Hansika pair-up with Dhanush

Actor Dhanush seems to be in the best of his spirits after all his films Thiruvilayadal Aarambam, Polladhavan and Padikkadavan did well on the box office.
After the completion of Aadukalam, director Suraj and Dhanush will team-up once again for a romantic comedy in which Hansika Motwani will be pairing opposite Dhanush.
Hansika is said to have done a few Hindi films in the past.

Tragedy strikes on the sets of ‘Raavana’

Looks like Mani Ratnam has been perpetually prone to misfortunate, ever since he ventured into the filming of his bilingual flick “Raavan’. Right from Day 1, the ace filmmaker has been exposed to obstructions. Earlier, he was supposed to sign a deal of Rs.150 Crores with a top-notch production house but they later backed off. Also, Forest Department of Kerala imposed many restrictions that dissuaded Mani Ratnam, and he opted for other location.
Amidst these issues, his health was affected, and he suffered cardiac arrest, which in turn stalled the filming for nearly a month. However, as he withstood against all these odd factors, an appalling tragedy hit their shooting floors, last evening in the forests of Athirapally, Kerala. Kunju– A male elephant out of madness turned to be more ferocious killing its own trainer on the spots.
The entire film crew inclusive of Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram and others were blown out of waters witnessing this incident. They were immediately commuted to furthermore deeper regions of forest, until other trainers calmed it down.
Witnessing the nightmarish scenario, Mani Rathnam has shifted the shooting to forest regions of Ooty and Coonoo

Actress Sneha In Bikini!!

Tamil actress Sneha, who was known for her good looks and family movies has finally decided to wear a bikini. The reason for herself joining the bikini league is nothing else other than stiff competition. After young actresses like Anushka, Nayan Thara and Priyamani have already donned the movie world, Sneha has realized that her end has almost come. When asked about the matter she told that she was not interested to act in a bikini. But if the story demands a bikini scene and if it would bring a commercial success for the producer she would think about it.

While she had a good image on-screen she even refused a lip lock scene in Vasool Raja M. B. B. S, along with Kamal Hassan. But for now she has decided to grab as many offers as possible in Telugu and Tamil and end her days with a lot of glamour and fans.

What Shriya thinks of Nayan and Tamanna

Shriya refuses that Nayanthara and Tamanna are her rivals in the Tamil film industry. The actress says that she is the only south Indian actress to foray into Hollywood and hence is in a league higher than the rest. In a recent interview to a popular newspaper, the actress said that if Nayan and Tamanna are gold, then she is platinum.

The actress is currently busy with two films – Chikku Bukku and Kutty – and is in the process of selecting a few scripts that suits her. Shriya also revealed that though she gets offers from the Kannada and Malayalam film industries, she could not accept them owing to her busy schedule.

“I am Lakshmi Rai’s first friend”

Having debuted as a second hero in Modhi Vilayadu, Yuva seems to be getting some good offers but is not in a hurry to sign up. The actor, before venturing into Kollywood, was a model and has endorsed several prestigious brands including Oxemberg.

Yuva says that he has several friends in Kollywood and among them Lakshmi Rai, Nila, Arya, Simbu and Narain form his close circle.

Refuting recent rumors that he and Lakshmi Rai are in love with each other, the actor said that they are thickest of friends and nothing more. Yuva adds that he is her first friend soon after she landed in Chennai.

Yuva, who worked as a manager in Standard Chartered Bank, is happy that Simbu was very appreciative of his performance in Modhi Vilayadu.

Maddy’s ‘Naan Aval Adhu’ to release in August

Actor Madhavan had completed filming for “Naan Aval Adhu’ a long time ago. Perhaps, the film’s release was delayed due to financial constraints. More than that, Madhavan refused to dub his voice, as producer of the film failed to credit his pending remuneration of Rs.65 Lakhs. Finally, with the intervention of Tamil Nadu Producers Council, the issue was sorted out.
Now, the film is slated to hit the screens on August 14, but the centers of release are yet to be confirmed. “Naan Aval Adhu’ is a remake of Ram Gopal Varma’s “Darling’ featuring Maddy, Sadha and Bollywood actress Shamitha Shetty in lead roles. Earlier, Ram Gopal Varma himself was supposed to direct the film but due to some difference of opinion with Maddy, he backed off.
Later, Kona Venkat approached Madhavan with some modifications in the script and the project started-off.

Kanden Kadhalai audio launch on August 14

Kannan, once an assistant to director Mani Ratnam made his directorial debut with “Jayam Kondan’. With the film winning him appreciations, he was offered to remake Bollywood blockbuster “Jab We Met’.
The film titled “Kanden Kadhalai’ features Bharath and Thamannah in lead roles. G. Dhananjayan of Moser Baer and V.M. Lalitha of Blue Ocean Entertainment have produced the film. The film was shot in 60 days across 75 exotic locations comprising of Ooty, Kodaikanal, Pollachi, Palani, Theni, Madurai, Chengalput, Tanjore, Sengottai, Kerala and Chennai.
According to Producer Dhananjayan, he says, “post-production works are close on the heels of completion and we are planning to release the film by second week of September. Director Kannan has been so punctual on completing the film within the scheduled dates.
” Vidhyasagar has scored music while P.G. Muthiah has cranked the camera. Producers have confirmed about launching the audio on August 14.

Gowtham Menon to direct ‘Ilayathalapathy’ Vijay

It was all termed to be a rumor until Gowtham Menon himself confirmed about directing Vijay’s film. Director Gowtham Menon laid his hand on “resurgence of Tamil cinema’ by making Hollywood-inclined led flicks.
Indeed, he drew more inspiration from Hollywood films “Kaakha Kaakha’, “Vetaiyadu Vilayadu’ (inspired from “Bone Collector’), “Pacchaikili Muthucharam’ (Derailed) and “Vaaranam Aayiram (Tom Hanks starrer “Forrest Gump’).
Gowtham Menon was signed to direct Ajith Kumar’s film that is produced by Sivaji Productions. But as he failed to deliver the final draft of his script, the offer was withdrawn. At the moment, he is busy shooting for three projects simultaneously- Simbhu-Trisha starrer “Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya’, “Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikalam’ and an untitled film featuring his manager and hottie Sameera Reddy in lead roles.
Amidst these busy schedules, Gowtham has confirmed that he will direct Vijay’s film very shortly and they’ve been discussing the script.

Ajith’s 50th film- Venkat Prabhu and SJ Suryah on race

With actor Vijay finalizing the team for his 50th film “Urimai Kural’, Ajith Kumar isn’t far behind on setting the crew. Although, the actor is running around with hectic schedules of “ASAL’, he seems to be holding talks with few producers for his 50th film. Earlier, director Venkat Prabhu had discussed a script for Ajith Kumar with Ashok Amritraj. (Who earlier produced Shankar’s “Jeans’) But later, it was stated that the project is still in pipeline and official announcements would be made shortly.
Meanwhile, there rises another buzz that Ajith has plans about roping SJ Suryah to direct his 50th film. It’s noteworthy that SJ Suryah’s “Vaali’ offered a great turning point in Ajith Kumar’s career. However, now Murugadoss has been pulled out from the shortlist as he has already signed deal with Surya for a trilingual film (Hindi, Tamil and Telugu)
Right now, Venkat Prabhu is busy shooting for “Goa’ while SJ Surya is almost done filming for his big-budget flick “Puli’. So, it really matters a lot for both on wielding megaphone for the “Ultimate Star’.

Aarya and Nayanthara together in a Malayalam movie

Actor Aarya has become busy these days shooting for many films simultaneously at the same time. Apart from “Madrasapattinam’ and “Chikku Bhukku’, he has been filming for Malayalam film and Telugu films too. On the pars, Nayanthara too is busy with hectic schedules of Surya starrer “Aadhavan’.
Right now, sources have revealed that Aarya and Nayanthara will team up for an untitled Malayalam film directed by Shyam Prasad. But a million dollar question remains, whether Nayanthara has enough time to give dates for this film, as she is looking forward for Bollywood offers. Nothing has been officially announced by Shyam Prasad who had earlier made a great film titled “Ore Kadal’ starring Mammooty, Meera Jasmine, Naren and Ramya Krishnan in lead role. Well, we’ve got to wait and watch whether this alluring missy from God’s own country will pair up with Aarya.

Kamal, Myshkin to work together?

Last week, director-turned-actor Myshkin got a surprise call from Kamal Haasan.

Kamal Haasan wanted Myshkin to come over to his house for a chat and Myshkin promptly obliged.

The meeting led to rumour mills going abuzz with the speculation that Myshkin would be directing a movie for Kamal Haasan’s banner.

When asked to confirm or deny the news, Myshkin said: “Kamal sir had only recently seen my ‘Anjathay’ (which released last year) and wanted to talk to me about the film.”

“The few hours that I spent talking to him were equal to reading four or five meaningful books. The actor has such a huge wealth of information to offer. I also showed him a few clippings from my upcoming film ‘Nandalala’ which he liked a lot,” Myshkin said.

Myshkin, meanwhile, is said to be busy preparing for a movie he would be making with Cheran in the lead. Sources say this could well be Cheran’s first action film.

I’ll take rumourmongers to court:I’ll take rumourmongers to court: Trisha

Wherever young Tamil actress Trisha goes, controversies seem to follow her like a shadow. The print media here was abuzz with news that Trisha, who had gone to a hotel in the city with her friends, had entered into an “unsavoury” argument with former-India cricketer Hemang Badani.
Trisha has, however, issued a stern denial about the incident and said that certain “vested interests” have been spreading rumours about her with an aim to malign her image.

“I won’t keep mum from now onwards. Whosoever writes or says anything bad about me, I won’t mind taking them to court. While it was true that I had been to a star-hotel with my friends, neither did cricketer Badani come there nor did I enter into a verbal duel with him,” says Trisha.

Hemang Badani, on the other hand, was not available for a comment on the alleged incident.

Vijay gets into social services

Actor Vijay, who has been involved in various social welfare activities, is keen on jumping into politics. A year ago, he had launched an official flag for his fan club. Indeed, it was a foundation laid for his political foray.
Recently on his birthday, Vijay commenced computer centers for under-privileged students in Chennai and announced about launching 200 centers throughout the state. On July 26, Vijay heads to Pudukottai for inaugurating yet another computer centre with 10 systems on behalf of his Marthandapuram Fan Club. Apart from this, he will distribute free wheel chairs and hearing aid for physically challenged individuals.
Says Vijay, “Computer will dominate for years to come; it’s better for youngsters to be well educated on this subject.’

Prabhu Deva to launch Nayan in Bollywood?

In recent times, the hottest news in the tinsel town is- gorgeous Nayanthara’s link up with dancing King Prabhu Deva.
Although there have been talks in the media relating to wedding and Nayanthara and Prabhu Deva’s visit to Dubai; still none of the two have clarified the news in open. The recent news that’s doing rounds is that Nayanthara would be making her debut in Bollywood with a movie to be directed by Prabhu Deva.
Prabhu Deva is already busy directing a Hindi flick titled Wanted- Dead or Alive (Hindi remake of Tamil mega-hit Pokkiri) which has Bollywood superstar Salman Khan in the lead. It’s been said that once Prabhu is done with his commitments towards this film, he would start working on the Hindi project with Nayanthara.

A superstar before debut, Shruti throws starry tantrums

Shruti Hassan is already throwing starry tantrums, and that too, before the release of her debut film Luck According to our little birdie; Shruti, during a press conference to promote Luck, was scheduled to perform in the end. But the future star oops the already famous star said a straight NO to the promoters.
The press was also acquainted with the mobile game of Luck, designed by Hungama group. However, all eyes were on Kamal Hassan’s daughter Shruti Hassan. Shruti’s big NO, before her debut, definitely shows loads of pampering from papa’s end. Riding high on papa’s success, what do you say, Mr. Hassan. After all, without the celebrated surname all that attitude would just bring her nothing but, hard-Luck

Prabhudeva plans to take Nayanthara to Bollywood

After Asin Thottumkal and Trisha Krishnan, Nayanthara is set to enter Bollywood as Prabhudeva is planning to make a Hindi film with her in the lead.
Prabhudeva, who is currently directing Salman Khan starrer “Wanted: Dead or Alive”, a Hindi remake of his Tamil blockbuster “Pokkiri”, is said to be dating Nayanthara. And he plans to launch her in Hindi films with his next directorial venture, said sources.

The film will go on floors once the choreographer-turned-actor-turned-director completes the Salman starrer as well as director Thangar Bachan’s “Kalavadia Pozhudhugal”, in which he is playing the protagonist.

I am not in love with anyone says Nayanthara

Recently while addressing the media, gorgeous Nayanthara denied any kind of affair with Prabhu Deva, “I am not in love with anyone. I love only the films I act.”Further replying to media’s inquiry about her silence on the same, the actress said, “There is no necessity for me to reply to anyone about these silly things. I have no time to explain about the rumours spread about me. The only people I should explain to; are my parents. They have faith in me and have given me full freedom. I will not take advantage of this.”Nayanthara also spoke about the wedding photos of her with Prabhu Deva, “Those were graphic generated images. I was totally upset seeing these pictures. In fact I lost my balance.” About her recent meeting with Simbhu, Nayanthara clarified, “we have met recently only to discuss about a story. There is no other reason. This meeting was purely professional and not personal. I am not in love with anyone.”

Actor Bharath celebrates his b’day

Actor Bharath and Director Kannan celebrated their birthday today (July 21) as it falls on the same date. Both of them had been filming “Kanden Kadhalai’ across the exotic locations of Kodaikanal for a past couple of weeks. The complete film crew had transformed the shooting spot to a big birthday bash by cutting cakes. Actress Thamannah was also present for the occasion.Shooting of Kanden Kadhalai– remake of Bollywood blockbuster “Jab We Met’ is almost completed, with the final schedule being shot in Kodaikanal. Mr. Dhananjayan of Moser Baer is producing the film and Kannan, once a associate of filmmaker Manirathnam directs the film.The film is slated to hit the screens this Diwali.

Dhanush in the remake of Rajnikanth’s ‘Mappilai’

Actor Dhanush strictly holds the title of his father-in-law Superstar Rajnikanth’s films. It’s been illustrated with his recent films “Polladhavan’ and “Padikadhavan’. Of course, for the first time, he remakes one of Rajnikanth’s blockbusters “Mappilai’. The original version was directed by Rajashekar featuring Rajnikanth, Amala (Telugu Actor Nagarjuna’s wife) and Sri Vidya in lead roles.After getting a taste of sucess with “Padikadhavan’, both Director Sooraj and Dhanush are joining hands for this film. Sooraj who earlier made super hit films “Thalainagaram’ and “Maruthamalai’ states that although it’s a remake, he will give a new look to screenplay by adding more commercial ingredients and characterizations.Hitesh Jhabak produces the film and plans are to start the shooting by end of August.

Nayanthara in a film like ‘Arundhathi’

Actress Nayanthara has no corners to get the solace. It’s all over her flop shows prevailing. Not just in Tamil, the actress is drenched in pitiable situations as her Telugu films too have flunked in box office and there no big offers for her. More than all, couple of films ‘Kathanayakudu’ (Telugu version of Kuselan) and ‘Salute’ (Satyam) got her bad reviews. Now she has just couple of films left in Tollywood while she has mounted lots of hopes in K.S. Ravikumar’s ‘Aadhavan’ starring Surya in lead role. Meanwhile, she has got the fortune knocking at her doors. She has been offered to perform lead role in a female oriented film like ‘Arundhathi’ made by the same director Koti Ramakrishna.
Nayan hopes that all her wretchedness will turn into joyous situations with this film.

Actress Nayanthara in a supernatural thriller

Actress Nayanthara- “Queen of controversies’ is going through unfortunate moments with persistent flops in box office. In the past couple of years many producers had to drop her out of projects, as she never compromised about reducing salary, despite her market falling flat. Even her Telugu films had failed terribly and no one came forward with any offers.
Apart from Surya’s “Aadhavan’, Nayan has no films in Kollywood. But fortune seems to have knocked her doors in Tollywood now. Kodi Ramakrishna who had recently made a grandiloquent flick “Arundhathi’ has roped her for a film based on same genre. Sources have revealed that it would be a bilingual film simultaneously made in Tamil and Telugu with Nayanthara in lead role.

Mika churns out Tamil bhangra for 'Quickgun Murugan'

After elder brother Daler Mehndi crooned for Rajnikanth, singer Mika mixes Punjabi bhangra and Tamil music together for the promotional video of English film Quickgun Murugan.

Mika has especially created the music for the film and calls it Tamil bhangra. Instead of regular Punjabi words, he will be heard mouthing idli, appam, and sambhar tuned with the robust Bhangra beats.

“Yes, it is true that for the first time we are trying something like this. When we finished recording the song, we couldn't believe how funky it was sounding. It has turned out to be a catchy sound. And when it will hit the radio channels and pubs, it will become the new cool song. Best part of the song is that the south Indian cowboy would be grooving with me in the video. So even our dance is a mix of both,” said Mika.

Starring Rajendra Prasad, Quickgun Murugan is about a superhero. It is being produced by Fox Star Studios that distributed the Oscar winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire" and will hit the screens on August 28.

Dev Patel to star in Hindi remake of ‘Nadodigal’

British-Indian actor Dev Patel, who starred in Oscar winning film “Slumdog Millionaire”, could in all probability star in the Hindi remake of Tamil movie “Nadodigal”.
Addressing reporters here Sunday “Nadodigal” director Samuthirakkani said that talks with Dev are underway.

“We are hopeful of signing him up for the lead role in the yet-to-be named Hindi remake of ‘Nadodigal’. The Telugu remake will go on the floors next month with Ravi Teja in the lead role and we will start shooting the Kannada remake in December with Puneet in the lead,” said Samuthirakkani who will direct all the three versions.

Released last month, the film starring director-actor Sasikumar, Abhinaya, Ananya, Vijay Vasanth, Bharani and Ganja Karuppu is running packed houses at 168 centres in Tamil Nadu.

“The total cost of the film was Rs.7.40 crore. According to the distributors, the film is expected to gross more than Rs.30 crore once it completes 100 days,” said Samuthirakkani.

“Nadodigal”, an ode to friendship, revolves around Karuna (Sasikumar), Chandran (Vijay Vasanth) and Pandian (Bharani) - the three youths in a small town who share good camaraderie and their friendship spills over to their respective families too.

The film does carry an appealing message for today’s fast paced society.

There are three actresses in the film and one of them is Abhinaya, who is deaf and dumb. But Samuthirakkani says he didn’t face any problem while instructing her.

“I had no problem to communicate with her. Her mother assisted us and she has done an excellent role despite her handicap,” said the director.

The film also stars Ananya and Malaysia-based Shanthini.

Director Priyadarshan to be honored for Kanchivaram

Director Priyadarshan’s Kanchivaram was not only liked by the local audiences but the film was also appreciated worldwide after being screened at various international film festivals.
The flick which stars talented actors like Prakashraj, Shammu and Shriya Reddy in the lead roles will be honored by the Pondicherry Government in association with the Navadharshan Film Society, with ace director Priyadarshan being conferred with the Best director award at the annual film of the festival.
Named after Sri Sankardass Swanigal, the award consists of a memento and cash prize of Rs. 50,000. The awards for excellence in Indian cinema will be given away by non-other-than the Chief Minister of Pondicherry, V. Vaithialingam.

Surya and Murgados to team up again

After making the remake of Hollywood flick Mementos, actor Surya and director Murugadoss gave a super-hit Tamil flick, the success of which was repeated by Murugados in remaking a Hindi flick starring Bollywood super-star Aamir Khan.
Aamir Khan even gifted a laptop to Surya as a token of appreciation for his brilliant performance in the Tamil version. This flick marked as a remarkable entry for the director in Bollywood and now Murugados and Surya are yet again planning to team up for an upcoming venture.
It’s been heard that Murugados will be directing Surya in a bilingual film (Tamil and Telugu) yet to be titled. The film will be produced by Udayanidhi Stalin (Producer of “Kuruvi’ and yet to release Surya’s “Aadhavan’). The flick is expected to hit the floor by March 2010.

Gowtham denies his conflict with A R Rahman

Gowthan Menon is a disappointed man, after hearing the recent media stories regarding his conflict with music maestro A R Rahman on financial basis relating to the music to be composed by the music director of his upcoming flick Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya starring Salimbarasan and Trisha in lead roles.
Speaking to the media, Gowtham puts his point of view, expressing his point of view, “not me, but even Rahman himself was completely disappointed on reading such gossips. He isn’t a kind of personality who backs off from the project due to financial constraints. Rahman has already scored 5 songs for the film and we’ve filmed 3 out of them. Once we are done with other songs, A.R. Rahman will start his works on background scoring.”

Kamal Hassan present at the music launch of Niaithale Innikum

Recently, during the music launch of Niaithale Inikkum at Satyam Cinemas in Chennai, music director Vijay Antony was elated to find superstar Kamal Hassan at the event.
Kamal Hassan launched the first copy with actor K. Bhagyaraj and while speaking to the media on this occasion, he said, “The song Naaka Mukka is my favorite song as I get to hear it over number of times in a day. Know what? Shruthi has set this as her mobile Hello Tune and I am sure that it would be a funky song even for her kid.”
This flick is a remake of Malayalam movie Classmates. The film stars Prithviraj, Sakthi, Priyamani, Karthik, and Vishnupriyan in lead roles, with K. Bhagyaraj enacting a vital role. Vijay Antony has composed the music, while Balasubramaniam has captured the flick with his camera.

Shruti Hassan’s action in Luck

Superstar Kamal Hassan’s daughter is all set to make her debut in the glam-world of Bollywood with Hindi flick titled Luck, which is all set to hit the theatres on 24 of this month.
While speaking to the media, the gorgeous actress said, “I never thought that I will be introduced in a Hindi film. Since I liked the story I agreed to act in this film. I know Imran from my young age. Also, I liked the director Soham Shah and the production house, I am happy to act in this film. Normally an actress while doing her first film would choose a romantic story, but I chose to do an action film. I am doing a character called Aiysha. Since, I had to do act in stunt scenes, so I had to do lots of work-out.”
“I don’t believe in destiny. I feel that if I have the blessings of my parents and God it is enough for me,” signs off the hopeful Bollywood debutante.

My dream is to act with Rajnikanth- Namitha

Your favorite film
Pachai Kudhiraj and Billa
Your favorite actor
Rajnikanth and Vikram.My dream is to act with Rajnikanth.
Your favorite actress
Sridevi. I would like do Sridevi’s role in Mundram Pirai.
Your hobbies
My hobbies are reading, listening to music and playing badminton.
Secret behind your beauty
I go for jogging every morning, have good food and sleep.
Your future projects
I am currently busy shooting for Jagan Mohini. Apart from that, I am acting in two Telugu films and also in one Malayalam flick.

‘Vedigundu Murugesan’: predictable but quite funny

Film: “Vedigundu Murugesan”; Cast: Pasupathy, Jyothirmayee, Vadivelu, Deepa, Veera, Raneesh; Music: Dhina; Cinematography: Bala Barani; Directed by: Moorthy;

Director Moorthy, after his maiden venture “Karuppasamy Kuthagaikarar”, has chosen to do a light hearted film with “Vediugundu Murugesan”.

Though it is loud and predictable, it is fairly enjoyable thanks to Moorthy’s screenplay and Pasupathy’s and Vadivelu’s acting.

The film set in Keezharajakulam village in Rajapalayam is about a do-gooder, who gets into trouble for no fault of his.

Vedigundu Murugesan (Pasupathy) is a village youth. He earns his living fetching water for factories and hotels in his village. Though he Often gets into trouble for breaking the law, Murugesan escapes every time thanks to the kindness of the judge. Murugesan also takes care of Ponni (Deepa), who is mentally ill and deserted by her parents.

Enters Nachiyar (Jyothirmayee), a police constable who begins to like Murugesan.

Meanwhile Kodanchan (Raneesh), a local gangster, troubles Ponni and Murugesan beats him up. A mishap occurs after the fight in which Kodanchan gets killed and the blame falls on Murugesan.

Kodanchan’s brother Ganesan (Veera) vows to take revenge and the rest of the film is about a cat and mouse game between the two.

Morthy hasn’t chosen a new storyline but he has given a different treatment to the story.

He has consciously laced the narrative with satire. He has conceived some hilarious moments.

Pasupathy plays his part well. His body language and dialogue delivery are good. Jyothirmayee as his ladylove is competent. Veera and Raneesh are alright.

Vadivelu as Alert Arumugam (in a separate track) evokes laughter.

Dhina’s music fits with the tone of the movie — loud. Bala Barani’s camera captures the dry lands of Rajapalayam and its villages quite well.

Priyamani completes her portion in Raavan

National award-winning actress Priyamani has successfully completed her part in Mani Ratnam’s Raavan and its being said, the noted director is very happy with her performance.
Undoubtedly, the actress is very excited with this much-talked about film, as she expresses that she was initially very scared and had lots of apprehensions about her role. But she added that the ace director was very cool and gave her many opportunities to improvise.
The beautiful actress is banking on this flick and hopes that the movie proves to be a turning point in her career. Meanwhile, her kitty is full with number of projects in Telugu and Tamil and the actress hopes to complete most of them by end of this year.

Achchamundu Achchamundu

Aishwarya to do deadly stunts in Endhiran

After showcasing some breathtaking stunts in her earlier flicks like Dhoom 2, gorgeous actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will now be performing on some dangerous stunt for her upcoming flick Endhiran.
Rajnikanth will also be the part of these stunts. Ash is working really hard for this film and it has been learnt that she is learning Martial art from stunt master Ramesh, so that the shot comes to be an excellent one.
Ash surely is one committed and professional actress. Undoubtedly, director Shankar is quite satisfied with the way the film has been progressing and hopes to complete it by end of this year.

Achchamundu Achchamundu’ - sensitive theme, poor translation

Film: Achchamundu Achchamundu

Cast: Prasanna, Sneha, John Shea

Director: Arun Vaidyanathan

Music: Karthik Raja

Debutant director Arun Vaidyanathan has got his basic premise right by choosing a strong theme — sexual abuse against children. But he hasn’t translated the concept into an absorbing experience on screen. The culprit, as usual, is the screenplay, which has more style than substance.

Senthil Kumar (Prasanna), an executive in New Jersey, US, is leading a happy life with his wife Malini (Sneha) and child Rinku. The happiness is marred by some stray incidents that scare Malini. Senthil rubbishes them, as they are insignificant.

Here enters a painter Robinson (John Shea) who’s basically a psychotic person interested in child abuse and sexual harassment. The couple, unaware of his darker side, completely trust him. He slowly makes his moves to get hold of the child.

Meanwhile, the wife conceives and Senthil takes her fears seriously. He sets up an alarm system in the house and takes more care to make her feel at ease. But one day he finds something seriously wrong. How he saves his family from the clutches of the psychotic child abuser forms the climax.

Vaidyanathan has to be applauded for choosing a sensitive theme. He has also presented the film neatly without any gimmick. He hasn’t resorted to cliched sentiments to show a happy family. But the way he handles his theme leaves much to be desired.

The award winning movie (Best Homegrown Feature Film award at the Garden State Film Festival in New Jersey in April) presents us some documentary like sequences that show us the life of the young NRI couple.

The presentation is neat. But why does the director need to tell all these things instead of getting us into the movie? The screenplay takes its own time to come to the subject and when it finally does, it has been ended abruptly with a short and forceful fighting scene.

The newspaper clippings being shown at the end tell us how children are affected by abuse. But one wonders why Vaidyanathan hasn’t tried to bring the issue into his narrative. Does the filmmaker feel that the clipping would do a better job than his narrative?

The movie disappoints big time, as it hardly handles the subject. Instead, it tries to present us a thriller without any thrilling elements.

The way he depicts Robinson to make him look like a psychotic looks funny to say the least. A child abuser doesn’t need to be a psycho and he doesn’t need some bizarre practices in the name of exercise. Vaidyanathan has unfortunately restored to the cliched Kollywood way of depicting a different kind of villain.

Performance wise, Prasanna and Sneha have stuck to their brief and delivered competitive performances. They look credible as NRI Tamils in the US. To be fair to them, we have to mention that they have not been offered any challenging role to leave a mark. John Shea is quite impressive in a psychotic role.

Karthik Raja has delivered a couple of melodies while the background score by Martio is apt.

“Acchamundu Acchamundu” has a good concept on paper. But it fails to impress, as the screenplay lacks excitement. The movie has come out as a docu-fiction on the lives of NRI young couple dealing with sexual abuse against children rather than a thriller.

Vaidyanathan has to be applauded for bringing a technical revolution to Tamil cinema by using the Red One camera in the film.

UK university confers Doctorate on A R Rahman

Oscar-winning music maestro A R Rahman has been conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by a leading UK University for his outstanding contributions, a week after Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan was honoured by another prestigious British varsity.

The Vice Chancellor of the Middlesex University in Hendon in London, Professor Michael Driscoll presented the Honorary Degree on Rahman.

Rahman, who won two Academy Awards for the music of hit film "Slumdog Millionaire", also signed a Memorandum of Understanding between his K M Music Conservatory in Chennai and the University.

After receiving the honour, Rahman said "It is an enormous honour to belong to this great seat of learning."

"My journey as a musician started at the age of nine and I see music as a way to connect to spirituality and embrace it. Music touches people and breaks down barriers, creating harmony in troubled times. This has always been my philosophy," Rahman said.

A spokeswoman of the Middlesex University said today that the MoU focused on educational collaboration between India and the UK. The two organisations have agreed to explore the possibilities for collaboration in music and education and to support one of Rahman's 'pet projects', that of the blending of Asian and Western musical styles.

Terry Butland, Deputy vice-Chancellor (International) at Middlesex University commented on the MOU, saying "I can't think of a more suitable and well placed partner for the University than A R Rahman."

"We are delighted to sign this Memorandum of Understanding which paves the way for what will undoubtedly be some interesting and innovative projects delivered jointly between Middlesex University and the K M Music Conservatory," Butland said.

Rahman explained the background to the MOU: "We looked at lots of universities but felt Middlesex had the right, friendly vibe as well as great history."

Asked what he considered to be his biggest achievement, Rahman said it is in film music. "As a human being I have so many interests. The Academy Awards (for Slumdog Millionaire) opened doors worldwide and legitimised Indian musicians," he said.

Shahrukh Khan was last week conferred the honorary Doctorate in Arts and Culture by the Bedfordshire University for his "exceptional achievement" in the field of entertainment and media at a glittering investiture ceremony.

Mani Ratnam’s Raavan to revisit Kerala

Ace director Mani Ratnam has been shooting for the much-talked flick, Raavan for the past several months. The film stars Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

The film’s shoot is approaching its climax and Mani has taken a special permission from the Kerala Government to shoot his flick in certain interior regions of this beautiful country, in the area of the Silent Valley forest reserve.

The schedule is supposed to last for around 45 days and Mani is making sure to shoot it in a grand way. Though recession is still on, but the director is not compromising on the financial front, and would be using a helicopter to reach certain remote and inaccessible areas.

Arya believes in doing one thing at a time

Currently busy acting in a Telugu flick Madrasa Pattinam, Chikku Bukkku, Arya seems to the person who likes to concentrate on one thing at a time.

Though the talented actor has started his production house, he just wants to act as a producer in it, rather than acting in the films churned out by his production house.

He says, “I have started a production house- The Show People, along with my friends. I will be producing three films per year. My first film will be Padi Thurai. Bala assistant Saga is directing this film. Ilayaraja is composing the music. New face Abhishek is doing the lead role and Nadodigal Anaya is pairing with him. Saga has asked me to do a role in this film but I strongly rejected this idea. My only role in this film is that of a producer.”

Work in Tata’s Kalinganagar project to begin next month

After facing strong resistance over displacement of farmers who had given up their land, the beleaguered Tata Steel project in Kalinganagar in Orissa’s Jajpur district is to start production in August, an official said Thursday.
“I expect that work at the project would commence sometime in the month of August once the displacement problem is over,” H.M. Nerurkar, executive director (India and South East Asia) of TATA, told reporters.

Speaking on the sidelines of 13th International Conference on Clean, Green and Sustainable Technologies in Iron and Steel Making, the top executive of Tata however said that work would start in the project with “full cooperation of local people”.

The Rs.21,000 crore project has been facing stiff resistance from local people since inception over the issue of displacement and rehabilitation. The project ran into rough weather after 14 people were killed in police firing in 2006.

Taking a proactive approach, he said that, “there is no point fighting, rather people should realize that it is for their own good”.

According to a Tata official, the project would displace 1,195 families of which, 80-85 percent have been rehabilitated already, and the work would begin soon.

Nayanthara is ready to bounce back

After some unlucky days in the past and giving flops like Kuselan (Kathanayakudu in Telugu), Satyam (Salute in Telugu), Villu and Aegan, stars seem to be shining bright for gorgeous actress Nayanthara.

This lucky lass has bagged a female-oriented role in Telugu flick to be directed by Kodi Ramakrishna of recent Tollywood mega-hit Arundhathi fame.

The movie is to be a socio-fantasy-cum-graphical extravaganza like Arundhathi and is going to be produced by M.S. Raju of Sumanth Art Productions, who had earlier teamed up with Kodi Ramakrishna for Satruvu, Devi and Devi Putrudu.

For the moment, the damsel is busy shooting for Bodyguard (Malayalam), Adurs, Anjaneyulu (Telugu) and Aadhavan (Tamil).

Director Priyadarshan wins ‘Best Director’ Award for ‘Kanchivaram’

Department of Information and Publicity and Navadharshan Film Society, Pondicherry usually hosts Film Festival of Indian Panorama. The best films selected by the Directorate of Film Festival, New Delhi will be screened for the occasion. Finally, jurors of board have selected Director Priyadarshan as “Best Director’ for his film “Kanchivaram’. The award named after Sri Sankaradass Swamigal Awards will be handed to Director Priyadarshan with a memento and cash prize of Rs.50,000.

The awards ceremony is slated to be held during second week of September, 2009 with Pondicherry Chief Minister V. Vaithilingam presiding over the occasion.

The film “Kanchivaram’ had earlier won the best appreciation at Toronto International Film Festival. It has Prakash Raj, Shreya Reddy and Shamu donning lead roles and story revolves around the life of a poor silk weaver and his tribulations.

"Harry Potter" works box office magic at midnight

Boy wizard Harry Potter conjured his magic at box offices again, as the sixth film in the highly popular movie series earned a record $22.2 million (13.5 million pounds) at Wednesday midnight showings in the United States.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" from Warner Bros. beat the old record for Wednesday midnight screenings of $18.5 million held by 2008 Batman movie "The Dark Knight," said Hollywood.com Box Office President Paul Dergarabedian.

The debut "portends a huge and potentially record-breaking number for a single-day (box office) gross and best first five-day gross," among movies, Dergarabedian said.

The highest one-day U.S. box office record belongs to "The Dark Knight," which debuted on a Wednesday last summer to $67.1 million and went on to $203.7 million in its first five days. It earned $1 billion worldwide throughout its run in theatres.

The five previous "Potter" movies about the adventures of Harry and his friends at the Hogwarts school, based on the best-selling kids books by author J.K. Rowling, have raked in $4.5 billion worldwide since the first film in 2001.

But in recent weeks, some media reports have suggested the movies' fan base of teenagers and pre-teens may now be too old for the movies and that other franchises, such as the popular "Twilight" films, may steal some of Potter's audience magic.

Still, "Half-Blood Prince" hits theatres a full two years after the most recent "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," causing box office watchers to see a good deal of pent-up demand for the movie.

"Order of the Phoenix" also opened on a Wednesday and took in $140 million in its first five days, on the way to $938 million in total global ticket sales. Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner.

Look who's keeping company to Ash on Ravana's sets!

Mani Ratnam's Ravana is one of the most talked about and most awaited film of the year. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Vikram and others in pivotal roles. The latest dope from the sets of Ravana is that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will be donning the role of a dance teacher in the film.

Director Mani Ratnam has requested the dance diva Shobhana to teach a few elegant steps to Aishwarya. Sources from the sets tell us that the two beautiful ladies not only matched their steps together but also got along like a house on fire on the sets of Ravana.

Aishwarya is a great dancer herself and with Shobhana’s dance training, Ash is sure to wow her fans.

Priyamani completes her part in Raavan

National award-winning actress Priyamani is very excited about her role in Raavan. She now has a number of projects in Telugu and Tamil and hopes to complete most of them by end of this year.

According to latest news from the Raavan camp, Priyamani has successfully completed her portion of shoot and director Mani Ratnam is very happy with her performance.

Speaking about her experience, Priyamani said that she was initially very scared and had lots of apprehensions about her role, but the ace director was very cool and gave her many opportunities to improvise.

Priyamani is very happy she got an opportunity to work under Mani Ratnam and hopes this would prove to be a turning point in her career.

We at Galatta wish Priyamani the very best of luck for all her forthcoming ventures!

Vijay’s half century

Nearing his filmi half-century, talented actor Vijay is taking no chances with his upcoming flicks since in the past he had a couple of movies like Kuruvi and Villu, which received lukewarm response at the box office. Once bitten and twice shy, the actor now wants to shift the pattern and taste success.

He has already completed finalizing the team for his 50th film Urimai Kural which is going to be directed by SP Rajkumar, while Sangli Murugan would be producing the movie. The team sounds be an interesting one. While Vijay has finalized “Jeyam’ Raja as the director for his 51st flick but the news is not made official.

We just hope that the actor succeeds in successfully completing his century in a grand way.

Paiyya- Journey of heart-touching romance

Followed by the grand success of “Aanandham’, “Run’ and “Sandakozhi’ Director Lingusamy has geared up with yet another commercial entertainer “Paiyya’. With his previous film “Bheema’ starring Vikram, Trisha in lead roles receiving lukewarm response at box office; Lingusamy is sure about fetching success with “Paiyya’.

This romance-action entertainer features “Karthi’ (Actor Surya’s brother) who shot to fame with his debut film “Paruthiveeran’ performing lead role. Actress Thamannah, the top-charting actress of South Indian Film Industry stars with him as the female lead. Bollywood Actor Milind Soman takes up the role of baddie in this flick.

Director Lingusamy says, “It’s a poignant love story that will touch everyone’s heart.’

Although nothing has been revealed about the storyline, closer sources have stated that it’s a film based on a young guy and girl travelling on a Highway road. The encounter with various characters in the journey forms crux of the story. Of course, there has been a buzz that the film is inspired by Hollywood movie “Hitcher’.

Major portion of the film has been shot across various Highway Roads in South India.

Yuvan Shankar Raja will be tuning melodies for 5 songs with Brindha Saarathi penning dialogues.

Rajeevan is the art director and stunts have been choreographed by Kanal Kannan. Mathi has handled cinematography.

Lingusamy has confirmed the film’s release for Diwali along with Vijay’s “Vettaikaaran’ and Surya’s “Singam’.

Banner- Tirupathi Brothers Media Pvt Ltd

Production- N. Subash Chandra Bose

Story, screenplay and direction- Lingusamy

Star-casts- Paruthiveeran fame Karthi, Thamannah, Milind Soman and others.

Music- Yuvan Shankar Raja

Cinematography-Mathi

Art- Raajevan

Editing- Antony

Dialogues- Brindha Sarathi

Stunt- Kanal Kannan