Mura is a Malayalam action thriller directed by Muhammad Musthafa and produced by Rhea Shibu under the HR Pictures banner. Featuring Hridu Haroon, Anujith, Yedu Krishna, and Jobin Das in lead roles, the film released in theaters on November 8, garnering a positive response. It became available for streaming on Amazon Prime from December 25, 2024. Let’s dive into the plot and analysis of this gripping thriller.

Plot Summary:
The story revolves around four close friends – Anand (Hridu Haroon), Shaji (Jobin Das), Manu (Yedu Krishna), and Manav (Anujith). Anand comes from a middle-class family, while the rest hail from lower-middle-class backgrounds. Struggling with studies and responsibilities, the group often resorts to reckless escapades. To meet their financial needs, they ally with local gangsters.

Their association leads them to Ane (Suraj Venjaramoodu), a trusted henchman of gangster Ramadevi (Mala Parvathi). Impressed by their fearlessness, Ane assigns them a high-stakes mission to retrieve hidden black money from Madurai. What happens during this mission and how it changes their lives forms the crux of the story.

Analysis:
Mura captures the essence of youthful recklessness and camaraderie. Suresh Babu’s story brings to life the struggles of four young men navigating life’s challenges with misplaced priorities. The screenplay keeps the narrative tight, seamlessly blending action and emotion without overdramatizing.

The first half establishes the boys’ bonding and their initial forays into the gangster world, while the second half delves into their confrontation with larger forces. The transitions feel organic, and the film maintains a naturalistic tone throughout, drawing audiences into the emotional journey of its protagonists.

Performances:
The four lead actors excel in portraying their characters, embodying the mannerisms and attitudes of rebellious youth with authenticity. Their performances feel spontaneous and genuine, enhancing the film’s realism.

Suraj Venjaramoodu and Mala Parvathi deliver solid performances, effortlessly adding gravitas to their roles as seasoned criminals.

Technical Aspects:
Cinematography: Fazil Nazar’s visuals stand out, particularly in action and chase sequences, elevating the overall tension.
Music and Background Score: Christy Joby’s background score is a significant strength, with the theme music being a notable highlight.
Editing: Chaman Chacko’s crisp editing ensures there’s no room for unnecessary scenes, maintaining a steady pace throughout.

Final Verdict:
Mura is an engaging action thriller that combines raw emotion with edge-of-the-seat moments. It successfully delivers a message about the importance of making the right choices in life and the consequences of veering off the moral path. Despite minor flaws, the film’s grounded approach and impactful storytelling make it a worthwhile watch.

Call it Fox & Fiancées: Fox News’ prime-time star Sean Hannity is engaged to “Fox & Friends” co-host Ainsley Earhardt.

The “Hannity” host popped the question at their home church at Christmas, according to Fox News. The couple’s children — he has two, she has one — “couldn’t be happier” about the engagement, giving their parents their blessing and support, the cable news network said.

“We are overjoyed and so thankful to our families for all of their love and support during this wonderful time in our lives,” the Fox News hosts said.

The spouses-to-be did not announce the engagement on their social media pages, but Earhardt marked the holiday with an Instagram carousel of Christmas photos that featured Hannity.

“Merry Christmas. Happy Birthday, Jesus. 2024 has been a very special year. #christmas #merrychristmas,” she wrote Wednesday.

Although it’s unclear exactly when Earhardt, 48, and Hannity, 62, began dating, the private couple said they bonded over their deep faith. They have reportedly been spotted together at social events since 2019. Vanity Fair first reported in 2020 that the pair — dubbed the “first couple of Fox” by the magazine — had been privately dating for months after arriving together by private helicopter for the wedding of then-“Fox & Friends” weekend host Pete Hegseth and producer Jennifer Rauchet at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.

People then claimed that Earhardt and Hannity had been seeing each other “for years,” but the speculation yielded denials from both TV personalities at the time, with the former announcing that she was not dating anyone and the latter asserting that he doesn’t publicly discuss his personal life.

Meanwhile, Earhardt is based in New York while Hannity lives in Florida as they carry out their long-term deals with Fox News Media. The couple said they maintain their long-distance relationship with weekend trips.

Hannity, who also hosts the streaming Fox Nation show “Sean,” joined the network when it debuted in 1996 and launched “Hannity & Colmes” with his liberal counterpart Alan Colmes, who left the show in 2008 after 12 years. Since then, the conservative political pundit has remained among the cable news network’s top prime-time stars. Earhardt joined Fox News in 2007 and briefly hosted a segment on “Hannity.” She began co-hosting “Fox & Friends” in 2016 and also hosts “Ainsley’s Bible Study” on Fox Nation.

This will be the second marriage for Hannity and the third for Earhardt. Hannity was wed to journalist Jill Rhodes for 26 years before they divorced in 2009. The former spouses share two adult children, Merri and Sean. Earhardt was previously married to Kevin McKinney from 2005 to 2009 and Clemson Tigers quarterback Will Proctor from 2012 to 2019. She and Proctor share a 9-year-old daughter, Hayden.

Both Earhardt and Hannity say they “still get along well” with their exes and that they all support one another.

“We actually made them aware this was happening ahead of time,” they said.

The couple, longtime defenders of President-elect Donald Trump, also received well wishes on Friday from him.

“Great news about Sean and Ainsley. They are officially engaged to be married! There are no finer people than these, and there will be no finer couple. Congratulations to both – A deal made in HEAVEN!!!” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

The premise

The two actors play next-door neighbours whose lives become interlinked with guilt, tragedy, and manipulations. The premise has it all: campiness, costumes, and a spiral of melodrama. But alas, the result is a movie too sunlit, too heavy-handed, and a bit too serious for its own good.

Celine (Anne Hathaway) and Alice (Jessica Chastain) are suburban housewives who become the best of friends, understanding each other’s dreams and moods like long-lost sisters. Alice is holding together well considering how delicate her condition was at one point, and Celine provides her able support- two women who share the joys and worries of motherhood. Their pitch-perfect lives come crashing down with the shocking death of Celine’s son Max (Baylen D Bielitz), who slips and falls from his home’s balcony above. Alice blames herself, and Celine can no longer stand to face her.

This devastating loss tears apart the domestic idyll of Celine and Alice’s lives. Celine’s husband Damian (Josh Charles) takes to the bottle, and their relationship gets a little worse every passing day. Her depression threatens to ruin the façade that the neighbours try to pull in the months after, even as Alice cannot seem to understand how to save a friend.

What works

Alice has her own anxieties along the way, which become more real as she realizes that Celine might be plotting something way more sinister behind those empty stares. Her husband Simon (Anders Danielsen Lie) does not believe her. Is she daydreaming? Can this be real?

Mother’s Instinct has so much potential to be one of those campy, highly entertaining yet morbid psychodrama of the year that make for a perfect repeat watch. However, the telling lacks nuance and a keen eye for character. The tone, often punctuated with brightly lit frames of pastel-coloured outfits, rings decidedly off to pull this melodrama to its pulpiest potential.

Final thoughts

Jessica Chastain is wonderful in the rather thankless part and makes Alice’s fragility her greatest weapon. She is matched beautifully by Hathaway’s razor-sharp assessment of Celine—a woman slowly losing a sense of herself. One wishes they had the chance to go more theatrical with these roles; these women had all the elements to go for a Joan Crawford-Bette Davis-like dirt-slinging. However, it lacks the killer instinct of a Hitchcockian thriller.

Nevertheless, Mother’s Instinct manages to be a willingly safe melodrama that settles its dust without much trouble.

Mother’s Instinct is now available to watch on Lionsgate Play.