The coming of a newborn into a family is always a joyous time. Rajinikanth and family, who were just celebrating the engagement of his second daughter Soundarya, are equally excited awaiting the arrival of the second child of Aishwarya, his elder daughter! Rajinikanth, who is a very dedicated and adoring dad, is quite the pampering grandfather to Aishwarya's first child, Yatra. He is at the beck and call of the three year old, and indulges in the kid's every whim and fancy [He supposedly even bought an entire train compartment and set it up in their backyard just to amuse Yatra!]. And now grandpa is going to have a tough time dividing his attention betweem Yatra and the next baby! Aishwarya and husband Dhanush are natually overjoyed about having a second child. We are pretty sure that grandpa Rajni's and dad Dhanush's call sheets are going to be so overloaded with baby time, their next directors are going to have a difficult time scheduling their movies!

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While Rajinikanth fans are consoling themselves over their hero's delay to step into politics, Vijay fans are rejoicing over the actor's recent confirmation that he will get into politics it's just a matter of time and readiness. In the wake of his 50th movie's release, Vijay revealed to the press that he is preparing himself and his Makkal Iyakam for politics. "Politics is a an ocean with huge tidal waves. One cannot blindly take the plunge. You have to be well equipped to face the trials and challenges that a life in politics is filled with. So right now I am learning and understanding the ways of politics and our system. I am also preparing my Makkal Iyakam for the same. When I am confident in myself and the people want me to get into politics I will surely get in. Then there will be no turning back," he said in a recent press meeting. He added, "It's the people of Tamil Nadu and their love that has helped me achieve so much in life. Fighting for their cause and helping them come up in life is the only way I can repay them for their kindness, and I will never hesitate to do so. The youngsters have accepted me as their friend and brother, the elders see me as their son, as one in their family. They believe in me. I will not fail them." Vijay's Makkal Iyakam is currently involved in social work such as providing computers to impoverished families, educating their children and even financing and conducting marriages. Vijay opines that since he has not publicized these activities, his organization is able to continue their good work without any distraction or hindrance.

vpost : 07

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Arun Vijay is on Cloud Nine. His upcoming film Maanja Velu is all set to grace theatres this month. The actor has already tasted the fruits of labour in his earlier flick Malai Malai. Success has been eluding this young man for quite a while, but his never-say-die spirit has paid off well. Sources say that Arun Vijay has performed some daredevil action sequences for Maanja Velu. "Yes, I was upside down for almost six days for an action sequence. In fact, every time I had to get back to a normal position, I had to follow a procedure because it is very risky to get upright immediately," he recalled. "We're glad that it's been made by the same team that gave the hit Malai Malai. This time too, we've ensured that all the essentials of commercial film making have been used in right measure," he said. The actor feels that the USP of the film will be its climax, where he will appear bald. "This climax will be unexpected and will change the feel of the film. We shot for almost 18 days for it and I'm sure it will make some people cry," he revealed. Yesteryear heart-throb Karthik is making a comeback of sorts with this movie. "His part is outstanding; it was a challenge for me to perform better with him sharing screen space with me. In fact, in one of the scenes, there was healthy competition between us. It was a comedy scene. And Karthik sir was taking it beyond the lines given to us. I knew he'd do something like that and was ready for it. The particular scene has been retained in the film," he added.

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Shraddha Arya is gearing up to make her much-delayed Sandalwood debut opposite Ganesh in Maduve Mane. Shraddha made her onscreen debut in Nishabd (Hindi) as Amitabh Bachchan's daughter. She has also played the role of Abhishek Bachchan's wife in a TV commercial, and Hrithik Roshan's girlfriend in another commercial. And now, she's playing a Class 12 student in the Shahid Kapur-starrer Paathshaala. Reportedly Shraddha plays a 'very Indian, very homely' girl in Maduve Mane



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Child artist-turned-heroine Hansika Motwani, who is set to debut in Kollywood with Dhanush's Maapillai after making her presence felt in both Tollywood and Bollywood, always wanted to play the guitar! So, the rising star recently bought a guitar and also hired a professional guide to teach the basics of the instrument. It's an amazing feeling to make music, I feel so rejuvenated playing the guitar and I can't wait to learn more. The Internet has been a brilliant information resource for me if I am doing something wrong; if I want to check something new things, I can immediately check it online, the actress says. When quizzed about how she suddenly took on this instrument, she quipped: The song in 3 Idiots inspired me, I just loved the song so much and wanted to learn the guitar to sing the song, 'Give me some sunshine, Give me some rain.' This is the first song I want to learn and I will definitely play it someday!


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The shooting of charming beauty Charmi's Mangala, directed by Osho Tulasiram, maker of heroine-oriented blockbuster Mantra, and produced under the banner of Mantra Entertainment, commenced at Annapoorna Studios, Hyderabad with producer Bellamkonda Suresh clapping the muhurat shot on Charmi. Sairam Shankar switched on the camera, while Sukumar did the formal first shot direction. I knew Tulasi Ram from the time he was an assistant director. I never thought that Mantra would be a big hit and when I attended the Mantra's opening shot, all the cast and crew appeared in a depressed mood. Later, the movie proved to be a trendsetter. I wish the same for Mangala, Sukumar said. Charmi and Tulasi Ram spoke during the occasion. Music is by Vishwa; cinematography is by Sivendra. Story and screenplay are by the director himself. The cast includes Pradeep Rawat, Yuvaraj, Chitram Seenu, Subash and others.

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Popular South Indian actor Sarathkumar has been advised bed rest for a month by his doctors, after he was injured on Monday on the sets of Kannada film Sarathi, directed by K.S. Selvaraj with Kannada actor Darshan and Sneha in prominent roles. Sarathkumar suffered a hip fracture while performing a daring action scene near Puducherry. According to reports, the actor was thrown off a horse and was immediately admitted to a private hospital. The president of South Indian Film Artistes Association was later shifted to a Chennai hospital. There is nothing to worry about his health condition. He will be perfectly alright soon, a hospital source said.

vpost : 14

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Debutant director Tekula Kriapakar Reddy's offbeat Telugu flick (tentatively titled Kotta Bandham) which marks the coming together of National Award winning actor Prakashraj and reigning actress Bhumika as the lead pair for the first time, is nearing completion. Prakashraj plays the role of a District Collector, while Bhumika plays an MBA graduate in this rather unusual story, that is currently being shot in Hyderabad under the supervision of Amod Entertainments. Talking to the media, the director said the current schedule would continue till March 15. We are trying to explain how the relationship should be between a husband and wife. We are also explaining how modern lifestyle is having an adverse impact on marital life. We are making efforts to release the film as a summer gift, he added. Prakashraj and Bhumika have worked together in several films earlier, but this is the first time they are pairing together in the lead roles. Screenplay and dialogues are by Paruchuri Brothers. The film is expected to be dubbed in Tamil as well.

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The felicitation function held recently to thank the chief minister for his benevolence to the Tamil film industry folks will be remembered more for Ajith’s outburst at the function.

At the function the ever out spoken Ajith ruffled a few feathers for good as well as bad. He wanted actors to be left out of politics. He said actors want only to act and not interested to take a stand on social issues. Ajith wanted the Chief Minister to issue a direction that film personalities should not be arm-twisted to attend social and political events.

Ajith asked. “If we don’t attend the protest, we are portrayed as anti-Tamils. On the one hand, they want us to participate in political events and on the other hand they threaten us not to enter politics. What is wrong in our entering politics if we are expected to participate in political and social events?”

The shocked gathering came to their senses when super star Rajinikanth gave a standing ovation to Ajith.

While one feels happy to note the courage of the actor to bell the cats in its own citadel there are also some socially relevant questions.

No doubt the actors entertain the masses with their hard work and sweat. Most of the times, they are the inspiration to overcome depression. They need to be protected. Even in those days when anti-Hindi agitation lead by DMK was taking Tamil Nadu by storm and every spirited Tamilian was fighting for the cause on the streets the leader Annadurai exempted film stars in the party like MGR, SSR and others from participating in the agitation. The reason was if they get arrested or detained the livelihood of all the people associated with their films will be affected.

That was then. Now it’s a different world. In the sixties film stars were behind their political bosses and popularized the party. Popular actors like SSR, KR Ramasamy never thought of setting up their own shop in politics. Until 1972 MGR wouldn’t have thought of jumping into full time politics. But now every popular actor nurtures a dream of becoming the chief minister of the state one day.

But Ajith may not be one among them. The industry knows well the humble beginnings of Ajith and how by only sheer hard work and honesty Ajith reached to the top which today is not at all possible without promoters and godfathers.

In a scenario like today Ajith should not have generalized his statement as actors should be left out. Does that mean filmy people in general and actors in particular don’t have social responsibilities? When every paisa of their earnings comes from the common man shouldn’t the actors take up some of their causes? Agreed that the actors should not be arm twisted, as there are far too many functions and meetings arranged these days by some in the film industry with ulterior motives. But the actors should be able to read between and extend their support for deserving causes.

As responsible citizens of the country they must come out of their closet sometimes to take decisions for the welfare of the people. When Madonnas and Branjelinas travel thousands of miles speaking for the poor African countries; when Richard Gere and Lindsay Lohan come out in support of Tibet shouldn’t our stars also lend support to genuine causes?

How many times the actors of today would have thought of reaching out to the people? How many times they would have wanted to go and thank the people who made their film super hits and super duper hit? How many times the actors would have thought of giving back some thing to the society from which they got everything?


vpost :04

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Albeit Tamil films are dominated predominantly by action genre, other categories like thriller, horror, devotional, comedy and romance have also had their time of glory at different times. Of all these it is romance which comes a close second to action in terms of the number of films produced in the genre.

It may be argued that even action movies have romance in them and vice versa. But romance seen through out the movie unadulterated is a feeling by itself. While most films have some aspect of romance at least as a subplot a romance film can be described as any film in which the protagonists live or die for their love. The numbers of romance movies in Tamil may not match the number of action films. But Tamil cinema did have quite a few memorable films.

When films started talking with ‘Kalidas’ in 1931 film makers tried many innovations to make the new art live for long. One of such is the invention song and dance sequences. As the early films mostly dealt with historical and mythological characters they were all mostly didactic. When social films started flowing from the forties film makers had all the liberty to explore human emotions. Of the human emotions they found easy to express was love and romance which is saleable more than others.

The black-and-white era contributed some unforgettable moments of romance. Even actors were willing to do some bold scenes by standards then.

MK Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar was hailed as a romantic hero as much as singing sensation. MKT actually taught his generation of actors the aspect of subtle romance. A classic example is Haridas. In the introductory song ‘Vaalvilor thirunal...’ in which he comes riding a horse, his subtle romantic expressions like his squint looks at the girls on the streets, winking the eyes had huge effect on female viewers.

If you notice the most successful heroes who went on to become idols in Tamil are the ones who excelled in not just action but also romance. Specialising in just one won’t do. This trend existed until the mid eighties when angry young men were clearly differentiated from chocolate lover boys due to the changing times.

After MKT-PUC era the trimurti who ruled the Tamil film industry had fair chances to showcase their romantic inclinations on screen. While one was hailed as a mass action hero another was branded melodramatic. The third one was branded King of Romance. But during that period all of them have lived some memorable romantic life on screen irrespective of their images.

Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan has a handful of movies in which he excelled in romantic scenes. Movies like ‘Sabash Meena’ and the cult song ‘Chithiram Pesuthadi’... are great romantic memorabilia from the black and white era. In the colourful ‘Puthiya Paravai’ Sivaji’s every movement with Saroja Devi talks love. Ananda Vikatan magazine raved about the lover boy Sivaji more than the histrionic Sivaji when it wrote the review of ‘Deiva Magan’ in 1969.

The romantic scenes in MGR films were altogether different. He mastered subtle romance better than any of his contemporaries. The way he holds the upper arm of his love and giving it a thrust will delight any romantic heart. The way he puts his hand around the neck and jerk s the heroines towards him is a winning art. The way MGR performed his romantic scenes with Savithri in ‘Vettaikaran’ is a talking point even today.

Gemini Ganesan was called Kadhal Mannan probably because other popular tiles were already taken by the other two. I say this it is because the Kadhal Mannan was exemplary as a pathos hero. But still as endearing lover he did capture many hearts in films like ‘Missiamma’, ‘Thenilavu’ and more.

Director Sridhar who is said to have pioneered soft romances in Tamil films is also a pioneer in triangular love themes. His ‘Kalyana Parisu’ is a classic love story which created new tenets for romance. When Gemini Ganesan shouts to inform he is gong to the college signaling Saroja Devi to follow him is one the most romantic moments. This kind of moments inspired many directors who came after Sridhar. The switching lights on-off to show love in ‘Ek Duje Ke Liye’ is one of it. Till the beginning of seventies romance was only a part of the theme and not the life line of films.

Later when Tamil cinema entered the “new wave” age from the early seventies differently made love stories began to crop up. During this period even Sivaji Ganesan tried some full blown romance movies. Though his age and mature stature could have hummed oddness Sivaji did try his hand. Films like ‘Rojavin Raja’, ‘Deepam’ and ‘Ilaya Thalaimurai’ can be classified romantic movies of Sivaji. MGR also showed his mettle in some bold scenes in movies like ‘Raman Thediya Seethai’ and ‘Idhayakkani’. But his ‘Anbe Vaa’ is a romantic classic. Unfortunately Sivaji did not have an out and out romantic film like ‘Anbe Vaa’ in his entire career. The only movie which can compete with ‘Anbe Vaa’ in terms of sheer grandeur is the tragic love story of ‘Vasantha Maligai’.

vpost : 03

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Dhanush has reportedly acquired the rights of Kannada blockbuster Duniya. The actor is likely to be on a safer side by relying more on remakes. It all started with Yaaradi Nee Mohini, Kutty followed the list. The actor's upcoming film Ready, Mapillai and Seedan will continue the trend. Duniya (Kannada), directed by debutant director Soori, was produced by A.T. Lokesh and T.P. Siddaraju starring debutants Vijay and Rashmi with Rangayana Raghu, Kishore and Chandru in very important roles. The film was based on Bangalore's underworld in the backdrop of a love story and has well-shot action sequences.

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Vidya Balan believes in doing only meaningful characters and Balki's sleeper hit, PAA, was a standout example of the actress's resolve to sign only roles of substance. In Vishal Bhardwaj's ISHQIYA, Vidya's latest release, she will once again drive home the same point.

As per the traditionally beautiful actress, she signed ISHQIYA because she found the subject challenging and also due to the fact that her character was central to the film. Moreover, she was very happy that a director of the caliber of Vishal Bhardwaj came to her and asked her to go through the script, saying that it was she who he had in mind to play the role of Krishna and not a conventional actress.

However when Vidya read the script she faced the same dilemma as her KISMET KONNECTION co-star Shahid Kapoor had faced while signing Vishal's KAMINEY. Just like Shahid, Vidya too is soft spoken and well mannered and at first she found it very embarrassing to use the swear words that her character in ISHQIYA (Krishna) uses so unabashedly, very much like Shahid had feared while signing KAMINEY.

In fact, it was in early 2009 that we had had broken the news about Shahid's fears while signing KAMINEY (Shahid's fears while signing KAMINEY! - March 12, 2009). But very much like her professional co-star, Vidya too shed her inhibitions, and the result is there for all to see in the promos, where (and now the film!) Vidya can be seen hurling invectives effortlessly. And as she has said in one of her recent interviews - Vidya won't be seen in ISHQIYA, it will be Krishna who will come across strongly on screen- seems quite true.

Here's hoping that just like Shahid, Vidya too gets all the praises for her act in ISHQIYA, and that even the film turns out to be a winner like KAMINEY, when it releases today.

vpost : 8

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The much-awaited Ajith starrer Aasal (also spelt Asal) will hit screens on February 5. The movie, directed by Saran, with music by Bharadwaj, stars Sameera Reddy and Bhavana as the female leads. The cast also includes Prabhu and Yuhi Sethu. The latest we hear is that the Censor Board hasawarded a U/A certificate for Aasal without any cuts. Earlier, the producers were hoping for a clean U certificate, but due to some breathtaking actions scenes, the Censors chose a U/A certificate. The movie is expected to be a visual treat as most the film was shot in France

vpost : 15

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Kollywood's acclaimed director-actor-producer Sasikumar is stepping into Telugu films! Known for his path-breaking debut in Subramaniapuram, followed by his production venture Pasanga and recent Naadodigal, Sasikumar will be playing the antagonist in Boyapati Srinu's ongoing Simha, starring veteran Balakrishna, Nayantara, Namitha and Sneha Ullal in the lead roles, it is said. Produced by Paruchuri Kireeti under the banner of United Movies, Simha is progressing at a brisk pace in Hyderabad. After the Hyderabad schedule, the songs will be shot between February 10 and March 10 abroad. Music is by Chakri, cinematography is by Arther A. Willson, editing is by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao, action is by Stun Siva, art is by A.S. Prakash, while story, screenplay and dialogues are by the director himself. The film will hit theatres in March.

vpost : 14

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Salman Khan may have cast Zarine Khan as the princess in VEER, but it is his real life girl Katrina Kaif, who actually looks like a princess for sure.

Katrina is Karan Johar's celebrity guest this week on Sony's Lift Kara De... and she definitely "lifted" the show with her presence.

She is fun, she is sporting and for once she isn't all that politically correct.

To Karan's probing questions there are candid answers.

When Karan asked Kat, who are the people who helped this 19-year-old girl when she landed in Mumbai without knowing a soul in this city, she said: "Salman Khan, his family and friends looked after me."

Of course, preceded by designer Anna Singh and directors like David Dhawan, Anees Bazmee
(friends of Salman of course).

To Karan's query whether she is single, she sidesteps the issue saying: "I believe that until you are married you are single!" Clever

vpost : 08

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If sources are to be believed, Kollywood's dream girl Trisha is currently shooting in the backwaters of Allepey, Kerala for Gautham Menon's much awaited flick Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya. We also hear that the crew is shooting some montage shots for the chartbuster song 'Aaromale'. It sure looks like an interesting year ahead for the gorgeous lass, who has Yavarum Kaelir with Kamal Haasan, which is expected to start rolling from March, then an untitled flick with Ravi Teja in Telugu and the much awaited Bollwood debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Priyadarshan's hMeetha. The South Indian beauty has also started the new year in fashion; her recent Tollywood venture Namo Venkatesha is doing well at the box office. We also hear that she recently organized a party for relatives and friends in Chennai to celebrated the success of Namo Venkatesa.


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An Oscar ain't enough for the "Mozart of Film Music." Among the truckloads of trophies lining his shelves, another honour will soon occupy pride of place. The Padma Bhushan!

A R Rehman earns the third highest civilian honour of India for his exemplary contribution to music. Incidentally, Rehman shares this honour with Ilayaraja, his mentor!

A visibly thrilled Rehman stated in a newspaper inter phew, "I'm overwhelmed that I have received the honour at the same time that Raja sir has got it. It is a great personal statement for me . He has played for my father Sekhar and I have played under Raja sir. It is a family thing for me."

Close encounters of the musical kind …

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