After months of closure, theaters nationwide will restart to operate on July 1st, 2020.
“The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) must be followed strictly in terms of entry, and the total number of people should not be over 250 individuals in a hall at one time,” declared Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob
“The other SOPs – such as the checking of temperatures, wearing of face masks and use of hand sanitizer, must be complied with by the audience,” he continued.
One has to wonder, though, are there any movies to be shown in the cinemas? Many have taken a direct digital release like Ponmagal Vandhal and Penguin.
We’ve compiled a list of 9 Tamil films that may release in Malaysian cinemas once the restriction is lifted.
Master
The highly anticipated Vijay-Vijay Sethupathi film Master was scheduled to hit the screens in April. The lockdown kept pushing it further and further. This Lokesh Kanagaraj action-thriller was on the brink of a direct digital release at one point, according to rumours. Malavika Mohanan, Andrea, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj and others are also in the cast.
If you’re not keen on watching this film in the cinema, fret not, because the digital rights of the film were sold to Amazon Prime Video.
Marakkar: Arabinkadalin Singam
This Malayalam big budget historical epic was directed by Priyadarshan. Marakkar: Arabikadalin Singam, also known as Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea, was supposed to hit screens towards the end of March. The film is based on Kunjali Marakkar IV, a much celebrated marakkars (naval chiefs) of the monarch of Kozhikode.
The film began principal photography in December 2018 and concluded in March 2019. This was followed by one year of post-production work. With a budget of RM56 mil, Marakkar: Arabikadalin Singam is the most expensive Malayalam film ever made. It has been dubbed into Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.
The film has Mohanlal in the lead, along with Suniel Shetty, Prabhu, Manju Warrier, Keerthy Suresh and Suhasini.
Thalaivi
This AL Vijay directorial stars the incredibly unrealistic Kangana Ranaut as J Jayalalitha. Because that’s exactly what we need right, another North Indian woman playing a South Indian icon?
Ah, but we digress. The filming of this biopic has further been delayed thanks to the lockdown.
A news report quoted a source as saying, “In the climax, Kangana will be seen stepping out of the legislative assembly as a crowd awaits her. The makers wish to film the sequence on a large scale with 350 people. However, the current guidelines suggest that only 33% of the original crew strength can be present. Since the makers intend to shoot the remaining portions in a start-to-finish schedule, they have decided to hold off the entire schedule until it is safe to shoot with a crowd.”
Good, because we aren’t holding our breath with this one.
Soorarai Pottru
Suriya has confirmed that his upcoming film Soorarai Pottru will not be released on OTT platforms directly as it is a very special movie to him in a recent live interaction.
The action drama film directed by Sudha Kongara and produced by Suriya and Guneet Monga is based on events during the life of Air Deccan founder G. R. Gopinath. Aparna Balamurali will be seen in the lead while Karunas and Kaali Venkat will be joining them in key supporting roles.
Soorarai Pottru was supposed to be released in August this year. However, the release date has been postponed due to the lockdown. So far, the makers have revealed two posters of the film and both of them look promising. When the teaser was released, it took social media by storm.
Jagame Thanthiram
Karthik Subbaraj’s next is the upcoming thriller, Jagame Thandhiram. The film features Dhanush, Aishwarya Lekshmi and James Cosmo in lead roles, while Joju George and Kalaiyarasan portray supporting roles. The film, which has music composed by Santhosh Narayanan, began production in London last September.
Jagame Thandhiram was scheduled to hit screens on the 1st of May, but has been postponed due to the pandemic.
Cobra
Horror is a genre that most A-list Tamil actors stay away from, but if there is one person brave enough to set foot in that territory, it is Vikram, with his upcoming film Cobra. (And Rajinikanth, who did it way before anyone else, of course.)
Cobra also Srinidhi Shetty, Miya George and Irfan Pathan. The music is composed by A. R. Rahman.
Vikram is said to play seven characters in Cobra. He dons different looks, ranging from a professor and politician to what seems to be a supernatural and scientific mastermind connecting all the different people together in some way.
Indian 2
After much hype about Indian 2 last year, filming began, but the makes faced numerous hurdles. An on set incident claiming three lives and Kamal Hassan’s involvement in the Indian general election in May 2019 further pushed the shoot.
This sequel after 25 years saw its makers regularly deny media reports that the film had been shelved. Will Indian 2 be released anytime soon? Perhaps Senapathi can tell us.
Bhoomi
The teaser of Jayam Ravi’s 25th film Bhoomi received rave reviews, but it could not meet its scheduled release date of 1st May.
The film is being directed by Lakshman, with whom Ravi had earlier worked with on two projects – Romeo Juliet and Bogan. Actor Nidhhi Agerwal of Savyasachi fame will be making her debut in Kollywood with this film.
Maha
Hansika’s 50th film is set to be Maha. Creating quite the controversy before even hitting screens, Maha is an upcoming Tamil thriller. The film was written and directed by U R Jameel and produced by Mathi Azhagan under the production company Etcatera Entertainment.
Hansika is joined by Srikanth, Sanam Shetty, Thambi Ramaiah and Karunakaran on screen. Ghibran will be composing the music.
Kaadan
Prabhu Solomon’s Thodari was a disaster but Kaadan is an ambitious film that’s releasing in three languages – Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.
The film has Rana Daggubati, Vishnu Vishal and Zoya Hussain in the lead. Rana plays the character Bandev, who protects the jungle. The film is said to be on elephant abuse, and Rana’s look from the film has set up high expectations. The actor lost 15 kg for the role.
Ponniyin Selvan
Three reasons we cannot wait for Ponniyin Selvan to hit screens. 1. Mani Ratnam, 2. It is the retelling of THE Ponniyin Selvan novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy, 3. It stars Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sobhita Dhulipala and others.
However, this project has only just begun and it will be a long time before it’s completed, but this is one that’s sure to bring crowds to the cinema.
It is currently unclear if these films will release in Malaysia first, before India. The next big question we all need to answer before heading to the cinema is probably this – do you dare sit in an enclosed area for three hours with 249 strangers who may or may not have a deadly virus?
