This week is a season of festivals in India. Of Vishu. Of Tamil New Year. Of Gudi Padwa. Of Vaisakhi. Of Bihu. Of Ugadi
Naturally, OTT platforms, as with all festival days in India, have lined up quite a few interesting new releases.
In this section of recommendations of Indian content on streaming platforms, we stick to films from the South for no particular reason.
Our picks are Uppena and Prayanikudu in Telugu, The Priest and Vellam in Malayalam, and Mathil in Tamil.
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Uppena
Direction: Buchi Babu Sana
Cast: Vaishnav Tej, Krithi Shetty, Vijay Sethupathi
Synopsis: This is among the successful Telugu films released in theatres in recent times. This Buchi Babu Sana directorial succeeded in impressing the audience and ended up handing over memorable debuts to its lead pair, Vaishnav Tej and Krithi Shetty. Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi as the antagonist is also a standout performer in the film.
Uppena is a romantic movie that is about the daughter of a rich landlord who falls in love with a lower caste boy in her village. This angers her dad who kills the hero's dad. The rest of the movie is about the duo's spirited struggle in coming together.
Language: Telugu
Platform: Netflix
Release date: April 14, 2021.
The Priest
Direction: Jofin T Chacko
Cast: Mammootty, Manju Warrier, Nikhila Vimal, Sreenath Bhasi, Saniya Iyappan, Jagadish
Synopsis: Starring superstar Mammootty in the lead, the film centers on the life of a priest with extraordinary skills and his mysterious journey of solving the cold cases. He and a cop try to solve a set of mysterious suicides. As their investigation closes in, they discover another crime with even farther-reaching consequences.
The film, when it was released in cinema halls two weeks back, was widely appreciated for its edge-of-the-seat thrills and stellar performances.
The veterans Mammootty and Manju Warrier have together on screen for the first time ever.
Language: Malayalam
Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Release date: April 14, 2021.
Prayanikudu
Direction: Jonathan Edwards
Cast: Krishna Chaitanya, Pavani
Synopsis: This straight-on-the-OTT movie deals with a topical story. The plot talks about the plight of migrant labourers, about him plenty has written about during the lockdown in India. It takes on from the life of a migrant who comes to a city for opportunities. After initial struggle, he gets success but in this process, he ends in a war with local rowdies and bigwigs. The film is a crime drama filled with interesting characters.
“Revenge is dangerous than enemy” reads the movie's poster and that should be an indication about the film’s plot.
Language: Telugu
Platform: Airtel Xstream
Release date: April 13, 2021.
Mathil
Direction: Mithran Jawahar
Cast: K S Ravikumar, Mime Gopi, Madhumita, Kathadi Ramamurthy, Lollu Sabha Swaminathan
Synopsis: In this season of politics and elections in Tamil Nadu, this is another appropriate movie. The film's story revolves around a common man, who fights against a politician who usurps the wall of his dream house for an election campaign.
For director, Mithran Jawahar, who is known for his comedy capers with Dhanush --- Yaaradi Nee Mohini, Uthamaputhiran --- this is a new kind of venture. "This is the first time I am doing a movie on a social cause. There are situations in life where we fear the power above us and back down. But the need to express our emotions and stand up for our rights is stressed in the film," the director recently said.
This Zee 5 original film is a release for the special occasion of Tamil New Year.
Language: Tamil
Platform: Zee5
Release date: April 14, 2021.
Vellam
Direction: Prajesh Sen
Cast: Jayasurya, Samyuktha Menon, Siddique, Saiju Kurup
Synopsis: G Prajesh Sen, who made his debut with Captain, yet again teams up with Jayasurya for Vellam. This is supposed to be inspired from a real-life story, and it chronicles how a drunkard, who becomes a burden for his family, and the society around him, comes back from the brink and rebuilds his life. Apparently, this is the life and story of Kerala born businessman Murali Kunumpurath who turned his life from a full time alcoholic to a successful international bussinessman.
The film was released in the theatres in January. It won rave reviews for Jayasurya's stellar performance and it was generally felt that the film portrayed a lofty message in a well-packed story.
Language: Malayalam
Platform: SunNXT
Release date: April 13, 2021.
With IPL fever also picking, the festival days would be great fun with these new releases to watch.
