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Actor-turned-director Prakash Raj has just finished the first schedule of his Kannada directorial venture, Naanu Nanna Kanasu but he is already thinking about his next bilingual film to be produced under his own Duet Movies banner. Pavanam (Journey) will be made in Tamil and Telugu, and star himself. It is budgeted at Rs 11 crores, and is based on the hijacking of Indian Airlines' IC 814 from Nepal to Kandahar. Radha Mohan, who had directed Mozhi and Abhiyum Naanum, will direct the film. "I will play the role of a bureaucrat from the Prime Minister's office in Payanam. Radha Mohan did a lot of research while writing the script. I was inspired to make this film after reading the book Flight Into Fear by Captain Devi Sharan," says Prakash Raj. Prakash Raj, who played a villain in the Salman Khan-starrer Wanted directed by Prabhu Deva [ Images ], has now become a sought-after actor in Bollywood too. But he is in no hurry to sign Hindi films. "I will pick and choose

KARPAGAM THYAGARAJAN The Chennai International Film Festival was kick started yesterday, December 16th, 2009 at a function held at the Woodlands Theatre in Chennai. Dr. S. Jagathrakshahan, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting lighted the traditional lamp and marked the beginning of the fest. The film festival, which will go on till December 20th, will feature 120 films from 38 countries. Those present at the function were Karthi, Devayani, SVe Shekher, Jananadan and a host of officials from various embassies. Speaking at the function, the Minister said that film festivals are not just for film institute students but for the general public as they can get to see a foreign film and know their culture.

BY N.THYAGARAJAN Malayalam filmdom Superstar Mohanlal is now in Puttaparthi to have the blessings of Bhaghavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

MRS.KARPAGAM THYAGARAJAN Navya Nair will enter the wedlock in the coming January. She will marry Santosh Menon, who is employed with a private firm in Mumbai. Ms. Nair who acted opposite various film leading heroes in Malayalam films had made a mark in Tamil cinema acting in films like 'Azhagiya Theeye', 'Mayakannadi' and 'Pasakiligal'. Nair's parents Raju and Veena arranged her wedding with Santosh Menon, a native of Changanassery in Kerala. The actress is currently busy acting in films including Mammootty starrer 'Drona', 'Sadgamaya' with Suresh Gopi and Dileep - Kalabhavan Mani starrer film.

Remember Priyanka Trivedi, who made her debut with the Tamil movie Raajjiyam. The actress bid goodbye to films after marrying the Kannada superstar Upendra and made her comeback with the Kannada film Srimathi opposite Uppi. Sources say the actress will now host a Kannada TV reality show similar to the Farah Khan hosted Hindi show 'Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega'. Priyanka, in her recent interview to a leading vernacular, stated that she was approached for the show and discussions are now on about her remuneration. If everything goes as per plan, the show will go on floors by this month end. It is also heard that Priyanka is crazy about reality TV and her favourite shows are 'Pati Patni aur Woh' and 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'. She has also expressed her interest in being part of such shows if Uppi permits.

The latest news on Nayan Tara and Prabhu is that Prabhu Deva's wife Ramalath sought the help of some women welfare organisations. According to information, Ramalath won the sympathy of these organisation when she made an open appeal, that women-folks would look after the film actress affair.These women organisations will protest the actress and as well Prabhu Deva about their love affair, if it really exists as per the rumour mongers. One may get a concrete result, after these women organisations start protesting them, said.

BY N.THYAGARAJAN Actor & Director Prabhu Deva watched the Wanted film in Mumbai with Nayan Tara, the dream girl of many. It is quite natural for anyone in the cine-field to have attraction with someone and Nayan Tara or Prabhu Deva are no exception to it. The problem is Prabhu Deva is an already married man with Ramalath who hails from a Moslem community. But the love has no eyes, for it is not the religion or the caste that attract each one at the time of marriage. Both the hearts meet at one point and decide to marry. In Prabhu Deva's marriage there was no open statement that the actor is in very much love with Nayan. But for Nayan, she could not stay alone though she is not married. Prabhu's extraordinary brilliance in the field has attracted many including the producers who made him to direct their films. But, Prabhu loves all. Prabhu's wife who came to know that there was a rumour afloat that both her husband and Nayan Tara close friendly relationships, said in an

Shooting, post-production and censor formalities are complete for Jagadguru Sri Shirdi Saibaba directed by G Ramakrishna and produced by BV Reddy under the banner of SRR Creations. The producer himself plays the title role in this movie and the film is slated for release in the second week of September. Speaking on the occasion, the producer and artiste BV Reddy said, “There are seven songs in the movie and all of them are situational. We are sure that all the songs would attract the audiences. Mohanbabu, who watched the movie, complimented that the film has been brought out well. Senior director B Gopal too expressed his happiness after watching the movie.” Director Ramakrishna said, “We have portrayed some new elements in Baba’s life which have never been described on the silver screen earlier.” Source - http://entertainment.oneindia.in/telugu/top-stories/2009/jagadguru-shri-shirdi-saibaba-200809.html

BY N.THYAGARAJAN Actress Kamalani Mukherjee who is acting in Vettaiyadu Vilayadu film has recently completed the shootings of Kuttrapirivu. She is going to act in a Bengali Movie, a Tamil remake of the Raj TV Channel's film Kadhalna Summa Illa. She did the same character in Telugu too. Janaki is the name of the character in the film in which she excelled. Similarly, she is going to act in a Bengali film, the Telugu remake Bommirilu. In Telugu Genelia has done a role with the name Hasini. The same character Kamalani Mukherjee will be doing in Bengali.

BY N.THYAGARAJAN Follwing the sucesses of various tourism stories like Madras to Pondicherry, Sundara Travels, 12-B and Paathen Rasithen producer S.P.Ramamurthi is going to produce Payanangal Thodarum. The film is to be produced on behalf of Sri Saravanabava Movies. The film will introduce Chandra Hasan with Swetha who made her excellent acting in Valluvan Vasuki film. Besides the new face, Ganja Karuppu, Shakila and Sundar have given meaty roles in the film. It is a story of problems that arose between a Private Andhra Transport and the two lovers who travel everyday to their colleges. The lovers face problems with the bus in which they used to travel and tells were they able to overcome the difficulties they face?

Following the sucess of the Tamil film Nadodigal, it has been decided to remake the film in Telugu and Kannada, and if possible it could be produced in Hindi too, according to sources. In Telugu it is Ravi Theja who is going to act. The shooting for the Telugu will be started by this month end and for the Hindi remake however the shooting will be started in the coming January 2010. In Hindi it is Shahid Kapoor who will appear and follwing its success the Kannada remake will begin with Punith RajKumar. Of all these two things are common-- the story and the film's director Samuthirakani.

Superstar Mohanlal on Thursday donned a new cap - of the Indian Territorial Army. Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor had offered him to wear the cap permanently at a simple function that took place in New Delhi. “It is truly a proud moment for me to have been granted an honorary rank during the diamond jubilee year of the Territorial Army. I will try to serve to the best of my ability in my newly assigned role. It is a dream come true that I can now serve shoulder to shoulder with our officers and men,” four-time national award winner, Mohanlal said. “Lt Col (Hony) Mohanlal, Padmashri, will be yet another brand ambassador of the Territorial Army. His achievements are an example of his discipline, dedication and hard work which is very synonymous to the army way of life,” a senior Indian Army official said. “His passion for the army is amply evident from his outstanding and realistic portrayal of the penultimate, fearless and duty bound army officer on the silver screen especially

(By N.Thyagarajan) Kutty is not an action film, says the director Mitran Jawahar. In an informal chat with news men the director clarified that Dhanush in this film is doing a soft hero role as per the story line and Sreya has been acting opposite him. The director says, "in my earlier film Yaaradi Nee Mohini, it was the turn of Nayantara who had excelled in her family girl character. In this Kutty, Sreya has been doing the same role without any glamour. When the shooting of the film was on, Sreya never thought that she had such a tremendous acting capacity. Really, the film is going to be a turning point for her". When talking about the film's hero Dhanush, Mitran said, that he had been directing Dhanush second time, and his actions in this film becoming great. The work of the film would be completed, if the shooting for the two songs were completed the director said. Though Dhanush has some other name in the film, his friends and family members call him as Kutty. Radha

Kadhal Virus and Devadhayi Kanden films fame Sridevi is getting married on Thursday the June 18. The actress who has become popular as a child artiste in many films and by virtue of her actor parents Manjula and Vijayakumar is marrying Rahul hailing from Hyderabad. Sridevi is the last daughter of the actor couples. Her other famous films were Thithikudhey and Priyamana Thozhi. Rahul is running a software firm in Hyderabad and had visited on several occasions various countries for some higher studies, it is learnt.

Tamil film Muthirai directed by Srinath is having an open kissing scenes in the film. Nitin Sathya and Manjari are the hero and heroine respectively had done the role in a kissing scene making the youngsters to watch the film in raptures. There is nothing beyond our Tamil film had gone so far, says the director. Hence, when the director was asked whether this film to be released on July 19 would bring success, he replied that mere kissing scenes alone would not bring victory to a film. After Muthirai's release, Nitin is going to act in the remake of Palaivana Cholai and Mani Nagarajan's Pin kurippu. Mani Nagarajan was an one time assistant to Gautam Vasudevan Menon. Nitin expects the film will be turning point. When Nitin was asked why he always acted in double hero films, he said as long as his role had been appreciated by many he would go on acting in double-hero subject films. " I really love to appear where my character is valued much" says Nitin.

Malayalam Super Star Mohan Lal has been again elected as the General Secretary of Malayalam Film Actors Union. In an election for the post on Sunday in Cochin, the actor was elected to the post unanimously.Besides Mohan Lal, Innocent and Babu too were elected to the posts of President and Secretary respectively. Mukesh and Ganesh Kumar were elected as the vice president of the union while Jagadis was elected as the treasurer. Mamooti and ten others were elected as the general council members.

Comedy film Vedigundu Murugesan is ready for its release. The film's comedy could be equalled with the comedies of the Chinnathambi and Karagattakaran, according to the film's director Murthy. If this film is released this will be the second film for the director, earlier his Karuppasam Kuthagaikarar was though not successful as expected, but paid rich dividends after its release. Jyothirmayee in this film appears as woman cop and act opposite Pasupathy. She appears in a child-like character which draws the story in different directions but with comedy. Besides Vadivelu comedy too is enjoyable in the film.

The overseras rights of Kanthaswamy have been sold for a hefty sum and it was bought by the Ayangaran International, according to a source from the production office, but did not divulge for how many rupees the price of the film was fixed. Ayangaran International is a reputed organisation which has more than 1500 films to its credit for market will be able to sell this Vikram-Shriya starrer film not less than Rs.3 crore, the sources said. It is said the film has a big market in overseas countries including Malaysia, Europe, Sri Lanka and many other countries. Kanthaswamy is produced in Telugu besides its Tamil version and the release of the film in both the languge would take place on the same day. There is a proposal to produce the same film in Hindi without changing any storylines and dialogues, means additional income to the producer Dhanu. The release of the film was postponed due to severe rain in Theni from where most of the scenes were filmed. Similarly the film was shot in Keny

Subramaniyapuram fame Swathi is now acting for a Telugu film without any let up for her shooting schedules. She has become famous after she had acted in the film Subramaniyapuram with Jai. The second film chance went to her after a Telugu film producer gave her chance. Now Swathi is going to act in a Tamil film to be produced by Shiva for Amma Creations. The shooting of this new film will commence immediately after Swathi finishes her Telugu film in which she is acting as heroine.

After Naan Kadavul, B Studio is going to produce three films with Suriya and Jothika. The film is to be directed by Mayavi. The other film will be produced by the Mayavi Singapuli. Soon the shootings of the first film will be started immediately a signal from Jothika is shown, according to sources.

Telugu film fame Ekta and Sanjay have signed to act in a film, Mundhinam Paarthenae to be produced by Seventh Channel Manickam Naryanan. The storyline goes with a qualified person seeking a suitable girl for his life partnership has a lot of dreams. Is he able to find out the correct one? is the crux of the story. For this film, the art director Thotta Tharani has made a set of a marriage hall. It has been estimated that the artificial marriage hall had cost Rs.40 lakhs for the producer. The songs of the film will be filmed in European countries, according to the production company's information.

Of late in Andhra Pradesh, rumours were abuzz that Raman Thediya Seethai fame Vimala Raman is in love with actor Varun who had acted with her. The rumour has become like a baloon and in order to reveal the fact, Vimala Raman arranged a press-meet inviting all media and explained that she was in no way love with Varun and she could not renew her friendship with Varun after the shooting of their film was over. Vimala Raman called the actor Varun at the press-meet to talk about their friendship. Varun also said the same thing and once for all the actress had dubbed all the media which were making false propaganda about her and Varun.

Like Tamil film actors Superstar Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan and Ajith, actress Trisha too did not celebrate her birthday. She also tells the same reason, that the Sri Lankan Tamils' sufferings in the Island and in India made her not to celebrate and she took the decision only after she had seen the other film artistes skipped their birthday celebrations. Really, one should appreciate the actress' deep involvement with the Tamil language and its people who have become citizens of Sri Lanka and who are suffering in the Island.

A 90-minute documentary on late actor Gemini Ganesan has been released by his daughter Dr.Kamala Selvaraj. The film which was produced in English, Tamil and Telugu will have 30 eminent film personalities narrating their experiences of working with the actor, according to the Doctor Kamala Selvaraj. She said it took six months to produce this documentary and it was all about the personal life of the late actor who is known as Kadhal Mannan. ( Romance King).Gemini Ganesan had acted in several box-office hits like Irukodugal, Shanti Nilayam, Vanji Kottai Valipan and Thein Nilavu. A Padma Shri awardee, Gemini Ganesan had acted with many top heroines including Savithri, whom he later married, Anjalidevi, Banumathi, Padmini, Saroja Devi, former Rajya Sabha member Vaijayanthi Mala, "Sowcar" Janaki, K.R. Vijaya, Devika and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa. He had starred in more than 200 films, including a few in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.

Oscar-winning music composer A R Rahman and former Sahitya Academy President Gopi Chand Narang will be conferred honorary doctorates by Aligarh Muslim University at its convocation to be held in Aligarh on June 7. West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi IAS will be the chief guest at the convocation, a release issued by the university said.

Ramya Krishnan's TV serial Kalasam, has crossed over hundred episodes as of now in Tamil and it is gaining momentum among various family members for its story value. The serial is expected to cross more than 1000 episodes with some of the scenes are shot in foreign locales. The serial's dubbed version began to appear in some of the Telugu channels.Actress and danseuse ‘Mayuri’ Sudha Chandran has been acting in a meaty role. The cinema actress Ramya Krishna is also busy besides doing some guest roles in films. " I have allotted eight days in a month for shooting of films and the rest of the days would go to the shooting of the Kalasam" says Ramya, who is still a beauty and looks very young and is fit to enough to do role with young heroes who are entering in films.

By N.Thyagarajan Thirumbi Parkiraen is the latest invention of the Jaya TV Channel which depicts the life history of veteran Tamil film stars talking about their experience in the industry. The channel has been telecasting some of the veteran artistes like K.Balajee, V.S.Raghavan, Kumari Sachu and Rajashree. Now from the coming Monday onwards, the late actor M.N.Nambiar gives his account with the Tamil film industry, eversince he started his acting career from the stage plays till his last film. Of course, Nambiar passed away a year ago, how then he talks in the interview? The shooting of M.N.Nambiar was taken when he was very much alive and was able to talk. Sometimes, our intuition would tell us to go ahead with the production of such interviews. For instance, when the producer and director K.Balajee's interview was screened he was very much alive and within a month's time of his interview telecast, he passed away. The programme won the laurels of many, and the credit goes to

BY N.THYAGARAJAN Actress Meena is getting married on July 12 at Tirupathi with a Bengaluru based Techie. Recently, the betrothel for this took place at the actress' house in Saidapet with a very few invitee to the function. Speaking to reporters, Meena said that her would-be Vidyasagar had already given permission to carry out her acting career adding that she also wished to continue in films and serials because, she earned the reputation after acting in Mariyadhai. Incidentally Meena who is now acting in a serial Kalayanam, means Marriage, for the Sun TV Channel. Many of her fans, wanted her to get married immediately. She started to act in Tamil films as a child artiste and she acted as an orphan girl in the film Anbullah Rajinikanth. In the film, Rajinikanth used to frequent the orphanage where Meena is being brought up and in the end the orphan child dies. Exactly after a decade of this film release she acted as heroine with the Super Star Rajinikanth Muthu and Veera. She also

BY N.THYAGARAJAN Chennai: Well known producer and Tamil actor K Balajee died here on Saturday evening after prolonged illness. He was 74. Balajee, father-in-law of famous Malayalam actor Mohanlal, was admitted to Apollo Hospital last month for kidney failure. He is survived by a son and two daughters. He has acted in over 150 films and have also produced Tamil films under Sujatha Cine Arts, most of his films were produced with the Late actor Shivaji Ganesan. Before, producing films, he had acted in various Tamil films as villain and one remarkable film was that he did the villain role in Pattanathil Bootham starring with Jai Shankar. Balaji was sometime ill and from his ill-bed he gave interview to the Jaya TV Channel for five days. Then he appealed to all the film actors to reduce their salaries, so that the film producers could not burn heavily their fingers. In the interveiw, he also narrated how a film could be made, once the adjustment of the leading artistes stop demanding a sepa

BY N.THYAGARAJAN Sneha who does different roles in Bhavani and Goa, says the two characters are entirely different. She acts in Bhavani as police officer like that of yesteryears' Vijaya Shanthi appeared in police officer cadre. But GOA film's character is entirely different. She appears in the film with sarees with soft-natured character. " The two different characters in those two films have no comparison" says Sneha in an interview to this blog. When asked about her entry in politics, Sneha said, " I don't like to enter politics, but I will exercise my voting right. Don't think, that I am doing a police officer character like that of Vijayashanthi in my film and after the film was released, the actress entered into politics, I too would take up politics. I am just quite opposite to the actress' view. But I will sure vote for a candidate whom I think will be the best." quips Sneha. Adds Sneha, " I have stopped acting in advertisement films

"Mudhal Mudhal Mudhal Varai", the real story of a film director who wish to produce a feature film falls in love with a girl who was lying in sick bed. The director wants to marry before she breathes her last, but she was adamand and asking him to produce the film first and marry her. This is the story of the feature film that has been honoured at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. Krishnan Seshadri Gomatam is the films director. The film won the award for the 'Best Drama Feature' in the 'Best Feature film (International) - Genre' awards category in the festival held recently. The film was part of the Goa 2008 Indian Panorama at the International Film Festival of India and was widely acclaimed for its storyline. This is the first film of Krishnan Seshadri and was selected in the IFFI's Indian Panorama section. C P Satyajit, Anuja Iyer, E Kumaravel and Charan, apart from a host of newcomers have given meaty roles for the succe

You know actor Vijay's son Sanjay has done a dance in Vettaikaran film. He has lent his voice for the song too. The song starts with NAAN ADICHCHA THAANGAMATTA; NAALU NAAL THOONGA MATTAE.Vijay's fans call him Kutti Ilaya Thalapathi. You know Kamal Hassan's daughter Shruthi Kamal Hassan has acted for an ad-film, Hoe Jaaney Dho. Kamal after seeing his daughter's appearance in the film, euologised her. Heroine Sridevika is acting as a mahut for the film Sarithiram. She underwent training with an elephant which appears in the film. After the shooting was over, the actress could not leave the animal. Communist political leader Bharathan came to the shooting spot of the film Kalavaadiya Pozhudhugal and enjoyed the May song's sequences. Thangar Bachchan is producing the film in which Sathyaraj and Prabhu Deva have meaty roles. If any producers want to have talk or a word with actress Thamanna, they could not approach the actress immediately. They should approach Thamanna&#

(Photo courtesy by The Hindu) Actress Anushka was in Hyderabad on Friday, before the Telugu version of Billa has been released. Anushka was given a red-carpet welcome during the show.Now Anushka is acting for the film Vettaikaran to be released soon.

KANNANIM KANNADIKKUM, the most successful film of Malayalam being dubbed in Tamil as Pura (Pigeon). Prabhu and Suganya have acted in guest roles of the film. They have acted as film artistes who come to a village where they happened to meet Kalabhavan Mani who leads a life by serving the villagers. When the shooting units of the film come to the village, the producer understands Kalabhavan Mani was one-time actor and producer. Then the story takes different shape.

Actor Dhanush is fresh from the success of ‘Padikkadhavan’ and is juggling Mitran Jawahar’s ‘Kutty’ and Vetrimaran’s ‘Aadukalam’ currently. If he is playing the role that Allu Arjun played as the carefree lover in the Telugu superhit ‘Arya’, he is busy playing a local Madurai boy in ‘Aadukalam’. “Characters etched like the one I have in ‘Aadukalam’ come by rarely. Typically, an actor should consider himself lucky if he gets three or even four such well defined characters in his acting career. I’m glad I got this at such an early stage in my career,” says the actor, refusing to divulge more details. He also says it’ll be a big break for him as it will be starkly different from his other roles. “I’m not the one to play the same role all the time. ‘Polladhavan’ was so action packed and the next release of mine, ‘Yaaradi Nee Mohini’, was a complete clean family film. This will be another genre in itself,” says the actor.

If a well qualified person does not know where to get a job for his qualification and if 'dilemma' is the force among some of those well qualified, then they need not worry over, instead they could watch Makkal TV Channel's Velaivoippu serial, an employment opportunity for the right candidate and making the qualified to have their right jobs from the right orgnisations, are some of the outcome of the show. Mind you for watching and following the advice, one need not pay any money as charges for giving valuable information. Makkal TV Channel is always looking to promote many in this way to uplift them in the society and if a regular watcher has become a top man in the society, there is no wonder that he might have watched its programmes regularly. Why you also not reap the benefit out of the channel? Ramkumar Singaram anchors the show will be telecast on all Thursdays at 11 AM. Don't miss it, unemployed will be employed, says Makkal TV Channel.

The most popular Vasanth TV Channel will soon telecast two good films of each actors who had set the standard by their acting in those films. Important scenes from those films are to be telecast by the Channel to woo many for the show.

What will happen to the stories of films when continue after its climax stories? This is the theme of the Jollywood Cinema comedy show on the Jaya TV channel to be telecast on all Sundays at 10 AM. The participants of this show are look-alike actors like Shivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan and many other leading artistes. The films taken in this show are the films which had successfully completed its 100 days. The idea behind this show, how the story would be of these films, if they continue.

A different game show, and this could be called a comedy show too, on Sirpoli Channel by comedians Ganeshkar and Aarthi would be shown on all Saturdays. The show named Theeradha Vilayattu would various important places and would ask the public to take part in it. Ganehskar and Aarthi would make visit to big business malls, colleges and other public places and would be interviewed. The two comedians who anchor the show would ask the public to prove their skills in a comedy way. Let us watch the show on all Saturdays.

Jaguar Thangam, known for his stunts in cinema, earlier directed a film Suriya with his son, Vijay Chiranjeevi as hero. Now he is going to direct another film India in which also Chiranjeevi acts as hero. Jaguar's brother writes the story of the film.

Captain Vijaykanth on Sunday at the Mariyadhai film cassette release function said, that he had done his acting for MGR's Inbamey Inba Thervandhadho song. Though he could act like MGR for the song, he didn't do that, as it would be considered that he was making fun of the Late actor who ruled the Tamil Nadu quite a long years. As of now Vijaykanth who is running his Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam calls himself as Karuppu MGR, means Black MGR, did not like to pretend to act for the song's sequence of the film, in his Mariyadhai film. Vijaykanth had invited all his party men for the function which took place in an open auditorium. He wanted to come over the Mariyadhai audio cassette release function, since he did not want make the function as an official or commercial view of cinema. Mariyadhai is directed by Vikraman.

ACTOR KAMAL HASSAN AT THE AUDIO LAUNCH OF THE PASANGA FILM. SEEN WITH HIM ARE THE FILM DIRECTOR

BY N THYAGARAJAN "The day when I entered the film industry, I was cautioned, that I would be seeing a lot of humanbeings in the form of crocodiles. I was littled bit shaky then, but I never came across any such person in my career" openly declared actress Suhasini at a cassette release function took place on Sunday ( Yesterday). One thing one should remember is that when Suhasini entered filmdom, she was offered with weighty roles and she was not allowed to mix freely with films' heroes in as heroine she did. She did her roles, as if a school teacher giving advices to their children, and when she acted for songs' sequences she did her role without touching the hero. This has catapulted her image. But one should remember, she married the gentle and famous MBA graduate director Mani Rathinam. But he is not a crocodile.

With 'Aanandam', a five-year-long mega serial on Sun TV, coming to an end, Sathya Jyothi Films' next serial 'Kalyanam' is all set to glue the audience to television sets on the same prime slot. After the successful serial Lakshmi, actress Meena is playing the lead role. "It's not a regular soap opera, not the usual stuff like heroine facing a lot of troubles. I come in casuals and my character name is Meera," informs Meena. The promo of the serial is already on air and it has created a lot of expectations among serial buffs. Meena says, in the serial she works in the media, and the character she portrays is unique and something she has never done before."I've already done a movie with Sathya Jyothi Films and I know them well. My first serial 'Lakshmi' got a good response. Wherever I went, people questioned like why the serial ended so soon. I got more offers after the serial," said Meena, who hosted a game show on Jaya TV before L

BY N.THYAGARAJAN Kamal Hassan has appealed the people of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to strength their relationship without the intervention of others. The actor who was honoured at the Kannada Film Industry's platinum jubilee celebrations further appealed politicians not to mingle their politics with art. He said that people of Karnataka and Tamil Nadur like brothers and any problem between them could be sorted out without the interference of the politics. Kamal was addressing his inaugural speech on Sunday evening in Bangalore. He recalled that Karnataka had given super films stars like Rajinikanth. Supporting the views of Kamal Hassan, actor Vishnuvardhan said that he really liked the speeches of the actor and also appealed that the artistes should be always away from politics. He also praised that Kamal Hassan had a lot of supporters in the State. Actor Ramesh Aravind, translated Kamal's speech in the Kannada language and for each and every verse of Kamal's translation had

Director Rajeshwar, who has completed the shoot and dubbing for his film, Indira Vizha, starring Srikanth, Namitha and debutant Hemamalini, has clarified that his movie is original and not an adaptation of the Hollywood flick Disclosure or its Hindi adaptation Aitraaz. The movie’s story, however, bears a striking resemblance to Disclosure and centres on Srikanth, an employee of a TV channel, whose boss turns out to be Namitha, his ex girl friend. “Only the plot may sound similar. We have treated it completely differently,” says the director, whose movie is expected to be a March release.

Mrs.Karpagam Thyagarajan Media Maters Dr.Sridhar Narayanan and Vijaya is producing MYTHILI a mega serial for the Kalaignar Tv channel. It is to be telecast between 1 PM and 2 PM on all working days. The story is purely based on the sentiments which the producers would expect a lot of persons to view the serial. The story starts from Kancheepuram to be extended to the Greater Chennai and would also likely to be shoot in Malaysia and Singapore. ‘KOLANGAL’ fame Ajay, Sujitha, Vadivukkarasi, Shanmugasundaram,OAK sundar, Deepa Venkat,Giri,Bharathi Kannan and Ceylon Manohar are the stars of this new serial. Dialogues are written by Balamurugan, Music by S.P. Venkatesh and Story,Screenplay and Direction are done by M.Viswanath

(By N.Thyagarajan ) Ace actress who is still young in her appearances, B.Saroja Devi will be appearing in AADHAVAN being produced by Udayanidhi Stalin for the Red Jiant Films. Though the actress has distanced herself from acting in films, she has given her nod to act in the film with Suriya and Nayanthara. The actors are Vadivelu, Ramesh Khanna who is also penning the story of the film. The film is directed by K.S.Ravi Kumar. Another important thing about this film, all these artistes join together after their association in the film Friends. It is expected, that Saroja Devi's appearance in the film will give an impetus to the film goers, since, there are a lot of fans of this actress whose eyes were starved quite a long time, would be enjoying the film.

KARPAGAM THYAGARAJAN The police say four local employees of the SUN TV network, a India based Tamil TV network which was operating without a valid license, have been taken into custody together with their equipment in Vavuniya for alleged links with the LTTE. Police spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekera told Daily Mirror the four employees were taken custody by the army yesterday and later handed over to the Vavuniya police for further investigations.

Jayam Ravi, the heartthrob of millions of girls and even for some middle-aged women, at long last has decided to get married to his long-time beautiful girlfriend Aarthi, who is pursuing her higher studies in Scotland. The parents of both these youngsters have agreed to their decision. Aarthi is the daughter of renowned producer Vijaykumar, who produced Veeraappu and several TV programmes. The actor was introduced by his brother Raja in the film Jayam, the Tamil remake of a Telugu blockbuster of the same name, Ravi became a household name in the entire Tamil Nadu. The hardworking and highly-ambitious actor soon secured a niche for himself in Kollywood. Ravi is not only a dedicated and professional actor; he is also a very dedicated lover! His dedication and love towards his girlfriend Aarthi moved his parents’ heart, who decided to get them married. Both sets of parents announced they are extremely happy with the decision of their children, putting an end to several wicked rumours whi

KARPAGAM THYAGARAJAN Shankar who produced the film Silandhi is now producing and directing a film titled Udhiram. The film is about a villain who loots the country. He ic domiciled in the jungles. How the hero destroys him forms the rest of the story. Shankar is shooting the film in the dense forests using three cameras. Jagath who is doing the lead role had to drench himself in a slush for 8 days for the climax scene. He had to pour the slushy mud on his whole naked body for this climax scene. Santhani who is a 10th class student is pairing with him in this movie

If not for music composer A R Rehman, talent from Tamil filmdom would not have got their due recognition, noted Tamil comedian Vivek has said. "I do think that regional talent is not getting its due credit in the country. Our industry (Tamil films) has gone global, especially after A R Rahman entered the scene," Vivek, who was conferred Padma Shri recently, told PTI over phone from Chennai. "If our music is getting acknowledged globally today, it is because of Rahman. But Rahman is not the only one who is responsible for this, media is also one of the reasons," he said. Chennai-born Rahman who made his entry through Roja in Tamil and Hindi simultaneously went on to attain stardom in both Tamil and Hindi films within years. He is also in the queue for Oscars, for his hit scores in "Slumdog Millionaire". Vivek, who was the first Tamil comedian to be bestowed with the Padma Shri award, refused to comment on veteran comedian Nagesh, who died just a week ago, n

The most successful Indian musician to go global, A. R. Rahman turns 43 today. Apart from his millions of Indian fans who shower accolades on him by the hour, Rahman’s incredible talent had attracted the attention of the famed TIME Magazine which referred to him as the ‘Mozart of Madras’. Born as A. S. Dileep Kumar in the year 1966 in Chennai. His father R. K. Shekhar Mudhaliar,was a composer and conductor for Malayalam-language films in Keralite cinema. His father died when Rahman was nine years old, and his family rented out musical equipment as a source of income. His family converted to Islam from Shaivite Hinduism in the late 1970s. Rahman was also a student at PSBB for a short while before changing schools. During these early years, Rahman served as a keyboard player and an arranger in bands such as “Roots” with childhood friend and percussionist Sivamani, John Anthony and Raja. Rahman is the founder of the Chennai based rock group, “Nemesis Avenue”. He played the keyboard and pi

Raj Television Network's maiden production venture "Kadhalna Summa Illai" will hit the screens for Pongal. At a time when, movies from Malayalam remakes have become a norm in Kollywood, director Illankannan has opted to redo a blockbuster Telugu movie "Gamyam". The movie features Ravikrishna, Kamalinee Mukherjee and newcomer Sharvanand in the lead roles. Speaking about the movie, Illankannan said, 'Kadhalna Summa Illai is a feel-good film that revolves around these three personalities. Ravikrishna and Sharvanand have played their part well. Kamalinee is a rare talent who combines good looks and performance. Sharvanand enacted the same role in the original too.' Raj TV, a prominent Tamil satellite Channel, is foraying to film production with this movie. Thanking the production house, Illankannan says, 'they had given me enough liberty. The movie has enough thrills and spills in it. It is about two youths, who have different outlooks on life and are op

BY,N.THYAGARAJAN Villu produced by Ayngaran International. It is the only film that exhibitors are willing to pay reasonable MG, while other films they are only taking the bookings. As of now the release schedule is as follows- AVM’s A Aa E Ee on Friday, January 9. The buzz on the “feel good family movie” is good, due to the 360 degree publicity campaign carried out by the producers. It is releasing worldwide in 85 screens, which is impressive for a small film. Ayngaran International’s Villu, is releasing in nearly 432 screens worldwide on Monday, January 12. It is a very wide release with 155 of them in overseas markets, the highest ever for a Tamil film. In Kerala, a Vijay fortress it is releasing in nearly 70 screens like a big Mohanlal or Mammootty film! The film releasing two days before the festival day is going to take a gargantuan opening. Sun Pictures has already bombarded its viewers with Padikkathavan trailer. The Dhanush-Tamannaah starrer will release in 250 screens worldwi