Vishu has always been a great season for Malayalam cinema. Most of the time films released during the Vishu festival season turn out to be big hits. It coincides with the summer vacation,hence a good season at the box-office. This year,however,the Vishu releases began hitting screens almost a month prior to the festival,which fell on April 15. The list of Vishu releases is long this year. Starting with Nayakan and Thanthonni,there are films like In Ghost House Inn,Pramaani,April Fool,Plus Two,Alexander the Great,Janakan,Pullimaan and Paappi Appacha. Of these Nayakan,Thanthonni,In Ghost House Inn and Pramaani have already been released. Nayakan,with Indrajith playing the key role,is directed by Lijo Jose Pellisserry and is an action flick. While Dhanya Mary Verghese plays the heroine,Thilakan,Siddique and Laloo Aalex also play key roles.Thanthonni is for those who want to see Prithviraj as a real hero,mouthing loud dialogues and fighting baddies and romancing Sheela,who had earlier acted in Maya Bazaar. Directed by debutant George Thomas,the film is a mix of all ingredients. In Ghost House Inn is a sequel to earlier Harihar Nagar films,In Harihar Nagar and 2 Harihar Nagar,both of which were hits. Directed by Lal,In Ghost House Inn sees Mukesh,Siddique,Jagadeesh and Ashokan coming together once again to make the audience go into peals of laughter. The film is likely to be a crowd-puller and tells a story set against a mansion thats said to be haunted. Pramaani,directed by B.Unnikrishnan,has Mammootty playing the hero. The mega-star plays a corrupt panchayat President Vishwanatha Panicker who rules his panchayat in his own way. Sneha is the heroine while Tamil actor Prabhu plays a key role. Suraaj Venjaramoodu,Salim Kumar,Janardhanan,Lakshmi etc also play key roles. Scripted by B. Unnikrishnan himself and with music by M. Jayachandran,the film has a mix of all ingredients. April Fool,directed by Viji Thampy,is a fun movie,with humour as the main element. The film tells the story of four friends,played by Siddique,Jagadeesh,Biju Menon and Jagathy Sreekumar. Debutante Nayana is the heroine. The cast also includes K.P.A.C. Lalitha,Manoj K Jayan,Manianpillai Raju,Indrans,Kaveri,Mythili and the film features cinematography by Sanjeev Shankar,music by M Jayachandran and lyrics by late Gireesh Puthencherry. April Fool is produced by Santhosh Damodar,under the banner of Damor Cinema. Paappi Appacha,directed by debutant Mammaas,has Innocent and Dileep playing dad and son. Innocent plays Mathai,while Dileep is his son Paappi. This fun movie has Kavya Madhavan as the heroine and is likely to be a family hit. The cinematography is by Sanjeev Shankar,editing by V T Sreejith,music by Vidyasagar,and the lyrics are by late Gireesh Puthencherry and Vayalar Sharath Chandra Verma.Alexander The Great,which has Mohanlal in the lead,is directed by Murali Nagavally,who had earlier directed Wanted. The film has Mohanlal playing the title role,that of Alexander Verma. Jagadeesh,Kiron Kher,Lakshmi,Saikumar form the cast of this film which has Ashwathy Ashok as the heroine. M.G.Sreekumar is in charge of the music while debutant Balachandran does the script. The film is produced under the banner of Anugraha Cine Arts by V.B.K Menon. Plus Two,directed by Shebi Chavakkad is a teenage love story with Shafna in the lead role. The film also has in key roles some debutantes and the cast will also feature Jagathy Sreekumar,Innocent,Salim Kumar,Suraaj Venjaramoodu,Saikumar etc.Pullimaan,with story and direction by Anil K Nair,is produced under Rubens Media International and has Kalabhavan Mani,Mukesh and Meera Nandan in key roles. The cast also includes Nedumudi Venu,Innocent,Ravikumar,Jaffer Idukki,Mamookoya,Manraj,Ponvannan,Siddique,Suraj Venjaramooodu etc. Lyrics by Kaithapram,Vayalar Sharath Chandra Verma and Vignesh are set to tune by Sarath.
