After the moderate success of 'The King and the Commissioner' Mammootty fans will have another reason to cherish, this Vishu.Mammootty's new movie 'Cobra', in fact his first with director Lal is now almost confirmed for this Vishu. The movie which will be on theaters for this 12, will have them as two big friends, who like to marry two sisters so that they can live the rest of their lives as 'Co-brothers'. Intended as a hilarious entertainer, the movie will feature Padmapriya and Kaniha as the heroines with able support from Lalu Alex, Manian Pillai Raju, Babu Antony, Jagathy Sreekumar and Salimkumar. Music director Alex Paul will make a comeback to films with 'Cobra' which will have his couple of songs of which 'Parapara' is already being lapped up by the audience. The movie is produced by Anto Joseph in the banner of Emperor Cinema, who had been the makers of 'The king and the commissioner'
The King & the Commissioner is an upcoming Malayalampolitical thriller film written by Renji Panicker and directed by Shaji Kailas, starring Mammootty and Suresh Gopi in lead roles. The film was earlier reported to be a successor to 1995 film The King and 1994 film Commissioner and its sequel Bharathchandran I.P.S. of 2005, however director Shaji Kailas reportedly said that the film features a new story in a new background where the lead characters of his and Renji Panicker’s films (Joseph Alex IAS & Bharath Chandran IPS) are coming together. Mammootty and Suresh Gopi are reprising their roles Joseph Alex IAS and Bharath Chandran IPS respectively.
Cast
Mammootty as Joseph Alex IAS, Director of National Security Force
Timothy John Lester Ganguly, as a member of the Swiss Delegation
Background
The films The King and Commissioner were successful films at the box office during their period. The success of the latter also led to a 2005 sequel Bharath Chandran I.P.S., in which Suresh Gopi reprised the title character, one of the most powerful characters of his films that in-turn gave a come back for Suresh Gopi. The film The King & the Commissioner is the fourth film for Mammootty and tenth film for Suresh Gopi, which is scripted by Renji Panicker. The film also marks the comeback of Shaji Kailas-Renji Panicker duo after a gap of 16 years."It’s all about the commercial quotient. Nobody wants to remake a flop film. As for ‘King and the Commissioner’, even after 16 years both the characters are still there in the public memory, so why not cash on that? You have an assured brand and you would rather sell it than think of a new one. But risk factors are still there as there is a huge gap between the two and the audience have become more techno savvy and so you have to tweak the sequel to match to their taste," says Renji Panicker, who has scripted all the four films. Casting
The project was finalized after a long period of discussion, as the relationship between the two lead stars was not so warm. The movie had its spate of controversies during casting itself. First being the animosity between the lead actors with Suresh Gopi almost staging a walkout owing to differences between him and Mammootty. In fact the director was even planning to replace Suresh Gopi with Prithviraj. But it's been said that later the duo buried the hatchet and agreed to shoot the film.
Shaji Kailas and Anto Joseph had initially announced that Reema Sen will play the heroine in the film.[14] Kannada actress Sanjanaa was later signed to play this role. Veteran actor and psychiatrist Dr. Mohan Agashe debuts in Malayalam in a cameo in the film. It was Mammootty, whom Agashe had known from the time he was shooting for Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, who suggested his name. Filming
The shooting of the much hyped film began at Kochi on 6 June 2011. Mammootty joined the set on 13 June and Suresh Gopi on 27 June. After one round of shooting in Kochi, the shooting shifted to Delhi.It was also shot from Kozhikode and Thiruvanathapuram. It is reported that the shooting of the film was going on in Kochi, when the income tax raids at Mammootty's residence took place. Mammootty had to be present before the investigators and the filming was delayed a few days. It is also reported that the ill-health of Suresh Gopi was another reason for scrapping the shooting of the film. He is said to have reduced 15 kilos to look thinner, which led him to face health problems and take leave from filming. For Suresh Gopi, Bharath Chandran IPS is a role closest to his heart. "It is definitely thrilling but at the same time challenging to bring it to a different level and live up to the expectations... It will definitely have no semblance to the original, neither the script nor the presentation as the tastes of the audience have changed. I think the upright and plain speaking Bharat Chandran till date remains the most popular of my cop roles and also was a major breakthrough for my career at that time. With Ranji Panicker, I don’t need to worry about my role or script; we know each other very well. Music
Rajamani has been roped in as the composer of the film. Initially, composer Rahulraj was signed in to compose music for the film. But due to his schedules clashing with Amal Neerad's film Bachelor Party, Rahulraj opted out of the film. Thus, the film which was planned to be released with two songs; will now release as a songless film.
Director Pramod Payyanur, famous for his television and theatre productions, has stated that he will be using a plenty of freshers in his debut film 'Balyakalasakhi' based on one of the most famous writings in Malayalam. The movie which will have Megastar Mammootty in the lead as late writer Vaikkom Muhammed Basheer's famous character, Majeed, will have at least 15 new names carefully selected from college students and theatre artistes in various other supporting characters. The selection camp will be held from the 22nd of Febuary at various parts of the state. Those who are interested to don a role in the movie can sent their applications to 'Living art and estheis creations, Media Box Office, 28/630-A, K P Vallon road, Kadavanthra.
The announcement of the production of 'Balyakalasakhi' was held recently at Ernakulam, which was inaugurated by Prof M K Sanu.The movie which will be on sets soon, will have music by Shahbaaz aman, and Raghavan master. The movie will be on sets by the month of July.
