Mohanlal in ‘Thudarum’.
| Photo Credit: Rejaputhra Visual Media/YouTube

Mohanlal’s Thudarum is continuing it’s strong run at the box office. Released on April 25, 2025, the Tharun Moorthy-directorial opened to positive reviews from critics and fans alike.

On April 30, 2025, the makers announced that the movie has achieved a special milestone. The Malayalam revenge drama has entered the ₹100 crore club at the box office. The movie has grossed ₹100 crore worldwide within 6 days of its release, according to the makers.

Thudarum is produced by M Renjith under the banner Rejaputhra Visual Media. It is presented by Antony Perumbavur’s Aashirvad Cinemas. The movie also stars Shobana, Binu Pappu and Prakash Varma in prominent roles.

Thudarum becomes the second Mohanlal film after L2: Empuraan to breach the ₹100 crore mark in 2025. Empuraan, a sequel to the 2019 political action drama Lucifer, was directed by actor Prithviraj Sukumaran. Despite courting controversy over “harming religious sentiments”, the big-budget movie managed to enjoy a decent run at the box office.

Thudarum piqued the interest of fans ever since it was announced that Mohanlal would be reuniting with his hit co-star Shobana in the movie. The duo has worked in more than 50 movies.

ALSO READ:‘L2: Empuraan’ movie review: Mohanlal, rich production design fail to save this sequel

The movie has been praised by fans for bringing back the performer Mohanlal after a lengthy gap. The Hindu review of the film says, “Thudarum, despite its flaws, is a finely-crafted film with the right emotional beats. The open-ended title, which appears after the actor’s name in the closing credits, in a way hints there is much more left for the actor to do.”

India on Wednesday warned Pakistan against unprovoked ceasefire violations after the Directors General of Military Operations of the two countries talked over the hotline to discuss the issue. For the last week, Pakistan has been violating the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LOC) and the International Border. The provocation comes days after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 people were killed.

The Indian Army has effectively responded to the Pakistan Army’s unprovoked small arms firing across the Line of Control (LoC). The Army responded swiftly to the ceasefire violation on the night of April 27-28 in areas opposite Kupwara and Poonch districts in Jammu and Kashmir (J-K), officials said. The Indian Army had also responded effectively to the Pakistan Army firing along the LoC on the night of April 26-27 in areas opposite the Tutmari Gali and Rampur sectors, as per officials.

There has been a rise in ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC. Security forces have intensified anti-terror operations in the Kashmir valley in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people on April 22. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met a day after the Pahalgam terror attack. 

In the briefing to the CCS, the cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack were brought out. It was noted that this attack came in the wake of the successful holding of elections in Jammu and Kashmir and its steady progress towards economic growth and development.

India has taken a raft of measures against Pakistan for its support to cross-border terrorism, including holding the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance and closing the Integrated Check Post at Attari. India has also decided to curtail the strength of High Commissions.

The government has given armed forces complete operational freedom to decide on the response to the Pahalgam terror attack. (With ANI inputs)

Poster announcing Santhanam’s casting; Silambarasan TR (right) with Ramkumar Balakrishnan
| Photo Credit: @DawnPicturesOff/X and @ImRamkumar_B/X

It’s official! After days of speculations, the makers of Tamil star Silambarasan TR’s next, tentatively called STR 49, confirmed on Wednesday (April 30) that actor Santhanam has joined the cast of the film.

Dawn Pictures, the banner backing the film, announced the news on their X handle.

The new film, directed by Ramkumar Balakrishnan, marks a reunion between Simbu and Santhanam after 2015’s Vaalu (the comedian had appeared in a cameo in 2016’s Idhu Namma Aalu).

Both actors have shared a cordial relationship over the years. Notably, Santhanam made his on-screen debut in Simbu’s Manmadhan, while the former’s Sakka Podu Podu Raja had music composed by STR.

STR 49, announced in February, has music composed by Sai Abhyankkar and features Kayadu Lohar of Dragon fame as the female lead. Details regarding the rest of the cast and crew are yet to be announced.

STR 49 will be produced by Aakash Baskaran of Dawn Pictures, who is backing Dhanush’s Idly Kadai and Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi.

Meanwhile, Silambarasan’s 51st movie is with Dragon-maker Ashwath. Simbu, who is awaiting the release of Kamal Haasan-Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life, has teamed up with Desingh Periyasamy for his 50th film, tentatively called STR 50.