Ajith fans condemns against Ananda Vikatanajith

It is well known that Ananda Vikatan is the leading Tamil weekly magazine published from Chennai. It is known for its huge circulation and has its reputation over 85 years. Recently, they have a started a fun magazine called ‘Time Pass’ which will have funny cartoons and news about film stars.

Previous week they have published morphed pictures of yesteryear hit pair in place of present day hit films. This was garnered lot of attention from the readers. In this week they have published a front cover which featured Ajith in a lady get-up. This in turn irked Ajith’s fans in social networking sites.

Many fan pages in Face book have published Ananda Vikatan’s phone number and requested their followers to raise question against the magazine. Some of the fans condemned the magazine. Let’s see what the magazine officials react to this issue.

UP police to watch Singam for motivation

The UP police will now be watching films like Singam, Dabangg and Ab Tak Chappan to get motivated. UP ADG, Law and Order, Arun Kumar has issued a 5-page circular asking for special screenings of films that show a policeman as a superman. He is hopeful that such films will inspire the cops to do their job better.

The cop hero in ‘Dabangg’ knows how to win the confidence of the people and tackle the goons. They feel that these movies can motivate the state police to work for the people. He also said that, “Despite being corrupt to an extent, the cops in these films protect the law and destroy criminals and their gangs. The victory of a police officer against the criminals in politics is inspiring and the cops need to understand this”.

Ironman 3 ruling the BOX Office in the south

Iron Man 3 has opened incredibly well across all SPI Cinemas’ properties. We have about 57 shows scheduled for the weekend across Sathyam, Escape, S2 Theyagaraja, S2 Perambur and thecinema in Coimbatore and are completely sold out at Sathyam and Escape for all shows. The other locations are soon filling up as well and we expect to have a houseful weekend at all our cinemas. —- Swaroop Reddy, President, SPI Cinemas

Iron man is huge at centres like Cochin and Bangalore. Even the dubbed version across the north opened as good as Bollywood block buster. Both 3D and 2 D version rocks. This was expected from the successful franchise Iron Man.

Love my Hindi-speaking Dhanush: Aishwarya

Tamil actor Dhanush’s wife and brother are wowed by his debut Hindi movie “Raanjhnaa”, which shows him speaking in Hindi.

Praising her husband, who she had directed in “3″, Aishwarya tweeted: “The trailer of ‘Raanjhnaa’ is out! OMG I love it. Check it out. Love my Hindi talking (speaking) Dhanush.”

Selvaraghavan, Dhanush’s brother, tweeted: “‘Raanjhnaa’ rocks! My thambi (brother) is speaking Hindi. Proudest moment for all of us.”

Directed by Anand L. Rai, the film also features Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol and Swara Bhaskar. It has music by A.R. Rahman.

The trailer of the film released Wednesday and seems to have impressed others as well.

Filmmaker Venkat Prabhu said: “Awesome Dhanush! Brilliant as usual and I am sure he is again going to make us proud.”

Producer Dhayanidhi Alagiri said: “‘Raanjhnaa” trailer! Like always he is good at what he does. Great work Dhanush”

Gouravam Movie Review

Starring: Allu Sirish, Yami Gautam,Prakash Raj
Director: Radha Mohan
Producer: Prakash Raj
Banner: Duet Movies
Music: Thaman

Allu Arjun’s Brother Allu Sirish’s debut movie, Gauravam released today in Tamil and Telugu with lot of expectations. Prakash Raj has produced this film under his home production banner.The story line is quite unique.The Gauravam team should be appreciated for taking this dare step.
story:

Arjun (Sirish) is a rich kid who comes to village in search of his friend Shankar. He comes to know that Shankar eloped with Rajeshwari, a girl of upper caste. And no body knows about their whereabouts. Disturbed by the plight of Shankar’s father (LB Sri Ram), Arjun decides to stay in the village and tries to investigate in to the matter. Later, he takes on the casteism in the village with the help of his friends and media. Will they find Shankar? Will they set right the problems in the village forms the rest.

Prakash Raj has a son who is also cruel minded.Both of them tells Sirish that they will give and take the lives for the pride of their family.They are not bothered about their girl.However,Sirish wants to unravel the mystery and continues his hunt.Sirish goes back to his place and motivates all his engineering friends and brings them to the village and starts to fight against Prakash Raj’s family.Slowly the issue gains the attention of the media and with the fuss & buzz that comes along takes the message to the centre.Nasser played the role of a union minister & his daughter Yami Gautham donned the role of a lawyer.Finally the mystery unfolds with the help of all these characters .

Performance:
One should appreciate Allu Sirish for choosing this subject. But his efforts on screen do not score any good marks. He is totally clueless in emoting required emotions. And also struggled a lot in dances and fights. He still seemed an unfinished product.

Yami Gautam looked beautiful and young. She has the fresh appeal but her character lacked any depth or connect to the story . LB Sri Ram is good as a worried father. Prakash Raj’s character not used properly. Brahmaji is okay and rest of them are good in their limited roles.

Technical Aspects:

The two songs in the movie are really good and are embedded well in the story. The back ground score in some places is really good. There is very little scope for dances in the songs.

Radha Mohan as always came up with a intriguing subject. But he failed miserably in projecting it. Characterizations were not perfect some of them looked overboard and some looked totally under used.

Highlights:

Script
Prakash Raj’s performance is very good
Yami Gautham Beautiful looks
Direction is decent
Music is good

Disadvantages:

Climax is predictable
Allu Sirish
Poor characterizations
no excitement

Verdict: Good message oriented movie.can be watched once

Gautam Menon – Suriya Dhruva Nachatiram from June 1

Gautam Menon confirmed his next movie Dhruva Nachatiram which will have Suriya as the main lead and the movie is produced under Photon Kathas. There were many speculations about Suriya-Gautam Menon film since no official announcement was made. Gautam Menon cleared the rumors by his official announcement.

He tweeted, “Nothing tentative about this…The film is called Dhruva Nachatiram…We have started work and filming with my friend Suriya starts June 1.” Official cast and crew details are awaited.

Suriya will do both Lingusamy and Gautam Menon films simultaneously. Lingusamy film will start from August. Meanwhile, Suriya is busy with Singam-2 under Hari’s direction. Anushka and Hansika are playing the female leads.

Kochadaiyaan teaser not for Tamil New Year

Rajnikanth’s most anticipated movie “Kochadaiyaan” post-production works are progressing at a brisk pace. The movie will simultaneously hit the screens in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English. The movie is touted to be India’s first 3D performance capturing film, Kochadiyaan also features Deepika Padukone, Jackie Shroff, Shobhana, Aadi Pinisetty, R Sarath Kumar and Nassar.

There were reports that Kochadaiyaan first look teaser will be released on Tamil New Year, but now the director of the movie Soundarya Ashwin has rubbished these rumors. She said that “Hey guys teaser release on April 14 (Tamil New Year) is a rumor. We are all working hard towards releasing a trailer soon though. But you can expect some new stills coming this week”.

Settai Movie Review

Cast : Arya , Hansika , Anjali , Santhanam

Director : Kannan

Music : SS Thaman

Producer : U TV Motion Pictures

From the little I have seen and heard about Delhi Belly, I understand that the general reception had been divisive. Remaking such a film may not have been the brightest of idea, especially when you planning to omit the part that actually made it good in the first place. R. Kannan’s previous attempt at remaking a popular Hindi film hardly went well. Say what you will about Jab We Met, but you cannot deny the fact that Kanden Kadhalai was devoid of any charm the former film had. When you remake a film and don’t create a better product, you have failed as a director. But ending up with something that is, inarguably, very inferior to the original, you have failed miserably. So, yes. Settai is a very mediocre outcome from a clearly promising material. Am I surprised? No.

Excuse the pun, but Settai is not just a watered-down version of Delhi Belly, it is a version that never really understood why the original film worked. Besides the effortless and judicious use of cuss words, the original was very open when it came to discussing sex. Settai only offers us a few lazy winks and witless double entendres, coming across as cheap and gutless. If you want to make an adult joke, for chrissake, go ahead and do it. Cut the conservative crap; Tamil audience has had enough of all this babying nonsense. Are you really expecting us to laugh at words rhyming with Sottai, Maadu and Thanni while leaving the rest to our imagination? I mean, come on! We’re in 2013.

Under the pretext of “making it suitable for Tamil audience”, Settai lost all of Delhi Belly’s crackling humor and gained a whole lot of needless songs, which pop up at the wrongest of places. Settai lacks the thrill that makes Crime Caper films work. Thanks to the bevy of duets, the pace is badly hit. The central story keeps you mildly invested, as you sit there waiting, hoping the at least next one-liner from Santhanam would be funny. Excuse me for my poor choice of words, but when done tastefully, toilet humor can be very amusing. Here, after a point, the entire “upset stomach” subplot becomes repetitive. It does nothing to change or even tangentially affect the course of the actual story.

Firstly, setting the film in Mumbai makes not a speck of sense. There could be many reasons for making such a big creative decision; the main reason being the story appearing too alien for the milieu. A film like Thuppaki wouldn’t have worked had it been set in Chennai because of the scale it demanded. But in a pair of capable hands, Settai could have been wonderfully adapted to Tamil. The real reason why Settai takes place in Mumbai is because the a section of the creative team behind this film is so inept that they couldn’t even be bothered to re-imagine the film. Almost all the locations are exactly the same. The film certainly looks visually appealing but anyone could have directed it.

The narrative sequence towards the end is a total mess and the film comes to a jarring halt. It is clear to me that a good story is hidden inside Settai; it’s just that the treatment does no justice to it. The actors don’t do much to elevate the film. Santhanam’s performance is indifferentiable from his previous works. Premji was surprisingly restrained- thank God for that. The others look just pretty as required. Anjali was really convincing though. She’s the only person who looks and acts according to the demands of her roles.

Verdict – A very unimaginative remake which is passably funny

Nayanthara Love Story postponed

The release of Nagarjuna-Nayanthara starrer Greeku Veerudu which was supposed to hit the screens on April 19th has been postponed to April 26th. Nayanthara plays the female lead in this flick and it will also be released in Tamil under the title Love Story.
Since it is Nayan’s comeback film, there are huge expectations on it. The film, directed by K Dasaradh, is touted to be a romantic entertainer. Along with Nag and Nayan, the film also has Meera Chopra in an important role. The film, which has sentiments in equal dose, is expected to release in both Telugu and Tamil

Revathi divorce verdict on April 22

actress Revathi and Suresh Menon who had married in the mid-eighties, in October, 2012, filed separate cases with the Family Court seeking mutual legal separation from the other. The final verdict on the case is to be passed on 22nd April by the Family court in Chennai.
The duo fell in love while Revathi was acting in Prema Pasam and married with their parents’ consent almost a couple of decades ago. But their marriage turned out to be a turbulent affair plagued by difference of opinions between the two. Though they looked like an ideal couple, they developed irreconcilable differences later and were not blessed with any child which added further to their troublesome marital life.
They had separated mutually and started living away from each other even before applying for divorce. Justice Raja Chokkalingam, who took up the case, ordered them to be present at the Court on 31st March this year and subsequently on 6th April too. Testimonies from the couple were recorded after which it was announced that a decree would be passed on 22nd April.

Ajmal brother to make his debut

Askar Ali, the younger brother of actor Ajmal of Ko fame, will make his M-Town town debut with Johnson’s directorial venture with an unusual title — Holy Shit. The young businessman-turned-actor, who has acted in a few short films and ads, says he was waiting for the right moment to get into mainstream cinema.

“I’ve always wanted to get into movies. Initially, I used to get offers mostly for cameo appearances. However, I was adamant that I will do only substantial roles, be it the role of a hero or a villain,” he says. Askar,who will be playing a family man in the film, says he is more concerned about the script than the co-stars. “I want to be a part of new generation movies, and I am lucky to have got an opportunity to act in one,” he says.

So, is Askar taking any acting tips from his brother? “I’m very excited and nervous about my debut. Though I’ve neither asked Ajmal for any help nor told anyone that I’m his brother. Ajmal is proud of me since I’m stepping into tinsel town without his help,” he says.

Is Ramya Nambessan in love?

If a recent report in a Malayalam film magazine is to go by, action hero Unni Mukundan has fallen in love with actress, Ramya Nambeesan.

Both the actors had played lovers in the recently released Ithu Pathiramanal, which bombed at the Box Office.
Though Ramya is not in the top league in Malayalam and Tamil, she has a few hits in both the languages (including the recent Pizza).

Unni Mukundan is an upcoming star and is known for his well-known body and has films like Mallu Singh to his credit. Now we have to wait and see if the news is indeed true or not?

Genelia publicist dismisses news of her being pregnant

News of Bollywood’s cute couple Riteish Deshmukh-Genelia D’Souza expecting their first child has been doing the rounds. Our source revealed the same, adding, “Riteish is a doting hubby who has been extremely caring and protective of his wife. He is paying close attention to her. She wants to focus on family right now, which is why she has taken a break from movies.”

When contacted, the actress’ spokesperson dismissed the rumours stating, “Genelia is definitely not pregnant. Starting a family is a big deal and there’s no need for her to hide it. But she and Riteish are not expecting a baby. She’s working with him on a number of things… from their recently concluded CCL endeavour to his film production. In fact, she’s also been offered a bunch of scripts, which she’s going through. She will be seen on screen soon.”

She further added, “Genelia has worked non-stop for the past eight to nine years not only in Bollywood but in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam cinema. It was her decision to take a break from acting for at least a year after marriage as she wanted to spend some time with her family.

Siddharth turns singer

Young actor Siddharth is eagerly awaiting the release of his forthcoming film Udhayam NH4 directed by debutant Manimaran which has story and screenplay written by Vetrimaran. The audio of the film was launched recently and the young actor has turned a singer with the film lending his voice for one of the songs in the Telugu version of the film.

The film starring Siddharth and newcomer Ashrita Shetty is touted as an action thriller has music by G V Prakash Kumar, will be released by Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Red Giant Movies. Expressing happiness on his singing a song, Siddharth tweeted recently “Fantastic album from GV Prakash for ‘Udhayam NH4′. I have sung on the Telugu album.”

Udhayam NH4 is produced jointly by Dhayanidhi Azhagiri’s Meeka Entertainment and Vetrimaaran’s Grass Root Film Company.

Nandita shoots for gaana Bala song

Attakathi fame Nandita who will soon be seen in Ethir Neechal is currently shooting for her upcoming flick Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara ( IAB), an upcoming comedy entertainer, written and directed by Gokul of Rowthiram fame. Produced by Leo Visions, the film also stars Vijay Sethupathi and Swathi.

The crew is currently is shoot for a song sequence in Chennai. The song has been sun by gaana Bala who was noticed with his ‘Nadukadalula Kappala’ song in Attakathi. The film is based on the daily comical things that happen in out day to day life and Vijay Sethupathi is named as Sumar Moonji Kumar.

The film is a full-length comedy caper and popular lyricist Madhan Karky has been roped in to pen dialogues. ‘Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara’ will have music by Siddharth Vipin while the cinematography is to be handled by Mahesh Muthuswamy.

Ajith was the only star on time

Thala Ajith who doesn’t attend award functions is known for his gentlemen’s attitude has always extended his support when ever the Nadigar Sangam does something for a cause. this time around the Nadigar Sangam got together to support Eelam cause in Sri Lanka. The star actor not only postponed the launch of his next project for the same but was also the only leading star to come to the venue on time and to stay right from the beginning till the end.

An one-day token fast was held yesterday, April 2nd 2013 at the Nadigar Sangam complex in Chennai. While other actor too who stayed there till the end, several other stars walked in and out citing various commitments as the reason for their inability to stay there the whole day.

Taapsee plays Holi

Director David Dhawan, who is awaiting his upcoming film Chashme Baddoor’s this Friday, was fooled by his team on Holi. When the director was initially asked to join the celebrations, he said a big no.as he was not in a mood to play with colours. However, the team didn’t give up and decided to play a prank.

Taapsee went up to David saying that Divyendu Sharma, one of her co-stars in the film has met with an accident. Believing her, Davis immediately rushed along with her to Divyendu’s car. The minute he opened the door, the actors splashed colours on him.
Divyendu said that David didn’t get angry and in fact, enjoyed playing along. Taapsee just couldn’t forget David’s expression when she told him about the so-called accident. She is happy that she pulled it off so well that he actually believed her.

Siddarth in demand

Siddharth, who will be seen in David Dhawan’s comic caper Chashme Baddoor, had three films in his kitty when he signed Chashme Baddoor. An interesting trivia which we stumbled upon, ChashmeBaddoor was largely shot in Goa and then Mauritius. Siddharth, who was simultaneously shooting for his other films would shoot his part, then fly down south shoot for his respective films and then again fly down to Goa. But he would always reach on sets on time. No one from the production team would have any knowledge about his whereabouts or which part of the country Siddharth would be shooting in, but would always reach on the sets on time.

When quizzed David Dhawan, he said, “Siddharth was shooting for other films as well when we shot Chashme Baddoor, but not once did it ever happen that he did not reach the sets on time, if the call time was 7 am, and he would not be in Goa, he would still manage to reach on time. I never knew where he was shooting. Sometimes he would be in Hyderabad, sometimes in Chennai, a very hard working boy, I have known him since the last 7-8 yrs and he is like family to me.”Siddharth surely knows how to reach the right place at the right time.

Gouravam gets clean ‘U’

Prakash Raj’s production venture Gouravam, written and directed by Radha Mohan starring Allu Sirish, Yami Gautam, Prakash Raj, Nassar, Elango Kumaravel, Sricharan and many others has been cleared by the Censor with a U certificate and the Telugu version is still under the lens. The film is all set to release on April 12.

‘Gouravam’ is a Tamil-Telugu bilingual, shot in both the languages simultaneously. Gouravam is based on the hierarchical system in our society and is produced by Prakash Raj’s ‘Duet Movies’. Allu Sirish (brother of Allu Arjun), who is making his acting debut, is playing the male lead in this film and would be sharing screen space with Yami Gautham and the film is touted to be a family-entertainer.

Censor officials seems to have appreciated the director for making a clean movie with a nice message. Prakash Raj and Radha Mohan have already come together to make some good films like Payanam, Abhiyum Naanum, Mozhi and Azhagiya Theeye.

Ethirneechal nearing completion

Dhanush’s maiden production venture Ethir Neechal, which has Siva Karthikeyan, Priya Anand and Nandita in the lead is nearing completion and is probably set to hit the screens in April. The film is directed by RS Durai Senthilkumar, who was a former assistant to Vetri Maaran with Anirudh of 3 fame scoring the music for the film.

Sources close to Dhanush say he is so happy about the movie and is gearing up to release it soon. Siva Karthikeyan also has said that he was eagerly expecting the release of Ethir Neechal and was happy to be part of a good movie. The film’s theatrical distribution rights have been sold to Vendhar Movies and the satellite rights have been purchased by Vijay TV.

The expectations on Ethir Neechal are very high and the music composed by Anirudh Ravichander is rocking the chartbusters. The songs have been getting great response and fans are eagerly waiting for the film release. Dhanush has also penned two songs for this flick and sung them and popular lyricists Thamarai and Madhan Karky have also penned the lyrics.