TV and OTT it is a Onam with Josh and for rest a melancholic one

 

Onam for Malayalam film viewers is sans theaters this time. You have films releasing on TV straightaway and on OTT. The days when you visited a theater as part of Onam festivities is going to be a thing of the past ? The Central Govt has still put theaters on the restricted list till September end. The news that many films of actors like Fahad Fazil and Tovino are coming straight to TV and OTT and many more to follow looks like that this might be the norm for some time.

Even Tamil films like that of Jyotika and Keerthy Suresh are coming to TV first. A Onam fest meant for people in the capital to take a look at the lit up Govt buildings and a visit to theater. Slowly this `lights’ as said by public became very much a low key and then it was lights off. Remaining was the `float’ and that too has gone for a toss. In short ,ia Onam that is more on the TV screen than in homes or roads.

I remember that theater owners had a tough time in controlling drunks in the night shows. The elite of the capital booked tickets in balconies and came with families. This trend vanished after drunks took over the balconies and toilets were jammed with vomit as liquor + payasam combo did not jell.

People from neighbouring districts came to the capital to see lights and movies. There was a system that new releases came first to A class center. This too crumbled along the way. Now this Onam, you sit at home and  see the premiere release on TV or on OTT platform and the drunks can empty the gut in the own toilet or on the roads.  Hear lalettan to Ponnamma Babu talk about Onam in Covid times.

There is no argument about who was king of Onam box office. Like shops reported bleak sales due to Covid scare, probably theaters too would have no takers in a big way. The Puli Attam guys have lost their yearly time to make big cash. Somebody has spread the word that flowers are carriers of the virus. To old timers like me who have enjoyed Onam with friends get together and the movie viewing and seeing women folk getting up to do the atthatha poo and along with children taking rides on swings tied on trees in the backyard, I used to say almost a decade back that Onam fervor is only on TV screens.

When Hotels offered Onam sadhya as home delivery and within the premises. Tables were booked earlier for such lunches and reported even waiting list , I knew that Onam and Maveli are kept alive by TV channels to make a killing. What happened to the bulky Onam pathipu ( special issues) that at one time had to be booked by paying upfront to the vendor ?No woman woke up at 3 AM to start cutting veggies for the feast. It was a must that everybody ate the Onam sadhya together and non veg was taboo. All that has changed. Atleast till recently Maveli could witness unruly crowds outside theaters and this time he has a very sober Kerala waiting. Only home cooked food and no drunks staggering out of bars to rush home for keeping the attendance. No traffic diversions due to people walking from East Fort to Kawdiar to see lights.

Happy Onam for TV channels and OTT platforms. A melancholic Onam for all those missing the Onam josh. We will have to see this time Kerala gives the expected news that previous Onam record sales at BEVCO outlets and the areas with figures that keep Gods Own Country ahead of all lovers of Bacchus 

Last Para has an update :From today included three days are dry days in Kerala. So only yesterday sales figures will be officially available. Bars  will make a killing but good news is that Central Govt has permitted bars to open from Sept 1.

Lockdown babies, weddings and pregnancy

 

Lockdown has seen its share of pregnancies, baby deliveries and marriage in South filmdpm. Lets start with marriages. There were many in the news but the biggest was that of actress Miya George getting engaged.. A well known actress in Malayalam and Tamil, Miya took everybody by surprise. June 27, 2020,  Bigg Boss Tamil Season 3 fame actressVanitha Vijayakumar and filmmaker, Peter Paul got married. The marriage has raked up a big controversy in the social media and it is still raging. Now to news of pregnancy- Director Selvaraghavan ( Puthupettai)  wife Gitanjali announced that she is 17 weeks pregnant. Mollywood’s cute couple Pearle Maaney and Srinish Aravind also made the announcement that they are expecting a baby on Instagram

Babies born during lockdown : Music composer- actor GV Prakash Kumar and his wife Saindhavi welcomed their baby daughter in April this year. Actor Nakkhul Jaidev and his wife Shruti announced the arrival of baby girl. Tamil Bigg Boss fame Daniel Annie Pope and his wife Danisha were blessed with a baby boyPopular Mollywood actor Tovino Thomas announced the birth of his second son on June 6. He married his girlfriend Lidiya in 2014. He also has a four-year-old daughter Izza Thomas.

In Bollywood we saw Anushka Sharma and her cricketer husband Virat Kohli announcing  that they are expecting their first child. Kareena Kapoor Khan had also  announced that they are expecting their second child.

Gambling on Mohanlal Marakkar and Vijay's Master to pull crowds

 

If theaters are given permission to open next month , except for multilingual Marrakkar starring Mohanlal and directed by Priydarshan and Vijay’s Master, there is no big ticket film in the South that can bring the crowds back to movie halls. The sale of Soorai Potturu to Amazon and Malayalam film Kilometeres and kilometers to OTT has affected the calculations of Kerala and Tamil Nadu distributors. In Kannada filmdom it is worse as there is Star film ready and will have re-release Drona of Shivarajakumar released at the start of Lockdown. Same is the situation in AP &T after Nani’s V went to Amazon.

Though there are 45 films in Malayalam that is ready for screening, only Marakkar has the potential to pull the crowds in Kerala. As the film is made on a pan- Indian concept, the dubbed version might appeal for its grandeur to other language audience.  During the lockdown, the most viewed language film online was Malayalam .It could be a trial run for theaters outside Kerala. Tamil rights are with Thanu.  After SP backing out, the exhibitors have no choice but to go with Master to get the crowds. Vijay films apart from Tamil Nadu has a strong draw in Kerala and neighboring States.

The risk  for the distributors of Marakkar and Master is high. These films will have be bought on a MG basis and it means the money is locked in. The whole gamble is on how the audience that is still battling Covid  will decide – to go see Mohanlal – Vijay wth the family ( in case kids are allowed by Government) or will it have to bank on fan clubs alone to pull it through.

In USA and other countries the patronage of movie halls that opened last Friday is poor; the major beneficiary of Indian theaters opening is the foreign studios that have a vast library of films that are awaiting release all over India.

As productions are to start, Arun Vijay, Vikram and Vijay Sethupathi films will resume. Rajinikanth and Ajith will not take part in shoot till the vaccine arrives. Sun Pictures is to shoot all portions that do not involved Rajinikanth. In Telugu, Vijay Devarakonda’s Fighter’ under Puri Jagannadh's direction which also features Bollywood actress Ananya Pandey as the female lead in the film will start immediately as only a few days of work remains. Kannada’s Yash and Shivarajakumar have already got ready to complete the pending films.

 

Suriya puts pillayar suzhi for biggies release on OTT

 

Suriya  puts  the pillayar suzhi (Ganesha Circle) for biggies of Tamil Cinema to take the OTT route by announcing that Soorarai Pottru (SP) will release on October 30 in the Amazon Prime Video platform. On August 19^th, we reported the story headlined – Telugu’s Natural Star Nani opens the OTT doors for South Filmdom. It has come true. A background information about pillayar suzhi - This came to symbolize Ganesha, the scribe who helped Vyasa write down the Mahabharata. Since then the Pillayar Suzhi is supposed to make things auspicious and bring good luck.

The theater owners as expected are angry. Tirupur Subramanian of the exhibitor’s body says that unless they have at least 2 biggies in hand to bring crowds while reopening it is difficult to bring in people after reopening. With SP gone, now Vijay’s Master remains. He says that as Suriya is free to decide on which platform to decide, exhibitors too are free to choose their films. He laughs at the stance that Suriya took the decision as a producer. He asks whether Suriya paid Rs 30 cr as renumeration to anybody as producer. All the expenses were met by the co-producer a Mumbai company. He says that Suriya says that he has taken a cut in earnings from the usual figure he gets from a film but for exhibitors it is more losses. He debunks the claim that Suriya has got permission to shoot for 2 films.

Suriya has announced a Rs 5 cr amount to be used for Covid warriors and this would blunt the opposition to the OTT move.  SP price for a post theatrical release in OTT was fixed. After the  Nani V film deal, a similar deal was inked almost a month ago with SP producers. The deal is Rs 60 cr for premiere release in all languages and after 60 days it can be released in theaters by the producers. SP’s  satellite rights was already sold to Star – Vijay for Rs 20 cr and Hindi dubbing for Rs 12 cr.  Overseas rights was committed for Rs 12 cr and this might drop drastically to Rs 3 cr. The opening response of TENET in theaters in USA and SE Asia has been too poor. According to trade the SP producers have made a Rs 25cr profit before release.

SPB gor infected at TV reality shoot - Mammooty- Nivin Pauly greets Chiru on 65th B'Day

 

A shoot of a TV reality show in Hyderabad was the place from where SPB got the virus and many musicians who took part in the shoot had tested positive is a testimony to the flaws in the permissions granted. The plight of actor who gets tested positive receives no support from the production company or team  is evident from the plight of veteran actress Siva Parvathy. The shooting permission rules only specifies about the number of technicians on the sets and other standard procedures. It does not ask for a test report for COVID from those taking part in the shoot. The testing of singer Malavika and her declared positive has only brought this anomaly to light. Malavika says that her entire family stayed at home for past 5 months and that she was tested positive on August 8^th, Staying at home does not guarantee  immunity from the virus and if she had not taken the test, she would continue to be COVID free even now.  Her  defense that  she was not COVID 19 positive when she took part in the reality show shoot on July31st at Hyderabad with SPB does not hold water. She says that only after August 5^th (day SPB was tested positive) that she, her father-mother and husband- daughter took the test. On 8^th , she ,her parents and daughter  were tested positive and on 19^th, her father was admitted to the hospital. She says that many on the sets had tested positive. She said SPB messaged her -‘I was very tired; I have been shooting for 4 days continuously and don’t forget my age.’

Her FB posts says - Samajavaragamana SPBalu Garu's episode was shot on July 30th with many singers like Hemachandra, Anudeep, Pranavi and Lipsika and on 31st with Karunya, Damini, Satya Yamini, Vasa Pavani and Malavika. I happen to be one of the 4 female singers on the second day of the shoot. Had I been positive I could have easily passed it on to the 3 other female singers or the anchor with whom I shared the makeup room.My sister is not a singer and she lives in the Usa, how and why will she sing in that show? Ever since lockdown my husband has been "working from home", my elderly parents have not even stepped into the "corridor" for walking and stayed indoors for the past 5 months. We have NOT had a maid for the past 5 months to reduce the risk of corona. I have a 2 year old daughter and have been extremely cautious and not stepped out for any recording or show or shoot in the last 5 months. This TV show was the first time I stepped out of my house with a shield in my car between me and my driver. That is the level of caution I have carried through this lockdown”.

Siva Parvathy, the senior Telugu character artiste, who has done a number of movies and TV serials, has been battling COVID-19. "I have been suffering from coronavirus. For ten days, I reached a critical stage and got discharged only yesterday from a hospital (in Hyderabad). The whole world knows that COVID-19 can be fatal. I have been doing Vadinamma for years but none from the team even bothered to even enquire about my well-being," a distraught Parvathy said in the video. She revealed that yesteryear actress Jeevitha Rajsekhar alone helped her. "She visited me in the hospital and has supported me.  She spoke with the doctors and ensured the needful," a thankful Parvarthy added. 

Mammooty – Nivin Pauly among others release CDP on Chiru’s 65^th B’Day/

Megastar Chiranjeevi will be celebrating his 65th birthday tomorrow. The celebrations have already begun on social media as many celebrities have been sharing common motion post for the actor. 

Releasing the motion poster, Venkatesh tweeted, "Here's the Common Display motion Poster Of Megastar @kchirutweets garu made by his fans, Wishing him Many More happy Returns of the day!!" The actor has been known as Chiru for decades.  

Rana Daggubati, music director Devi Sri Prasad, Nivin Pauly, Sudheer Babu, Bandla Ganesh, Kartikeya Gummakonda, Lakshmi Manchu, Eesha Rebba, among others, also unveiled the same. 

Ahead of its release, a common display picture (CDP) has been released on the eve of the legendary actor's birthday.  Released by the likes of Ram Charan, it features some of the most stylish stills from Chiranjeevi's scintillating filmography, with stills from Indra and Khaidi No. 150 making their presence felt predominantly.  Unveiling it, Ram Charan tweeted, "Happy to be launching the Common DP to celebrate the birthday of Mega Star Chiranjeevi garu. #HBDMegastarChiranjeevi (sic)."

The first look of Chiru's upcoming movie, Acharya, will be unveiled tomorrow. Music director Mani Sharma is believed to have composed a peppy score for the motion poster, which will be out at 4 PM. The tent-pole 2021 title revolves around a lone crusader's fight for conversing natural resources. Directed by Koratala Siva, it has Kajal Aggarwal opposite Chiranjeevi. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=MlT-D5c1Y0U&feature=youtu.be

 

KGF2 shoot on August 26th

KGF 2 the Yash- Prasanth Neel sequel has started location hunting and will soon commence shooting. A pix posted on Instagram showed the crew at a spot and asked the viewers to identify the spot. Many said it was Minerva Mills. The shooting will begin anytime. The executive producer posted that Sanjay Dutt who plays the baddie will report for shoot in 3 months as per the team accompanying the actor now in USA for Cancer treatment. Shivarajkumar has already begun shoot of the last 14 days of the film that is a sequel to his earlier hit film Bhajarangi. KGF team has roped in Anbariv, also known as Anbumani and Arivumani or Anbu and Arivu  for action scenes. Kannada is all set for action despite surge in Covid cases. Yesterday a pix of KGF shoot did the round but executive producer denied it. . He tweeted Shoot resumes from the 26th.

Vijay Sethupathi to start shoot of Muralitharan biopic

Viajay Sethupathi who   released the trailor of Laabam, a scorching look at middlemen taking the gains of the farmers and directed by Jagganathan, will leave for Colombo to take part in the biopic on SL cricketer Muralitharan. As Tamil groups had objected to VP playing the SL cricketer who is seen as pro Rajapakese, he had idea to quit. However, Muralitharan had told VP that he would personally supervise the direction and scripting and in short don the proxy director’s hat. The producers Suresh Productions Suresh says ““It has a Tamil angle since Murali is Sri Lankan Tamil, it has a Sri Lankan angle to it and then there is of course, the cricket angle,” says D Suresh Babu of Suresh Productions. “We think Murali’s story has a lot of drama which will appeal to the Tamil viewers. I shared the news in my school and college Whatsapp groups from Chennai. There was tremendous interest in the Chennai groups.” “His big challenge would be to practise moving those eyes like Murali does when he comes on to bowl. He needs to get that right,” says Suresh, a cricket buff. He has played for Don Bosco School and Guindy Engineering College during his student days in Chennai. He has been  to many venues where India played the World Cup. Suresh Productions at present has four films locked up.

From Venkatesh’s `Naarappa’ that needs another 25 days of shoot to `Crrush’ that requires another 7 days of shoot. Suresh has  invested a lot of money and done a lot of planning for Hiranya. The Telugu remake of `Dream Girl’ is scripted and was ready to shoot. He had taken the rights to `Sonu ki Titu ki shaadi’.

- Hrithik- Prabhas clash and Yogi Babu-Shivarajkumar film

 

Yogi Babu enters Kannada film with Shivarajkumar as hero, Director Prabhu Solomon asks his daughter Hazel Shiny  to stop coming on internet . A Bollywood film with Hrithik Roshan in the Ramayana version will be pitched against Prabhas Adipurush. Theaters are hoping for a permission to reopen from September 1 but the Covid spike is hitting their chances. Read the details.

Yogi Babu is making his Kannada debut with the upcoming movie of Shivrajkumar and director Harsha Bhajarangi 2. Bhajrangi 2 is now in its final phase of shooting and the shooting had started on August 16.It has been reported that Yogi Babu has been traveling to the sets where the shoot is happening, indicating that he's very much a part of the movie. Produced by Jayanna films, this is the third movie from the combo of Harsha and Shivanna, and also stars Bhavana as the female lead along with Sruti, another Malyalam actress. Excitement over the sequel to Dr Shivrajkumar starrer Bhajarangi is high as film teaser clocker 2 million views. Yogi Babu has in the last few days, is seen in  photos of him with sandalwood stars like Puneeth Rajkumar, Duniya Vijay and Shivarajkumar turning viral.

Director Prabhu Solomon has also stated that he has advised his daughter Hazel Shiny to stop her posts on the internet since he is a spiritual person following Christianity and has explained to her it’s not appropriate for their family. Hazel Shiny has won many hearts with her videos and pics that she regularly posts on Instagram. Especially her cute expressions for various songs and scenes on Tik Tok are a huge hit among her followers and she gets a big number of likes for them.  Solomon directed hits like 'Mynaa', 'Kumki' and 'Kayal'. He has now completed his trilingual movie 'Kaadan' starring Rana Daggubatti and Vishnu Vishal in the lead and 'Kumki 2' with debutante. He has Hindi film Haathi Mera Saathi ( Hindi) and  Telugu film Aranya to be released.

Bollywood is too making a film on Ramayana and this will be a competition to Prabhas Adhipurush .Nitesh Tiwari of Dangal and Chhichhore fame had scripted the epic and narrated it to Hrithik Roshan,  It is the reason why the makers did not announce Adipurush immediately as a Ramayan adaptation and even now it is Nag Aswin the director of one of Prabha’s film and son in law of producer who has announced the news.. Speculation is rife about Keerthy being Seetha in the epic of Prabhas. We told so much before; https://www.facebook.com/ayyappa.prasad


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Telugu's Natural Star Nani opens the OTT doors for South Filmdom

 

Telugu’s Natural Star Nani announcement on Twitter that his next film V is coming on Amazon Prime has come as a shock for the producer’s cartel that is backing a similar platform run by the First Family of T’ Wood. Other producer’s who were undecided as to whether to join the OTT bandwagon will now move towards the virtual one as producer Dil Raju is said to have made profits even before the release. This move by a saleable Star is likely to be followed by actors across South India.

Many factors work in favour of V. Nani and Inderganti Mohan krishna came together in AsthaChemma( Nani was introduced). When Krishna needed a big name to stabilize, Nani teamed up for Gentleman. Though the film V has Sudheer Babu  playing the  lead with  Nivetha Thomas and Aditi Rao Hydari,  Nani plays the negative role and that too in his 25^th film .

The film originally planned for March 25^th was not a big event. The main hitch was that the audience in what considered a holiday crowd or a family audience has to accept Nani in a thriller with a negative role. Now that problem is cleared. Dil Raju the producer need not bother about it and if it clicks, he has the theatrical rights still with him. With Aug 31^st lockdown over, the next will see theaters open and Raju could have waited is one view. As most part of Andhra and Hyderabad are those that faced severe corona epidemic, no huge turnouts are going to come to theatres and even if the halls are open, Raju has the option to take the film to areas where OTT has not reached.

Raju had sold Hindi satellite rights and Telugu rights is with him. Trade reports say that Rs 31 cr was the price for digital premiere and its dubbed versions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgJvX9-MNGc

Thumbs UP pixs - romantic song therapy add to SPB hospital news

 

Just like in the case of Jayalalithaa, SPB’s hospital stay has put to work the photoshop experts and scriptwriters in the guise of sources to put out several interesting happenings that are taking place in the ICU where the singer is taking treatment. From photos of SPB showing thumbs up with ventilator on him and clicked through a glass window of the door to doctors playing his own songs to him as part of treatment has already been put out. The new version of the Pentecostal method of treatment pitch reached a stage where you expect SPB to come out singing Oruvan Oruvan Muthalali and riding out in a horse carriage from MGM Healthcare to his T Nagar house. To put some cold water on it -"Thanks a lot for all your concern and enquiries about my father's health. He is in ICU under ventilation. His condition is stable. Don't believe rumours. We will keep you updated about his progress regularly. Thanks again," SPB's son Charan stated. SPB sister Shylaja explained her late reaction to her not seeing TV as it is full of negativity and not buying newspapers.  She said brother is better.

SPB has been at the receiving end of rumours. A Telugu website FilmNagar or something named similar said singer S Janaki passed away. He phoned the house and her son picked the phone and SPB did not see any sign of grief in the voice. A red faced SPB put out a video blasting such rumour mongers. Some time back , I think three years back , his younger sister Girija passed away  and he had to postpone his commitments. Soon , rumours started making rounds on his health, citing his health as the reason for cancelling his commitments. Pained and irritated by those rumours, SP Balu took to Facebook to clarify on his health and also tell the reason for cancelling his programmes. Celebrities do fall prey to such baseless rumours. Balu didn’t like the way his visits to doctors and cancellation of his commitments were interpreted as being critically ill. He was then  busy shooting for the next episodes for  of his television shows.
Now, a report on a entertainment website has claimed a source from the hospital has told them  that his songs are being played as part of the ongoing therapy for Covid-19. The website said -To bring down the stress level and depression, his hit songs are played in wards of the hospital. The hospital is playing a mix of romantic, philosophical and religious songs sung by him at the ward where he is being treated. It has to be noted that music therapy is adopted by many hospitals for the speedy recovery of the patients, it added However, the International Business Times could not independently verify the claims by the report in the article.

Medicines are administered orally, injected into the veins or the muscles. Music has a more direct experience on the brain and body. It calms the patients. Also, when patients are told that they will regain consciousness within 36 hours of surgery, those who have undergone music therapy have been known to wake up in the 35th hour. Such is the impact,” said Dr Mythili, who has also written a book on the subject ‘The power of music. She learnt music therapy from Dr. Balamuralikrishna. However the therapy is not playing hit songs as the method.

“We use only Carnatic instrumental music for therapy as we have noticed the frequencies of the notes have a certain impact on the human mind. Deep research into the subject has also shown that pregnant women who were exposed music therapy ended up having more intelligent children. And when it comes to pain relief, music has a profound impact on the body’s pain receptors... boosting the influence of pain relief drugs,” said Dr Mythili, a disciple of Balamurali-krishna since 1977.

Brings to mind the photos of Jayalalithaa taken in Apollo Hospital and ministers giving news that AMMA asked for idlis for breakfast and poriddge rice for dinner. The thumbs up photo on Twitter was uploaded by comedian Manobala as a part of laughter therapy for the grieving fans, I guess.

SPB had expressed his displeasure in him not allowed to take selfies with PM at a dinner meet as his phone was handed over to security and B'Town stars were allowed to carry and take selfies. Now I expect BJP to arrange for a video conf between Modi - SPB.

 

Past and OTT haunts Yogi Babu

 

Will OTT  kill Yogi Babu’s market ? He asks producer’s to not use his solo photos in posters of films where he is not the lead hero or has a long running role as a comedian. The appeal put out by him has led to a producer of a film Dhowlath to go public that he has paid for 5 days work and the actor has dubbed in his own voice. This film was shot at a time when Yogi Babu was just a fatso with a funny hairdo who worked as Assistant on the sets of a comedy show in Vijay TV. The producer says that the press report said Yogi Babu  had nothing to do with the film and distributors backed out.

Yogi Babu’s present stature is that of what Goundamani- Senthil and Vadivelu commanded earlier at the box office. Distributors paid more money or showed interest only if these actors were in the film. They were an added bonus to a movie. In rural and semi- urban areas, the comedians if they clicked were in great demand by the audience. Like his predecessors, Babu charges Rs 20 Lakhs a day for a 24 hr call sheet. The rise to popularity came with with Vishal's 'Pattathu Yaanai and cemented it with  Maan Karate the Sivakarthikeyan starrer. Babu's portrayal as 'Panni Moonji Vaayan' in the movie 'Yaamirukka Bayamey' , Vijay Sethupathi's 'Aandavan Kattalai'.  Nayanthara’s 'Kolamavu Kokila' , 'Pariyerum Perumal' and 'Comali'  strengthened his career. His Chennai slang became a hit like Vadivelu’s Madurai accent.

In films where he did main roles like Gurkha, Dharmaprabhu or Zombali had given the trade the profit. Directors have to put up with his on the spot addition of dialogues at shooting and sneaking in one liners during dubbing. The repetition and stale one liners that are bound to creep in with an actor who has no clue about the script and relies n his body language is bound to happen.

The OTT platform has now come to be a big headache to Babu. Many films that he acted in a few scenes have surfaced and some have found their way to the virtual ground. To make a visitor to choose the film, producer’s use his mug on the poster. All this films have bombed. Till theaters are open more Babu `delights’ are in the pipeline. Those who have paid through their nose to produce film with Babu in the lead are now wondering if their films will be seen as another hoax. The only way is that Babu tells the public each time film’s release  comes up as to whether he is doing a full length role or a few scenes.

It comes to my mind an incident that took place. A Malayalam film directed by Captain Raju and produced by his relative had Vikram and Laila (her debut) in it. Both the actor’s became hot favourites in Tamil. Raju who suffered a loss found a buyer for Tamil dubbing rights.  He came to Chennai and I went with him to meet Vivek , a top comedian. Raju wanted him   to act in  a 2000 ft comedy track to be added to the dubbed version. Vivek  went inside and came out and said that he spoke to Vikram who gave clearance ( legally not needed) to go ahead. Vikram told him that it was producers like Raju who kept his home fire burning in the struggling days and if they got any money, he was only too happy. Raj went one step ahead and titled the film Thrill as Vikram- Lalila ‘s Tamil film Dhill was a hit. He got Manthra, a sex bomb to dance for a song with lyrics that contained titles of all Vikram films. The best part was that a music director like Johnson who scored in the original was replaced by Deva in the Tamil posters. I heard the distributors did make money but the public was not deceived by the Captain like moves.

 

Oomai Vizhigal - the real Independence Day for Kodambakkam

 

The real Independence or liberation of Tamil Cinema came with the release of Oomai Vizhigal , the Abavannan produced – R Aravindraj directed film released on August 15 1986. The release poster of the film was a Censor certificate got from the Tribunal after the ban was lifted. The film that ran for 150 days  gave a visiting card to hundreds of student’s of the Adyar Film Institute (AFI) who after passing out were the butt of ridicule in Kodambakkam.   A film Aval Appadithan released in 1978 and directed by Film Institute graduate Rudrayya with a bold subject of women emancipation and gender bias bombed miserably at the box office. Though Bharathiraaja and Mrinal Sen lauded the film, the subject went over the head of the audience. Sripriya was the central figure with Kamal Haasan ,a busy Star and a struggling Rajinikanth in the cast. Later Kamal Haasan described the film as "Aval Appadithan was a guerilla attack on the industry by insiders like me. It slipped through their fingers, so to speak. With all the attention that films get these days, I doubt we can get away with such a film any more.”

The gureilla attack was on the Institute pass outs who Kodambakkam said could make only such art films. The technical quality too was criticized. It did win State Awards and further consolidated the belief that these guys could get only awards and no rewards at BO. In 1984 August 24^th, My dear Kuttichathan, the first 3D film of India was released. The Tamil distribution went begging as distributors laughed at the practice of giving 3D glasses and taking it back from audience and the feasibility of recovering money by theatres after it incurred costs for revamp of projector screen and sound. Also a rumor did the round that the 3D glasses spread Madras Eye, a seasonal virus. Kayaar ,an AFI pass out bought the film’s Tamil Nadu area and had Rajinikanth come in a promo to say the glasses were safe. The film was a blockbuster and Meeran Sahib Street got its first Adyar alumni.

Abavannan who studied in the AFI, at first was thrilled with Sholay and embarked to direct  a 70 MM – 6 track stereophonic film in Tamil. Even songs were recorded in Mumbai with L Vaidyanathan as music director.The film got delayed and Abavannan took his short film given to AFI and saked his friend to rework on it.The technical crew was all AFI and its music director Manoj Gyan was got through their association with him in Mumbai during the shelved 70MM film. With Jaishankar joining the cast, things moved easily and came in Srividya, Ravichandran and Vagai Chandasekar pitched for Vijaykanth ( the role meant for Sivakumar ,who after a flop film with a AFI graduate decided to have no truck with such filmmakers). Arun Pandian, classmate of Abavannan got his friend Karthik, the hot selling Star for an extended cameo.

A crime thriller, censors banned the film as it was found to have pro- LTTE portions.  One of the songs in the film is still very dear to pro LTTE groups all over the World. After accepting cuts, the producer to shut the mouth of distributors who said that censor certificate was not got ,decided to release its first poster ( today it could be First Look) two days before theatre release with only a copy of the revised Censor copy on it. The censor Chief felt peeved as cows were chewing the poster with his name on it.

The film saw the entry of Disco Shanthi , Editor Jayachandran, Diamond Babu as PRO and his father Filmnews Anandan played a photographer in the film. The rapport that Jaishankar who played Editor of an investigative Daily had with the press and also some of them too acted as press reporters in it , helped the publicity.

After this film’s hit, Vijaykanth and his friend Rawther together gave umpteen students of AFI the much needed break and the jinx on them got removed. It was truly an Independence Day that Kodambakkam still remembers. The AFI has now led to many hi-tech Film institute’s and visual communication being a part of the college curriculum. Today the burning issue for Kodambakkam is resuming of film shootings and opening of cinema halls. Only then Tamil Cinema can celebrate I’Day says Bharathiraaja.

 

Critically Covid struck SPB and son Charan together in a song to release on Aug 15th

Tommorow ( Aug 15th) will see the release of song in which  SPB, who is battling Covid in a hospital along with son  SPB Charan have sung along with the 65 singers who have lend their voices to the all time hit Thamizha Thamizha composed by A R Rahman as part of the move to generate funds to support the singers and musicians of the musical fraternity in distress during the pandemic. A R Rahman, Mohanlal, KGF Yash will release the song at 11 AM.

Earlier in a video, he had revealed that he had fever, a cold and chest congestion, and wanted to get tested for the disease. The reports were positive, and doctors recommended him to follow home quarantine. Instead of going back home, he admitted himself to the hospital, keeping in mind the safety of his family members. To Bollywood buffs, he is known for his evergreen songs in films like "Ek Duuje Ke Liye", "Maine Pyar Kiya", "Humn Aapke Hain Koun..!" and "Hum Saath-Saath Hain".

United Singers Charitable Trust (USCT), a non-profit organisation founded by revered playback singer Mr. Srinivas along with Mr. Unnikrishnan, Mrs. Sujatha Mohan, Mr. Rahul Nambiar and Mr. Ranjith Govind on board as trustees, with the motive to generate funds to support the singers and musicians of the musical fraternity in distress during the pandemic. The song is a reprise of an AR Rahman classic, which stands for unity in times of difficulty. This version of the song has 65 singers coming together and performing in five languages: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi. The song was completely recorded and produced by the singers from their respective homes during the total lockdown.

“Together As One” song was curated by Mr. Srinivas along with Mr. Rahul Nambiar and Mr. Aalaap Raju, mixed and mastered by Ishit Kuberkar. The video is compiled by Litbox Media Factory and the release is administered and managed by Silver Tree Talent Management.
USCT is next planning for a global concert in September to raise funds from all across the globe for the same cause.

சண்டியர்™ツ☞

@Madura_Maya07

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2h

SPB gives a big thumbs up !!!

He is stable and doing well says his son SP Charan !!

#SPbalasubrahmanyam

Shekhar Kapur

@shekharkapur

Praying for the great singer #SPBalasubrahmanyam on a ventilator with #Covid_19 @arrahman

A.R.Rahman

@arrahman

I request all the music fans to pray for this legend along with me ..#SPBalasubrahmanyam ..he has given us so much joy with his amazing voice! https://twitter.com/thequint/status/1294238877285113856