Director of LTTE Prabhakaran film tweet on Nayanthara creates a storm

 

The tweet coming from Kittu the director of Methagu, film on the childhood of LTTE Prabhakaran has created a storm. Many are asking whether this how Kittu who did a film on the legendary revolutionary thinks about women. The use of Geethasaram is another sore point. Kittu had earlier got into trouble over a tweet about Periyar. Kittu has since blocked his Twitter account. 

Kamal Haasan in Vetrimaaran direction

 

Actor Kamal Haasan and director Vetrimaaran, two National award winners are coming together for a film produced by Producer- Financier Anbu Chezhian.  In a related development, High Court has appointed a judge as arbitrator to the dispute between Producers Lyca Productions and director Shankar over the completion of Indian 2, It has Kamal Hassan in the lead role. 

The news of Vetrimaaran- Kamal coming together has been received with glee by the fans of both the stalwarts.  Both of them share the same ideology and expected to  come up with a novel theme. Recently Actor Raghava Lawrence acting in Vetrimaaran story was announced. Vetrimaaran is currently busy with Surya's Vaadivaasal' and a film with Soori.  Kamal Haasan  has asked Lokesh Kanagraj ( director of Vijay's Master) to start rolling his film Vikram. This follows the delay in start of Indian 2 shoot.

On the downside, industry sources are skeptical about announcements that feature Kamal as hero. Already Sabash Naidu ,,Thalaivan Irukiraan, The Tooth of Buddha ( Myskkin)  have been dropped. Indian 2 ran into trouble after Kamal developed allergy to prosthetics makeup. Later an accident that turned fatal to some crew members put the lid on the shoot.

Kamal before joining political campaign had said that Thalaivan Irukiraan would be his swan song after Indian 2. He shifted his goal and announced Vikram and now the teaming up with Vetrimaaran shows that he has no plans to take up politics as full time.

The High Court appointed Retd Justice Banumathi as arbitrator and asked her to talk to Lyca and director Shankar and give a report. Shankar had moved on to direct a film with Ram Charan in Telugu and Ranveer in Hindi. Lyca wanted the director to first finish Indian 2 before going to other projects.

As Kamal's political party and himself drew a blank, there were reports that he was to do the remake of Drishyam 2 as he done the first part. This said to be a quickie before the shoot of Indian 2 starts. Kamal is now also put Vikram pre- production work on top gear. Till now as per reports in the media, there are five top actors including Fahad Fazil and Vijay Sethupathi who are playing baddies in Vikram . Vetrimaaran who assisted Director Balu Mahendra had said that Nayakan was the inspiration to him to turn director.

A tweet about Visaranai from Kamal : 

Jan 30, 2016 

@ikamalhaasan

Praising Vetrimaran's movie VisaaraNai only in Tamil is limiting an International film to parochial borders. A must watch.

“Body is shivering. Just came out from Vetrimaran's "Visaaranai" Brilliant work. Sinked in heart deeply. Congrats to the entire team..!”

Kamal Haasan

@ikamalhaasan

·

Jan 30, 2016

@ikamalhaasan

Praising Vetrimaran's movie VisaaraNai only in Tamil is limiting an International film to parochial borders. A must watch.

.

Star Vijay new reality show Comedy Raja Kalakal Rani on Sunday's 1.30 PM

STAR VIJAY has launched a brand-new comedy reality show titled Comedy Raja Kalakkal Rani on 27 June 2021 airing every Sunday at 1.30 pm. In this innovative show 10 comedy duos compete through various rounds to win cash prize and a coveted title. Star Vijay’s most prominent comedians will pair with other popular comedy stars of the channel to fight in a ‘humorous’ way to beat the other pairs. One best ‘kalakkal’ pair would be chosen every week. Based on their performances the least points pair would get evicted in a pyramid structure competition points table. Top 4 pairs who sustain and win through the hard-core rounds would enter the grand finale.

Following are the most popular and viewers favorite personalities participating on Comedy Raja Kalakkal Rani. 

Pugazh – Archana, Bala – Rithika, Ramar – Deepa, Nisha – Raju, TSK – Sunitha,

Yogi – Shabnam, Sathish – Gayathri, Vinothbabu – Pranika, Jayachandran –

Archana, Rajavelu – Dharsha Gupta.

The judges for the show are Madurai Muthu, actor Aishwarya and Baba Baskar. Anchors are Priyanka Deshpande and Rakshan.

Comedy Raja Kalakkal Rani airs every Sunday at 1.30 pm on STAR VIJAY.

After Padmini ,will it be Nayanthara who be the Mollywood heroine to rule Bollywood ?

Nayanthara is to play the lead opposite Shah Rukh Khan and it is certain says sources in director Atlee's camp. If this happens, then Nayanthara will be the second actress from Mollywood who would be starring  opposite a Superstar Bollywood hero. The only heroine to do so was Late Padmini who acted as heroine opposite the the then Bollywood top draw- Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Ashok Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar.

Though many Malayalam actresses have acted in Bollywood and some are still continuing to do so, it was Padmini who was paired with the top draws of Bollywood in the 60's onwards. No heroine who started ou tfrom Mollywood has graduated to being the heroine to any top Bollywood hero. Many acted with the heroes but not as the main lead. Today, Vidya Balan who is a Malayali is on the top rungs of Bollywood. She however did not have her roots in Malayalam films. Todays Nithya  Menen, Priyamani and many other's are in Bollywood but none have ever been heroine to any of the Khans who rule Bollywood. Previously too Shobana and Revathi too acted in Bollywood films.

Padmini and her sisters known as Travancore sisters and coming from Thriruvanthapuram found their way from Malayalam films to Tamil- Telugu and Padmini finally made her mark as the RK heroine.  From Kollywood, the actress to make her dominant presence was  Vyjayanthimala, Sreedevi  and JayaPrada while Tamil girls like Hema Malini- Rekha  who did not have any Kollywood roots ,held sway. 

Mayanthara who started with Malayalam films after becoming top draw in Tamil- Telugu still works for films in her mother tongue. She recently acted in Nizhal opposite Kunchacko Boban ( now steaming on OTT). In Tamil, she is in Raainikanth's forthcoming film `Annaatthe' and Chiranjeevi film ( remake of Lucifer). She is also a producer and backs arthouse films. Currently she has signed a Malayalam film Paatu ( Song) directed by Premam fame director Alphone Puthran. It has 11 songs and Fahad Fazil plays the male lead.

Today, she commands a solo draw at the Box Office. Atlee who has worked with Nayanthara in Vijay's Bigil had suggestted her to SRK. Atlee and Passion studios together are producing two films with Nayanthara. One of them is directed by a debutant and has signed Kicha Sudeep for a negative role. She has signed two films for Dream Warriors of S R Prabhu. She and her BF Vignesh directed film is almost complete. It has also Vijay Sethupathi and Samantha in the cast.

Kerala's first Rs 100 cr film Marakkar to face litmus test

Kerala's first Rs 100 cr budget film Marrakkar - Lion of Arabian Sea is also the first to announce the release date - August 12th, Will it give profits to the producer who has waited for more than a year to release it? How will the markets outside Kerala receive  it ? Will Kerala market and Onam season alone help the producer to recover his money ?. These questions will get an answer and if positive it will further lead to more projects. At present, another Rs 100 cr + project from Kerala is Barroz, a period film with Mohanlal ( also hero in Marakkar) who directs and plays the protagonist.

As previous Eid was a washout with no release, film trade looks to Independence Day- Dusheera ( Puja in South) and Deepavali holidays to release films in theaters. As far as North markets are concerned, Marakkar will see less screens as Akshaay Kumar's Bell Bottom ( July end - August start) onward and next his Sooryavanshi, John Abraham’s Satyameva Jayate 2 and Hollywood film Fast and Furious 9 are fixed for release.

The Tamil- Telugu markets as of now have no big pan Indian film release in August and so the screening of Marakkar in these regions should not be as big a problem. In Tamil, the big ticket films Annatthe ( Rajinikanth) is scheduled for November Diwali release. Before that only Sivakarthikeyan's Doctor, Vijay Sethupathi's Laabam and Arun Vijay's Border  and maybe Simbu's  Maya might release in August. If it does than Marakkar will see less screens in Tamil Nadu. In September, Balakrishna's Akahanda in AP- TS markets is scheduled and KGF 2 the Kannada film with pan Indian appeal is expected to come around this time. Before that there seems to be no biggies for release.

The Kerala market has been made safe by a settlement between three main players whose films are ready to release. Marakkar will have a three weeks free run ( no other movie will release) and then next will be Nivin Pauly's Thuraimukhom and Dulquar Salman's Kurup. These two will have a three week gap in release dates. The theaters - distributors of Kerala have reached a pact on this.

The trade is watching whether Kerala box office alone can prop up Marakkar. The highest grosser was Odiyan produced by Antony ( also Marakkar producer) with Mohanlal. It grossed around Rs 54 crores worldwide gross and after distribution commissions gave Rs 30- 35 crores to the producer. It had close to 3000 screens release. The budget was Rs 50 crores. This was in Jan 2018.

Moving back to  October 2016, PuliMurugan with Mohanal as hero collected Rs 152 crores gross and a profit of Rs 90-95 crores after commission and taxes. The budget was just Rs 25 crores !!!. Marakkar like PuliMurugan is expected to be  big on content as Priyadarshan- Lal combo has worked very well. The films that worked for the combo were comic  capers.  Priyan has not worked on a period film on such a big scale. A lot rides on Marakkar's box office for Kerala film industry.

Raghava Lawrence in Vetrimaaran story and Durai Senthil Kumar direction

 Raghava Lawrence deviating from his Kanchana style fulms is to act in National award winner Vetrimaaran's story and screenplay. It will be directed by  Durai Senthil Kumar and produced by 5 Star Kathiresan. This hit combo of the Vetrimarran- Kathireasan coming back after 10 years.

Vetrimaaran’s directorial Polladhavan and Aadukalam that swept six National awards and other prestigious awards were produced by S.Kathiresan of Five Star Films.  Vetrimaaran too produced award-winning films like Udhayam, Kaaka Muttai and Visaaranai- of which the latter knocked the doors of Oscar Awards. These successful banners have now joined hands for a film titled Adhigaaram that has story and screenplay by Vetrimaaran. This film marks the collaboration of Vetrimaaran and Kathiresan after 10 years.

The film will have pan-Indian star Raghava Lawrence who is also the lead in Kathiresan production and directorial ‘Rudhran’. Durai Senthilkumar who has directed blockbusters like Ethirneechal, Kaaki Sattai, Kodi and Pattasu takes over the directional responsibilities. The film that is being made on a grand scale will be shot in Malaysia for 50 days and then across India. The movie will go on floors later this year. The rest of the cast and crew will be announced soon.

UK too to regulate US OTT Netflix- Amazon- Disney

 

Just as `Tandav’ had the shorts twisted in India, The Crown webseries  seems to have done the same in UK . Netflix – Amazon- Disney ,the US streamers will be brought under the UK regulating Ofcom as  they should have appropriate content age ratings in place and whether they should be subject to standards on impartiality and accuracy for documentaries and news programming. The next is that these streamers have been asked to share the viewership figures of shows that originated by British public service broadcasters, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5.

Netflix is already adopted British Board of Film Classification age ratings on its content. It has an investment close to $1 billion in originals that cater to European market.  It is governed by Netherland's laws. 

The UK streamer regulation review will inform a white paper, which will pave the way for the biggest shakeup in broadcasting laws in 18 years. When the UK’s Communications Act was introduced in 2003, Netflix was still a DVD company in America and Amazon had just posted its first full-year profit, reports Deadline.

In India the OTT players who have to join a self regulatory body is divided into two. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, ALTBalaji, Hungama Play, MX Player, ShemarooMe, Aha, Lionsgate, Firework TV, and hoichoi have decided to stay in the  Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5, SonyLIV, Voot, Sun NXT, Discovery+, Jio TV, and Jio Cinema will be part of the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF), The IBDF has appointed Justice (Retd.) Vikramjit Sen as the Chairman, along with filmmaker Nikkhil Advani, artist, filmmaker and writer Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, writer and director Tigmanshu Dhulia and CEO Banijay Group Deepak Dhar, General Counsel, Sony Pictures Ashok Nambisan, and Chief Regional Counsel, Star and Disney India Mihir Rale.

Jagame Thandiram movie : What Indian Gods mean to West and Today's youth thinks of Tamil Eelam- New insights

 "I am all your ridiculous gods with their all their legs and hands rolled into one mad devil . I swear on your elephant headed god ... - The Britisher in the film who is out to put all immigrants in his jail  ( private detention centers) says. After hearing the long or short story of Tamils in Sri Lanka being refugees in India and staying in refugee camps, the protagonist confesses that he was preoccupied with daily work and livelihood and knew nothing about even such refugee camps existing in Tamil Nadu. Also I learnt that Theradha case means whimpering prick in English.

I got the elephant headed god bit but the one with legs and hands rolled into one like a mad devil beats me. Cant think of any such god. 

The Tamil nationalists could infer that their rooting for a Tamil Eelam cause is something that today's youth in Tamil Nadu is not even bothered about. If the hero did not know anything about refugee camps existing in Tamil Nadu , even if he is from Madurai,it shows that all the  history of Tamil uprising in Sri Lanka is new unheard of territory for the present generation.  

I liked the white man character Peter (James Cosmo) and the guy who wrote the dialogues for him. When Dhanush goes on about how he helped Peter to be the Don and in turn he needs help, Peter cuts him short- Cut the bleeding heart, ask the favor. I liked the actor ( white guy) who played the henchman of Peter and gets shot dead but not before saying  Sorry Murugesan aana. The guy gets pumped in with two bullets and both times his body gives the right jerk. Good job. Might be a regular actor who plays the guy who gets shot dead. Joju George who plays the Tamil Lankan gangster had earlier been smoking beedis and cigarettes in Malayalam films and here you get to see him smoke cigar ? No. same stuff. Aishwarya Lakshmi is most miscast as the Lankan refugee in London.

The climax song when the hero and his team mount a gun attack on the white man Peter's villa - the Tamil lyric goes this way- naan Dhaan Boss Veerarun Boss-U 

Pollatha class ukkaru pesu

Theratha case- U kondatha race-u

Ellame Thoosu Mannodu close-U

The subtitling for the last few lines in the song  is

You're a worthless prick

Now bring on the  race

 When the Sri Lankan flashback started, I thought that we are in for some hardcore Eelam stuff. Nothing like that. God bless the director. The London street that the hero gets as a gift looks like a set left behind by some Bollywood film unit. In the present times, this film is just enough to keep you engaged about talking about the merit and demerits. Director is Karthik Subburaj - films to his credit - ‘Pizza’, ‘Jigarthanda’, ‘Iraivi’, ‘Mercury’ and ‘Petta’

 

Sun TV to focus on Kerala- Andhra markets - focus on Reality shows and satellite rights

 

Sun Network will be investing more in the Surya TV – Gemini TV markets hereafter. It will be putting out 40-50 episode non -fiction (reality shows) got from International markets. For the time being, the network will concentrate on reality shows and finishing committed movie apart from buying movies satellite rights ,   web-series for the OTT platform is not on the cards. The present method to show medium budget films first on Sun NXT and later premiering on Sun TV  will continue.

Sun will be pumping in Rs 30 cr per show of nonfiction genre. On the movie front, the network has allocated Rs 1200 crores to be spend in 2 years. 8 movies are in the pipeline, four of them are under production. one movie is almost nearing completion. Shooting for a couple of movies are 30% to 40% complete. The fourth movie has just commenced shooting. Two of the eight movies are big ticket releases with South Indian megastars in the lead role. In view of uncertainity surrounding shooting due to Covid 19 restrictions, the network will be clearing the pending commitments. This helps as these films add to the networks film library.

v  For the stock market share investor sharp reduction in dividend payout to 13% versus average of 49% over the last five years, despite cash and cash equivalents of Rs 4140 crore, is a big disappointment. The 2020 Ad revenue fell by 26% but DTH connection subscription has risen by 10%.The promoters' massive compensations have remained intact whilst investors have been short changed. In the case of Sun TV,  promoters and friends and family control almost 80% of the stock. As of date, it has enormous financial assets, excluding non-current assets and trade receivables, of INR 3750 cr. This includes cash, bank and treasury investments. Its gross expenditure net of depreciation and amortization is approximately INR 1150 cr. In other words, the company can survive for 3 years plus with no revenue whatsoever! Surely the management does not believe the pandemic’s impact will be so grave on a company with such a robust business model! -writes Prabal Basu Roy who is a non-executive director, and an Advisor to Chairmen, of corporate boards about the stock market of the network.

 

Samantha is OTT Pan Indian Star - Netflix offers Rs 8 cr for web series

The popularity of Samantha after web-series The Family Man 2 has prompted Netflix to offer her  Rs 8 crore for a upcoming project of theirs. She is the first South Indian actress to achieve the Pan Indian appeal to OTT viewers. Her under production film Shakunthalam in which she plays the title role has become hot property. Her other film on the floor is a Tamil film with Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi.

The success of The Family Man 2 has raised demand for her other films on OTT like O Baby. The power packed acting by her as the LTTE's pilot on a mission to assassinate  the Indian PM has won laurels. Even the Sri Lankan Tamils abroad agree that her acting was terrific as they condemn the contents for being anti- LTTE.

Shakunthalanm is high budget epic drama is based on the tale of love from the Adi Parva OF the epic Mahabharata. 'Shaakunthalam' is based on Mahakavi Kalidas’ iconic drama, 'Abhigyana Shaakuntalam'. Eesha Rebba and Malayalam actor Dev Mohan are also on board to play key roles in this film. Director Gunasekar who directed the period film Rudramadevi with Anushka Shetty in the title role directs this epic moive. Neeta Lulla ( Oscar panel member) handles the costumes. Samantha  recent Telugu release Jaanu was a big hit.

She faces an unofficial ban in Kollywood for acting in The Family Man 2 but it is for only future projects, NetFlix series is not likely to be hit.

Vijay Sethupathi backs out due to unofficial ban on Samantha and directors

At present Raj - DK ( directors of The Family Man 2) were to direct a webseries and Vijay Sethupathi was to play a pivotal role.  As he heard about the unofficial ban , he backed out. He was earlier slammed for accepting the role of Sri Lankan cricketeer Muralitharan and had to back out.

Tamil Nationalist groups in Tamil filmdom has spread the word around that no producer should sign Samantha and director  Raj- DK for being associated with The Family Man season 2. It is said to have potrayed LTTE in a bad light.

Currently  Samantha is acting in Nayanthara - Vignesh film 'Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kadhal' ( KVRK) with Vijay Sethupathi. The film is produced by Vignesh and Lalith Kumar Seven Screen Studio. Lalith Kumar is one of the pillars of the new producer's body headed by Bharathiraaja.

Samantha had some time back decided to stay away from Tamil films and KVRK was an exception since the script was appealing.

Parvathy T is another actress who is in a similar situation, said a source. Her first Tamil release will be Manirathnam's Navarasa ( anthology). Her under production film is with Siddharth as hero and producer and directed by Rathindra ( he directed the anthology portion featuring her). She has a Malayalam film Puzhu with Mammooty ( for the first time).

In a First- Nayanthara movie enters top 5 Tamil TV TRP

 In a first for Star Vijay and Tamil movies, heroine centric Nayanthara's Mookuthi Amman entered the top 5 TRP of Tamil TV week 22. The first spot is always become a permanent fixture of Sun TV with it's Sunday movie that has a top  Stars of Tamil cinema. No other channel has been able tp break this domination despite premiering many movies that never came to theatres and were for OTT. The only time there was a change when Vikram Prabhu starrer  Pullikutti Pandi had a premiere release on Sun TV and came No 1 beating even the Rajanikanth film repeat telecast in the same channel.

Mookuthi Amman top TRP and that coming from Star Vijay which is No 2 but way behind in viewership is considered to be the drawing power of Nayanthara and added to that the attraction that such subjects have with the audience. The film unlike the title is not just a mythological film but but a satire of the religion and its business. The fact that the film is still available on OTT and had a wide response when premiered on OTT could come into Top 5 of the week is no mere achievement.

Surya's Kappan and Vijay's Bairavaa both telecast in that week end were in top 5 of week 22. With Sun News in top 5 Tamil channels along with Sun and KTV, the domination of Sun Netwoork is complete. Star Vijay, only one to put a fight has slipped badly in TRP as it has repeats due to lockdown restrictions. Sun TV  and Zee Tamil has found a way to circumvent the restrictions and give fresh episodes.

Raashi Khanna in Ajay Devgn webseries -Rudra The Edge of Darkness

 Raashi Khanna, popular across South Indian films is making her debut in webseries opposite Ajay Devgan, After Samantha, Kajal Agarwal and Tamannaah, Raashi will be starring in this webseries, remake of Luther produced by Applause Entertainment in association with BBC Studios India. Naga Chaitanya’s Thank You and Karthi’s Sardar are other two films in Telugu that are currently on the floor with Raashi as heroine.

Raashii's initiative #BeTheMiracle has taken up the initiative to distribute food to the needy. She has been working tirelessly during the covid times helping the ones who have lost their livelihoods.

Raashii Khanna shares, "The ground reality of people suffering through the pandemic is heartbreaking. #BeTheMiracle is my way of doing as much as I can for them. I am also blessed with a team that is brave enough to step out during the pandemic just to bring to you the reality of peoples’ suffering. It’s really bad out there for a lot of families and some of them are literally on the brink of starvation. I would really want people to open their hearts and donate because literally, every bit counts. It doesn’t have to be an exorbitant amount. We have to realise that we are all in this together and only together can we overcome these difficult times. And together we can be a miracle in someone’s life"

With #BeTheMiracle Raashii is associating with organisations like Roti Bank and many other volunteers who are also helping animals that have been left out with no food or water especially during the lockdown and some old age homes.

Sun News gains from Covid news - Star Vijay serials fall below Top 5 after Roja time change

  Sun News which was lagging behind other Tamil News channels has in Week 21 jumped to 5th position in TRP . Top 5 slots are always a domain of soaps. Star Vijay is hit by repeat episides and losing 9PM slot after Sun shifted the top No 1 serial Roja  to that slot. In fact, Zee Tamil's Sundari is showing fast recovery.  A few changes in star cast of serials in Sun and Zee is done.

Azeem and Monisha, two popular Tamil TV actors are entering Sun TV and Zee Tamil , according to reports. Sirinish Aravind , known to Malayalam audience through Bigg Boss 2 and husband of actress Peraly is to expected to come in an important role in Sun's Poove unkahahe. Arun who acted in Kathir role in the serial has quit. Kathir role is expected to end  but Srinish comes in a new character. In Roja serial, Aarthi Ram who came in the serial in early parts comes again as friend of Sakshi in Roja serial as the female villain  character played by Shamili has changed after the actress quit. Aarthi is the new baddie  and in a new avatar.

Azeem after Pagal Nilavu on Star Vijay has a huge fan base. He was tipped to be a contestant in Bigg Boss4 Tamil and along with his co- star Shivani had even gone in for quarantine. At last moment Azeem dropped out. Recently he announced his divorce with wife Zoya. Now Azeem is coming in Sun's Poove Unakahe, The entry of Azeem is expected to boost the serial ratings.

Monisha who acted in Aramana Kili on Star Vijay had to quit after the serial was stopped due to corona restrictions,. Now she is expected to join the Zee Tamil Poove Poochooda vaa. Reshma who is heroine of the serial will continue. Zee Tamil serials shoot are going in Hyderabad. Monisha started in Mazhavil Manorama's Manjurukum kalam.

Sun TV started work on new serial Unnakum Enakkum which Has Arnav ( azhagu- Kalyana Parisu) in the lead. Arnav was seen in webseries Singa Penne on Zee5.

Maoist leader betrayed Brigand Veerappan - First reporter to interview bandit reveals all

 

 CPI( Maoist) leader SM who had close links with the Brigand Veerappan betrayed him by disclosing his movements to the STF in return for looking the other way and getting all access  to a luxurious life reveals Sivasubramanian, the first reporter to interview the brigand and publish it in Nakheeran. His latest book - veerappan-vazhnthathum-veezhnthathum - The autobiographical book that has published three books earlier tracing  Veerappan's life from childhood, in the latest reveals the truth behind the STF  route to trap the sandalwood smuggler. Those in the know claim that the Maoist leader decision could not have been a party decision. Out of the five prisoners release demanded by Veerappan in exchange for Dr Rajkumar, two were from TNLA  the Marxist- Leninist group and three from Tamil National Retrieval Troops that attacked a police station in Erode. 

The then US Consul General Richard Haynes had informed his country that the death of Veerappan would lead to more domination of Maoists as the situation that led to the rise of the brigand stills exists in Satyamangalam forests and this vacuum would be filled by the left wing extremist group. It was revealed by Wikileaks.

The writer says that SM or otherwise known as Sundaramoorthy, head of the Tamil Nadu operations of CPI(Maoist) was tired of living underground. STF struck a deal with him and gave him liberty to move about freely and assured him that their target was Veerappan. and that would drop all charges against him. SM who was in touch with Veerappan was used as conduit to gain confidence and even supplied arms.

Consequently the events showed that Maoists gained from the killing of the bandit. An Intelligence report to which Deccan Chronicle was given access has warned the southern states of the 'activation' of a Maoist South Western Regional Bureau (SWRB) at the 'trijunction' of the three southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala despite the strict enforcement and deployment of police and special forces in the rest of India. SWRB comprises the three states, in the former brigand Veerappan’s territory that spans Denkenkottai in Tamil Nadu to Anchetty in Kerala.

"Veerappan territory is around 18,000 sq km across three states. The Maoists are gradually gaining ground in these areas including Gopinatham in Chamrajnagar — the border district in Karnataka and Sathyamangalam forest in the Karnataka - Tamil Nadu border because of several reasons including the dense forest cover and a largely tribal population's resentment against atrocities committed by the special task force, constituted to nab Veerappan," said the officer. Ironically STF Chief Vijayakumar  was called back from retirement to head anti Naxal operation.

Ban Amazon and FamilyMan2 Against Tamils trends on Twitter OSLO Tamils protest

 #BoycottAmazon on Twitter at the time of writing has crossed 70 thousand followers and #FamilyMan2AgainstTamils too is fast trending. Except for Naam Tamilar Katchi Seeman, no Tamil personality has given any public statement calling for ban on Amazon for streaming The family Man2. The reactions in the tweet are very emotional.

Some have posted their request to cancel the app and others saying that they cancelled orders placed for high end products like Smart TV's on Amazon. Even non Tamils have expressed their support to the Ban Amazon saying that they go along with their Tamil brothers.

Manoj Bajpai had defended the web series that the directors Raj and DK were Tamils and there was a host of other actors from Tamil industry. The Tamil film industry would keep a silence as Amazon Prime Video is the number one buyer of films for their platform. They were the first to premiere a Tamil film and are in the process to doing more such premieres.

The objections this time is not as much as in dialogues or visuals. The twisting of history to suit the plot has angered the pro- Eelam groups and those in the know of history. Though the IS is seen as the villain who tricked Baskaran into masterminding into an assassination attempt on Indian PM, the fact remains that LTTE had never collaborated with IS as their ideologies were different. The IS- LTTE nexus was a story put out by the then Union Govt and now given credence in the web series.

Baskaran the Thailvar is in exile and plotting in London's safe havens.  Theepan the Military Commander who won several battles for LTTE and was involved in the peace talks under the auspices of Norwegian mediators is shown as living in exile at London and working against Baskaran's mission to avenge his brother's death. The revered heroes of LTTE are shown as men filled with deceit and emotional fools.

It has to be seen whether the Ban Amazon would remain a hashtag or spill over to the streets. Much depends on the celebrities ( film industry members). Latest reaction from Shivalingam Director Norwegian Tamil Film Festival Oslo, Norway -This web series is all about fantasy. But the screenplay is set to twist our history against truth and virtue to please the Indian state with something unimaginable.

Why is it so cruel to us for the Hindi film industry and the directors of the Telugu nation? Hate?

I do not know which series you are making tells the history and pain of Tamils!

Similarly, will you allow our real history and stories to be made into movies, internet series and published in India as they are ?!

They are bent on slandering Tamils ​​and misrepresenting history. This is deliberately northern in a way that portrays Tamils as a whole as terrorists Created by art merchants .

This sequel to the series of films like Madras Cafe, Race, Tiger Vision in recent times is a work that should be ignored and strongly opposed

Parvathy 's Navarasa to be streamed on NetFlix - Yet another blow to Tamil Nationalists after The Family Man 2

Actress Parvathy T  episode in Navarasa anthology soon to stream on NetFlix is yet another cock a snook  at the Tamil nationalists who are deeply offended by her call to revoke the decision to give ONV Award to Vairamuthu , Tamil lyricist- poet- writer and national award winner. It led to the latter returning it back   It is also learnt that co-actor Siddharth is currently producing a film with Parvathy and directed by Rathindra ( who directed the episode in Navarasa). Seeman and Vaiko, two champions and Tamil nationalists cried hoarse to stop The Family man 2 from streaming on Amazon Prime and even the State Government demanded it in writing. The web series is already streaming and now Seeman says that he will seek legal remedy.

In the case of Navarasa, the proceeds from the project is for film workers. Already Rs 10 crores has been put in the bank and interest amount goes towards paying ration bills of 10,000 workers. The Tamil groups have not given any call publicly and as it is a project that helps Tamil workers, the only way is to grind their teeth,

Samantha,  who plays the LTTE's woman pilot in the mission taking place in  Chennai has won many hearts for her intense performance. She was lambasted for accepting a role that shows LTTE in poor light, the series shows her as a die hard follower of Thalaivar Baskaran ( read Prabhakaran) and will do anything for the cause of Tamil Eelam. On the flip side, fans liked her `bold' bedroom scenes in the web series.

Though many are flabbergasted that Prabhakaran is shown as a person living in exile at London, the major bad look to the movement comes from the  plot that shows LTTE and ISIS working in tandem. This gives the movement an image of  LTTE being not a liberation movement but a terror outfit that unites with any groups that helps them. Yet another fall out is that the underlying tone of the Tamil population disliking Central intervention and seeing it as a North Indian effort to scuttle the movement. even the PM is furious that she faced protests in Tamil Nadu.

Related : https://southfilmy.blogspot.com/2021/06/mammootty-parvathy-film-tamil-nadu.html

A R Rahman's Majja to release Made in Jaffna album

A R Rahman 's artiste centric platform Majja is to  release album Made in Jaffna by Shan  Vincent De Paul, Tamil rapper based in Toronto.  He released a single Savage which  was part of the  third studio album Made in Jaffna. The video album has  Paris based Usha Jay's choreography a hybrid Bharatanatyam.,

Inspired by the term that colonizers used in reaction to South Asians eating with their hands, the video's opening shot is a mysterious character pantomiming exactly that. Shot in a picturesque theater space, dancer Usha Jey combines Bharatanatyam - a classical form of Indian dance with modern Hip Hop. Sprinting from one end of the theater to the next, Usha beautifully embodies the juxtaposition that is artful dance meets anger-fueled rage. Directed by Shan and Arsenij Gusev, the captivating visual takes the audience through a sci-fi inspired world where parallel dimensions intersect through dance.

Speaking about the single , Shan says -I wrote this at a really dark point in my life - it was made out of pure expression without considering any audience or listener. It was written for myself, but when I started performing it on tour the crowd would always go insane, so I knew it was one of those anti-hit hits. Sometimes we need the release of darkness, to dance with our rage to find that balance when the light comes." -About Usha's choreography and dance he says - “I knew she had to be the star of the video when I saw her style. It was a perfect way to respond to the derogatory title of  ‘Savage’ that was often used against us. I also wanted to take Bharatanatyam as far away from the realm you would expect it to be in.” Shot in Berlin, the video features two avatars of Usha, performing her trademark ‘hybrid Bharatanatyam’.

Shot in Berlin, the video features two avatars of Usha, performing her trademark ‘hybrid  Bharatanatyam’.

Source: https://www.broadwayworld.com/