The Independence Day weekend will have Golden Star Ganesh back onscreen after nearly a year. Ganesh, who was last seen in Baanadariyali, has a romantic drama in store for audiences. Competing with him at the box office is young Samarjit Lankesh, the son of Indrajit Lankesh, in a film about a poor boy with musical aspirations. On OTT, there are a couple of films from Daali Productions that have found a second streamer. For those who like film festival darling, there are a couple of titles that will be of immense interest.

Apart from this, there are Kannada-dubbed titles that may be of interest to the audience, both in theatres and on OTT. There’s a sequel of a popular Telugu film and a Malayalam web series that boasts the who’s who of the industry on the cast and crew.

Here’s a look at what is releasing on OTT and theatres in the week of August 12 to August 18

Krishnam Pranaya Sakhi

Golden Star Ganesh’s collaboration with director Srinivasa Raju, who is best known for the ultra-violent Dandupalya series, has created intrigue. The filmmaker has promised a romantic drama, which is right up Ganesh’s alley, but besides that, the team has not divulged anything about the film, driving its promotions only with the music, which, has been quite interesting.

Cast: Ganesh, Malavika Nair, Sharanya Shetty, Shashikumar, Rangayana Raghu
Releasing in: Theatres
Release date: 15 August, 2024

Gowri

The third generation from the Lankesh family, Samarjit Lankesh, the son of filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh, is being launched by his parents this week. A musical, the film is apparently based on a true story, with the title a tribute to the filmmaker’s late sister, Gauri Lankesh. Samar is paired with Puttagowri Maduve fame Saanya Iyer, who makes the transition from the small screen to the big screen with the film.

Cast: Samarjit Lankesh, Rajeev Govinda Pillai, Saanya Iyer
Releasing in: Theatres
Release date: 15 August, 2024

Hadinelentu

Director Prithvi Konanur released his festival darling film in theatres earlier this year, albeit on a small scale. And he is now ready to give it a wider audience. The film, about two hormonal teenagers making a sex video that is leaked and goes viral, explores how different sections of people react to this development.

Cast: Neeraj Mathew, Sherlyn Bhosale, Rekha Kudligi
Streaming on: YouTube
Streaming date: 15 August, 2024

Tagaru Palya

Daali Dhananjaya’s third production had his pal Nagabhushan in the lead and was a light-hearted film revolving around a tradition of sacrificing a goat to the local deity as appeasement. The goat, though, needs to agree to this, by shaking its head when water is poured over it. What happens when the goat refuses to abide is what the film is about.

Cast: Nagabhushan, Amrutha Prem, Rangayana Raghu, Tara, Vasuki Vaibhav
Streaming on: Cinebazzar OTT
Streaming date: 16 August, 2024

Orchestra, Mysuru!

Daali Dhananjaya took on the responsibility of releasing this film made by his friends and decided to make it a festival outing. His plans of giving Kannada film audiences something to watch for Sankranti did not work out though, and the film went to OTT shortly after. Led by Poorna Mysore, the film explores the city’s orchestra culture.

Cast: Poorna Mysore, Dileep Raj

Streaming on: Cinebazzar OTT
Streaming date: 16 August, 2024

Double iSmart

The sequel to iSmart Shankar, Double iSmart is supposedly releasing with a Kannada version too, but how many screens this will get remains to be seen. The film is a science-fiction action drama directed by Puri Jagannadh.

Cast: Ram Pothineni, Sanjay Dutt, Kavya Thapar
Releasing in: Theatres
Release date: 15 August, 2024

Manorathangal

An anthology series based on nine short stories by MT Vasudevan Nair. 8 directors worked on the 9 stories, with the who’s who of Malayalam cinema a part of the anthology. The featurette will be available with Kannada audio. 

Cast: Mammootty, Mohanlal, Fahadh Faasil, Biju Menon, Parvathy Thiruvoth, Asif Ali, Aparna Balamurali, Indrajith Sukumaran, etc.
Streaming on: Zee5
Streaming date: 15, August, 2024

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