Mammootty’s ‘Pazhassi Raja’ to be released on Gandhi’s birth anniversary

Mammootty and Sarath Kumar starrer “Pazhassi Raja”, a tale of a valorous freedom fighter, is all set for release in five languages — Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi — on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary Oct 2.
“The film will throw light on the atrocities by the British and how people suffered at their hands. We have made the movie after intense research. Suresh Krishna, Manoj K. Jayan and Sarath Kumar play prominent roles in the film,” Malayalam superstar Mammootty said.

Directed by Hariharan and produced by Gokulam Gopalan, the movie tells the story of a warrior King of Kerala who revolted against the British well before the 1857 sepoy mutiny.

Denying reports that “Pazhassi Raja” has been portrayed as the first freedom fighter in in the film, Sarath Kumar said: “We have not indulged in such act. He is respected and revered in Kerala for his patriotic spirit. Historians have been saying that the first uprising against British was 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, but Pazhassi Raja fought them long back. We have also mentioned Thippu Sultan, Marudha Pillai and Poolithevan in the film.”

Ilayaraja has scored the music for the hostorical and Padmapriya will be seen in female lead in it.

Loudspeaker cleared by Censor Board

Another one of Mammootty’s upcoming films, Loudspeaker, received its Censor Board certificate and has got a U certificate. Directed by Jayaraj, Loudspeaker has Bollywood actress Gracy Singh playing the female lead. The film is set for an 18 September release and promises to be a message giving comedy.

Prithviraj to play Mammootty’s brother

Talented actor Prithviraj has appeared in a number of Malayalam films. He has proved to be a mass hero after the success of Puthiya Mugham.

He will now been seen as Mammootty’s brother in Pokkiri Raja. Apparently, he replaced Narain as Mammootty’s brother.

Mammootty launches reality show to find fresh talent

Malayalam superstar Mammootty, who promised to launch fresh faces through his recently launched production company Play House, has started a talent hunt show in search of new faces.
The reality show titled “Mammootty, The Best Actor Award 2009″, went on air on Asianet TV Saturday.

“Sixteen contestants have been selected and each of them will have to perform on the reality show. This is just to give talented youngsters an opportunity to come out,” said the three-time national award winning actor.

Among the 16 selected, 10 are men and most of the participants are in their early 20s. They were shortlisted from among more than 1,000 aspirants.

There will 13 episodes that would be telecast every Saturday. The grand finale will take place in October in Dubai where Mammootty will announce the winners.

Yesteryears actress Sheela, ace comedian Jagathy Sreekumar along with Urvasi, Sreenivasan, Nedumudi Venu and popular director Siddique are judging the show.

Mammootty is the chairman of the Communist Party of India-Marxist backed Kairali TV, but he launched his reality show on a competitor’s channel. Asked why he did so, the superstar laughed and said: “The proposal came from Asianet and I felt it was a good idea and agreed.

“My job in the reality show is limited. Since it was the first episode that was aired last night (Saturday), I decided to be present. I have committed that the films produced by my production house will feature many contestants,” said the actor who is known for his powerful performances in movies like “Aalkootathil Thaniye”, “Adiyozhukkukal”, “Oru CBI Diary Kurippu”, “Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha” and “Mathilukal”.

After being active in the Malayalam film industry for 26 years and featuring in more than 300 films and picking up three national awards for his performances, Mammootty launched Play House in June this year.

So far the company has three films for distribution and one for production, in which Mammootty will play the lead.

Mammootty turns Panchayat president

After Smart City, super hit Madambi and IG, scriptwriter-turned-director B. Unnikrishanan is ready with his fourth directorial venture titled Pramaani, which will have super star Mammootty in the lead role. The flick is expected to hit the floors by the end of 2009 and is produced by B.C. Joshi, under the banner of Surya Cine.
There’s news going around that superstar Mammootty will play a corrupt Panchayat president named Raghava Panikkar, while the heroine, who is yet to be finalized, will portray the character of his secretary. The other star cast includes Jagathy, Salim Kumar, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Innocent and Siddique.