Cine News Digest – 02 May 2026

Trisha’s quagmire

With the rumours of a romantic entanglement with Vijay still hanging low over her head, Trisha has found herself in an uncomfortable situation. Having parried comments from R. Parthiban, Samuthrakani and G. Dhananjayan about the nature of her relationship with Vijay, Trisha is now facing what many describe as a backlash to her alleged indiscretions.

The teaser of Suriya’s Karuppu directed by RJ Balaje did not mention Trisha, nor did it give even a glimpse of her.

Tongues wagged when she did not attend the audio release function and comments went viral when she revealed via a tweet that she had not been invited to the event.

It is certainly no coincidence that, shortly after Trisha’s startling claim, the crew released a 37 second teaser focusing exclusively on Trisha and referring to her as the South Queen.

It was clearly a PR exercise meant to deflect from the controversy but the cat is now out of the bag. Even a tweet from the film’s director – RJ Balaje – praising the high degree of professionalism shown by Trisha did nothing to dissipate the rumours that there is major tension among the cast and crew of Karuppu.

Karuppu is set to release worldwide on 14 May 2026.

Vijay’s future in Tamil Nadu

Exit polls have predicted that Vijay’s TVK will enjoy the largest number of votes, but will fall short of an absolute majority. This would require a coalition or coalitions with Vijay likely to be the next Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. That is, if the exit polls are accurate.

However, this writer believes that the exit polls have it wrong. Vijay’s TVK has not indicated any major ideological shift for Tamil Nadu politics. With many unaware of any manifesto, much of the interest shown in TVK stems from Vijay’s popularity stemming from his on-screen persona of consistently fighting evil in society. A significant percentage of the support he has received comes from those opposed to the current ruling party, M.K. Stalin’s DMK. Those seeking an alternative to DMK politics have turned their attention to Vijay’s TVK now that Kamal Haasan’s MNM has sold out to the ruling party.

If Vijay does win, it could spell disaster for Tamil Nadu, as he has no political or practical experience in politics and will have to come up with a plan to match his pre-election rhetoric.

Sivakarthikeyan film with Venkat Prabhu still on track

Sivakarthikeyan confirmed this weekend that his planned project with director Venkat Prabhu is still very much on track. The announcement came after it was reported that Venkat Prabhu met with Ken Karunas (of Youth-fame) to discuss a possible collaboration.

The project has been delayed because of changes to the story and script that were suggested by Sivakarthikeyan. Once the script has been finalised, the cast and crew will then be signed on before an official launch date is announced.

Lokesh Kanagaraj launches Mythri’s 3^rd Tamil Film

Mythri Movie Makers will be teaming up with music composer Bharath Sankar for the first time in the forthcoming film Modha Rathiri. The film was officially launched by Lokesh Kanagaraj and will star Rishikanth opposite Anishma Anilkumar who made her Tamil debut in the hit film Sirai and made waves with her role opposite Karunas in Youth. The film is written and directed by Raja Karuupasamy. The supporting cast includes Chetan, Sangeetha and Varshini.

94-year old legendary director returns to movies

Singeetham Srnivasa Rao, who directed iconic films like Raaaj Paarvai, Aboorva Sagodharargal, Michael Madhana Kamarajan and Little John, is to make his return as a director in a forthcoming dual language venture to be made simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu. Ayaan, Ahilya and Shalini head the cast with music by Devi Sri Prasad.

Vikram’s GVM directorial Dhuruva Natchathiram finally set for release.

Judge Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy of the Chennai High Court last week ordered the release of the film subject to specific conditions. Gautham Vasudev Menon said that the conditions are reasonable and readily agreed to them, clearing the way for the film to release once screens are booked. According to the judgment, the film must release on or before 15 June 2026. If, for any reason, that deadline cannot be met, the applicants should return the matter to the High Court.

Jayaram-Urvasi Tamil starrer to release soon

Paandiraj is set to release his next film, a comedy thriller with Jayaram and Urvasi sharing the screen. Titled Parimala and Co, the film also stars Sanjana Krishnamoorthy, Ananthika Sanlkumar, Mysskin, Yogi Babu, Sandy, Santosh Sobhan and Tamilkumaran.