Kollywood Stars Congratulated Vijayakanth for Tamil Nadu election 2011 Victory. Ilayathalapathy Vijay, Tamil Director Ameer Sultan, Cheran, Actor Vijayakumar, LK Sudeesh wished DMDK Party leader Vijayakanth for winning of 28 Legislative Assembly Members of Tamilnadu.
Ultimate Star Ajith starrer ‘Mankatha’ seems to be the most expected movie so far this year. Recently, the movie’s trailer was launched during ‘Azhagar Samiyin Kudhirai’ in multiplexes and audience roared with joy watching their thala on big screen. Sony BMG will be launching the audio of ‘Mankatha’ on May 20. The CD will have a single track ‘Vilayadu Mankatha…’ and is priced at Rs 49, and wait, that’s not that. The CDs come with a poster signed by thala Ajith itself! It’s no usual signature where a hero signs one poster and the rest are digitalized, Ajith wanted to please his fans and is using all his breaks in three days and is signing all the 5000 posters by himself! The poster has him donning a look never seen before and is a landscape one. It's a look that will prove the buzz that was making rounds recently about the movie. Now we’re sure fans will be thronging to music stores on May 20 not just for Yuvan's score but to get a glimpse of their thala and bag his autographed poster...
The song is sung by Yuvan Shankar Raja, Ranjith, Premji Amaran, Anita and Sucharitha, a new talent introduced by Yuvan. The song is set in Bangkok in a club – Club Hollywood, and was shot for four consecutive days.
Yuvan was also present during the shoot although he did not come on screen and dancers from Bombay and Bangkok danced for the peppy number. The disco club’s real speaker was utilized that made dancers shake their legs even off screen! We also hear that a lot of the crowd in the song are people who actually visited the club during the shoot, giving it a more ‘reality’ feel.
Paring with a song set in a club, Yuvan has had his lyrics in a mix of Tamil, Hindi and English. While Gangai Amaran penned the Tamil parts, Yuvan worked on the English and Sucharitha on the Hindi lines.
Well, looks like ‘Vilayadu Mankatha’ will make waves in DVD stands, especially with thala’s actually signed signatures!
Two types of success stories are there in Tamil cinema. One is scripting history, and the other, rewriting it. 'Ko' fits well into both these categories, and we are not saying this without reasons.
The Jiiva-starrer directed by K V Anand penned a history of its own by shattering all box-office records in the very first weekend of its release. And it fulfills the second criteria by rewriting age old formulae of commercial cinema. In other words, the film is very much within the commercial format, but at the same time it is different too.
When we asked a film pundit to comment on 'Ko' and its success, he said, "At a time when directors prefer to handle the story, screenplay and dialogue departments too, Anand was clear that his job was to wield the megaphone alone. He had a solid backup on this front in the form of Subha, who are established writers. They came up with a superb script which was executed well by Anand."
He added: "Though he is a popular cinematographer, Anand stayed away from this task too. He asked one of his former assistants (Richard Nathan) to take care of photography and gave his entire attention only on directing the film. And the result was there on screen."
The movie's most important asset, needless to say, is Harris Jayaraj's music. Knowing well the pulse of the audience and the needs of the script, the music composer came up with sizzling songs and scintillating background score, which helped a lot to the success.
If the above things are the hidden strengths of 'Ko', the visible one was the performance of artistes. Most media persons who had watched the film were perhaps ready to accept Jiiva as their colleague, as the actor played beautifully the role of a press photographer.
And from Karthika, Piaa, Ajmal and Prakashraj to those who had appeared in one or two scenes (the woman who played the mother of an innocent school going girl could be a good example) provided enough support to the film.
Last but not the least, Anand himself was a press photographer years ago. For obvious reasons, this crucial factor could have provided him more interest on 'Ko', besides enabling him to hold a firm grip while picturising the script.
All these things, coupled with the support from the media, has made the film produced by R S Infotainment and distributed by Red Giant Movies, a landmark movie of 2011.
A good picture is equal to a thousand words, they say. 'Ko' is just that.
Promos of Vijay’s upcoming film, Velayudham were aired on Jaya TV even as Jayalalitha registered a thumping win against her political opponents. The timing was perfect as all eyes were glued to the TV watching the election drama unfold. The trailer opens to the foot-stomping beats of the title track, and shows a fully charged Vijay kicking booty big time. The three heroines – Genelia, Hansika, and Saranya Mohan were also shown in glimpses and sweetened the viewing experience considerably. Looks like one pataka of a film!
Vikram had signed up for a movie with debutant director, Kannan who has made a name for himself as a special effects whiz. The film is going to be a visual extravaganza and will be called Karikalan. The two of them searched high and low for a suitable leading lady and finally zeroed in on Zarine Khan. Zarine made her debut in Salman Khan’s Veer and played a Princess in the movie. This will be her first foray into Tamil cinema. Actor Pasupathy also has an important role in Karikalan. The music will be composed by Harris Jayaraj. Karthik, will be the cinematographer and the film is to be produced by Silver Line Film Factory.
With a never-ending time crunch and mostly nuclear families we hardly find time to spend with our nearest of kin. We rarely devote time to thank our family members who stand by us through thick and thin. Let us at least from this year on save some time to be with our near ones and spend quality time in their midst.
We celebrate Mother’s day, Women’s Day, and Valentines Day with all enthusiasm, but we never seem to have paid much heed to the International Day of Families. The United Nations celebrates its international Day of Families every year in May. This year it will be celebrated on May 15.
On this day dedicated to families we bring to you some of the most popular families in Tamil cinema who have dedicated their time and energy to Kollywood and have stood by their near ones through thick and thin.
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starrer ‘Velayudham.’ Ravi is married to Aarthi and the couple has a loving son.
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There are also other important father-son bonds which have done quite well in Tamil Nadu like S.A. Chandrasekar and Vijay, T Ragendran and Silambarasan, Bharathiraja and Manoj, SP Balasubramanium and son SPB Charan, Thyiagarajan and Prashanth, couples Sarath Kumar and Radhika, Ajith-Shalini, director Sundhar C. and Kushboo, Vijayakumar and Manjula. There are also many yesteryear couples who have contributed tremendously to Tamil cinema.
Kollywood’s new face Hansika Motwani surely knows how to stay in news. She apparently went to Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai to watch her film 'Engeyum Kaadal'. Audience who recognized her instantly mobbed her. Hansika says she is overwhelmed with joy for their love and fan-hood.
"I was shooting for my film 'Oru Kaal Kannadi' in Sathyam Cinemas. I thought I will sneak into the theatre which is screening my film and I was surprised to see audience respond towards my presence. I am born and brought up in Mumbai and I never expected so much love from audience in this part of the country. I turned emotional at their love and had tears rolling in my eyes. My responsibility towards my films increased to 200% now," added an excited Hansika.
Hansika is currently working on two Tamil flicks, 'Velayudham' and 'Oru Kaal Kannadi.’ Hansika is currently doing 'Kandireega' with Ram and she also has 'Oh My Friend' with Siddharth in Telugu. Speaking of Telugu films, she took a break for a while and is now desperately looking for a big break in film industry.
Priest starring Paul Bettany and directed by Scott Stewart was released on May 13th and is sending chills down the spines of viewers. Bettany and Stewart have come together after the success of their 2010 film, Legion. The eerie plot and stunning special effects of Priest make for one spectacular film. Based on a Korean comic, Priest takes us into a world where humans and vampires have been battling it out for ascendancy for as far as anyone can remember. In a decisive battle, the Vampires are destroyed and the humans seek refuge in a secret location in the middle of the desert. When the warrior Priest’s (Bettany) daughter is kidnapped by the Vampires he defies his superiors in the Church who have led the fight against the Vampires and teams up with his daughter’s boyfriend (Cam Gigandet) and a Priestess (Maggie Q) to get her back and crush the Vampires forever.
The film was delayed in order to convert it into 3D and enhance the spectacular action sequences. The makers and audiences alike seem to be happy with the results.
It is a mixed reaction from Kollywood to the election results that were declared yesterday. While some welcomed the change with the hope that the film industry would thrive hereafter, others resigned from their posts following the change in the government. Producer KRG, the ex Chairman of the Producers’ Council said that the people have proved that they needed change and ousted the evil to bring in the good. Producer Keyar hoped that the monopoly that was prevailing for the past couple of years will be wiped away. The Distributors’ Council Chairman Kalaipuli G Sekaran said that he is happy over AIADMK’s victory.
In yet another interesting development, Rama Narayanan, the Chief of the Producer’s Council resigned from his post citing personal works as the reason. The FEFSI Chief was, however, more forthcoming in his resignation as he cited the government change as the reason. VC Guhanathan had said that he had done several good works based on the assistance offered by the DMK Government but it is doubtful if he could do so with the AIADMK in power.
Kushboo, who had joined the DMK some months ago, said that the defeat is the people’s defeat. Vadivelu had said that he will release his future plans in the days to come.
‘Mankatha’ has been making headlines from the very first day it started rolling on the floors. With few portions left for the completion of shooting, the makers have finalized the date of releasing single-track album. The song ‘Vilayaadu Mankatha’ has been generating huge waves from time of its teasers. The song will be released with a single CD piece costing Rs. 49/- with free posters signed by Ajith Kumar.
Even before the results of Tamil Nadu State Government Elections were released, Vijay and his father S.A. Chandrasekhar were keen of inviting AIADMK Leader Jayalalitha for launching the audio of ‘Velayudham’.
In less than 24 hours, not just the fate of Tamil Nadu, but that of the Tamil film industry will also be known, as votes polled during the elections conducted to the State Assembly on April 13 will be counted tomorrow. As Tamil cinema shares a very close relationship with Tamil Nadu’s politics, many a citizen in the tinsel town are waiting with bated breath to know the poll results, which will directly or indirectly have an impact in their career.
The elections this year were dominated by the presence of tinsel town personalities, who hit the campaign trail in support of various political parties. Even Telugu top actor Chiranjeevi was seen campaigning in Tamil Nadu this time.
No matter whoever is the winner, they will have a very good rapport with Kollywood as DMK president M Karunanidhi is a popular scriptwriter and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa is a popular yesteryear actress.
The latest we hear about the project is that it’s a typical action entertainer laced with lots of humor and adventure. ‘Vettai Mannan’ as the title suggests, is about a hitman (played by Silambarasan), who bumps off any target with his smart plans. While the world’s most powerful groups arrive for auctioning of assassins, he becomes the favorite of a particular gang that already has a dangerous sharpshooter (played by Jai). What unfolds next is reported to be a hand-against-hand combat between them as they try to overtake each other. The film is directed by Nelson and is produced by S.S. Chakravarthy of Nic Arts.
There are also reports that this story has been inspired from the novel Ponniyin Selvan though it would not be an adaptation in entirety. As per the storyline, the hero of the film arrives from abroad and what happens in his hometown forms the crux of Then Kizhakku Seemaiyile Appan Aatha. The songs sequences of this film will be shot in exotic foreign locations.
Silambarasan has carved a niche for himself in the film industry with successful films to his credit. The star is now raring to bring one more talent from his home – his brother Kuralarasan. STR has said that Kuralarasan will make his debut as hero in Kollywood next year. He also revealed that he might also star in his brother’s debut vehicle if the script is strong enough for his star status. STR, right now, has several films to concentrate including Poda Podi, Vettai Mannan, and Osthi. Kuralarasan is not new to the film industry as he had starred in a couple of films as child artiste. Their father T Rajendar is a noted director, producer, actor, screenplay writer etc.
She hogged the limelight for starring in the Kamasutra ad and later played the heroine in several films. In 2010, she was awarded the Best Actress award by the Kerala state government for her performance in Paleri Manikam. She also starred in films like Ashoka and Maqbul.
We wish Shwetha a very happy married life!
Though this summer is one of the hottest in many years it continues to offer some really cool flicks for movie lovers this season. Kollywood is continuously churning out good films back-to-back with the most-wanted heroes of today in Tamil. Here is some good news for all you ‘Ilayathalapathy’ fans out there.
It has been felt that it would be ideal if Anushka reprises the prostitute’s role in Hindi as well. She has been approached and everyone is hoping that she will green light the project. It remains to be seen whether Anushka will accept this unconventional debut vehicle bound for Bollywood. Keep watching this space for confirmation.
Ajith Kumar is now close on the heels of completing his 50th film ‘Mankatha’. With the climax action sequence to be shot in Bangkok by this week, the preproduction work of Billa-2 has been completed. Filmmaker Chakri Toleti and his team of writers have seemingly impressed Ajith Kumar and producers with their script work.
A surprise element in Ajith’s Mankatha has been unwrapped. Sources reveal that Ajith will portray a dual role in Mankatha. Thala will play a tough cop in the film, the other character would be that of a commoner. It may be noted that Mankatha is Ajith’s next to be released movie. The music is scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja. The film is directed by Venkat Prabhu and produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri.
Director Ameer, who is currently busy with Aadhi Bhagwan, is all set to begin the groundwork for his next venture. This time around he has roped in Illayathalapathi Vijay to play the protagonist in his film. The film is titled Kannabiran. The script is designed to suit Vijay’s mass image it is revealed.
Director Ameer who has worked with top actors like Suriya, Karthi, Jiiva has now managed to convince Vijay for his latest venture.
Further news on this project is awaited.
He began his musical journey nearly three decades back and he still continues to awe his listeners with spell-binding music. ‘Isaignani’ Ilayaraja was spotted recently in Tirupathi. Well, he was not alone. The singer-composer was seen with Telugu actor Mohan Babu.
Jiiva is currently on cloud nine, as Ko has been a resounding success despite the efforts of miscreants who released pirated DVDs and uploaded the complete film online. Insiders are bowled over by the collections, the film has made. The actor has come in for a lot of praise for his polished portrayal of a photo journalist.The rising star has three films lined up for release this year – Rowthiram, Vandhan Vendran, and Nanban. Work is almost done in his solo hero projects and everyone is waiting to see what he will do next. As always, we have the answers for you. Director SP Jananathan, who made the national award winning film, Iyarkai will be directing Jiiva.
The duo had worked together in Ee and is keen to do another film. When the director approached Jiiva with one of his powerful, innovative scripts set against the backdrop of the famous temple in Tanjavur, Jiiva was stoked and accepted at once. Hopefully, we have another national award winner in the making!
‘Subramaniapuram’ fame Swathi, who is back in Tamil cinema with ‘Poraali’ directed by Samuthirakani, is playing a slum dweller in the film. “It is yet another meaty role for her,” according to unit sources. “Since she has to speak pucca local Tamil, the Telugu girl is learning the Chennai language. Her character will be very bubbly and will make the audience to laugh out loud,” they add.
‘Poraali’, produced by Sasikumar, revolves around five protagonists. “The director has finalised four of them (Sasikumar, Swathi, ‘Allari’ Naresh and Vasundhara) and a hunt is one for the fifth.”
The film, like the previous movies of Sasikumar and Samuthirakani, will have a right mixture of humour, sentiment and action. “The shooting will be completed in 80 days,” says the director.
The cops busted a gambling den and his father, Boopathi Raju was apprehended on the spot. Apparently, the club had already been issued a warning for playing fast and loose with the laws pertaining to gaming in Andhra Pradesh. The 70 year old and about 40 others have been arrested. A huge amount of cash was also confiscated.
There are reports that Andrea is out of Irandam Ulagam following a tiff with its director Selvaraghavan. But it is not true, sources say. Richa Gangopadhyay, the leading lady in Silambarasan’s Osthi, has been signed up as another heroine of this film and this gave rise to rumors to Andrea has been shown the door. Irandam Ulagam will be completed in a couple of months’ time and the audio launch and movie release may be held in July or August, we are told. GV Prakash is scoring the music for this film and is working on the final song. The movie is produced by UTV Motion Pictures.
‘Thala’ fans across the globe are looking forward to ‘Mankatha.’ We have given you many first information reports on this Venkat Prabhu offing. The ‘Vilayadu Mankatha…’ song which was released on the eve of Thala’s birthday has upped expectations for the film many-fold. Ajith looks his usual handsome self and the dance moves appearing in the teaser video looks fantastic. We came across an on-location photo of Ajith in ‘Mankatha’ and guess what? The actor was clad in a police officer’s costume! What we have heard so far is that Ajith’s character Vinayak Mahadevan in the film has grey shades and this is the first film where Ajith is shown in an out and out negative role without any flashbacks to substantiate for his wrong doings.
But with the release of this still picture expectations have soared higher. Will Ajith be a cop who has taken the bad boy’s role to unearth the evil forces? Or is he a police officer with negative traits? Or is he dressed like this to take the cops for a ride? These are the many questions that have popped up into our minds after seeing this still photo.
‘Mankatha’ is a multi-starrer film with Arjun, Trisha, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea and many more actors donning various roles with credibility to carry the movie forward. The music for the film is by Yuvan Shankar Raja. The director has planned to launch the single track ‘Vilayadu Mankatha…’ shortly.
Scroll down to take a look at the cop-costume clad Ajith and tell us what you think will be Ajith’s role in the film?
Yuvan Shankar Raja seems to be one busy guy! His name is associated with all major projects that are releasing this summer. ‘Vaanam’ released recently to crowded theatres. The film and the songs have been received well by the audience. The next big thing is that the single ‘Vilayadu Mankatha…’ from ‘Mankatha’ will be released soon, say sources close to the ‘Mankatha’ team. The teaser song byte itself has created so much flutter that music lovers and Ajith fans across the state are waiting eagerly for the album of ‘Mankatha’ to hit stands. Yuvan’s latest music for ‘Avan Ivan’ by director Bala is already making waves and most of the songs are chartbusters!
Now we have got information that Yuvan is busy getting the music ready for ‘Billa 2,’ the sequel to the Ajith starrer ‘Billa.’ There are also stories running rife that Anushka will be paired opposite Ajith in this sequel! The film will be directed by Chakri Toleti who directed ‘Unnaipol Oruvan’ with Kamal Haasan in the lead.
‘Billa 2’ will be produced by Suresh Balaji, the son of late director Balaji, who directed the original ‘Billa’ with Rajinikanth in the lead some three decades ago.
After Selvaraghavan’s movie ‘Irandam Ulagam’ with brother Dhanush, he is directing ‘Viswaroopam’ with Kamal Haasan and Sonakshi Sinha playing the lead roles. The shooting for the film was supposed to have started by mid April but we had told you about the US Consulate having rejected the visas for the crew members.
People say that this was because of the plot of the film revolving around terrorism, but we can’t be sure about that.
It is now said that, the crew has decided to shoot the film in Canada and the director had taken extra care in choosing his locations. Sources also reveal that the shooting of ‘Viswaroopam’ will begin by June.
While this movie will mark the debut for Sonakshi Sinha in Kollywood, this is also the first time that Kamal Haasan and Selvaraghavan are coming together! While the ‘Ulaga Nayagan’ is known for his varied performances, Selvaraghavan is known for his unusual scripts. The coming together of the duo has raised immense expectations not just among audience but also in the film industry…
‘Draw as much lines as possible next to the original one. There would be hardly a perfect replica and so is remaking a film as it becomes a tough job to replicate the original version’ said Dharani. It happened during the press meet of ‘Osthi’. Adding more about the film, Dharani said, “The reason why we chose Simbhu for the role was the characterization itself. We confirmed him with the first look where he appeared in police costumes and his attitude was super-cool. This isn’t just an action film, but has more elements of family and sentiments.”
