Tamil, Telugu and Kannada releases pile up on September 25, with Karthik Subbaraj's Dhoratti and Hiphop Tamizha Adhi's long-awaited sequel leading a crowded slate.
Friday, September 25, is shaping up to be a genuine pile-up at the box office, with six films across Tamil, Telugu and Kannada hitting screens on the same day. Three industries, one release date, and audiences left to pick.
The headline clash in Tamil is Dhoratti, directed by Karthik Subbaraj and starring Keerthy Suresh alongside Sananth and Rishikanth. Ilaiyaraaja has scored the music, and two tracks, Kalyana Virundhu and Muthumani, are already doing numbers online, according to Filmibeat Tamil. The film is set in the 1980s and, per the outlet, played at the Toronto International Film Festival before its Indian run. That festival credential, paired with a Karthik Subbaraj-Ilaiyaraaja combination, has quietly built curiosity ahead of release.
Right next to it is Meesaya Murukku 2, and the wait for this one has been long. Hiphop Tamizha Adhi wrote, composed and starred in the original back in 2017, a film that landed well with both critics and collections. Nine years on, he's back in all three roles for the sequel, this time joined by Kaethika Sharma, YouTuber-turned-actor Harshath Khan, Chaitra Achar and Nassar. Whether a nine-year gap helps or hurts a sequel's momentum is the kind of question only opening weekend numbers can answer.
Then there's Lenin Pandian, notable mainly for its lead. Darshan Ramkumar, grandson of Sivaji Ganesan, headlines this directorial debut from P. Balachandran. The supporting cast includes Gangai Amaran, Shrida Rao, Roja, Aadukalam Naren, Bose Venkat and Darshan Ganesan. The story, as described by Filmibeat Tamil, follows two ordinary men taking on those in power, a familiar template but one that puts a fresh face from a legendary film family in front of the camera.
Raiza Wilson gets an unusual assignment in Noaa - Phase One - The Arrival, a horror-sci-fi-supernatural thriller directed by Milo. Her character apparently has no dialogue at all, leaning entirely on expression, and the film also features Dhruva, Adhithi Shetty and Chenrayan. It's a genre mash-up that's rare for a Tamil theatrical release, and that alone makes it worth watching for reactions once it's out.
Across the border, Kannada cinema adds Spark to the mix, a crime thriller from director Mahantesh Handral, produced by Karima Avinash Vasishta. It follows an investigative journalist chasing down a massive bank fraud, with Niranjan Sudheendra, Rachana Inder, Prem Kumar, Bhavana Menon and Dharmanna Kadur rounding out the cast.
And Telugu isn't sitting this one out either. Sreekanth Odela's action film The Paradise, with Nani in the lead and a cast that includes Mohan Babu, Raghav Juyal, Kayadu Lohar, Sampoornesh Babu and Sonali Kulkarni, is part of the same theatrical crush, with Keerthy Suresh turning up in a guest appearance.
Six films, three languages, one Friday. Screens are limited, and not every one of these gets a fair shot at a wide release. The real story starts once the weekend numbers come in.
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