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ReviewIt is no mean task, playing a character well over a decade older than you, but Shanthi Krishna carries the role of the illustrious Dr Malathy with a deeply impressive conviction.Screengrab: YouTube / Bijibal OfficialIn debutant director Indu Lakshmi’s Nila, it is through sheer serendipity that the film’s protagonist Malathy (Shanthi Krishna) stumbles upon Nila, a young woman with a mellifluous voice and a distinct Kannur slang, who lives next door to her in a high-rise apartment. For the septuagenarian who has been confined to her bed due to an accident that broke her spine, Nila comes as a balm for her loneliness, someone she can talk to and share her day with. As she sings to her from the adjacent balcony, Malathy sighs with a smile while lying on her bed, immersing herself in her younger friend’s soothing voice and nodding along in contentment. It is a heartwarming friendship,...

DiscriminationThe practice of putting dark makeup on fair-skinned actors has existed from Malayalam cinema’s black-and-white days, and refuses to die down even now.Revathy / musiczonemovies, Tovino / Instagram, Sheela / empirevideo Towards the end of December last year, Malayalam actor Tovino Thomas shared stills from a new film, in which he looks unnaturally dark. It might not have seemed unnatural if his face was not so well-known, the makeover done exceptionally well. The look is for a special project called Adrishya Jalakangal, he wrote, directed by Dr Biju, in which he plays a ‘nameless young man’. It triggered a not-so-heated discussion on the propriety of darkening faces of fair-skinned actors to play dark-skinned characters. Not at all a new practice in Malayalam cinema, and by the looks of it, not one that is dying down any time soon. “But Tovino is not playing a dark-skinned character in the film. It is...

The music rights of the upcoming crime thriller ‘Regina’, starring Sunaina in the lead, have been sold. The film, which is being released in four languages, has been produced by Sathish Nair under his banner Yellow Bear Productions. Interestingly, Nair has scored the music for the film and is making his debut as music composer.

Directed by Domin D’Silva, who is known in the Malayalam film industry for films like ‘Star’ and ‘Pyppin Chuvattile Pranayam’, the film is being billed as a ‘woman-centric stylish thriller’.

The story is about how a woman who leads her life as a normal housewife achieves extraordinary things.

Sathish Nair said it was an important day in his life and thanked his family members and his well-wishers and friends for their support.

The main song in the film has been sung by Sid Sriram. Other singers who have sung for the film include Vandana Srinivasan,...