Southern Spice: News in brief

After the box office success of Karthik Subburaj’s Tamil film ‘Pizza’, a sequel is in the pipeline.

Titled ‘Pizza 2-The Villa’, this film will feature Vaibhav and Sachita Shetty in the lead and be directed by newcomer Deepan Chakravarthy.

C.V. Kumar’s Thirukumaran Entertainment will jointly co produce the movie with Studio Green Production.

So, are you ready for another serving of ‘Pizza’?

Dubai resident’s debut opposite Mammootty

April 5 will be a momentous day for Emirates cabin crew Reenu Mathews — it’s when the Dubai resident makes her debut in Malayalam film ‘Immanuel’ directed by Lal Jose, winner of this year’s Kerala state award.

Paired opposite Mammootty, Mathews plays Anne, his wife and mother of a five-year-old boy.

“Anne is a homemaker, an ordinary woman from a lower middle-class family. She is someone viewers can identify with,” she says.

Mathews recalls how tense and nervous she was on the first day of shooting. “It was a scene where I had to deliver a long dialogue while serving food at the dining table,” says the native of Kottayam, who started modelling while in college.

“I had taken 20 days’ leave from work and it was tough completing my portions within this time. Working with Mammukka was a good learning experience,” she adds.

Mathews was initially slated to act in ‘Pattalam’, a Lal Jose film with Mammootty in 2003, but gave up the opportunity to pursue a flying career. “At that time, I was fascinated with a career with airlines and was keen on taking it up,” she says.

But, she did not want to let go of the second opportunity to work in films.

Now, it seems the acting bug has bitten her, for Mathews is already working on her second film, ‘Anju Sundarigal’, an anthology of five films directed by five different directors.

Tamil film industry halts work

Work was suspended on Tuesday in the Tamil Nadu film industry as film fraternity members observed a fast in Chennai protesting against Sri Lanka’s human rights violation of its Tamil citizens.

Led by M. Ameer, president of the Tamil Nadu Film Directors Association, the group put forward a five-point agenda with demands. This included reconsidering bilateral ties with Sri Lanka and implementing a Tamil Nadu Assembly Resolution seeking economic sanctions against Colombo until Tamil residents are ensured status on par with the Sinhalese.

Supporting the cause were other bodies such as the Federation of Small Screen Technicians, Film Employees Federation of India and Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council and Tamil Nadu Television Producers Council.

As protests gain momentum, students from film schools in the city also plan to observe a fast on Wednesday.