Text Credits: Kennie Thomas

 Aadu 2 producer Vijay Babu announced the release of its sequel Aadu 3 during the 100th-day celebration of Aadu 2. Vijay Babu also dropped a hint about Aadu 3 being in 3D. It looks like Aadu 3 is going to be more than just an entertainer and will be a step ahead from the previous film.

The director of Aadu series, Midhun Manuel understands the pulse of the masses like no one else does. Humour is one thing that doesn’t go out of style and Midhun definitely has a way of playing with it. The film Aadu 2 was a complete entertainer with a good blend of songs, cast and Bgm’s. The lead character from the film Shajipappan, is one of Malayalam film industry’s most appreciated characters. Jayasurya aka Shajipaappan’s look was trending all over Kerala. Be it the flashy double-coloured Mundu (red and black coloured) or the handlebar moustache.

Source: Desatanimulya

“The film’s series will be out in 2019. The central characters of the movie will be Shaji Pappan and team. There will be new characters joining them”, revealed the director, Midhun Manuel.

Even though Aadu was a box office flop, the film became an instant hit on torrents. The movie got further recognition when its DVD got released. The sequel of Aadu (Aadu2) was a box office hit and compensated for the losses incurred by its prequel. It is very unlikely for a box office flop to get a second sequel in Malayalam film industry.  The mere fact that Jayasurya, Midhun and Vijay Babu are working together again for Aadu 3, is promising enough for many.

The post Shajipappan And Team Will Be Returning Next December appeared first on FWD Life | The Premium Lifestyle Magazine |.

The post Vijay Babu- New look, New Persona appeared first on FWD Life | The Premium Lifestyle Magazine |.

The post Vijay Babu And Sunny Wayne Unveils The Latest Issue Of FWD Life appeared first on FWD Life | The Premium Lifestyle Magazine |.

Text Credit: Shibul Pavithran 

FWD Media hosted its monthly cover launch at Holiday Inn, Kochi on January 29 to unveil the December-January anniversary issue of FWD life magazine.

FWD cover launch this time was presented by Holiday Inn in association with ASDA, WtzupKochi and Red Fm. On the cover was the charming actor and producer Vijay Babu from the Malayalam film industry.

The special guests for the event were actors Sunny Wayne, Saiju Kurup, Gadha, Nazreen Nazar, Nayana; Suresh Kumar, marketing head of Mahindra and Mahindra Kerala , Samir Hamsa, vice president FWD Media. The programme started with the viewing of Vijay Babu’s much awaited FWD life cover shoot teaser. It was followed by the unveiling of the magazine cover with editor in chief and CEO of FWD Media Pvt Ltd, Abraham Tharakan, along with Vijay Babu, Sunny Wayne, Nazreen Nazar and Suresh Kumar.  A heartfelt speech was made by Vijay Babu describing his experience of being associated with FWD Media and how much he enjoyed working the team.

FWD Media then honored the chief photographer for the covershoot: Jinson Abraham and Hair stylist  of the cover shoot: Narsimha Swamy. To mark the end of the event on a light note, a specially curated video by FWD Media of all the behind the scenes footage was showcased, followed by photosessions.

The post FWD Life’s star studded night appeared first on FWD Life | The Premium Lifestyle Magazine |.

Words by Charishma Thankappan                                                Photographs by Jinson Abraham

“When you go through a lot of pain and then achieve a huge success, it is extremely rewarding.” And none other than producer and actor Vijay Babu can vouch for this truth of life. After facing a setback with the initial release of the film Aadu Oru Bheekara Jeevi Aanu, 2015(Aadu), Vijay is now basking in the success of Aadu 2, a product of his production company Friday Film House. Riding high on the wave of accomplishment, the past year was one of the best for Vijay, who was part of one of the biggest hits of 2017 – Angamaly Diaries.

Blooming Forth

Rising from the ashes

Read on to learn Vijay Babu’s experience in the Malayalam film industry so far, in the latest issue of FWD Life, Dec-Jan 2018 edition

The post Triumphing Over the Odds – Vijay Babu appeared first on FWD Life | The Premium Lifestyle Magazine |.

A Nee-na Bob Please

There’s been a bumbling conversation about the haircut. Tabloids, news, and every girl got the urge to cut their hair now. I remember meeting Deepti a year ago at a particular shoot. In a golden lehenga and soft, luscious hair cascading on her shoulder, she looked striking with a dash of red lipstick. But now she’s pulled off looks that are ‘split ends’. When I asked her about the haircut, she mentioned. “It was difficult to cut my hair, especially because I was in beauty pageant and hair was an important aspect. But when I read the script, I knew I had to cut my hair. I had to shed my inhibitions.” That included facing a pair of scissors. Just like in Roman Holiday – the Oscar winning movie- Deepthi went to a styling parlor in Moscow. Similarly the way the barber reacted to cutting Princess Ann’s hair in the movie, so did Deepti’s hairstylist. By that time Deepthi had already snipped it to her shoulder level, the hairstylist was surprised when she saw her older pictures. Gently playing with the bounce of hair, the hairstylist marveled at the volume of her hair. She winced each time she had to get it shorter. But the most adventurous part really came when it came to describing the bob, both of them conversing in a lost language . Deepti mentioned, “ Getting my hair cut seemed impossible until I had to explain how I wanted it cut it. It was so hard to understand her broken English.” While it’s in his field of expertise to direct, Lal Jose also gave a shot at describing the haircut to the stylist. Jomon T. John had a laugh anticipating the outcome of the haircut. At one point, she said that it became comical because it was a language of gesticulating and hands flying in the air that lead to the swivel of scissors and finally the bob.”It’s funny,” Deepti exclaimed, “ I did not know what bob to call it.” Looking at Audrey Hepburn’s bob from Roman Holiday to the famous Rachel Green’s haircut from F.R.I.E.N.D.S, we’re sure the parlors are going to hear this now, “We would like a Nee-na bob please.”

The Vodka part

With her jetting off on bikes and wearing loose shirts that cloaked her poise, her role came to life in Mumbai as someone who works in the creative team of an ad agency. The role opened her to discover inhibitions and taught her to become more articulate. Commenting on her nonchalant vodka intakes, Deepti chipped in with her cute accent, “ The vodka was ‘pachavellom’. In fact, my first scene was my most memorable one, the opening shot with me drinking out of shot glasses. You would not believe it, my lucky first shot turned out being the opening shot itself!” But getting into the role, I asked, “How did you interpret conventionality?” She laughed by saying,“ I think I am pretty conventional. When you watch the movie, you see that Nee-na finally embraces conventionality.” Like her character adapted to some monotonous aspects of life, I asked if there were any plans in a wardrobe transformation from the reel life to real life. For a while, she thought and then said,“ My keepers from Nee-na’s wardrobe? Well, her jeans were very comfortable, and I wouldn’t mind having a few of her shirts.” But going out of the comfort zone was when she had to gain weight for the role. “Gaining weight was a challenge; I had to regularly drink yogurt smoothies and eat frequently to gain six kgs for the role.” The role was certainly worth the ‘weight’, pun intended.

On and Off Screen in Kochi

Off screen, she’s quite a daredevil. While sharing some of her most funny experiences especially being a novice rider. She had some time to practice on a bike, and yes the experimentation was on the highway where she had to take a turn to Panampilly Nagar. With the endless honking and the stirring Kochi traffic, she had her qualms about shifting gears. She added. “ Vijay Babu’s reaction was priceless! He kept on saying; Deepti slow down, you know I have a wife and a kid right?”

But more than her experiences here in Kochi, we got to know her more during our cover shoot. At six-thirty in the morning, she was charged! She boldly strutted in well-fitted jeans, and the cat eye rimmed sunglasses. Her confidence unstirred a she got into her poses with the horse. The horse was hesitant at first, but as she gently petted him, the photo was captured. During the shoot, she was in deep conversations among her the stylist and the make-up artist. At one point, I had to keep up with their fashion terminologies. Dialogues were flying in the air, “How about a Claudia Schiffer tousle and some burgundy lipstick?” Going versatile with her sweaters to her statement striped jacket, Depthi posed for the camera with her sharp silver eye makeup and audacious lipstick shades. In between the best of both worlds of modeling and filmdom, she totally reinvented Nee-na.

The post Haircut, Vodka & a Bullet : Conversation with Deepti Sati appeared first on FWD Life | The Premium Lifestyle Magazine |.

He was heading the programmes in Surya TV and in his own words; he had achieved creative passions through a host of programmes. “We were listening lot of scripts for buying films for the channel. Interacting with film industry rekindled my passion for acting in films. Thus I acted in films,” he says. Meanwhile, he has also ventured into production in association with Friday Film House in the film “Philips and the Monkey Pen”. “I will be managing the creative consultancy partnership. We plan 12 movies in next three years. “Peruchazhi”, starring Mohanlal, is a major project by Friday Film House. It will be directed by Arun Vaidyanathan of “Achamundu Achamundu” fame,” he adds.

Vijay Babu hopes that a professional change would take place in Malayalam Cinema soon as it has happened globally. “More corporate houses are entering the filmdom. Also more production houses produce movies on the trot,” he explains.

Excerpts

Your opinion about media in Kerala…

There is high competition. There are around 30 TV channels in Kerala. Naturally all channels vie for grabbing the eyeballs. How do you present the matter without sensationalizing it is more important.

About satellite rights and its repercussions…

Satellite channels have been supporting films. Kerala is the sole State where the highest satellite price is paid for movies. While 20-25% is the global standard price for satellite rights, in Kerala, 60-70% is demanded for satellite rights. The bad trend is that after showing gimmicks, some people in the Malayalam industry acquire satellite rights and they are not bothered about the quality of films. When I was a buyer for Surya TV, around 30 films, which were scheduled to be shot soon, were cancelled in front of me. Last two years, Mollywood has misused the support of satellite rights. A slew of films have packed up even without shooting certain portions of the film citing fund crunch. You may find the name of an artiste in the cast, but in the final product there won’t be any such artiste. We don’t associate with such people again. But they would float in the market as benami.

What was your criterion while buying films for the channel?

Primarily, story and director are our way of assessing a project. Yes, we believe in stardom and star cast. It’s always a mix. We used to go behind big movies and also movies with a potential script and a better known star cast. Films like “22 Female Kottayam”, “Ordinary”, “Salt N’ Pepper” and “Ee Aduthakalathu” are the epitomes of our approach to films. We have given the required kind of backing for quality films.

4)    About the response for the reality show “Malayalee House”…

It has been received well; ratings show that. There are mixed responses also. In fact, “Big Boss” also had controversies. After all, the programme is all about that. When Shilpa Shetty emerged winner in the “Big Brother”, there was hue and cry about racism issue. Last season of Big Boss also had the Sunny Leon issue. We get critical reviews for “Malayalee House”.

Films that you think you should have been in?

There are many films. Recently, the film “Amen”. I wish I were part of this film.

Can we expect you in the field of direction?

Sure. My plan is to get into all areas of filmmaking. Setting up a well-equipped studio is also my dream project.

Do you have any apprehension while switching over to filmdom?

Fortunately, I can live without a job for next five years. I had been in Dubai for 16 years. My company was managing two major channels. I’ve made my money. When I came back to India in 2010, I wanted to join films. I realised that ground reality is different from theory. As an MBA graduate, I started out my career in Sales and finally I arrived in the filmdom. I believe in destiny. When I yearn to return to India, I got an offer from Asianet to join in Hyderabad. When Star TV took over Asianet, I decided to come back to Kerala. Then I got an offer from Sun TV. My acquaintance with the film fraternity paved the way for my entry as an actor in Mollywood. After leaving Surya, I have decided to fully engage in films.

Your upcoming projects as an actor…

I am doing a cameo role in the film “Honey Bee”. I am donning a teacher’s role in the movie “Philips and the Monkey Pen” directed by Shanil and Rojen. I am also the co-producer of the film.  Then there is director V.K. Prakash film.

The post Testing new limits appeared first on FWD Life | The Premium Lifestyle Magazine |.