Nakul says that he is not love with Poorna

Nakul has paired with Poorna in the film Kandakottai. This film has been produced by T T Raja and directed by Sakthivel. It seems that Nakul and Poorna had become intimate during the shooting of this film.So there were rumors that this closeness has blossomed into romance. When asked Nakul about this, he said,” When I was acting in Kadhalil Vizhundhen and Maasilamani there were news that I was in love with Sunaina. Now there are rumors that I am in love with Poorna with whom I am pairing in Kandakottai.There is no truth in the news that I am in love with Poorna. Poorna is a good actress and dancer. In the film we both will be clashing with each other. There is no romance between us. In Kandakottai, I am donning the role of an educated youth in search of a job. I am of the character who doesn’t believe in love.The story is what happens if I start loving. I have sung one song under Dhina’s composition. Kalapathy S Agoram was very much impressed after seeing the film. He immediately acquired the rights.”

Pazhassi Raja Movie Review

The much expected Pazhassi Raja which released first in Malayalam and now has hit the theatres in Tamil has catered to the satisfaction of the audience. Pazhassi Raja also has to its credit being the first Malayalam movie to relase in four languages – Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi with a high budget of Rs. 27 crores.Pazhassi Raja is a multilingual biopic on Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, the 18th century Keralite royal who raised the banner of revolt against British rule and waged a guerrilla war against the occupants for years. The film stars Mammooty, Sarath Kumar, Manoj K Jayan, Suman, Kanika and Padmapriya in lead roles. The film has been directed by T Hariharan and music is by the legend Ilayaraja. Hariharan has shot the film in the dense forests of Madekeri in Coorg and in Andhra Pradesh.The camera work by Venu and Ramanath Shetty give the film a sleek look. The forgotten story of Pazhassi Raja, comes alive through the brilliant writing of MT, the majestic acting of Mammotty and direction of Hariharan. The film has recieved an excellent response upon its release.Producer G. Dhananjayan of Moser Baer Entertainment has made an official confirmation over the acquisition of Home Video rights (DVD, VCD, Blu-Ray and other formats) of Pazzhasi Raja.

Cake mixing with Tamannah

Oh how yummy and colourful is to see mounds of chopped raisins, almonds, pista, walnuts, blackcurrants, dates, cashews, tutti-fruity, glazed red cherries, orange peel and… our Tamannah.The age-old ceremony of cake mixing that starts a month before Christmas every year was organized in Green Park Hotel at the convention room recently. Endless bottles of spirits and syrups like golden syrup, molasses, honey and vanilla essence were poured into the mix while a number of gloved hands kneaded the mix. In December, the mix will be tossed again, blended with the batter and baked.Christmas is no fun without the traditional Christmas cake. The real fun and joy of the festival starts from doing thing together. Everybody from the hotel including the in-house chefs, Krishnakumar Menon, senior General Manager, Chef Amsa Raju and of course the centre of attraction cum the chief guest Tamannah participated in stirring this quite a splendid mix.Come December, for this mix will be ready for baking and, yeah, eating!

2012 - Breaking box office history

It looks like producer Rama Narayanan is one and only happy man at this point oftime when most of thedistributorsand producers are facing havoc in their business. Yeah! The producer had acquired rights over ‘Arundhathi’ (Tamil version), which turned to be the biggest grosser at box office and now he’s seemingly collecting unimaginable amount into his pockets with 2012.Directed by Roland Emereich, the film has John Cussack as the hero. The film was released on November 13 and till now the shows are house packed – right from the multiplexes till single screens. Distributors and trade analysts are so confident that the film may fetch them more than Rs. 60Crores in Tamil Nadu alone.This is a history since even the biggies like Titanic, Mummy and any Hollywood movies couldn’t make such grandeur in box office.

Kandahar hijack incident is being made into a film

Prakash Raj is producing a film based on the Kandahar flight hijack. This film which is tilted Payanam is being made in Tamil and Telugu languages. Nagarjuna is doing the lead role.Radha Mohan is directing this film. Prakash Raj while speaking about this film said,” Captain Devi Saran had written a book titled Flight into Fear. This book is based on the hijack of a plane in Kandahar in 1999 by terrorists. When I read this book I felt that I should make this as a film.I am donning the role of a government officer who works in the Prime Minister’s office. The Kandahar hijack incident is only an inspiration. This itself is not the story of the film. As per the story a flight takes off. Within few minutes the plane has been hijacked by terrorists and is grounded in Tirupathi.The terrorists threaten the Government. Though this film is a thriller there will be lot of emotions and heart touching scenes of the passengers on board.”

Reema Sen speaks to the media

Reema Sen while speaking to the media said,” It was the most unforgettable experience for acting in hit films like Chellame, Dhool and Thimuru. The film Aayirathil Oruvan in which I have acted is to be released shortly.When I was acting in Minnale I was also acting in a Telugu film Chittram. But after this I started concentrating in Tamil films. For the last years I am getting a lot of offers from Telugu film industry but I am waiting for a good script. Now I have got the opportunity.Though I have acted in one or two Hindi films I am interested in acting in South Indian language films. Many are asking me when I will become number one. Every Friday many actors and actresses are becoming number one through the hit films. Those who give continuous hits attain super star status. This status is determined by the fans.”

Bollywood villain in Asal

Hindi film villain Surendra Paul is acting in Asal. While speaking to the media, he said,” I had acted in many Hindi films including Khuda Gawah with Amitabh Bachchan and Jodha Akbar with Hrithik Roshan.In Tamil I have acted in Mr Romeo. After a long gap I am acting in Asal. I am donning the role of Ajith’s father. This is a villain role. Saran is a cool and clear director. He can determine beforehand that what is required for a scene. He will give us full freedom to show us our acting talents.Ajith is an actor who is very gentle. I can never forget the experience working with him. After Asal I am expecting a lot of offers in Tamil cinema.”

It’s all about crossovers

Deviation in the usual scenario breaks the monotony. If the idea itself is something new, the movie clicks onto success. Inspiration gives way to experiment, experiment to variation and variation to a total new concepts and refinements.Crossover movies are in abundant. Indian cinema has given base to Hollywood by bringing in their stories and style on our Indian screens. Similarly, bringing in international personalities on Indian board not only gives space to fame but also gives a relief to any watcher. However, our talents crossing boundaries to make a niche there is something not mostly talked about. Although there are several distinguished Indian-international projects that stand out, they won’t be however as popular as the commercials ones down here.The market for English movies made by Indians is comparatively not feasible despite the movies having rich content and unique concept. But talents from here are very much satisfied and at easy in overseas platform. For, they are received with open hands, giving enough space to creativity and innovation. Also, the Indian filmmakers and actors promote India and its cinema on the international screens.Roshan Seth, Saeed Jaffrey, Meera Nair, Nagesh Kukunoor, Sarita Choudhury, Shekar Kapur, Kal Penn, M. Night Shyamalan – all this names ring an impressive portfolio on the screens, both national and internationally. Their movies went on to make a difference in people’s approach towards cinema. They have looked beyond the normal genres, language, race and idea through their projects.Roshan Seth, who is more popular as Nehru, went on to make the first ripples abroad. His character as Jawaharlal Nehru in Sir Richard Attenborough's 1982 film ‘Gandhi’ brought home the acclaims and proved that Indian talents too can cross borders. He bagged National Award for the movie. Besides, he acted in several theatrical international productions and has Canadian Genie Award for Best Actor for his role in ‘Such a Long Journey’. In ‘Gandhi’, Saeed Jaffrey played the role of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and thus, earned several other international ventures later. Sarita Choudhury who is known for making controversial headlines with her role in ‘Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love’. She established herself by having numerous international projects. She is one of those actresses who are not comfortable to wear the shoes of a commercial heroine.Both Roshan and Sarita have acted in Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala; bringing yet another Indian honcho in filmmaking. Mira Nair is noted for her crossover movies which are laced with Indian style and culture. One can be quite familiar with her kinds of movies; some are controversial yet groundbreaking ones. Who can forget her ‘Monsoon Wedding’? Similarly another name, a lady filmmaker - Gurinder Chadha – made a niche outside India with her Indian-oriented films. ‘Bride and Prejudice’ and ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ are few of her exemplary works. We shouldn’t even miss Deepa Mehta for her ‘Fire’ and ‘Water’.M. Night Shyamalan brought home much adulation with his thrillers and moving stories, earning the tag of all-round talent head. His movies like ‘The Sixth Sense’, ‘The Village’ and other movies made remarkable waves overseas and at home here. Nagesh Kukunoor too shot to fame with his distinct style of using Indian anecdotes in crossover movies.It will be injustice to forget our Music Maestro AR Rahman and recently acclaimed Sound Designer Resul Pookutty to add in the list of endowed Indians on the international stage. There are also many other eminent people of our country who have projected India as the home of talents and creative heads, and went on be on par with the overseas biggies. However, international platform will always remain prolific for anyone across the globe…

Actor’s suicide is in fact a murder

Actor Kunal, who had acted in Tamil films like Kadhalar Dhinam and Punnagai Poove, was found hanging at his flat in Mumbai on February 7th 2008. Initially, it was considered to be a suicide. But the police reopened the case on the court’s directive to investigate the circumstances leading to the death.The investigation was ordered based on the petition filed by the actor’s father who alleged that Kunal’s body bore marks indicating that he could have been murdered. The police have now arrested Bollywood starlet Lavina Bhatia, who was with Kunal at the time of his mysterious death. Police sources say that Lavina is the main suspect in the case.

Prabhu Deva to remake ‘Ghilli’ for Abishek

After his ‘Wanted’ with Salman Khan, Prabhu Deva is one of the sought-after makers in the Bollywood too. The choreographer-turned-director is all set to start on with his next. While his maiden venture in Hindi was a remake of his own directorial ‘Pokkiri’, the second one is also said to be a remake. The grapevine is abuzz that this upcoming project will be a remake of Vijay's blockbuster hit ‘Ghilli’, which itself was a remake of Mahesh Babu's ‘Okkadu’ from Tollywood.As 'Wanted' became a trendsetter kinda flick in today’s Hindi industry, there were many other producers who wanted to sign Prabhu Deva. It is said that B-town’s big producers Sajid Nadiadwala and Boney Kapoor were keen to rope in him. But, finally AB Corp, the Bachchans’ company managed to flatter him with their offer.Sources close to the director said that Prabhu Deva narrated Ghilli’s script to Abhishek almost twenty days back and the actor loved it at once and also immediately agreed to do it. As of now, Prabhu Deva shaping the script to suit the Hindi Junta and is expected to go on floors around June 2010.On the other hand, Prabhu Deva is in US looking for a heroine. Yup! As we had it before Prabhu Deva will be finishing a Tamil film with ‘Jayam’ Ravi before his Bollywood venture. This untitled flick starring Ravi is said to be produced by Kalpathi Agoram's AGS Entertainment. As Prabhu Deva is coming back to Tamil, long time after his chartbuster ‘Pokkiri’, industry is excited about this one, which is scheduled to go on floors from January 2010 in Paris.

Vaali crosses 5000 songs

The ever-youthful legendary lyricist Vaali is surely a man to be celebrated. He has just finished writing his 5000th song for Shankar’s ‘Endhiran’. Whatta massive achievement, we say!“Little beetle leaf, beetle nut, few papers and a pen this is what I need to start writing a poem,” says the great man naively.“My childhood passion was to become an artist. There was a popular artist called Maali who was working in Vikatan then. One of my close friends named me Vaali after that artist and told that I would become popular like the artist one day,” revealed the poet whose original name is Rangarajan.It was TMS who invited Vaali to Chennai and cinema. Vaali became a household name when MGR was in his career’s peak. “I penned ‘Machchana’ Pathingala while I was working for ‘Oodum Mehangaley’ and ‘Naan Aanaiyittal’ songs meant for MGR. Same way I gave ‘Chikku Bhukku Rayiley’ for Rahman, then went on to give ‘Thathai Thathai’ for Yuvan,” says the poet with pleasure.The 78-yr old Youngster’s songs were loved by the people of 4 generations. Yet the man is not outdated, he can still write kinky duets and give lyrics for peppy youthful songs.Loads of wishes for the legend to give us even more memorable lines...

Jeeva’S Avatar Of Lawyer And Fish Cutter

So, guess who’s the busiest guy in town now? Obviously, it’s Jeeva flying on high with his invigorated spirits. ‘Taking up commercial films doesn’t mean that the task is quite easier than in my previous offbeat flicks. Every film has its own panache and so are the works involved’ says Jeeva, who’s on the verge of ‘Kacheri Arambam’. On the pars, he’s so excited working for ‘Singam Puli’, which portrays him in contrastive roles.If one role takes him on for the role of an aggressive lawyer, the other role is about a fish cutter. Doubtlessly, it’s about a tough combat between these two guys and has been narrated in a completely entertaining manner. Jeeva assures that though there aren’t any vital differentiations with looks over the two characters, the director has shown some distinctive attributes on them. Actress Divya of Vaaranam Aayiram stars opposite him in female lead role.Soon after completing these two films, the actor will start shooting for an action-thriller ‘Roudram’. Meanwhile, plans are to release ‘Kacheri Arambam’ by January amidst of lavish fare in box office releases like Paiyya, Aayirathil Oruvan, Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai and more…

6th Dubai film festival from 9th to 16th

6th Dubai film festival from 9th to 16thThree category1.Muhr Arab awards2. Muhr asia Africa awards – Yogi participating in this category feature film segment3. out of competition1. MUHR ASIAAFRICA AWARDSThe 2009 edition of DIFF will continue to present the Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards in three different categories (A) feature films, (B) short films and (C) documentary films.2. ELIGIBILITY FOR SELECTIONA- General EligibilityUnless a special waiver is granted by DIFF:a) Films must have been produced after September 1, 2008.b) Films must not have been screened in the Gulf region for any audiences before DIFF. With exceptions for films that have participated in the second edition of the Gulf Film Festival (“GFF”), films from outside of the Gulf region must be Gulf premieres and films from the Gulf region must be UAE premieres.c) Until the end of DIFF, films must not have been broadcasted and/or made available on television, the internet, mobile phones and/or any other public viewing platform now known or thereafter devised.d) Films must be directed by a filmmaker of AsianAfrican Nationality or Origin as defined in the attached Appendix 1.e) The subject and storyline of the film should be centered on the Asian or African world, Asian or African history and/or Asian or African culture.f) Films that have been submitted to earlier editions of DIFF will not be considered.In the event that a film is not selected by DIFF for the Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards, DIFF reserves the right to select the said film for any of DIFF’s Out of Competition sections.B- Eligibility by CategoryFeature Films: Films must be a work of fiction that equals or exceeds 60 minutes in length. For this category DIFF will only select 10 to 15 films.3. SELECTION COMMITTEE & JURYSelection Committee: DIFF will solely appoint a selection committee to review submitted feature, documentary and short films. The committee will decide on the official selection to enter the three categories of the DIFF Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards.DIFF Jury: DIFF will solely appoint three separate juries from the international community to decide on prize winners for each of the categories in the Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards. The jury for the feature section will be composed of five members each and the jury for the documentary and short films categories will comprise three members each.4. AWARDS & PRIZE MONEYThere will be 8 Muhr prizes awarded in the Feature Films category: Best Film – US$ 50,000; Special Jury Prize – US$ 40,000 where the cash prize will be awarded to the Director(s) of each film; Best Actor – US$ 8,000; Best Actress – US$ 8,000; Best Scriptwriter – US$ 8,000; Best Editor – US$ 8,000; Best Composer – US$ 8,000 and Best Cinematographer – US$ 8,000.There will be three Muhr prizes in the Documentary Films category: First Prize – US$ 40,000; Special Jury Prize – US$ 30,000. Second Prize – US$ 20,000; the cash prize will be awarded to the Director(s) of each film.There will be three Muhr prizes in the Short Films category: First Prize – US$ 30,000; Special Jury Prize – US$ 20,000. Second Prize – US$ 10,000; the cash prize will be awarded to the Director(s) of each film.Country eligible to participateAsiaAfrica Nationality or Origin shall mean people from one or more of the following countries: Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, People’s Republic of China, Republic of China (Taiwan), Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), Democratic Republic Congo (Kinshasa), Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, North Korea, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Macau, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Reunion, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia, Zanzibar and ZimbabweNumber of film in the competition – 25 only

Appavi to be released in December

New face Gowtham is doing the lead role in the film Appavi directed by R Raghuraj. Suhani is pairing with him. K Bhagyaraj, Manobala, Suri, Sree Ranjini and Mahadevan are also in the cast.This film is to be released during the month of December. The final stage of the shooting was held at Coorg Hills in Karnataka. A song sequence Railin Padhayil Pookindra Poo Nan was shot in Coorg Hills. The song which was written by Na Muthu Kumar was sung by Hariharan and Shreya Ghosal.Joshua Sridhar has composed the music. Krishnasamy is handling the camera while V T Vijayan is in charge of editing. Dinesh is taking care of the choreography.Action king Pazhani Raj is handling the stunts while Vairamuthu and Na Muthukumar have penned the lyrics. R Raghuraj who is directing this film has written the story, screenplay and dialogues. V L Dhandapani is producing this film.

YOGI MOVIE REVIEW

Starring: Ameer, Madhumitha, Snehan, SwathiDirection: Subramaniam SivaMusic: Yuvan Shankar RajaProduction: Team Work ProductionAmeer’s Yogi, as presumed, is a multi-layered gritty saga set in the mean slums of Chennai where the mere act of survival is a mammoth task in the despicable living conditions. The movie opens up a Pandora’s Box of lives of the children of the lesser God and as scene after scene unfurl, you get a dreadful insight into the world of those people hidden beneath their cringe-worthy surroundings. Ameer is a slum-dweller who graduates from petty crimes to murder for better revenues. During one of his assignments, he makes way with a car and inadvertently bestowed with the ownership of a child. The child’s mother gets hurt in an accident after the car stealing and the reluctant Ameer is left with the custody of the toddler. It takes no time for him to abandon the kid in one of the street corners, but he holds himself back and brings the kid home for he had never forgiven himself for the loss of a life in a similar manner earlier in his life. Though Swathi and Vincent Ashokan are married, the toddler that is born to Swathi is not Vincent Ashokan’s. With the affluent Swathi now in the hospital, Vincent decides to seize the opportunity to put an end to thetoddler’s life to inherit his wife’s wealth. Ameer crosses roads with Vincent in his hunt and unintentionally kills his aide, played by lyricist Snehan. The rest of the movie forms the cop’s hunt for Ameer, Swathi’s quest for her kid and Vincent Ashokan’s search for the kid (for different reasons). After playing out a near-gripping tale, Yogi culminates in a rather theatrical climax. Ameer gets into the skin of a petty goon who gradually becomes a criminal, accidentally owning a baby. The razor sharp dialogues in his coarse voice accentuate his performance and the way he carries a repulsive past with him can be quite depressing for the viewer. His father character, played by journalist Devarajan, is impeccable. He metes out domestic violence at his wife, unapologetic about the death of his little daughter and uses his wife’s dead body to make money. Quite disconcerting and it doesn’t feel that Devarajan is a newcomer. Another revelation in the movie is (actually there are two, another being Snehan who effortlessly portrays a mean thug) Madhumitha, playing the role of a single mother whose husband walks out on her. Her eyes speak volumes than actually her words and when she is forced to breast-feed the baby of a stranger, she becomes the epitome of motherhood. A picture of whatever little love is left in the world. The scene in which Ameer inconsiderately leaving condensed milk in the baby’s lips to make it stop crying from hunger and returning to find the baby’s mouth infested with ants is really unsettling. On the flip side, there is a liberal dosage of melodrama; the way Devarajan gets killed can be off-putting, Ameer’s efforts at engaging the baby can seem slipped in for no reason and a few unwarranted fight sequences are out of place. Director Subramania Siva seems to have faltered while trying to make the movie for the masses. This often dilutes the substance of the movie, but largely, Siva has succeeded in the direction process. Yogi is definitely not a time pass movie, it can be distressing. On the other hand, if you are looking for a heavy duty movie with some brilliant performances, try it. It wouldn’t hurt to see the darker side of human life once in a while. It tells you the tryst of happiness with life’s strange play of fate, when hope gets crushed. Verdict: Heavy weight saga!

Think Music acquires ‘ASAL’ audio

Think Music, an association of Sathyam Cinemas and Hungama network has acquired the audio rights of ‘ASAL’.Ajith Kumar’s ‘ASAL’ is fast approaching the completion and the dubbing works have already started. With couple of songs pending to be shot in abroad and studio in Chennai, Sivaji Productions is planning to launch the audio by December.However, nothing has been confirmed by Saran or Ajith Kumar about the film’s release for Pongal. With many releases lining up for Pongal release, Ajith may opt for the Republic Day on Jan 26 to release the film

Harris Jayaraj inaugurates Sapthaswara Musicals

Music Director Harris Jayaraj usually doesn’t let himself take part in social junctures of parties and showroom inaugurations. But he seems to have shared a great connection with ‘Sapthaswara Musicals’. The music director was herein Anna Nagar to inaugurate the new showroom of Sapthaswara Musicals.The musical showroom was launched somewhere in 1979 and has been the favorite hub of all leading musicians, playback singers and ardent buffs of music. As well, it offers musical education and as well carries the best and rare instruments present in the World. Totting up to these bonanzas, the showroom features books, CDs and cassettes and everything pertaining to music and dance for sales.So, what’s stopping you? If you’re a great admirer and learner of music, go ahead and make your day great visiting this showroom.

Rahman’s tribute to TN Police

The latest from the camp of our Mozart of Madras is that he is composing music for a documentary of Tamil Nadu Police.The Tamil Nadu police officials have made a special documentary as a tribute to the police department that has completed 150 dutiful years. This documentary film will be featuring every single development and building blocks of the department. The film will have the old style uniforms that the police wore during their early days to the recent technological growth and advanced equipments they have.Sources say that the police department had requested A R Rahman to score music for their documentary even before the musician won the Academy Award and Golden Globe award. But unfortunately as Rahman became too busy he was not able to compose for the whole film. Anyways the music genius is composing for one song that sings the praise of the State’s Police.Rahman who is in London will work on this after he comes back. Moreover the documentary will be released by the State’s CM M.Karunanidhi, they say.

Costliest Slums Of ‘Sura’ In Pondicherry

‘Costliest Slums’ – the term seems to be quite weird, isn’t? Of course, the strikingly unusual grandeur is spotted at the shooting sets of Vijay’s ‘Sura’. The film is shot across various beaches of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.Recently, a breathtaking stunt sequence choreographed by Kanal Kannan was canned at Hyderabad and now the entire team has headed towards Pondicherry…According to the sources, grand sets of Slum locality has been created across the shores of Pondicherry. Few talkie portions and song sequences are likely to be shot at the place and next schedule is planned to be done at Vizag…