Set As Your Home Page

Monday, February 27, 2012

'3' - Change of climax?

Cinemimi [Monday, February 27, 2012]
Industry grapevine is abuzz that '3' featuring Dhanush and Shruti Haasan might see a change of climax! It is said that Aishwarya Dhanush held a special screening for Superstar Rajinikanth who was smitten by the film but expressed his displeasure with the film's climax.

"Aishwarya screened the whole film to her daddy dearest who was very happy and proud of the film that marks her debut in tinsel town as a director but he suggested a change in climax. The Superstar's experience in the industry needs no introduction and now Aishwarya is toying with the idea of changing the climax based on his suggestions", say sources in the know.

'3' stars Dhanush and Shruti Haasan in the lead roles and they are touted to be seen in three phases of life. Sunder Ramu and Siva Karthikeyan will be seen in it as well, music is by Anirudh who shot to worldwide fame with his 'Kolaveri'.

'3' is touted to release on March 30 in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.












Slumdog actress in Tamil movie

Cinemimi [Monday, February 27, 2012]
Tanvi Lonkar, who played the teenage Latika, will appear in a lead role in the Tamil movie Kadhal Theevu. The cast introduction of Kadhal Theevu's leads - Tanvi and Ramcharan, who played the young Parthiban in Azhagi - was held in Fame National Multiplex in Chennai. Sathyaraj introduced Tanvi and Ramcharan to the gathering. Kadhal Theevu is produced by Studentstudio.com production company.

Tanvi, in her address, revealed how hard it is to make it big in Bollywood. "Although I am from Maharashtra and speak Hindi, it's impossible to break into Hindi films because Bollywood prefers people with some film background. But Tamil cinema is different and I am hoping to do more projects here," she said.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Cinemimi [Saturday, February 25, 2012]
Priya Anand can't stop talking about her role model Sridevi and her excitement over sharing the screen with the yesteryear star in “English Vinglish”

Her favourite childhood memory is watching Sridevi's films back to back — films such as “Kshana Kshanam” (Telugu) and “Lamhe” (Hindi), and writing letters to her favourite star. “I sincerely prayed that all my letters would reach her,” laughs Priya Anand. She is besotted with Sridevi and it becomes obvious as the better part of our conversation is devoted to the former star.

“Sridevi is the epitome of glamour. She is sensuous without being vulgar, womanly but with child-like innocence. She is the quintessential heroine. Cinema has had such an impact on me because of her. One of the reasons why I am an actor today is Sridevi,” she gushes.

It's not surprising that Priya is excited she is part of “English Vinglish”, Sridevi's comeback film. The director of the film is Gauri Shinde whose husband Balki (who made “Paa” and “Cheeni Kum”) has produced it. “It's a dream come true for me. I enjoyed every moment of it. I play an NRI girl, a hep, young, New York University student. I am with Sridevi in every single frame of the movie,” she smiles. The Hindi film is shot in sync sound, and will be dubbed later into Tamil and Telugu.

Different characters

The film deals with ordinary women, the circumstances that change their lives and how they handle them. Every character, big or small, is cast beautifully, says Priya. She also played an NRI in her last bilingual film “180”, a modern urban romance directed by ad filmmaker Jayendra. “‘180' was a tough emotional journey. ‘English' is more playfuland bindaas.”

All her films, including “English Vinglish”, have been with another female co-star. “For a movie to work, every character you play has to be lovable. It also depends on how people connect with the role. Audiences recognise me. I have been lucky to have worked with wonderful directors, who come up with sound scripts. When you read a script, you get a feel of the character. Everything else becomes natural after that.”

Priya loves the sea in Chennai. Her day begins with yoga on the beach at 4.30 a.m. “I watch the sunrise. Then I go hahaha at the laughter club with thathas. I will never move out of Chennai because of the sea.” The Chennai girl says the Tamil film industry rocks. “It is open to alternative cinema. It welcomes and nurtures newcomers. The success of films such as “Mynaa”, “Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu”, “Kalavani” and “Vaagai Sooda Vaa” proves that the audience is discerning. They do not mind sad endings any more.”

Among her contemporaries, Nithya Menon, her co-star in “180”, is her favourite. “She is a natural and charming.” About the other newcomers, Priya says, “Oviya in ‘Kalavani' and Iniya in ‘Vaagai Sooda Vaa' are good. But, they are happy doing a particular genre, happy in their comfort zone. I am curious to see them perform outside it.”

Priya is at home with the Telugu audience too. Sekhar Kammula, known for his strong portrayal of women characters, cast her in the political drama “Leader” as Ratna Prabha, a feisty reporter. Her performance earned her recognition. In “Rama Rama Krishna Krishna”, she played Priya, a village girl. “I can never get over Ratna, my favourite character. She is crazy and thinks she can marry the CM because she wants Rs. 60 crore from him. I loved playing Priya too, the girl from Rajahmundry in paavadai, thavani and malligai poo…”

Priya is looking forward to meeting Sridevi again during the promotion tours of “English Vinglish”. “It's a fun, light-hearted film for everyone. The music is by Amit Trivedi. There is a Marathi folk song too. Dancing in front of Sridevi was insane. Every time I made eye contact with her, I would falter. Watching her perform is awesome,” she says.






















Itsy-bitsy: Anxious moments

Cinemimi [Saturday, February 25, 2012]
he most memorable part of the film was reeling off a three-page dialogue after a cat fight with my partner - a Keralite - Aparna Nair in the movie. Not only Just not in the film, Aparna is actually a Malayali. The film that is metro in nature is directed by Dr. Kiran,” says Ajay Reddy a debutant. The actor from Anantapur is based in Bangalore and has in fact done his first film in Tamil titled Kalavaram with Satyaraj. Ajay's father was into movie production and that is how Ajay landed in movies. The actor avers it feels good to work in Telugu movie and is anxiously waiting for its release. The songs are yet to be shot though.

Love FailureSeventh SenseYeto VYellipoyindi Manasu Seventh Sense

Bad is good

Ajaz Khan idolises Sylvester Stallone, not only for the way he has maintained his body all these years, but his philosophy as well. The onscreen baddie's first film was Rakta Charitra in which he played Bottu Seenu. He says, “Mahesh Babu and Sreenu Vytla saw my work and offered me Dhookudu. Then V.V. Vinayak saw me in Dhookudu and offered me his latest film with Ramcharan Tej. Currently I'm working in Anucharudu that has Srikant and Tarun playing lead roles, am doing well in Hindi movies as well and recently wrapped up Lakeer Ka Phakeer. I just signed Ya Rab with Flora.” Has Ajaz given up television? “Yes, I'm not doing television anymore, I'm concentrating on movies and I quite enjoy playing the villain. People love watching the heroes beat the strong villains and we have to work out for that. I spend two hours every day on fitness and I do maintain my six packs.”

He has arrived

When Isha Chawla asks Dev Gill to bring her a dragon fly as a show of machismo and valour, he embarks on a journey with his rifle, shoots it but when it vanishes he brings a rabbit instead and asks her to cook and eat it much to her dismay.

Dev Gill as Konda Reddy has arrived; he portrays a perfect blend of seriousness and humour in Poolarangadu." That proposing scene is my favourite when Sunil tells me that glamour is not important it is the show of strength that matters." Everyone, from a three year old kid to a 90-year old can enjoy it, there is action and fun and when you walk out people will not forget Konda Reddy."

Dev is waiting for Rachha and his Hindi movie next and hoping that he gets a lot of anti-hero movies.

Language issues

Chandigarh girl Sara Sharma justifies the reason for changing her name. “I'm Monisha Sharma, but people insist on calling me ‘Manisha', so I decided to change it for good. When I entered the industry I made Sara an official name. It is Sera in English, Sara in Hindi and I'm aware that Sara in Telugu means country liquor...but I prefer to be addressed as Sara.” The actor makes her debut in a Nikhil-starrer Disco but before that she has done a whole lot of commercials and short films. “I completed an acting course in Mumbai and met Abhinav Reddy, my producer and we did this movie. Earlier too both of us produced a Bhojpuri film, Hamar love story in Bhojpuri.”

...Hamar hamara

Moving ahead

Watch out for Dhanya Balakrishna from Bangalore who'll soon be seen playing the lead role in a movie by Dr. Kiran . She caught everyone's attention in Love Failure, she has also played Shruti Hassan's friend who gets killed in Seventh Sense, and a small role in Yeto VYellipoyindi Manasu by Gautham Menon. It has been quite a transformation from the first film, isn't it? “Yes, I did some grooming, straightened my hair. For Seventh Sense I just went and stood before the camera.” Standing tall with a good voice, the articulate Dhanya has an MA in Mass Communications and was part of the Evam theatre group before getting into movies. She says, “My family was upset with my decision initially but they are dealing with it quite well. They realised I'm doing good work and they didn't stop me. I'm with the right people though I'm getting small important roles directed by big names.”

No Rajini in '3'

superstarCinemimi [Saturday, February 25, 2012]
There were reports in a section of the media that Superstar Rajinikanth would do a cameo in '3', the debut directorial vehicle of his elder daughter Aishwarya, which has his son-in-law Dhanush in the lead role.

However, circles close to the project have denied this, saying: "This is just a wild guess. There is no special appearance by the Superstar. But he is closely watching how the film is taking shape, since this is Aishwarya's dream venture."

On Thursday, it was confirmed by Dhanush's father Kasthuriraja that '3' would hit the screens on March 30 in three languages (Tamil, Telugu and Hindi). With Shruthi Haasan as the female lead, the movie has music by Anirudh.

"The success of 'Why this kolaveri di...' has generated huge expectations on 3 all over India. Hopefully the film should surpass the hype on it. We are planning for a grand pan-Indian release," Kasthuriraja said.

'Maatraan' here, 'Duplicate' there

mattranCinemimi [Saturday, February 25, 2012]
With just few more weeks left for the summer, the countdown has almost started for 'Maatraan', which is set to have a big release in South India. Recently, the Telugu dubbing rights of the film were bagged for a whopping price.

According to sources, ace Tollywood producer Bellamkonda Suresh has acquired the Telugu rights of the movie from producers AGS Entertainment. "The Tollywood version has been titled 'Duplicate', a name which fits well to the film's knot," they add.

Directed by K V Anand, who delivered a big hit 'Ayan' with Suriya, Kajal Agarwal is playing the heroine. Music is by Harris Jayaraj and an grand audio launch function is expected to take place in Chennai by the middle of March.

Suriya is playing more than one roles in this film and one of them will be that of a baddie. In addition, there are three more actors in negative roles- Daniel Balaji, Milind Soman and Veera of 'Nadunisi Naaygal' fame.

Sridevi returns with a bang

sridevi-amitabhCinemimi[Saturday, February 25, 2012]
Sridevi who had achieved the extraordinary feat of occupying the top spot in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films is all set to make her comeback. She will be seen in English Vinglish directed by Gauri Shinde, wife of acclaimed director, R Balki. Sridevi's costars are French actor Mehdi Nebbou, Priya Anand and Adil Hussain. Amitabh Bachchan will be making a special appearance.

The story is set in New York and Sridevi plays a South Indian, who tries to learn English to impress her family. It is going to be an out and out comedy. The makers have decided to dub and release the film simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu as they believe that Sridevi has a pan Indian appeal.

Dhanush too busy for his father?

Cinemimi [Saturday, February 25, 2012]
Kasthuri Raja, film maker and father of Dhanush and Selvaraghavan is proud that his sons have done so well for themselves in Tamil cinema. Recently he was asked if he will make another film with Dhanush in the lead.

To that, Kasthuri Raja laughed and said that since Dhanush has become such a huge star at the national level he is far too busy these days. He said that he does have some ideas for a film project but would prefer to work with new faces and not established stars as he would love to introduce fresh talent to Tamil cinema.

Jai and Samantha ready for marriage

Cinemimi [Saturday, February 25, 2012]
Jai and Samantha will be paired up in the interestingly titled Thirumanam Ennum Nikkah. The film will be directed by Aneesh, who was formerly the assistant of Nasser and will be produced by Aascar Ravichandran. Cinematography will be by Shakthi who agreed to do the project after hearing the script.

Shooting for this project will begin in two months time according to sources. Jai and Samantha will be pairing up for the first time and with a fresh team to back them up, a lot is expected from them and they will be hoping to deliver.










 
Photography Templates | Slideshow Software