roof of expectations. The song went to the top of the music charts and ruled social media. On Wednesday, the makers released the video of the song. Composed by Anirudh Ravichander, the song has lyrics penned by Arunraja Kamaraj. Shilpa Rao and Anirudh Ravichander crooned the song. The peppy dance number has been choreographed by Jani Master. 

Here is the song 

Directed by Nelson Dilipkumar, Jailer is backed by Sun Pictures. The film has grossed more than Rs 500 crores at the global box office, even before the fourth week of its theatrical run. Following the film's colossal success, Kalanithi Maran, the CEO of Sun Pictures, has gifted expensive cars and paychecks to Rajini, Nelson, and Anirudh. 

Jailer features Rajinikanth as Muthuvel Pandian, a former jailer who has to face a deadly criminal to save his kidnapped son. Others in the cast include Ramya Krishnan, Vasanth Ravi, and Vinayakan, among others. The film also boasts a slew of guest appearances by Shivrajkumar, Mohanlal, Jackie Shroff, Tamannaah, and Sunil, among others.

The film is set to have its OTT premiere on Prime Video on September 7. 

Ashok Selvan and Soundarya Rajinikanth team up for Gangs

Producer-Director Soundarya Rajinikanth announced a new web series starring Ashok Selvan in the lead role. The series, titled Gangs, is written and directed by Noah Abraham who has previously worked with Soundarya in Velaiilla Pattadhari 2 as an assistant director. The filming for the series began with an official pooja today.

Soundarya took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, "And we begin on this auspicious day proud to be the showrunner for this awesome series we have been working on the past few years!!! Writer & director – Noah Abraham, featuring our dear & dynamic @AshokSelvan and a stellar cast and the most Amazing crew we will announce soon !!!! Huge thank you to my dearest team @May6Ent may 6 entertainment and wonderful to collaborate with @PrimeVideoIN amazon prime absolutely exciting times ahead. God's grace."

Gangs is produced by Soundarya's production house May 6 Entertainment and will be released on Amazon Prime Video. Apart from Ashok Selvan, details of the rest of the cast and crew has not been announced yet. 

Interestingly Noah Abraham was the creative producer of Ashok Selvan's Oh My Kadavule (2020). He has also worked as a creative associate in Vidiyum Munn (2013).

Ashok Selvan was last seen in the recent crime thriller Por Thozhil, directed by Vignesh Raja. He also starred in the lead role in the episode Imaigal, in the Amazon Prime Video web series Modern Love Chennai.

Soundarya Rajinikanth's last directorial was Velaiilla Pattadhari 2, starring Dhanush and Kajol in lead roles, which was released in 2017. In 2021, she announced a web series titled Puthu Vellam – Ponniyin Selvan, based on Kalki Krishnamoothy's historic novel. It is scripted and directed by Sharath Jothi. Since then, there has been no update regarding the same. 

It's a wrap for Parithabangal fame Gopi and Sudhakar's untitled film

It was earlier announced that Tamil YouTubers Gopi and Sudhakar, who are known for their channel Parithabangal, will be headlining their first film as lead actors. The first look posters which were released earlier this year had the duo dressed as Charlie Chaplin's iconic character – The Tramp.

The makers have now announced the shoot for the film, which has currently been titled Untitled Project #2, has wrapped up. A video that was released by Parithabangal YouTube channel shows a few behind-the-scenes moments from the film. There is a shot of two student groups cheering. One was lead by Gopi and the other by Sudhakar. As they come closer to confront each other, we see them joining hands together and smiling for the camera while the director can be seen mentioning, "Cut, Take okay." The cast and crew were also present in the video clapping for the same.

In an earlier conversation with Cinema Express, Sudhakar said, "There is a small connection between Charlie Chaplin and our film. The film is a comedy entertainer that also talks about friendship and family. We were already looking for scripts when Vishnu Vijay came to us with a story that impressed us. Vishnu is a person with a lot of clarity and we liked that about him. He knows exactly what he wants.”

Written and directed by Vishnu Vijayan, the movie also stars Vinsu Sam, VTV Ganesh, Ramesh Khanna, Suresh Chakravarthy, Viji Chandrasekhar, Subatra Robert, Muruganandham, Prasanna, Goutham, Balakumaran, Yuvaraj Ganesan, Haritha, Guhan, Sathvick, Aazhiya, Benedict, among others. Produced by Vignesh SC Bose, the film has Shakthivel and KB Shree Karthik handling the cinematography. The music is composed by JC Joe.

Mahima Nambiar is star-struck after meeting Sachin Tendulkar

Actor Mahima Nambiar, who is awaiting the release of the star-studded Chandramukhi 2, is also starring in 800, the Muttiah Muralitharan biopic starring Madhur Mittal. She will feature as Mathi Malar, Muttiah's wife. 

On Tuesday, Mahima attended the trailer launch event of the film, which was graced by cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya. Sharing a photo from the event, Mahima wrote on her official X account that she was star-struck after meeting the veteran cricketers. 

She wrote, "I couldn’t have asked for more. Three legends in one frame. Will cherish this moment forever. Some pictures from the trailer launch of my next #800 The Unknown Story of Muthiah Muralitharan Sír. Extremely happy and proud to have played Mathi Malar ji his wife in the film. Can’t wait for all of you to watch the film. Special thanks to Sachin sir and Sanath sir for gracing the occasion with their presence. I’m still Star-Struck. Thank you Director Sripathy sir for this." (sic)

Directed by MS Sripathy, 800 also stars Mahima Nambiar, Naren, Naaser, Vela Ramamurthy, Riythvika, Arul Das, Hari Krishnan, and Sharath Lohithaswa. 800 is co-written by Booker Prize laureate Shehan Karunatilaka. The film, originally shot in Tamil, will be released in Telugu, Hindi and English as well.

800 is currently in post-production. The film's makers plan to release the film in October. Ghibran is the music director of the film, and it has cinematography by RD Rajasekhar and editing by Praveen KL.

Desingh Periysamy drops an update on STR 48

On Monday, director Desingh Periyasamy took to his Instagram to drop photos of himself with actor Silambarasan. The two are seen in deep discussion, about their upcoming film together, tentatively titled STR 48. 

He captioned the post, "Positive mind positive vibes. #STR48 #BloodandBattle" The film is backed by Kamal Haasan and R Mahendran under Raaj Kamal Films International.

With a tagline Blood and Battle, the film marks the sophomore directorial for Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal for Desingh. It also marks the first time Silambarasan will be collaborating with the filmmaker, and working for RKFI banner. However the details on the rest of the cast and technical crew are yet to be announced.

 Silambarasan was last seen in Pathu Thala. Recently, the actor was ordered by the Madras High Court to provide security for one crore in three weeks. The order was given in response to a request by Vels Film International Limited to prevent the actor from appearing in any other films before finishing one of its projects, Corona Kumar.

Siddharth's Chithha teaser to be out soon

The makers of Siddharth's Chithha announced on Monday that the film's teaser will be unveiled on September 6 at 6 p.m. Helmed by SU Arunkumar, the film also stars Nimisha Sajayan as the female lead. 

Chittha is backed by Siddharth's home banner Etaki Entertainments, which has previously produced Kaadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi and Jil Jung Juk. 

In a previous conversation with CE, director Arun Kumar known for helming Panaiyaarum Padminiyum, said that the film is a thriller drama. "There are many Tamil films that represent the sentiment of thai mama (maternal uncle). This film wishes to talk about the love and affection of a chitthappa (father's younger brother)."  

The film will also be released in Telugu as Chinna. The technical team of Chithha comprises music composer Dhibu Ninan Thomas, cinematographer Balaji Subramanyam and editor Suresh A Prasad. Further details about the cast are yet to be revealed by the makers.

Venkat Prabhu celebrates 15 years of Saroja 

Director Venkat Prabhu, who is busy working with Vijay in Thalapathy 68, took to Twitter to celebrate 15 years of the release of his film Saroja.

He took to X (formerly Twitter) and shared pictures with the team behind the movie. Director Pa Ranjith, producer and actor T Siva, writer and director Kandhan Pitchumani were among the members present on the happy occasion. Venkat Prabhu wrote, "Happy #saroja day!! #15yearsofsaroja happened to meet the core team here in Mumbai."

Saroja, Venkat Prabhu's sophomore directorial starred Shiva, Vaibhav, Premji, S. P. B. Charan, and Vega Tamotia, while Jayaram, Prakash Raj, Sampath Raj, Nikita Thukral, Bose Venkat and Kajal Aggarwal play other vital roles.

The film follows the journey of four young men who travel from Chennai to Hyderabad to watch a cricket match. Due to a road accident, they are forced to take a diversion off the main road to arrive on time. This leads them to a gang who have kidnapped a schoolgirl, Saroja, the only daughter of a millionaire. The film, released in 2008, received positive reviews and critical acclaim.

Director Venkat Prabhu made his debut with Chennai 600028 (2007). The movie was a major success following which Venkat Prabhu gave multiple hits in Tamil cinema including Goa (2010), Mankatha (2011), Biriyani (2013) and Maanaadu (2021). He last directed Custody which was released earlier this year and starred Naga Chaitanya in the lead role. The film was simultaneously shot in Telugu. He is currently working on Thalapathy 68 which marks his first collaboration with Vijay.

Makers of KH 233 unveil special video for director H Vinoth's birthday

It was previously revealed that director H Vinoth and Kamal Haasan are joining hands for a film. Raaj Kamal Film International, the production house of Kamal made an official announcement regarding the project in July 2023. 

Currently referred to as KH233, the title announcement video of the film featured a back shot of Kamal holding a flaming torch in his hand. The film has a story penned by Kamal Haasan himself and a screenplay by Vinoth. 

With the Thunivu director celebrating his birthday today, Kamal Haasan dropped a message on his social media handle. Sharing a picture with the director, Kamal Haasan wrote in Tamil, which roughly translates to, "As the darkness in the society lifts, the screen lights up. Happy birthday, dear brother H Vinoth."

The makers of KH233 had also released a special video for the director where montages of his movies along with their taglines were featured.  

Kamal, who is currently busy shooting for Shankar's long-awaited Indian 2, is expected to begin working on Prabhas' Project K which is now titled Kalki 2898 AD, directed by Nag Ashwin before starting KH233. The National Award-winning actor also has a film with Mani Ratnam in the lineup, which is referred to as KH234.

There is no information about the rest of the cast and crew for Vinoth's directorial at the moment. An official announcement regarding this is expected to be made by the makers soon.