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Films Kerala

‘O Baby’ first look poster out: Dileesh Pothan, Ranjan Pramod team up for gripping thriller

With such a talented team and a gripping storyline, ‘O Baby’ promises to be an exciting thriller that audiences won’t want to miss….reports Asian Lite News

The much-awaited first look poster of the upcoming film ‘O Baby’ directed by Ranjan Pramod and produced by Dileesh Pothan has been unveiled, and it has left the audience intrigued.

The poster features a forest background in a dark mood, which hints at the drama thriller genre of the film.

The film is a collaboration of two popular creatives in the industry, Dileesh Pothan and Ranjan Pramod, who have joined hands for the first time to deliver this project.

The rest of the cast and crew are new faces making their debut in the industry, adding freshness and new talent to the film.

Speaking about the film, director Ranjan Pramod said, “We have put a lot of effort and hard work into making this film. We hope the audience will appreciate our work and enjoy watching the film.”

The film features a talented cast comprising Dileesh Pothan, Haniya Nafisa, Devadattan, Saji Soman, Raghunath Paleri, Vishnu Agastya, Gopalakrishnan, Dr.Shinu Shyamalan, Diya, and Atulya, who are all set to impress the audience with their performances.

The film is co-produced by Abhishek Sasidaran, Pramod Thevarpalli, and Dileesh Pothan, who have joined hands to deliver a quality film that promises to entertain the audience.

The crew of the film includes writer-director Ranjan Pramod, camera by Arun Chalil, executive producer Rahul Menon, editor Samjith Muhammed, associate director Siddique Hyder, and song composers Varun Krishna and Pranav Das. The film also features sound design by Shameer Ahammed, background score by Lijin Bambino, and art direction by Lijinesh.

Stunt master Unni Perumal and costume designer Femina Jabbar complete the team, making sure every aspect of the film is top-notch.

With such a talented team and a gripping storyline, ‘O Baby’ promises to be an exciting thriller that audiences won’t want to miss. The film is set to release soon, and fans can’t wait to see the magic this team has created on screen.

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Bollywood Film Review Lite Blogs

SRK’s mass comeback in espionage thriller ‘Pathaan’

Pathaan (Shah Rukh) is an exiled RAW field operative who is assigned to take down his old nemesis, Jim (John Abraham), a former RAW agent turned rogue…reviewed by Arnab Banerjee

‘Pathaan’ (playing in theatres); Duration: 146 minutes; Director: Siddharth Anand; Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham and Dimple Kapadia. (Rating: 3.5)

Finally, the much-awaited Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Pathaan’ hit the theatres on Wednesday. And, expectedly all the pre-release exhilaration translates into high energy rush as the film presents the story of an Indian spy, who takes on the leader of a group of mercenaries who has nefarious plans to target his homeland, captivating the audience.

That the lead actor is the ‘Badshah’ of Bollywood gives the fans all the more reason to scream, dance and sing in the cinema halls. Serpentine queues for a 6 a.m. show is a rarity in India, at least for a Hindi film.

In short, the film is an espionage thriller that is most likely to lead box office collections.

Pathaan (Shah Rukh) is an exiled RAW field operative who is assigned to take down his old nemesis, Jim (John Abraham), a former RAW agent turned rogue.

Jim leads ‘Outfit X’, a private terrorist organisation, which is planning to spread a deadly virus dubbed ‘Raktbeej’ across India. The virus, if unleashed, could be much deadlier than any other virus winessed by the mankind.

Right from the opening scene, the unusually fast-paced plot moves with RAW agents, spies, terrorists and a Pakistani Army officer scheming and plotting in different parts of the world.

Rattled by the revocation of Article 370, which granted special status to the eratwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, by the Indian government, Pakistan has all the evil intentions and the wherewithal to infiltrate and annihilate the Indian territory. For this purpose, Jim, who has a past and had been double-crossed by Indians earlier, is hired.

And here comes yet another ex-ISI agent, Rubina Khan (Deepika Padukone), leaving many guessing as to who teams with whom.

Pathaan, a diehard patriot who had retired, is called back by his boss Nandini (Dimple Kapadia). Meanwhile, their supreme boss, Colonel Sunil Luthra (Ashutosh Rana), is left worried, still trying to figure out what move to adopt to save human lives with threat of destruction looming large.

With gun-toting agents spreading destruction all around, a svelte and sexy Rubina is seen displaying her charm in a bikini that had riled up the saffron outfits until a few weeks ago when the song ‘Besharam Rang’ was released on internet.

Of course, she is aware of the past and present danger and knows precisely whom to side with as more and more evil-intentioned men appear on the scene.

Amid such chaos, if there’s one ray of hope it’s obviously the presence of the most sought-after, most-loved, and fearless Pathaan. With James Bond-like intensity, Pathaan has supreme fight sequences to match.

Crammed with high octane action that is virtually frenziedly uninterrupted and relentless, there’s not a single moment that would make the viewers take a breather.

Shah Rukh, who needs a box office blockbuster badly, is perhaps the only actor who could have looked lethal with his six -packs and delivering lines in hushed tones that melts Padukone. His charm remains intact as he tries to briefly romance, while all along diving and jumping from mountains and rooftops in a bid to oust his enemies.

And it isn’t just his young looks, his energy is so infectious that many among the cinegoers whistled every time he scored a point over his opponent. Such is his impact and following!

Padukone too proves why she was the one chosen by Hollywood to don colourful bodysuits, leggings and catsuits. John Abraham too is a perfect foil to Khan’s ripping muscles and performs well. To match Khan’s young looks, he too manages to sport a dashing fresh youthful look.

The action scenes are at par with any Hollywood production, while the cinematography by Satchith Paulose captures some exquisite landscapes in Spain, Russia, Dubai, Italy and France.

Though there is not much scope for songs in such a narrative, Vishal-Shekhar numbers are extremely catchy.

All those who are still worried about Bollywood’s no show for months, can decisively breathe easy with the satisfaction that given the right production, engaging script and mega stars at the helm, Hindi cinema should be back on track!

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Film Review Films Lite Blogs

‘Moon Knight’: Psychological thriller with ample action, comedy, and horror tropes

The series is diverse in its storytelling and does require an open mind due to its unusual yet intriguing complexity. On the face of it, ‘Moon Knight’ appears very straightforward in its approach…writes Troy Rebeiro

(Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar), Duration: Averaging 50 minutes per episode (Total 6 episodes), Directors: Mohamed Diab, Cast: Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke, May Calamawy, F. Murray Abraham, Karim-El-Hakim, Gaspard Ulliel (Rating: ***)


This highly anticipated series, ‘Moon Knight,’ begins with a promise that gradually withers away to oblivion. Designed as a psychological thriller with ample action, comedy, and horror tropes thrown in the series might work for you if you binge-watch it, or else the series with all its complexities might just be beyond caring.

For the uninitiated, Moon Knight is a complex fictional character and a robed superhero created by Marvel Comics. He appears as the main protagonist of his titular comics and a supporting character in the Marvel Universe. Characteristically, he wears many hats. He had once led a life of violence until he was chosen by Khonshu – the Egyptian God of the Moon and vengeance to protect the innocent and also as a way to redeem himself. Thus, he is named Moon Knight.

This six-episode series follows Steven Grant, the cringey gift-shop employee at the National Art Gallery in London, who has an affinity to Egyptology. While he enjoys a regular lifestyle, he has a peculiar habit when- he goes to sleep. He shackles himself to his bed, for he suffers from nightmares that transport him to places he is unsure of.

Also, at times, during the day, he suffers from blackouts and hallucinates about memories of another life, which he soon discovers is the result of a dissociative identity disorder that he suffers. He realises that he shares his body with Marc Spector, a former mercenary and is also the avatar of Khonshu (Voiced by F. Murray Abraham). How Steven navigates through his complex identities to fight his enemies as he finds himself- enmeshed in an Indiana Jones-esque adventure that involves the powerful gods of Egypt, forms the crux of this series narrative.

The series is diverse in its storytelling and does require an open mind due to its unusual yet intriguing complexity. On the face of it, ‘Moon Knight’ appears very straightforward in its approach. It features a guy who is, losing his mind hallucinating an Egyptian God while a cult leader Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), is after his life and has other supernatural goals.

Oscar Isaac plays his dual roles astutely. It feels like watching two different actors delivering powerful performances. As Steven Grant, he is the most interesting- character in the series with his humility, innocence, and nerdy charm. His unintentional one-liners are typical of the wry British humour that keeps you in splits. As the formidable Mark Spector, he is the hands-on broody guy, a tortured soul, constantly fighting Grant for control.

Ethan Hawke’s mesmerising performance as the relaxed supervillain Arthur Harrow is intimidating. As Harrow, he does not use force or manipulation. He is just mellow and speaks his truth, which could be misleading.

May Calamawy, who portrays the tough and smart Layla, is the conduit that channelises the action-adventure feel in the film. She is the woman Steven Grant has always dreamt of, while Spector tries his best to stay away from her.

Mounted with ace production values, the series with a unique mashup of multiple genres appears wild and unlike any previous Marvel MCU shows.

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Bollywood Films Lite Blogs

‘Choosing role in a thriller is advantage’

“11th Hour” streams on Aha while “November Story” is on Disney+ Hotstar VIP…reports Asian Lite News.

South star had recently debuted in OTT. Tamannaah Bhatia feels choosing a role in a thriller can always be an advantage for an actor because the genre has a high binge quotient.

This year, Tamannaah made her digital debut in April with the Telugu web series “11th Hour”, a crime thriller that also features Adith Arun and Vamsi Krishna.

In May, she returned to OTT space again with the Tamil whodunit drama “November Story” alongside Pasupathy, GM Kumar, Aruldass and Vivek Prasanna.

“A thriller, if done well, has the ability to let you binge-watch. Now that is essentially what everybody who makes a show wants you to do. So, when you choose a genre like the thriller, if it is done well, it has a high potential of reaching that goal of being a binge-watchable show,” she says.

“11th Hour” streams on Aha while “November Story” is on Disney+ Hotstar VIP.

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