Is Pooja joins Bala's Avan Ivan?

After taking a much needed break from the terrifyingly intense schedules of Naan Kadavul, Bala is back with his next film Avan – Ivan that stars Arya and Vishal as brothers. Avan will be Bala’s first attempt at a full length romantic comedy. Although he’s finalized Janani Iyer for a female lead role, the movie still needs another heroine.

Bala agrees that Varalakshmi Sarathkumar’s name was under consideration, and that she later dropped out. Now he’s being faced with the question: Isn’t Pooja the obvious choice? But no, says Bala. “I have made her life hell in Naan Kadavul and want her to relax now,” Bala replies in a matter-of-fact way.

Padmapriya once again in a Telugu film

Padmapriya may not be a popular name in Telugu films though she made her debut with the Telugu film ‘Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi’. But she became more popular in Tamil and Malayalam. Now she will be again seen in a Telugu film ‘Andari Banduvaya’ by Chandra Siddhartha. However, it is her Hindi release that makes her feel butterflies in stomach. ‘Striker’ is her first Hindi film in which she pairs opposite ‘Boys’ Siddharth.

In ‘Striker’ Siddharth plays a carrom player and Padmapriya is his romantic interest. Set to release in Hindi and Telugu on the 5th of February, the film is important for her as she hopes to bounce back in Telugu and make a strong entry in Hindi.

The actress with great acting potential is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. After ‘Thavamai Thavamirundhu’ she lost touch with Tamil audience.

Hope she strikes the right chords with her ‘Striker’ this time.

Kanika has signed up with Christian Brothers

Kanika’s entry to Kollywood was with Five Star, which was directed by Susi Ganesan. After a few films, the actress tied the knot to US-based Shyam, who is the brother of actress Jaishree. Her love for the greasepaint, however, continued and it is evident from the fact that she still rules the roost in Mollywood.

Kanika received rave reviews for her performance in Pazhassi Raja. Also, 2009 has been a great year for the actress as she has received eight awards.

Presently, the lady has been signed up to star in the Malayalam film Christian Brothers, where she will be sharing the screen space with Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi.

Jayam Ravi and his wife Arthi are expecting their first child

After Madhavan it is ‘Jayam’ Ravi who hasn’t lost his female fans even after marriage. This chocolate hero is humility personified even after a string of hits. Content Ravi says “It is winning every time that matters in cinema. If you take one win to your head and falls with the next you are lost”.

He confirms his next film is ‘Ich’ and not ‘Kannabiraan’. The first schedule of ‘Ich’ starts in March.

When asked about anything special from home front ‘Jayam’ Ravi blushes. Yes, there is something something. ‘Jayam’ Ravi will soon become a proud Papa. He and his wife Arthi are expecting their first child in another six months time.

Vijay Antony becomes hero

The acting bug has bitten yet another brilliant technician who excels behind the camera. Vijay Antony who was vrooming with super hit numbers one after another is turning a hero.

With ‘Nakka Mukka’ going all the way to Cannes and ‘Puli Urumuthu’ consolidating his place as a super hits guarantee music director Vijay Antony has finally fallen to the pressures of his friends.

Vijay Antony’s first film as a hero will be directed by Jeeva Shankar who was the cameraman of ‘Anandha Thandavam’. It’s a musical subject and so everyone thought he would fit the bill perfectly. Vijay Antony is also the producer and music director of the film.

As friend he has also requested G V Prakash to tune a couple of songs for the film. Even G V Prakash agreed to do it for a good friend.

Thambikku Indha Ooru audio has launched

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The audio of Thambikku Indha Ooru was launched in Chennai yesterday (January 29, 2010). The film, which stars Bharath and Sana Khan, is directed by Badri. The event was attended by Rama Narayanan, Samuthirakani, Perarasu, Sakthi Chidambaram, Jananathan, Balaji Sakthivel and Khushboo.

Sun Pictures’ CEO Hansraj Saxena released the audio and it was received by film personalities from 32 districts in Tamil Nadu. Actor and politician, JK Riteesh was also present at the event.

Music for Thambikku Indha Ooru has been scored by Dharan. Interestingly, Bharath has rendered a song in this film for the first time.

Very Tough competition for the remake rights of the Body Guard

Body Guard is a Malayalam film directed by Siddique. Dhilip and Nayanthara are in the lead roles in this film. This film is a great hit in Kerala.

There is a stiff competition to acquire the remake rights of this film. Vijay will be acting in the Tamil version. After Sura, he will act in this remake film.

Recently Bollywood producer Boney Kapoor who saw this film in Kerala was highly impressed.
He has acquired the remake rights for this film to be made in Hindi. It is understood that Salman Khan would do the lead role and Prabhu Deva will direct this film. Moreover Telugu producers are also after this film.

Rajini will be launch Kannada film

It’s coup of sort. Director cum producer Prem has managed to convince the top 3 super stars of Indian cinema – Amitabh Bachchan, Chiranjeevi and our own Rajinikanth- to be there at the launch of his first production venture ‘Jogayya’ in Kannada.

Big B Amitabh Bachchan will be sounding the clap board. Chiranjeevi will switch on the camera for the first shot to be directed by Rajinikanth. The muhurth of ‘Jogayya’ will take place on 24th of April (the birth anniversary of Dr Rajakumar).

According to another news National award winning actress Priyanka Chopra has been contacted to play lead opposite Shivarajakumar in ‘Jogayya’.

Aarya has saved Nayanthara

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For the first time Nayanthara is pairing with Aarya in the film Boss Engira Baskaran. The first schedule of this film took place in Kumbakonam for 30 days.

As per the story Aarya and Nayanthara are close friends studying in the same college. They go to the college in the same bus. Nayanthara who usually prefer sitting in the bus wants to stand on the foot board along with Arya.

Aarya agrees for this. Both travel by standing in the foot board. When this sequence was shot, the bus was moving fast. All of a sudden the bus hit a hump and Nayanthara was about to fall. Aarya saved her by holding her.
Rajesh M who directed Siva Manasula Sakthi is directing this film. K S Srinivasan is producing this film under the banner Vasan Visual Ventures.

Vijay’s 50th film Sura will be marketed Sun Pictures

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It’s official! Sun Pictures have confirmed that Ilayathalapathy Vijay’s 50th film Sura will be marketed by them.

It is likely to be their big summer release in April.

The film directed by SP Rajakumar and has Tamannaah as the leading lady. It has music by Mani Sharma and the cameraman is Ekambaram.

The shoot of the film produced by Sangli Murugan is going on in a fishing village near Pondichery.

Shriya's item number in Puli

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Reigning Tamil actress Shriya Saran is not a typical item dancer, but has performed more than five item numbers in her career spanning nine years. Her latest will be in Power star Pawan Kalyan's upcoming Komaram Puli, directed by S.J. Suryah of Khushi fame.

According to sources, Shriya Saran's item number to the tunes of Oscar Winner A.R. Rahman was recently shot in Hyderabad. Starring London-based model Nikisha Patel as the heroine, Komaram Puli is presented by S. Satyamurthi and produced by Singamala Ramesh under the banner of Kanakaratna Movies.

Meanwhile, after doing over 45 films in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and English, Shriya Saran is making her Malayalam debut with Mammootty's Pokkiri Raja being directed by Vysakh. The film is progressing at brisk pace and expected to grace screens during summer.

Ajith's Asal movie has censored as UA

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Sivaji Productions Saran directed action adventure Asal featuring Ajith, Sameera Reddy and Bhavana has been given a ‘UA’ certificate by the censors.

The makers of the film were trying for a ‘U’ certificate to get the family audiences, but ended up getting a ‘UA’ which is good enough as it is an action film.

The censors offered Saran, a ‘U’ if he trims the violent action scenes, but he preferred to retain the ‘UA’ as he did not want to dilute the full impact of the action film. In Chennai city the film is releasing in 11 screens.

Meanwhile today’s (Jan 29) papers have come out with ads of Asal release date as February 5. For the first time ever a superstar has been officially recognized as the “man behind the film”.

Remember in Tamil superstar films the contribution of the lead actors whether it is Rajinikanth, Kamal or Vijay is never acknowledged though they contribute largely with their creative inputs to the making of the film.

We salute Ajith, and producers for boldly advertising the stars involvement and contribution to the film. The ads of Aasal clearly say Ajith Kumar is the co-director and is also credited with “story, screenplay and dialogues” along with Saran and Yuhisethu.

Poorna is waiting for the release of Viththagan

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After ‘Kandha Kottai’, Poorna was waiting for the release of ‘Viththagan’ in which she pairs opposite Parthiban. But ‘Viththagan’ shows no signs of release and the girl has decided move on and started accepting new offers. She has accepted a new film to be directed by a women journalist Vijayapadma. The hero of the film ‘Kaiyezhuthu’ Shaan plays the male lead.

Poorna is spending a lot of time these days learning skating dance. She knew the art before but discontinued after she became busy in films. But now she has taken it up again or two reasons. One is to shed some flab that she gained unintentionally after ‘Kandha Kottai’. And the other reasons that she wants to do a film as a skating dancer and show her skating skills. As the master is in Kerala Poorna rushes to Kerala whenever she finds time for it.

Trisha says James Bond mantra

Just as James Bond says – ‘The whole world is my office’, Trisha too claims the same mantra as the young fille keeps flying across the skies to various foreign lands for her projects.

The actress, who has present for the audio launch of ‘Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya’ in London, wasn’t present herein Chennai for the same occasion. ‘Sorry, I couldn’t make it due to busy schedules of a Telugu movie’ says Trisha, who’s busy shooting for her Hindi film with Akshay Kumar now.

The actress adds that she had to go through hectic phase of filming for Telugu flick – ‘Namo Venkatasa’ with Venkatesh that was held at Los Angeles and Bangkok. Now, she has no plans for signing Tamil projects.

About her working experience with Gowtham Menon, she says, “When I and Simbhu had paired before a long time, we were just beginners and now we’ve matured a lot in performance and working with such a filmmaker like Gowtham has really transcended her potentials to next levels….”

Anushka's strength and weakness

Anushka became popular among the audience through the dubbed film Arundhathi. She also paired with Vijay in the recently released Vettaikaran.



Anushka while speaking to the media said,” Through Vettaikaran I came to Tamil. I have also paired with Surya. I am not worried about success and failure. After acting in a film, it is no point in breaking your head whether this film is received well or not.



I will start concentrating on my nest film and try to improve acting skills than my earlier film. My strength is my family. My weakness is to move with others. Because of this I am aloof at the shooting spots. It is my great weakness that I am not able to become friendly with cast and crew.


If you win in cinema you will be on the top otherwise they will ditch you. There should be luck to remain has number one.”

Nayanthara: Reema lookes stunning in the second half as the Pandya queen

Reemma is living it up queen size these days. Yes, her ambitious film Aayirathil Oruvan may be receiving mixed reports from the audiences but she is getting rave reviews for her spirited performance and look in the film.

Happy with her kitty full of praises the actress flew back to Mumbai after a two weeks stay in Chennai for which she did promotion for the film on print and visual media and Internet.
Says Reemma: “ I couldn’t ask for more. I feel that my character of Anitha had a lot of facets and I owe it all to director Selvaraghavan and my cameraman Ramji for it. My effort to look different has paid off. All my friends and well-wishers supported me, including Nayanthara who called up personally to say that I looked stunning in the second half as the Pandya queen”.
So what next? Reemma is back to her work-out and normal routine. She adds: “I am never in a hurry. Talks are on and I will confirm my next film after I sign it”.

Movie Preview: Asal

 Actor                  : Ajith Kumar
 Actress                : Sameera Reddy, Bhavana
 Director             :Saran 

Producer           : Ramkumar Ganesan, Prabhu Ganesan
Music Director  : Bharadwaj
Banner              :Sivaji Productions
In true Ajith style, no one is talking about this movie called Aasal. Just snippets of eagerly-lapped up info on how the script is an action-thriller never done before, how the locations all over the world are breathtaking, how there are two lovely leading ladies in the movie who are not mere eye-candy and how the sex-appeal of the villains – five of them at least – match any hero’s! Perhaps that’s why Thala has been chosen to fill the large superstar’s shoes...
Talking to director Saran, as Aasal stands on the verge of release, one can observe the same calm he displayed just before shooting commenced. He knows what anticipation his partnership with Ajith creates, but is completely untouched by its pressure. Call it confidence or call it professionalism? “There are two important things about Aasal that we did take into consideration. What Ajith fans expect from a Ajith-Saran combo and what they expect when that combo combines with Sivaji Productions, a production house that has given the super hitChandramukhi. We had to fulfill these expectations, but at the same time, we drew a boundary for ourselves as well. While we have taken utmost efforts to satisfy Ajith’s diehard fans, we have also made sure that the movie will suit the rest of the audience as well. While the fan is sure to feel the movie was made entirely for him, the rest of the audience will not feel left out either,” reveals the director, who has his finger on the pulse of the Ultimate Star’s loyal fans.
“Ajith is undeniably a mass hero. He knows exactly what his fans would like to see on the screen. That’s why it has been a pleasure to have him contribute towards the dialogues and screenplay,” he adds. Yugi Sethu, the screenwriter, confirms the same, saying, “His part in the script and dialogues has been invaluable. Ajith is fully in sync with the cravings of his fans, while Saran is great at improvising things on the spot. The three of us worked on the script together. I believe this is the first time Ajith’s name will appear in the writers’ category, and that makes us writers all the more proud of our craft. If it were not an important facet of the movie, why would he associate himself with it?”
“We have taken utmost care to give the movie a very stylish look. Billa set a standard of putting out an urban, stylish movie that also appealed to the general masses and we are not just living up to it, but we have given our best effort to better it,” asserts Saran. “Watching Aasal being made and looking at the rushes, I had a feeling of coming of age. Tamil cinema has moved on to another level . There must be no turning back. The only way is forward,” sums up Yugi.
Thus muses Ajith: “There are so many stories that crop up all around a movie when the rumour mill doesn’t have any info to churn out! ‘Aasal is a remake of Payback’ Or, ‘Ajith wanted a prequel to Billa and this is what Aasal is all about’ or whatever else. Perhaps they believe it builds more anticipation. Or perhaps they just want to be the stars of their dinner-table conversations with scoop that is perhaps just a smidgen of an idea built into a tale. Never mind - they can all have their fun. I, on the other hand, still believe in keeping things mysterious and something to await eagerly in the dark. The movie experience should, after all, be fresh and a revelation!’’

Trisha’s special show of Namo Venkatesha

Trisha is back in Chennai from LA where she was holidaying with friends.

She had a ball at Universal Studios, Hollywood’s theme park in LA, California.
The busy bee and total professional that she is, had cut short her break to shoot for the last song inVinnaithandi Varuvaaya.
< She left on Sunday morning to Alapuzha in the backwaters of Kerala where Gautham Menon and his unit was waiting for her.
On Saturday night, she held a special show of her Sankranthi hit in Telugu Namo Venkatesha for relatives and friends at Four Frames Preview theatre in Chennai.
The year has started positively for the young lady, as the film is a hit in Andhra and in Chennai it releases next Friday in two screens.
Trisha was all smiles at the show to be with her loved ones and said that she thoroughly enjoyed her holiday in US. Namo Venkatesha is a family based comedy entertainer and Trisha’s clothes were designed by Chennai based Chaitanya Rao which has come in for appreciation.

Smiling beauty Sneha enters politics

Sneha revealed that she would consider entering politics after a decade. The smiling beauty says that at present she is content with her career – films – and she would decide on politics later.
The question of Sneha’s political entry came up since the actress is donning a police officer’s role in Bhavani. It is important to note that her role is akin to that of Vijayshanthi’s in Vyjayanthi IPS. Since
Vijayshanthi has already entered politics, the media persons wanted to know if Sneha also will follow suit.

Tamanna's re-enter in Tollywood

After a brief appearance in Tollywood, reigning Tamil actress Tamanna is back. After her only Telugu film Konchem Ishtamga Konchem Kashtamga(2009), Tamanna will be seen opposite stylish actor Allu Arjun in his much-discussed Badrinath to be directed by Tollywood's highly successful V.V. Vinayak. Hansika was the first choice for Badrinath. However, she was dropped after she reportedly quoted a very high fee.
According to latest reports, Badrinath will be launched by the last week of February and regular shooting will commence in March. Produced by hit maker Allu Aravind under the banner of Geetha Arts, Badrinath is set in the backdrop of the Badrinath temple, situated on the bank of Alaknanda River in Badrinath, Uttarakhand. Chinni Krishna of Narasimha Naidu andIndrafame is the story-writer.

Bala's new plan

Director Bala has said recently that his mentor Balu Mahendra and maestro Ilaiyaraja have extracted a promise from him that he should not deal with dark subject henceforth. This has raised the expectation levels for his yet-to-be-named venture starring Vishal and Arya. The film is produced by Kalpathi S.Aghoram.

The director is all set to address a press conference on the film at the Residency Towers in T Nagar. The event is scheduled to take place at 3 pm.

The press meet is expected to throw light on the subject that Bala is likely to deal with in his forthcoming film

Reema sen with ten topics

Cooking

“I can cook well. I use to cook daily during the shooting of Aayirathil Oruvan. I used to cook different varieties of chicken recipes. Ask Karthi how I cook.

 

House
“I have not invited any friends to my house. I don’t choose my house for any celebrations. Even if I want to meet my cinema friends, I will meet them outside only”
Kutralam
My favorite spot for my vacation is Goa and Kutralam. I don’t go abroad for holidaying. When lots of people want to see our country why should we go to foreign countries?”
Chat
“I will catch hold of someone to keep on talking. There is no chance for me to keep quite. It would have been appropriate for me if I had become an RJ instead of actress. Karthi was so patient hearing my nonstop nonsense during the shooting of Aayirathil Oruvan.”
Shopping
“Shopping is my weakness. If I go out for shopping I will be purchasing thousands of handbags. Normally ladies are fond of jewels but I am fond of handbags. I buy various designs of hand bag.”
Food
“Biryani is the only food that makes me happy. If my spirits are dampened and if I eat biryani I will be rejuvenated immediately. My energy tonic is Hyderabad biryani.”
Diet
I don’t like dieting and exercising like other actresses. Because of this my weight increases by 3 kilos. But I feel that diet restrictions are not necessary for me.”
Friends
“As far as cinema is concerned Selvaraghavan is my friend. I can share with him whatever is in my mind. Selva knows the bad and good in me. Only if one knows fully about a person, then only the friendship will sustain. We have fought a lot. But we cannot stop speaking with each other.”
Marriage
“One thing that I will never think about. That is marriage. I have not made resolution this year that I should love, get married and settled.”
Sexy Reema
“My friends fondly call me Reems. But after seeing Aayirathil Oruvan my friends have kept a new name for me. They call me Sexy. I have acted in glamour roles in many films but the glamour in Aayirathil Oruvan is different. This new name is also nice.”

Income Tax raid at Surya and Vadivelu houses come to an end

The income tax officials said that some important records were apprehended from Surya, Vadivelu, directors K S Ravikumar and Murugadoss residences.

Residences and offices of these popular actors and directors were raided by the Income Tax officials. The raid started on Tuesday morning and came to an end on Wednesday morning. Raids were conducted in 25 places.

More than 250 officers were pressed into service. The official of the intelligence section of the Income Tax department said that the seized documents would be scrutinized in detail and if they have evaded tax they would have to pay it.

Rahasya Why so glamorous?

 One look at that impish grin on her face and you know that ravishing Rahasya is full of mischief and pranks! One minute into a conversation with her and you’ll realise that she is not quite the secretive, mysterious woman that her screen name implies! There’s no mincing words with Rahasya – she does not hesitate to call a spade a spade, and why should she? “Just because I am wearing sexy clothes in movies does not mean my morality is as minimal as the cloth! I would much rather to a sexy number on the screen and make good money, than do amoral things in real life and cover myself up in a sari in cinema,” retorts the fabulous dancing queen, if anyone dares ask her ‘Why so glamorous?’

And Rahasya has been pretty much the brat and ‘in-your-face’ person right from a kid. A complete prankster, she was known in the convent she studied at for cutting the uniform skirts of her classmates during class hours, without them knowing! “I would slip under the table, take out my scissors and happily snip away! The teachers knew it was me, but they did not know what to do with me because I was a fabulous student,” says Rahasya, and laughs that naughty smile! Girls, don’t mess with her!

Asin comeback in South industry

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If rumours are to be believed, Asin, the most beloved actress of the South, is all set to make a comeback in South industry. After the disastrous London Dreams, it is said that the actress has no projects on hand in Bollywood.
The buzz is that Asin has agreed to do a Malayalam film for a renowned director. She is also reportedly in talks with some other filmmakers from South India. There are also rumours that the pretty actress may act with Vijay in a Tamil film.
Asin started her film career with Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka in Malayalam, but it was Amma Naana Oka Tamil Amaayi, her first film in Telugu, that made her a household name. Soon, Kollywood beckoned. It remade Amma Naana… into M. Kumaran s/o Mahalakshmi; Asin reprised her role convincingly and walked into the hearts of every one. Then came a milestone in her career – Ghajini. The season after Ghajini saw her act with all the top heroes of Kollywood; she even became a widely-discussed name in the rest of India.
Soon she packed her bags to Bollywood to act with Aamir Khan in the remake of Ghajini. Since then, we haven't seen the pretty actress in any South Indian films. So now with the rumours mills churning, it looks like the pretty lass is back.
Let's wait and watch.

Asal releases on February 12

Ajith’s and Sivaji Productions Asal which was scheduled for release on February 5, has now been pushed by a week to February 12 as per trade reports.

Sources close to the development say that Sivaji Productions feel that Asal, should release big with as many prints as possible, as the film has the potential to be the biggest opener of the year.
Added to that the buzz is that Sivaji Productions Ramkumar and Prabhu, went out of their way to give a free run to their 'Annan' Rajinikanth’s daughter Soundarya’s maiden film Goa scheduled to release on January 29.
And when the producers mentioned it to 'Thalai', he was more than willing to delay the release by a week. It clearly means advantage Goa, as it will give them one more week to run without facing any stiff competition.

Shriya saves a little white kitten

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Every one who is close to Shriya knows that she is very kind to animals and is associated with Blue Cross.

The actress who is wrapping up the shoot of her film Chikku Bukku near Bangalore on Thursday (January 21) was travelling back by car to her hotel. Suddenly she saw a cute little white kitten stranded and lost in the heavy traffic at a signal.
Shriya rushed out of her car and rescued it from being crushed under the wheels of the vehicles and took it to the five star where she is staying. She fed the kitten with milk and biscuits and was so happy that she could do her bit.
Shriya plans to give it to one of the staff who has promised to take care of it, as she is leaving for Mumbai on Saturday.