Sunday, February 13, 2011

Shankar Mahadevan launches online music academy

India's multiple National Film award winning music composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan has launched an online music academy, available on www.shankarmahadevanacademy.com.
Mahadevan has tied up with Clood On, a provider of virtual learning software, for this project to provide step-by-step training to students of all age groups living in the US.

"I noticed that in Indian classical music, the teaching methods are very unstructured. You cannot put it down in points anywhere. Whereas, if you go to Berkeley College of Music or Juilliard School just to learn the trumpet, for example, everything is structured," said Mahadevan.

Apart from the theory lessons, Mahadevan has also roped in teachers to take live classes online. "We are replicating two aspects of any form of learning when you go to a college: you have a textbook and you have a teacher standing in front of you. We have created a textbook OM (Online Music) Book, which can be accessible all the time, plus classes with a teacher are scheduled at a specific time so that you can virtually interact with her," he said.

The academy offers courses in Hindustani as well as Carnatic music. Each course lasts 12 weeks, and costs $240 as an introductory offer. Starting April, the course fee will be $300. The first batch of classes will begin on Mahadevan’s birthday, March 3.

Jr. NTR's marriage on May 5

The marriage date of Jr. NTR-Lakshmi Pranathi couple has been finalized.

According to the 'Lagna Patrika' written at 8:05 a.m. on February 13 at a traditional ceremony in the bride's residence in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, Jr. NTR will marry Narne Srinivasa Rao's daughter Lakshmi Pranathi on May 5.

Jr. NTR's father Harikrishna said that he will disclose the time and venue soon. Sources say that the venue is likely to be Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC).

Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Balakrishna, Daggubati Purandhareswari, Kalyan Ram and other family members attended the 'Lagna Patrika' which is considered one of the most important events before a marriage is solemnized.

Asin approached for Rana?

According to reliable sources, South Indian beauty Asin has been approached by the makers of South Indian superstar Rajinikanth's next film Ranato be directed by K.S. Ravikumar under the banner of Eros International and Chennai based Ocher Studios.

The sources said even a one-line summary of the script has been narrated to the actress and she is keen to team up with the super star, since the script fascinates her and the film has A.R. Rahman composing the tracks. Notably, Asin had worked with Ravikumar earlier in Varalaru.

Meanwhile, Rana is said to be a live action magnum opus with Rajinikanth playing a triple role. Made in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu, the film will go on floors in March and will hit screens in early 2012.

Ko release postponed

K.V. Anand's much awaited romantic-thriller Ko, which was ready to release during the Valentine weekend, has been postponed. In Ko, Karthika plays the role of an investigative journalist (Renuka) who, with the help of her photographer (played by Jiiva), gets a scoop which leads to problems. With Harris Jayaraj's mesmerizing music and Anand's never-seen-before locales, Ko is definitely a must-watch film in Tamil. More details on the new release date are awaited soon.


Source: http://tamil.galatta.com/entertainment/livewire/id/Ko_release_postponed_46973.html

New addition in Shankar's Nanban!

Tamil remake of the blockbuster Three Idiots, directed by Shankar and titled Nanban, is already on he floors now what with the first schedule of the shooting just wrapped up in Ooty. Meanwhile, Shankar seems to be adding up to the cast list. Last heard, Raghava Lawrence will be a part of Nanban in a role that was earlier offered to Prasanna. Prasanna could not honor the offer as he is busy with his other commitments.

Originally adapted in Hindi from Chetan Bhagat’s bestselling novel, Five Point Someone, Nanban has Vijay, S J Suryaah, Jiiva and Srikanth playing prominent roles with Ileyana and Anuya playing the female leads.

Genelia does it for Vijay’s Velayudham

Vijay-starrer Velayudham will be Genelia’s first film in which she will dub using her own voice. This north Indian actress, who has starred in many Tamil films earlier, has never lent her voice till now. However, Genelia feels that she has gained enough experience and is confident that her voice and accent will be accepted by the Tamil audience now.

Velayudham also has Hansika Motwani, Saranya Mohan, Pasupathy and MS Bhaskar in important roles. The film is directed by Jayam Raja and Vijay Anthony is scoring the music. It is produced by Aascar Films V Ravichandran.

Charan at Burma Telugu meet

Ramcharan attended the Telugu association meeting at Burma this week. The star was the chief guest at the 100th Burma Telugu association meeting at Yagoon.

Apparently over 4 lakh Telugu people live in Burma and Cherry was overwhelmed to be their guest.

"I loved the place, people and food here" the actor tweeted.The association is called Andhra Maharaja Sangham which has been operative since the past 100 years. The association conducts cultural fests with local Telugu groups every year.Since this was the 100th year, the association decided to invite Charan who readily agreed to be their guest.

Meanwhile, the government of AP in collaboration with Telugu University too conducted a All India Telugu Mahasabha at Berhampur in Orissa last week which was attended by Telugu poets, writers and literary scholars.

Genelia speaks in Tamil

The beauty of Tamil is that anyone coming to Tamil Nadu would love to learn the language and speak it on their own. The latest to join the list is Genelia D’Souza, the chirpy heroine of Kollywood.

Recently, the actress, who has been roped in to endorse a top brand, dubbed in Tamil for a commercial. And the ‘Santosh Subramaniam’ and ‘Uthamaputhiran’ girl is so excited and happy about it.

“I dubbed in Tamil for the first time for my ad,” she said and added: “I didn’t tell anyone for fear that it might not be perfect. But have got loads of compliments for it. Super… Happy….”

Genelia is currently sharing the screen space with Vijay in ‘Velayudham’, a film directed by ‘Jayam’ Raja, with whome she worked earlier in ‘Santosh Subramaniam’. She is playing the role of a television journalist in the action thriller.

Kajal Agarwal enters Bollywood

Kajal Agarwal who is still establishing her charisma in south Indian films has now got one more domain to challenge. The beauty has been signed for the Hindi remake of ‘Singam’ in which she will play the romantic lead opposite Ajay Devgan.  It was said that Anushka who did the Tamil version, was being considered for the role.

Kajal has been waiting for a good offer to enter Bollywood for quite sometime. Earlier there was news of her entering Bollywood with the Hindi remake of her Telugu blockbuster ‘Magadheera ‘.

‘Singam’ is being remade in Hindi by Reliance Big Pictures with Ajay Devgan playing the tough cop. Prakash Raj will essay the same role he did in Tamil. It will be directed by Rohit Shetty of Golmaal series fame. The project will start rolling this month and release in July.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Khaleja releasing in Tamil!

Prince Mahesh Babu's average Telugu flick Khaleja (2010), directed by Trivikram Srinivas and produced by Singanamala Ramesh under the banner of Kanakaratna Movies, is being dubbed in Tamil.

Notably, though Khaleja did not meet public expectations, it completed 100 days in Srinivasa Theatre, Chittoor. Anushka is the heroine. Music is by Mani Sharma, while cinematography is by Yash Butt and Sunil Patel.

The film revolves around Alluri Sitarama Raju (Mahesh Babu), a taxi driver. Subhashini (Anushka) is the girl who brings him bad luck and causes damage to his car and his body every time he meets her. He lands in Rajasthan to get a part of the insurance amount of a guy who died falling on his car. There, he again meets Subhashini, who is escaping from a gang of goons. Raju tries to save her and in his attempt, he is severely wounded and falls unconscious. When he wakes up, Raju finds himself in a village in Andhra Pradesh where all the people consider him like God. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Anwar dubbed in Tamil

Young Malayalam superstar Prithviraj's 2010 film Anwar, directed by Amal Neerad, is being dubbed in Tamil. According to sources, the Tamil version will be released on February 25 across Tamil Nadu.

Set in the backdrop of the Coimbatore bomb blast, the film opens with the introduction of a special team under Stalin Manimaran (Prakashraj), who arrests a local community leader Babu Sait (Lal) as a suspect in the bomb blast case. A Muslim youth Anwar (Prithviraj) is also arrested while passing on some hawala money and is sent to jail with Babu Sait and his team.

Babu Sait helps Anwar in getting bail and lures him into his activities. Soon, Anwar becomes the most trusted and obedient right hand of Babu Sait. Anwar succeeds in planting a bomb in the police headquarters and is soon introduced to Basheer Bhai (Sampath), who selects him for a big dangerous project of chain blasts. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

KS Ravi Kumar's explanation to Oviya

Oviya was quite upset that her role in Manmadhan Ambu appeared more like a cameo with just a couple of scenes included in the film. The actress had been ruing that it was perhaps a wrong to decision to have agreed to the role but was satisfied that she got to star in a Kamal Haasan starrer, directed by KS Ravi Kumar.

However, Oviya has now come to terms that her scenes in Manmadhan Ambu were edited for technical reasons and this was explained to her by the film’s director KSR. She now seems to have found some consolation after KSR’s explanation and has moved on to concentrate in the Kannada and Telugu remake of Kalavani, which is being directed by Sargunam.

Lal in ‘Makeup Man’

Superstar Mohanlal will come up in a cameo in the new movie by Shafi titled as 'Makeup Man'. He will appear in the promo as the superstar giving away an important award to Jayaram, who play the lead role of ‘Makeup Man’ Balu in the film. The shoot for the promo was made by Harinair in the sets of 'China Town' at Ramojirao film city. ‘Makeup Man’ featuring Jayaram and Sheela will get to theatres in a week.


Source: http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/malayalam/article/63800.html

Cheran screens 'Yudham Sei' for Facebook friends


Cheran always thinks and does things differently. One such thing was witnessed on Sunday. Cheran as a unique gesture organised a special show of his recent film 'Yudham Si' at a popular multiplex in Chennai. He had called all his Facebook friends living in Chennai to see the film.

The crowd was well assorted from doctors to software engineers to writers to ordinary people. After the show a box was kept outside the hall and the friends were requested to donate whatever they could. Later the contributions were sent to a children hospital in the city. Nice gesture, isn’t it?

Selva’s film with Kamal on. Yuvan too joins

It seems like the project will happen sooner than expected. Sources say Selvaraghavan will start directing Kamal Haasan from as early as April there by realizing one of his wildest dreams.

Selva is expected to wrap up his thriller ‘Irandam Ulagam’ latest by end of March so that his film with Kamal may be officially launched in April. Selva recently floored Kamal with his one liner and the legend has asked Selva to begin working on the complete script.

If sources are to be believed Kamal Haasan will be playing a radical revolutionary. Earlier when news appeared saying Kamal and Selva are joining hands, there were skeptic reactions as well.

Things are fine now. Another high light of this film would be Yuvan Shankar Raja returning to his good friend Selvaraghavan.

Suriya's heart beats for heart

Suriya's commitment to the society is an open secret. In the past, the actor was part of many awareness campaigns and he himself runs a trust which offers educational assistance to deserving students.

And now, Suriya has tied up with a top Chennai-based hospital to raise awareness on heart diseases. Along with the students of Loyola College, he will take part in an event titled Billion Hearts Beating Campaign today.

"The Billion Hearts Beating campaign is a national movement that seeks to raise awareness levels and drive positive action towards preventing heart disease. I am happy to be part of it," he says.

Recently, Suriya said that he is planning to expand his Agaram Foundation in a bigger way, so that more children would get the benefits. "I want to take Agaram Foundation to the next level. It is at present bearing the education expenses of 150 students. Next year the number should touch 300. And it should grow in the coming years," he said.

‘Mankatha’: Last schedule in Mumbai

With little more than two months left for ‘Mankatha’ to hit the screens, the cast and crew of ‘Thala’ Ajith’s 50th film are extremely busy with the project. “The team led by Venkat Prabhu is working overtime to get things right,” sources say.

“The shooting is almost over but for the last schedule which is planned in Mumbai. It will start in the last week of this month. Important scenes on Ajith and Trisha will be shot there,” they maintain.

Confirming this, Trisha, who will join the ‘Mankatha’ team in Mumbai on February 26, says, “I already had a blast working with Ajith, Venkat and others. Eagerly looking forward for the Mumbai schedule.”

Claiming that he film will be a complete entertainer, the actress adds: “It is going to be a rollicking movie and a treat to the audience.” Buzz is that ‘Mankatha’ is about gambling that takes place during cricket matches.

Ram Charan in Burma

My friend, who lives in Burma, told me that she saw Ram Charan in Burma. I wonder if it was a vacation or shooting for a film?? It all started when she messaged me asking me if I watch Telugu movies. I said yes and then she told me that Ram visited. I thought it was pretty cool :D :)

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Sasikumar to join Mollywood

One of the interesting artiste and director that happened to Tamil cinema in the last five years, Sasikumar of 'Subramaniapuram' fame will join Mollywood in a couple of months. He will be donning the lead role in the new movie to be directed by Johny Antony titled as 'Masters'. Prithviraj will be the other hero of this movie which will have a different storyline by debutante Jinu Abraham.

Prithviraj and Sasikumar will appear as bosom friends in this movie, who try different ways to fulfill their social responsibility. 'Masters' will also feature Jagathy Sreekumar, Vijayaraghavan, Biju Menon, Suresh Krishana, Sadhiq, Anilmurali in important roles. B Sharathcharan will produce this movie in the banner of sincere cinema.

Sasikumar's latest movies in Tamil include Samuthirakani's Easan and Poraali.

It was a fake interview: Nayantara

A noted Telugu magazine recently published an "exclusive interview" of actress Nayantara saying she has stopped giving dates and is planning to quit films after completing her ongoing Telugu project Sri Rama Rajyam. It also said that Prabhu Deva asked her to quit films, since they are getting married by the year end.

However, actress Nayantara has now stated that the said interview is fake. Speaking to the media from the sets of Sri Rama Rajyam at Hyderabad, Nayantara said, "I'm shell-shocked reading a fabricated interview of mine published in a Telugu magazine. I swear that I have not spoken to the publication. They are trying to sensationalise things and blow it out of proportion by publishing an interview that never took place!"

"I will definitely take it up with the authorities concerned and ask them for proof of the interview. Just because I don't react to many media-made stories about me does not mean I will take things lying down," she added.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

S.J.Suryah and Jiiva in Nanban shooting pics

Here is a pic of the shooting of S.J. Suryah's Cameo in Nanban :))


Here is a pic of Actor Jiiva during the shooting of Nanban


Gotten from : Tamil Film Update 

Genelia completes Urumi shoot

Bubbly girl Genelia has completed the shoot of Urumi, directed by India’s most proficient cinematographer-turned-filmmaker Santosh Sivan in Tamil, Hindi, English and Malayalam. "That was a wrap for me on Urumi. Prithviraj is truly a fabulous co-star and Santosh Sivan is the bestest ever! I'm so glad I did this film, it marks my entry into the Malayalam industry. Fingers crossed, but raring to go," she tweeted.

According to Prithviraj, the climax scene is the most massive in Mollywood till now. Starring Prabhu Deva, Arya, Nithya Menon, Tabu and Vidya Balan in pivotal roles, Urumi is based on the attempted murder of Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama, who arrived in Kappad near Calicut, on May 20, 1498. The film is about a group of men who plotted to kill the famous explorer Vasco Da Gama for his cruel deeds.

Monica's fake profile

Monica, the lovely lass who stole many hearts, is now concerned about her fake IDs on a social networking site. It seems that two users have created separate IDs in her name and are pretending to be the actress. They have uploaded images and have also added many industry biggies to their friends' list, which has really troubled the actress. In reality, Monica doesn't have an account on any social networking sites.






Source: http://tamil.galatta.com/entertainment/livewire/id/Monica_fake_profile_46801.html

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Mysskin's Manja Selai



By the title I think you know what I'm going to write/talk about. Yes, its about Mysskin's usage of a yellow sari(manja selai) in the item songs in his movies. He has done that since his directional debut. I really want to know why, does he like yellow? or yellow sari's?? Well,the songs are always so catchy :D I never stop listening to them :)


Chithiram Pesuthadi
Cast: Nairen,Bhavana
Year:2006
Song: Vazha Meenu
Item Song performed by: Malavika, Gana Ulaganathan
This was Mysskin's first film as a director, started his yellow journey :D 





Anjathey
Cast: Nairen,Ajmal,Prasanna,Vijayalakshmi
Year: 2008
Song: Kathala Kannala 
Item Song performed by: Snigdha Akolkar
The song became a super hit! :D Snigidha also became popular, and the film was success. :)





Yuddham Sei
Cast: Cheran,Dipa Shah
Year: 2011
Song: Kannitheevu Ponna
Item Song performed by: Neetu Chandra & Director Ameer
The movie just released a day ago, its been getting good reviews, but not as good as Anjathey. This time the 'manja selai' song has been performed by a more popular actress Neetu, Ameer. Its not as catchy as the previous ones, but still catchy. 





I didn't include Nandhala because it didn't have an item song at all. Nandhala was the movie in which Mysskin debuted in as an actor;he also directed it. 


I always get so addicted to the songs cause they are so foot tapping. :D For the first two songs the music director was Sundar C. Babu while for the last one it was some called K. Maybe thats why the last one wasn't so catchy. ? I seem to get so excited when I see the songs on TV :D always watch them in awe. :D If you know why Mysskin uses yellow sari's in his songs, please do tell. :)) Because I don't know, and I have never seen any of his interviews. Though I have read one, but it doesn't say anything about yellow saris. 

Makeup Man Promo

Vijay, Vishal, Vikram in Mani Ratnam's film

Veteran filmmaker Mani Ratnam, sources say, has decided to cast Vijay, Vishal and Vikram in his next film. The director is getting the script ready for his next film and is penning it down with these three stars in mind.

Mani Ratnam is one of the few directors who cast multi-heroes in his films and tasted success in films like Agni Natchathiram, which had Karthik and Prabhu; Iruvar, which saw the coming together of two legends Mohanlal and Prakash Raj and Thalapathy which had two superstars Rajinikanth and Mammootty.

This time the ace director will be instrumental in bringing the three current biggies of Kollywood together – Vishal, Vikram and Vijay.

'Gaddama', my best so far: Kavya

As her latest movie 'Gaddama' opens to good reviews all across Kerala, Kavya Madhavan who played the title character opines it as her best character on screen, till date. The movie which opened in 40 centres yesterday has her as a housemaid tortured by her Arab sponsor and his family. Based on a real story, Kavya expects this to be an eye-opener to many women who dreams of making it big in Gulf, by doing petty jobs.

Impressed by the movie and Kavya's performance as the central character, Manju Dileep and Samyuktha Biju, the yesteryear's heroines of Molly wood were seen endorsing the film ‘Gaddama’ through its posters and television promos, asking  every woman to find time to watch the flick and promote it.

'Payyans' is ready

Jayasuriya will start his 2011 with the movie ‘Payyans’. Directed by Leo Thaddhevoos who debuted with 'Pachamarathanalil' the movie will have him as an youngster who is a bit too cool about life. Josy is the name of the character of Jayasuriya who is least disciplined in every aspects of life. ‘Angadi Theru’ heroine Anjali, will debut into Malayalam with the movie which will have Lal and Rohini playing the parents of the lead character.

'Payyans' which is in its final stages of post production will get to theatres this month.

Puri plans to remake ‘Sholay’ with Prabhas, Gopichand

Puri Jagannath who gave a big hit like Pokiri with Maheshbabu and rewrote the 80-year old history of the Telugu cinema is presently directing Rana Daggubati for ‘Nenu Naa Rakshasi’.

Now a big gossip is making rounds in Film Nagar that Puri Jagannath is planning to remake Bollywood blockbuster ‘Sholay’ of Amitabh, Dharmendra and Hemamalini.

The sensational director is making efforts to rope in mass hero Gopichand and Young Rebel Star Prabhas for the two lead roles. With the heroes of the younger generation showing eagerness in playing multi-starrers, this film would be a real feast for the Telugu audiences in general and their fans in particular.

Let us wait and watch how this project will materialize.

‘Veppam’ of Naani to be dubbed as ‘Sega’

Naani and Nitya Menon paired up for a Telugu film ‘Ala Modalayindi’ directed by Nandini Reddy and produced by KL Damodar Prasad on the banner of Sri Rajith Films and the film was running with houseful crowds.

Even before this film, the combination of the hero and heroine was proved a hit pair in a Tamil film ‘Veppam’ directed by Anjana Ali Khan and produced by maverick director Gautham Menon.

The success of ‘Ala Modalayindi’ prompted the producers to dub the film into Telugu and efforts are being made to complete all the post- production works as early as possible.

As per information the Telugu version of the film was titled ‘Sega’ and Naani is playing the role of a slum boy.

Jnr NTR wedding on May 5

Junior NTR who got engaged to Narne Lakshmi Pranathi is all set to get married on May 5th. Sources close to the actor say that the Lagnapatrika will be written in the next week and the wedding is likely to happen in Hyderabad on May 5th.

NTR got engaged to  Lakshmi Pranathi, the daughter of Narne Srinivasa Rao about an year ago. Though the marriage was rumoured to have happened in December last year, it got postponed as Tarak was busy shooting for Shakti. He even threw a huge bachelor's party at N Grill restraunt in the city for Tollywood friends coinciding his birthday last year.

Recently there were rumours that the marriage has been called off due to NTR's behaviour. However, NTR has rubbished these rumours and confirmed that he will get married to Lakshmi Pranathi and the wedding date is being finalised. Since NTR's Shakti shoot would have been complete by then, he will have ample time to spend with his wife and enjoy marital bliss.

Sasikumar's new film from April

Director – actor Sasikumar is not put down by the under performance of his much expected ‘Easan’. The film could find favours only with the city audience and the non-urban fans expected another ‘Subramanaipuram’ from Sasikumar.
 
But all that is past and Sasikumar is up for his next. He is all set to launch a film titled ‘Poralai’ under his Company Productions. It will be a reversal of roles this time as Sasikumar will act in the movie and his best friend Samuthirakani will direct. 
 
Other leading actors confirmed so far are Allari Naresh and Ganja Karuppu. The leading ladies and other actors are being finalized.  
 
Music will be by Taj Noor who made a sensational debut with ‘Vamsam’ last year. Three songs have already been composed and ready. The shooting of ‘Porali’ will begin in April and the official announcement will happen in a few days.

Vikram turns singer again

We all know Vikram’s penchant for singing. In the past, the actor enthralled his fans by crooning for films like ‘Gemini’ and ‘Kanthaswamy’. And now, he has turned a singer again, this time for his forthcoming movie directed by Vijay.

The song ‘Paappa…. Paappa’, composed by G V Prakash Kumar, was recorded recently. “Vikram has good music knowledge and the song has come up well. It will sure become a chartbuster,” says the music composer.

Interestingly, Sainthavi, to whom Prakash will tie the knot soon, has also sung a number in the same film. “The song “Vizhigalil oru vaanavil” too has all the qualities to top the charts,” Prakash says with a smile.

In the meantime, the hot and happening music composer of Tamil cinema is making his foray in Bollywood, with a film titled ‘Joker’. He is also singing a number in the movie. “I am happy about my debut in Hindi,” he says.

'Avan Ivan' completed

Bala is a director who will be in the news with whatever he does. The latest being that he has completed the shooting of ‘Avan Ivan’.

Purist Bala is known for his long schedules and time taken for perfection. 'Avan Ivan' was launched on January 25 last year and when it started Bala actually surprised everyone by saying that he will complete the film in record 90 days.
But Bala being Bala took his time and has finally wrapped up the shooting yesterday. Even by his scale it the fastest ever film of his.

The completion of ‘Avan Ivan’ is a relief not only to Bala. The major liberation is for Vishal who had been biting his nails for wanting to start his new film to be directed by Prabhu Deva. This new film was scheduled to start by December but delayed as Vishal was still with Bala in Theni.

‘Avan Ivan’ stars Arya and Vishal in daringly different roles sculpted by Bala. Janani Aiyar is the heroine. It is expected both the lead actors will get the break of their career with this film. ‘Avan Ivan’ is slated for release in April.

Friday, February 4, 2011

No more 'Bollywood': Salman Khan


Salman Khan has grabbed the entire Indian movie industry's attention after he called for a ban to the word 'Bollywood', which is used to refer to the Hindi film industry, a word which is an imitation of Hollywood used to mention the American movie industry. Not just Bollywood, the South Indian movie industries are called Kollywood, Tollywood, Mollywood and Sandalwood, all apparently derived from Hollywood and Bollywood. Hollywood by itself has nothing to do with movies, except that Hollywood, a locality in Los Angeles, was where the early movie studios were housed.

The first mention of the word 'wood' with a film industry in India,was Tollywood, the Bengali film industry based in Tollygunge. After the Bombay film industry overtook its Bengali counterpart in the 70s, they too followed suit and coined the word Bollywood, which was a blend of the word Bombay and wood. The other movie industries in India followed the naming practice by coining the word with the place or language they were working with. Salman has also suggested the usage of the word Hi-Fi (Hindi Films) to denote the Hindi movie industry. Salman's comments received an abundance of positive responses from his colleagues and fans. We believe the same call will follow in South Indian movie circles.

'Wood' named film industries
Bulawood: Fijian film industry
Chollywood: Peruvian film industry
Dhaliwood: Bangladeshi film industry
Hollywood North: Canadian film industry
Kariwood: Pakistani film industry
Kollywood Nepal: Nepali film industry
Nollywood: Nigerian film industry
Pollywood: Pashto language movie industry
Sollywood: Sindhi language movie industry

Shakti: First Jr. NTR film to be dubbed in Tamil!

Shakti,Tollywood's young superstar Jr. NTR's highest budget movie ever, will be dubbed in Tamil. This Mehar Ramesh directed film, made with a whopping Rs. 45 crores, is presently progressing at a brisk pace in various locations.

Apparently, this is the first time a Jr. NTR film is being dubbed in Tamil. The Tamil version of this action-based socio-fantasy will have the same title: Shakti. Ileana is the heroine. The film is produced by C. Aswini Dutt under the banner of Vyjayanthi Movies. Mani Sharma is composing its music.

Siddique on Vijay’s rough patch

Vijay’s Kaavalan directed by Siddique is a huge success despite all the initial hiccups and the star once again proved that he can romance, create a laugh riot and emote with élan.

In an interview recently, Siddique said that he is very happy with the response Kaavalan has garnered and that he is going to remake it in Telugu too. It is noteworthy that Kaavalan itself is a remake of Siddique’s Malayalam film Bodyguard and it is being remade in Hindi too.

The director says that the biggest challenge about remaking a film in different languages is to make it suit to the mentality of the audience and also work on the different budgets that each industry offers. But he also says that there is scope for making the film better and can rectify the mistakes that have been made previously. Justifying this statement, Siddique says, “People who watched the Malayalam and the Tamil version tell me that the Tamil one is better.” He added that Vijay was going through a rough patch not because of lack of talent but because he did not get good roles to play. 


Source: http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/feb-11-01/kaavalan-vijay-04-02-11.html

He tried to drown Sameera

No one would have faith in their directors like Sameera Reddy did. Apparently, when Director Gautham Menon offered her Nadunisi Naigal, the leggy lass accepted it without asking for any other details. “Later when I heard that Veera will be playing the main role I thought it was a big joke. But all credit to Veera, I think he has come a long way and he worked very hard to prove himself,” says Sam.

Veera has been Gautham’s assistant director since Vaaranam Aayiram and so Sameera has known him for long and they are immensely comfortable with each other. Veera is also all praises for Sameera and observes that her role in NN is tough and demanding which is generally scripted for heroes and that the actress did full justice to it. They also let it slip that there is a scene in the film where Veera, who plays a psycho, drags Sameera by the hair and tries to drown her in a tub of water. Now, that sends a chill down our spine. We cannot wait for the Nadunisi Naigal to be unleashed.             


Source: http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/feb-11-01/nadunisi-naigal-gautham-menon-04-02-11.html

Shocking news for Yuvan’s fans!

Yuvan Shankar Raja has said in a micro-blogging site that he will refrain from singing henceforth. This news has naturally come as a shock to all Yuvan fans who look forward to his reverberating voice in his albums.

The musician has reportedly said that he had enough films on hands to compose music and he would like to concentrate on it rather than singing. Yuvan, however, says that this is not a permanent decision but he will resume singing after some time.

Yuvan has a long line-up of releases Avan Ivan, Billa 2, Irandam Ulagam, Mankatha and Adhi Bagwan.

Who were there at Silambarasan’s b’day party

Silambarasan celebrated his birthday with close friends in the industry. The actor was seen in the company of several young stars and music directors at a quite party. Notable among those who were present to wish the young actor were Abbas, Premji Amaren, Vaibhav, Sonia Agarwal, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar, Sona, editor Antony, Ganesh Janardhanan, Divya Dharsini, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Dharan, Vincent Ashokan, Shammu, and Vijay Vasanth.


Source: http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/feb-11-01/silambarasan-04-02-11.html

Vijay and cousin Vikranth’s fight

Vijay’s cousin Vikranth has expressed a desire to play baddie in one of his films and an opportunity to exchange blows with him. The starlet says that he knows that Vijay enjoys wide popularity among the masses and that is the reason he has a strong desire to fight with him on screen.

There are chances that his wish may come true soon. With Vikranth playing a role in Sattapadi Kuttram, film directed by Vijay’s dad director SA Chandrasekar and Vijay agreeing to do a guest role in that film, hopefully he should get an opportunity to fight his popular cousin.

Salt & Pepper continues

Director Aashiq Abu is continuing with the shoot of his latest humorous movie 'Salt & Pepper' at the capital city. Subtitled as 'a story on the making of a dosa', Lal and Asif Ali don the lead roles, while actor-director Baburaj appears in a full length role of a brahmachary, hanuman devotee, and an excellent cook in this movie. Mydhili and Shwetha Menon are the heroines of the movie. Scripted by debutantes Shyam Pushkaran and Dineesh Nair, 'Salt N Pepper' is produced by a Bombay based production house, Lusam creations. The movie will also feature a song by the famous band 'Avial', apart from a couple set to music by Bijibal. 'Salt & Pepper' will grace the theatres as a midsummer release.


Source: http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/malayalam/article/63660.html

Pawan's 'LAK' remake titled 'Theenmaar'

Pawan Kalyan and Trisha starrer film is officially titled 'Theenmaar'.This film whose shooting is making brisk progress is being directed by Jayant Paranji and is a remake of Hindi blockbuster 'Love Aaj Kal'.

Though a lot of rumours did the rounds that 'Lovely' is the title given to it, the film unit decided to go with 'Theenmaar' and the tagline is 'Celebration of love'.

Currently the film is shooting in Mysore for the final schedule and will complete shoot by mid February and head to post-production work.'Theenmaar' will release at the end of March.

The incredible role of Suriya in 'Maatraan'

You have heard of double roles, triple roles and even nano and deca roles played by our heroes in a film. Right from MGR to Karthi, multiple roles have always been a great source for mass entertainment. 
 
But the role Suriya will be playing in the upcoming KV Anand directed film 'Maatraan' will surprise you to the hilt. 
 
Sources reveal Suriya will be playing a unique role of a conjoined twin popularly known as Siamese twins, whose bodies are joined. Both bodies have to east, sleep and do every other jobs together. Oh what a role!
 
It takes all the guts of the mind to accept the role and our sincere admirations to Suriya for doing perhaps the most challenging role ever in Tamil cinema.


Source: http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/63671.html

Bala says no to Rajini, Kamal

It’s every director’s wish in Kollywood to make at least one film with top stars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. But Bala, quite like his films, is straight contrast to this popular trend of decades.

“I will never direct a film with either Rajinikanth or Kamal Haasan. Because they too would not come forward to work with me,” the director of ‘Sethu’, ‘Nanda’, ‘Pithamagan’ and ‘Naan Kadavul’ says.

Bala, who insisted at the recent directors’ association function that he would receive a gold card only from the hands of his mentor Balumahendra, has named his daughter Akila, the name of Balumahendra’s wife.

For the national award winning director, his mentor’s wife is like his mother. He says: “Since it is not easy to call my daughter with that name often, she has a nickname Prarthana too,” he says.

R Parthiban’s ‘Ambuli’

R Parthiban is once again at making things in a different way. The actor-director is all set to play the lead role in a film titled ‘Ambuli’, which is being claimed as the ‘first stereoscopic Tamil 3D thriller’.

Written and directed by Hari Shankar and Harish Narayanan, the duo which made ‘Orr Iravu’, a thriller that won critical acclaims last year, the shooting of ‘Ambuli’ starts from today (February 4).

Produced by V Loganathan on KTVR Creative Reels banner, posters of ‘Ambuli’ features Parthiban in a totally different getup. “It is an experimental film which is set in a new genre,” sources say.

Please note Parthiban's next film in Tamil is 'Vithagan' and he has recently signed a Malayalam movie, titled 'Melvilasam'.

'Sri Ramarajyam' my last movie: Nayantara

South hottie Nayantara who is playing a devotional role of Sita in Bapu's Sriramarajyam announced that she will not act in movies after this film. Sources close to the actress say that her boyfriend actor Prabhu Deva asked Nayantara not to act in movies anymore after this film and hence she took the decision.

She also rubbished rumours that her relationship with Prabhu Deva came to an end. She clarified that things are absolutely fine between her and Prabhu Deva.

"Tamil actor Vijay asked me to play a role in Tamil version of 'Bodyguard'. But I refused because I am not going to act anymore. 'Sri Ramarajyam' is a movie I am proud of. I feel blessed to play the role of Sita who is the epitome of Indian woman. Besides, acting in Bapu's film and sharing screenspace with Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Balaiah is memorable. I am glad I am bidding farewell to film industry with Sita's role which has huge scope for acting" Nayantara said.

Oviya sulks over ‘Manmadhan Ambu’

Though there were reports that Oviya was unhappy with the way her character was portrayed in ‘Manmadhan Ambu’, the Kamal Haasan starrer directed by K S Ravikumar, she maintained silence so far.

But now, the actress has broken her silence for the first time, in an interview to a Tamil weekly. “I agreed to do the film since the cast and crew had big names like Kamal and Ravikumar,” she said.

Oviya added: “I attended the shooting of ‘Manmadhan Ambu’ with great expectations. Now, I am clueless how to reply to questions from those who are grilling me after watching the film.”

“Only the director should have an answer,” the ‘Kalavani’ girl said on her ‘blink-and-you'll-miss’ appearance in the film, adding: “Other than this, I don’t want to talk anything about Manmadhan Ambu.”