Nayanthara produced Rocky 's Hindi rights sold- Our report on March 15th 2022

 We at southfilmy.blogspot reported that Vignesh Shivan had screened the film Rocky and upcoming Kaathula to actor Ranbir Kapoor for remakes and also for directing it. ( https://southfilmy.blogspot.com/2022/03/director-atlee-hindi-film-dropped.html). It now looks that Rocky has been sold to Wakaoo Films as per the tweet from producer Rowdy Pictures and the Mumbai company. The name of the director and the cast has not been announced. The Mumbai company has upcoming film Double XL with Sonakshi Sinha - Huma Qureshi ( Valimai fame) and Mahat Radhavendra from Kollywood in it

Director Arun Matheswaran has after Rocky signed Actor Dhanush for his next to be produced by Sathyajothi Films. Arun's next release is Saani Kayitham with Dhanush brother - director Selvaraghavan and Keerthi Suresh in the lead and for a direct OTT release in April.

Wakaoo is already producing a Gujrati film starring four heroines playing members of a Anti Terror Squad that nabbed  a dreaded dacoit. The production company had acquired the rights to make a film based on the book written by Amish Tripathi - Suhaldev : The King Who saved India . Ad film maker Senthil Kumar is the director. .

Later a report said that producer Boxwala who is producing Shershaah with Siddharth Malhotra has bought the rights. Suheldev is an Indian king hailing from Shravasti in Uttar Pradesh, who vanquished Mahmud of Ghazni's army in Bahraich. Wakaoo's web series Candy won the award at Dadasaheb Phalke Film Festival 2022. The company is also associated with OMG2 starring Akshay Kumar and is a mythological film with lead actor playing Lord Shiva,

Allu Arjun family's JUSTICKETS to do Andhra movie online ticketing

Allu Aravind , brother in law of Chiranjeevi , father of Allu Arjun , who has a stake in JUSTICKETS, the ticketing app that handles movie ticketing in Andhra and Telangana would bag the tender called by  AP Technological Services on behalf of Andhra Pradesh State Film, Television and Theatre Development Corporation recently. The only other company in the fray was a Gulf based company, whose bid was more than JUSTICKETS.

BookMy Show, Chennai based company, did not enter the fray as it is owned by Paytm which has a tie-ups with JUSTICKETS by which5 it offers cashback for payments done through their UPI gateway. Allu Venktesh known as Bobby is a director board member of the ticketing company and also runs the production company. Chiranjeevi was in the forefront to get Jagan ministry to hike ticket rates for big budget films.

The handling of the online ticketing system will be entirely dictated by the AP Government as they fix the ticket rates. New norms for low budget films are on the cards. The fear that ticket money collected by the company and transferred to AP exchequer will not come to hands of the distributors and theater owners immediately. It could take it's sweet own time. Secondly, Producers like Dil Raju had grouped producers to bring down booking charges levied by the ticketing company.

Sivakarthikeyan hauls Producer Gananavel to court for salary dues

 Kollywood is abuzz with Actor Sivakathikeyan going to court to get Rs 4 crores that has to be paid for his work in Mr Local produced by K E Gananavel Raja who runs Studio Green. Raja is a close confidante of Actor Surya and one of the most vocal of the producers group  against money lenders like Anby Chezhiyan, filing complaint against Kamal Haasan for not repaying Rs 10 crores borrowed for Utthama Villain film. Sivakarthikeyan has said in his plea that efforts to get his balance dues failed and asked the Madras High Court to stall the investment in  films of G V Prakash's Rebel, STR film Patthu Thala, Pa Ranjith- Vikram  that Raja has announced. As TDS for Rs 11 crore has not been paid by Producer to Income Tax, the actor wanted the producer to first clear the TDS dues and his pending dues , before going ahead with any more investments. Though he challenged the IT notice, he had to pay Rs 91 Lakh as TDS.

The film was released in 2019 and Nayanthara was the heroine. The film bombed. Sivakarthikeyan said that he was signed for Rs 15 crores and paid only Rs 11 crores. From that day onwards, all efforts have failed. The case is posted for March 31 .

# RIPJosephVijay trends : Vijay- Ajith fan war hits rock-bottom

 #RIPJosephVijay hashtag on Twitter is trending thanks to Ajith5 fans. This is most saddest moment in the Star wars between the two actors and never before has any fans used such low methods to hit out at a rival. The pictures we are posting is what appeared on Twitter and with the intention to show how the fan wars have fallen to such low levels. Hope Thalapathy Fans don't start their own hashtag. Will somebody nip it now ? Ensure it does not happen ever again? .To those not in the know, Joseph Vijay is the real name of Vijay. Vijay fans on twitter are the strongest groups and even out beat Bollywood Star groups. If they decide to hit back it will be mayhem. Reason for this outburst from Thala fans is that Boney Kapoor officially put out a figure that makes Ajith Vallimai a bigger hit than all of Vijay films and also the film on OTT is creating records. So Thala fans rushed to write the obit.

Some photos are in very bad taste and hence we are not posting them.

Comments :

Vignex: He went to depression because of his hair fall problem#RIPJosephVijay

King maker: Beast is last movie #RIPJosephVijay #RIPVijay #Valimai #AjithKumar #AK61 #AK62

Dinhay: Wow,I’ve just heard the news, sadly  Vijay passed away today at the age of 48…we won’t miss @actorvijay thanks for everything…we hate u . RIP joker …my deep condolences to his family. #RIPJosephVijay

Raghupathi: Our thala Ajith sir doesn’tlike this guys….please stop it ………….Ajith sir pure heart person….so AK sir #RIPJosephVijay

 Jackson: Breaking : Actor vijay died after a group of men started banging him . #RIPJosephVijay

RRR review : Watch it on 3D for mind blowing experience

 RRR is a mind blowing theatre experience and especially if it is in a  3D projection. The technical wizard  just makes you sit dumb founded and watch all the nonsense that goes on on screen withot squirming in your seats. No doubt Ram Charan and Jr NTR have contributed their best but it is in terms of physically prowres  and less on the  acting part. In fact when where the acting quotient is called for, the actors resort  to a theatrical style ( Maybe SSR wanted it that way).

One line plot is an adivasi kid gets forcibly adopted by a wife of a British army General. Now Ram Charan a British army guy is told to stop Jr NTR a jungle outlaw out to get the child back. The introduction sequences  of Ram Charan and Jr NTR are very hilarious if it is narrated but if you see it on screen, it is pulsating. That is Rajamouli magic. So is so many such scenes.

History wise, in 20's these two characters who fought the British lived but they never collaborated together and here the writer has done a smooth job. Secondly,  is there a politics in RRR ? Ram and Bhim should fight together is a message that I get and is SSR saying a Dravidian- Aryan unity is needed  ?.

I kept laughing remembering those media reports that if RRR clashed with Ali Bhatt 's Gangubhai or Ajay Devgan Maidan  would be bad for the latter as these actors have a major role in RRR. Alia and Ajay are glorified junior artistes in RRR. Sabu Cyril production design gets real worth  in hands of Rajamouli.

Most of the English dialogues in Tamil version did not have a dubbing and I could not understand and specially a sequence related to a bomb. Suddenly the Tamil dubbing pops up and in some places you get subtitles. One song- dance sequence with both lead actors was a treat to watch.  A trimming in second part can quicken the pace.

STR - Hansika combo v/s ex GF Nayanthara - Vignesh Shivan

 Hell hath no fury like a STR scorned !!! . STR and Hansika acted in a film Maha and that film is now releasing on April 28th . Now on the same date, Vignesh Shivan- Nayanthara production is releasing their film Kaathuvakku randu kaathal. As we all know that Nayanthara and STR had a torrid romance and a bitter parting. After that STR and Hansika were the new pair in town. Though STR and Hansika romance fell through, there was not much bad blood, Hansika after the breakup agreed to work in a film that they were acting together and finished her portions. In case of Nayanthara, the break up had been quite nasty.

Nayanthara after the breakup went on to romance Prabhu Deva and career wise was moving towards a Lady Superstar status. She parted with Prabhu  Deva and got hooked with director Vignesh Shivan. Incidentally, Vignesh is a discovery of STR>

In last few years, STR faced only hurdles and his career wise was not looking up. Nayanthara became Lady Superstar and with her BF Vignesh floated a production company Rowdy Pictures. Everything the couple touched was turning gold. STR in between got an offer from the producer to do a cameo and by that time Hansika who was said to be a next Kushboo was on a down swing. Maha was a heroine centric film and Hansika's market having dipped, STR was asked to bail her out.

STR's market on an upswing dropped all the past and went on to do an extended cameo. Now the release poster shows tat this heroine oriented film is a STR film. Nayanthara's hubby directed film with Vijay Sethupati- Samantha and off-course Nayanthara was in the making for two years and finally it got a release date.

STR after Maanaadu hit is a  big in  trade and box office circles STR is more than Vijay Sethupathi - Samantha ( post Pushpa) and Nayanthara combined. Incidentally Maha is Hansika's 50th film. So we have STR - ex GF Hansika pitted against ex BF Nayanthara and her BF.

STR and Aishwarya Rajinikanth were seeing each other for quite a long time in their teens . However within a few months, things changed and Aishhwarya got hitched to Dhanush. Dhanush career shot off phenomenally. STR continued to sulk all these years. Now Dhanush and Aishhwarya have parted after 16 years. Dhanush last two releases on OTT  became the laughing stock of Kollywood. 

Every day there is talk about effect of Rahu- Ketu planetary position change and maybe this has cleared the dark clouds. Maybe Shani too might have changed or in the run up to changing and giving STR the real worth for his hard  work. 

After 35 years ,Amitabh and Kamal Haasan on screen in `Vikram' and Baby Nayanthara in Gentleman 2

 

After 35 years , Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan are coming together on big screen. They last acted in Giraftaar released on September 1985. Amitabh Bachchan came down to Chennai for half a day and shot for Kamal Hassan's Vikram  says a report in DTNext. As per the report Big B came on board after many actors were not available and one was down with Covid. It is a cameo role. Kamal and Amitabh had worked in Giraftaar in 1985. Rajinikanth played a cameo in this super hit film.

Reports said that  Nayanthara is said to have been approached to play the lead role in Gentleman sequel produced by K T Kunjumon. The film had launched the career of director Shankar. Baahubaali music director Keeravani is scoring the music and the details of other crew nd cast have not announced. Nayanthara's BF Vignesh is to direct Ajith next film some time next year. Another report says that Nyanthara and Vignesh who got married recently will take the surrogacy route.  Thea actress has finished all her acting assignments and has only Connect directed by Ashwin Sarvanan. 

Now it turns out that it is Baby Nayanthara who has been approached for Gentleman 2. She acted as daughter of Nayanthara in Kuselan ( Tamil) and it's Telugu version. She has done many films in Malayalam and her last was Marupadi with Rahman and Bhama in 2016, After that she stayed away from films to finish her final year schooling. Recently she posted the photos of her recent shoot. Her father is Manimath Chakravarthy and Nayanthara is her real name and not screen name. She is residing in Kochi.

K.T.Kunjumon

@KT_Kunjumon

·

54m

Happy to Introduce #NayantharaaChakravarthy as the lead actress in #Gentlemen2

Aishwarya drops Dhanush name - TV host DD posts baby shower pixs

 

Aishwarya not noticed by many tweeted without the Dhanush tag to her name as she wrote a heartfelt note on missing her sons who are in Chennai . DD ,Star Vijay VJ - host and top TV celeb, sent her fans in a tizzy with a photo of her in a valaikappu function dress.  When did DD remarry ?

Dhanush had congratulated Aishwarya for her music video Musafir and addressed her as friend. Many of Aishwarya fans and she herself did not seem to be amused with the term. Dhanush posted pixs of him with his sons at the Illaiyaraaja music concert in Chennai. Aishwarya posted about how she misses her children and wrote a heartfelt note. Dhanush fans had been asking why she continues to use R Dhanush to her name and it also made many think that there was a move to bring the couple together.

Finally, Aishwarya tweeted as Aishwarya Rajinikanth and she had earlier tweeted one has to move on. So finally it puts end of talk of reunion too.

DD - Dhanush pix leaked by Suchi leaks and the valiakappu photo read together made many jump to conclusions. It was a scene in the film directed by C Sundar in which DD acts. DD fans can rest peacefully.

Aishwarya Rajinikanth to direct Hindi film on `real life love story' for Jhund producer

Aishwarya Rajinikanth  will be directing a Hindi film for Cloud9Pictures1 , as per a tweet from her. Sources close to Aishwarya said that the film is based on a real life love story that was the talk of the media a few years ago. Producer Meenu Arora who produced Jhund and released with Big B in the lead role said that the script work for the film tentatively titled  ` Oh saathi Chal' is going on and casting will commence after the paperwork is over. Neeraj Maini noted producer- line producer of many Hindi films including the recently released Love Hostel and Nagarjuna film Wild Dog's Hindi operations along with Archanaa S Sadanand , film professional in Bollywood and close to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are collaborating on the project.

Lalaitham Sundaram : fit film for 50+ OTT audience

 Lalitham Sundaram ( Malayalam + dubbed in many languages on Disney Hotstar ) is a fare for those in their 60's and past it. As the title suggests there is lot of simplicity easiness and a laid back kind of story telling . The family reuniting after years and old worms dug open  plot has been told  before many times and quite of them have been blockbusters. Here Madhu Warrier as a debut director does account well and to his credit he delivers a good job. The flaw is in the time taken in narration. Quite a bit of time to go in to the sketching  of characters  and the last portion that   leads to the climax is quite over dramatic ( it looks straight out of a teary TV drama) are drawbacks. Biju Menon has done such roles before and so offers nothing new.

There are some beautiful human touches like Manju Warrier who is playing and teasing her brother turns serious as soon as she picks up a call from office , the character of Manju Warrier's hubby ( played by Saiju Kurup) is also different as usually it would have been a comic one of a henpecked hubby . Here he comes out as an all understanding life partner in all sense to his wife. The Live partner role of Deepti Sati and that of a old family friend Rajesh  should have had more screen space and more fleshing.   Wen Manju Warrier's hubby asks Rajesh who in childhood was in love with Manju as why it did not succeed . Rajesh says : She is a perfectionist and even in the case of selecting her husband. 

In short a film for people not in a hurry. On Disney Hotstar. ( dubbed in multiple languages)

Salute to Dulquer Salman (movie review)

 Salute released in multiple languages on Sony Liv is laudable effort by Dulquer Salman. As a producer for choosing the subject that has no ` commercial' elements and above all doing the lead role of a cop devoid of any fan moments for DQ fans. As far as Malayalam film goers are concerned, Roshan Andrews - Bobby Sanjay team has not matched to what they had given to the movie goers earlier. In fact , screenplay is the villain in an other wise well packaged crime thriller.

To our mind comes a Mumbai Police in  the same genre from the team . Compare it and you will see the graph has hit a low with Salute. Comparison apart, Salute as a standalone film is worth a watch. For one the film starts with a flashback and following sequences make you think that DQ (SI on leave) is out to trace out the actual killer to free the innocent auto  driver jailed but it takes a turn into a hunt for a con man who has used many identities and duped many.

The chase for this man becomes complex as the cops don't want the real killer to surface as they will be guilty of framing an innocent man and hence use all tricks to stop the investigation . To add a emotional touch, the team that framed the guy is headed by DQ brother, a DySP ( played  to perfection by Manoj K Jayan)>

The last run up to climax and the climax itself is very tame. It sort of makes you think whether the effort was worth it. Music- camera both blend well.  Wonder why Diana Penty had to cast in this insignificant role as DQ love interest as the film has no songs.

STR `GF' Nidhhi says I am single and not in a relationship

 STR GF Nidhhi Aggarwal reacting to a report that prior to her impending marriage with the actor, she has unfollowed  her BF cricketer K L Rahul from social media accounts, said that she was still an admirer of the cricketeer and as both of them were from Bangalore, she continues to follow him.

To those uninformed about Rahul, he created history after Virat Kohli to be signed for Rs 17 crores to captain the new Lucknow franchise team in the coming IPL. Australian all rounder Marcus and Ravi Bishnoi are the others in the team. Rahul dating actresses is no news as he was linked with Akansha Ranjan Kapoor ( Guilty), Sonam Bajwa, Sonal Chauhan  and longest was with Nidhhi. Both of them were seen at many restaurants in Mumbai. After Suniel Shetty's daughter Athiya Shetty and Rahul went with friends to Thailand, the focus shifted from Nidhhi.

Kodambakkam is abuzz that STR - Nidhhi marriage is soon on the cards and that the `live in couple' would come out in the open. Niddhi says that most of the time her mobile is not with her as she is shooting and that she is aware of what is being written in the media. To set the record straight she says I am single and not in a relationship.

related news ; https://southfilmy.blogspot.com/2022/03/str-nidhi-aggarwal-live-in-couple-to.html

STR - Nidhi Aggarwal live in couple to tie the knot

 

Silambarasan aka STR and actress Nidhi Aggarwal who are in a live in relationship have decided to tie the knot. The actress is currently acting in Pawan Kalyan;s Telugu film Hara Hara Veera Mallu will marry STR after she finishes her portions said a source.

Nidhi had worked with STR in Eeswaran and soon after that  she moved to Hindi Prachar st in  T Nagar house and now after the success of Maanaadu, TR and wife have fixed STR- Niddi marriage to be completed by year end. 

Niddhi after winning Miss Diva title made her debut with Tiger Shroff in  Munna Micheal and in Telugu with Syasachi with Naga Chaitanya and went to do four films out of which Ii Smart Sankar was a hit. In Tamil after Easwaran, she did Bhoomi with Jeyam Ravi. A Banagaluru girl with BBA from Christ University and hails from a Hindi speaking Marwari family. She is fluent in Tamil- Telugu and Kannada.

Bigg Boss Ultimate Anitha's comparison with Kamal angers STR fans

  Big Boss Ultimate Tamil show contestant Anitha's comment on the inexperienced way of handling the show by STR aka Simbu has let loose a volley of attacks by the STR fans on social media. They have demanded a eviction of Anitha from the show.  She figures in the 4 members who are listed for voting by public to evict from the show. Anitha You Tube channel has blocked comments option after the protest began.

The conversation between Anitha and Sruthi over the latter explanation about a task was led to the comment. Anitha after hearing the explanation tells that " You are telling a matter that is deep. You should have told it to STR. Kamal sir has hosted five seasons and knows about the game as he watches it keenly. STR is new and not that mature enough to understand it,". This has triggered a wave of protests in social media by STR fans. The protest has led to Anitha's You Tube channel taking off the facility to post comments.

Yet another reason is that Anitha's blind support for co- contestant Niroop has also not gone down well. Anitha a new reader and ex BB contestant entered the Ultimate show saying that she will have to think about her family too and also be an individual player. All these seem to have  been dumped  in two weeks after start of show.

Even before the STR fans took umbrage at Anitha, the unofficial poll figures showed that Anitha and Satish ( wild card entry ) are at low points. Satish was given a warning last week to perk up his act or go out by STR in last Sunday episode. Last week a video from BB U was circulated to show Anitha using cuss words and shocked viewers who asked why it was not muted. Niropp asks Anitha to do pick the bottle from table, she could be heard saying “Soothula Veppanga” casually. 

Night Drive (Malayalam) review : Engaging thriller

 Night Drive is an engaging thriller from Vysakh . Combining the hot topic of gold smuggling by a minister through diplomatic channels that is current and topical, director has woven a engaging thriller that happens as the title says starts with a night drive by the lead pair Roshan Mathews and Anna Ben. The first half is a bit slow and in the second half become racy. Vysakh who attempts a film without a STAR has pulled it off with the young pair.

The Vysakh style of  the so called MASS elements that he puts in this film is what makes it stand out like a sore thumb. The climax  action does not suit Roshan and the overall mood of the film so far.  Indrajith could have told to go at these action portion. BGM is atrocious as the idea is to create again a MASS effect. Some technical flaws in cinematography is evident. On the whole the film can be seen for the engaging story line and the chemistry between Roshan and Anna Ben. Wonder why Anna who works for a top channel does not ask for help from her colleagues when she is in trouble ?. Such questions should not be asked in a Vysakh film. Sorry.

Director Atlee Hindi film dropped !!! Vignesh - Ranbir Kapoor film on

 Director Atlee doing the Arabic kutthu dance has not impressed Thalapathy Vijay as he has  told him to wait for two more years to direct him, Why a hurry to direct Vijay ?. SRK after a lot pf soul searching  about his upcoming films found that Atlee's film has the most weakest storyline and screenplay . He told Atlee to go back to Chennai and use his expertise on the heroes down South and till then he would go to do Paathan and  a film with Farhan Akhtar - Karan  Johar as well as Ashistosh Gowarikar and Maneesh Sharma. In short, Atlee is left in the limbo.

Now yet another affected person is Nayanthara. She was told that as soon as  SRK comes back after battling the cases of his son, Atlee film titled ` Lion'  will be first to start and release of SRK after Covid attack. Things went wrong but it so happened that Ranbir Kapoor and Vignesh Shivan met  up for a talk and now VS is scripting a film for him.  It is for sure that Nayanthara will be in BF Hindi debut film. The photo clicked with VS and Ranbir was a message that Lady Superstar is still in Bollywood. Yet another happening that was summarily sidelined was that Nayans and VS are producing a Gujarati film. It is a remake of their produced film  Andavan Kaatalai and it is said Naan Rowdy Thaan and Rocky were screened for Ranbir. Ranbir has liked Naanum Rowdy Thaan, says sources.

In Bollywood, it is said that Ranbir Kapoor is better placed than SRK at the Box office. In fact, Mahesh Manerekar director of Antim the Salman film was quoted -  “Shah Rukh is doing a role today that Ranbir Kapoor or a Ranveer Singh is doing. So why will people see a Shah Rukh? They will want to see Shah Rukh in a role that they should feel ke ye role Shah Rukh ka tha (Shah Rukh owned the role. 

Thalaivar Rajinikanth sishya Lawrence joins hands with Aishwarya

Raghava Lawrence, most devout fan of Thalaivar Rajinikanth will collaborate with Aishwarya Rajinikanth. This is the info from Aishwarya's desk. Will it be a film with Simbu aka STR as hero and directed by Aishwarya with Lawrence as producer ? Is Aishwarya stepping in the project that stunt choreographer duo Anbariv were to direct and dropped off ? . It could also be a music video with Lawrence choreographing it.  Till then lets speculate. Tweet below : Some Dhanush fans asked why still Aishwarya R Dhanush.

Something interesting is brewing…my brain is racing after meeting up with my dear

@offl_Lawrence

Anna ! #workmode on ..wherever whenever whatever!

Director Bala - wife- daughter at MP wedding after divorce news -

  Director Bala , his wife and daughter were seen at Thamizhachi Thangapandian dayghter wedding in Chennai. They came seperately. Daughter came with mother and at the hall was seated with her father. She went back to her mother after Bala left.  National  Award

winning director Bala ( Sethu - Pithamaghan- Naan Kadavul)  and his wife Muthumalar got officially divorced in the Chennai Family Court. Their marriage lasted for 17 years. Two years back, there was a buzz in Kollywood that the couple had separated and were living apart. They have a daughter.

Four year back the couple break up news broke out . But it was quickly patched up and the couple united again. Director Hari's wife Preetha and Actor Heyam Ravi's wife Aarthi are the two close friends of Muthumalar. Of late, Muthumalar who was seen only in functions with Bala, posted solo photos of her . Also photo of her with her friends too started appearing.

After Nag Chaitanya - Samantha , Dhanush- Aishwarya Rajinikanth, music director D Imman- Monika, this is the next divorce in Kollywood. Bala own production house has a film with R K Suresh as hero that is ready for release. It is a remake of Malayalam film Joseph. Bala after a long hiatus to is start shoot for his film with actor Suriya and according to reports will play a deaf and dumb guy.

Pada ( Malayalam film) review: True to the subject

Pada ( army) directed by K A Kamal is true to the 1996 incident when  Palakkad District Collector was taken hostage by four members of a Ayyan Kali Pada to focus the injustice done to Adivasis through an amendment to an existing law for Kerala Scheduled Tribes. For one in the name of cinematic liberty, film does not bring in any unrealism, Secondly by making public the actual people involved in the incident, it gives the viewer the gravity of the incident. Thirdly, film is not preachy and totally apolitical.

Four actors - Vinayakan, Joju George, Kunchacko Boban and Dilesh Pothan  live the role as the main antagonists The casting of Prakash Raj as Chief Secretary and Arjun Radhakrishnan ( he played APJ Kalam in Rocket Boys ) as Collector was yet another excellent move as these two actors made a great difference. Technically, the camera and music gives what is needed.

Wonder why name of  Collector  was named Dange instead of W R Reddy the real life .man and similarly with Chief Secretary. I feel the film could have brought in the present retired Collector too into the frame work.  In real life , at the the court , he failed to identify the four men who took him hostage !!!.. Kamal had directed a Hindi film ID which was produced by Oscar winner Resul Pookutty along with cinematographer Rajeev Ravi - Madhu Neelakantan along with Editor Ajithkumar.

Maaran must see for media persons

  Maaran spoke my mind on investigative journalism and the bad effects on family of people who were `allegedly' involved in wrong doings. When I said my take on investigative journalism, my colleagues said that it was because I did not break any news and was plain jealous. .

Now this Maaran ( ( actor Dhanush) not like Kalanithi Maaran, is from a lower middle class family. He suffered a double tragedy - his father ( Ramki in a comeback role that you put as WhatsApp status video) a journalist and mother both die on same night , Father was killed by goons of a bad guy who got exposed in a story and mother died during delivery of a baby girl. So Maaran is father- mother to lil sister and his uncle is their guardian.

21 years later Maaran attends a TV channel job interview. Throughout the film after that you are shown a high rise glass tower shot to remind you that it as big as Sun Network. From here , the  journalist in me got hooked . The guy in the interview board says I will tweet a controversial post and you a positive one and we will see if public likes you or me. Maaran wins. Very true. In my website, one post about job vacancies details gets lakhs but my on any film actor divorce or extra martial acts gets only few thousands.

Secondly, I always wanted an assistant who chews bubble gum , asks no questions and drinks whisky on the rocks with me. Maaran gets one, I envy him. This assistant is what every journalist wants. Instead of occupying his seat .She too stays with him after he is an alcoholic ( reason told below) and is a great motivator. Motivation talk- Maaran if you go like this then I too will join you and we will drink together.

I always had this sneaky feeling that EVM in South ( except Karnataka) were rigged. Maaran touches this subject. Very topical. ( I did not like the ex minister choice of whisky that he ordered while plotting to plant a chip in EVM). Now onwards is most interesting part. The rigging part of EVM is exposed by Maaran. Hell breaks loose. Sister shown being burned. Action packed gripping emotional drama. Climax fight and not with the ex minister as we expect but with a new entrant. The EVM expose led to the  self immolation of the sister of the man who for money was to tamper the EVM.. The man asks the journalist - You write what you want and don't bother about the consequences and so I wanted you  to go through the same pain. Moral ) Before you publish a story think about the families- GF and concubines of the bad guys and what impact it will have on their lives. The evil man did not burn the sister and kept her buried behind sacks !!! . So it is not what all these journalism class guys taught you. 

Coming to actors and technicians. Dhanush just sleep walks.Malavika Mohan is more exciting in her photo shoots on Instagram and after Master lands up with a sketchy role. Samudrakanni apes  Salman Khan and come bare chested in the film. GVP rehashes his own tune. Cinematograpy ???. Production House is Sathyajothi Films who gave memorable classics and director is Karthcik Naren of  Dhruvanagal Pathinaaru fame. Some combos don't mix.

Rajinikanth son in law status did not help my career - Dhanush

 Dhanush on the eve of ` Maaran' release on OTT, has been quoted  saying that being son in law of Rajinikanth gave him an elevated status but career wise it was his brother ( director Selvaraghavan) and father Kasthoori Raja ( director- producer) who helped him in his career. On personal front, Dhanush and Aishwarya have worked a way to look after the kids. An unconfirmed report from Hyderabad says that Aishwarya Rajinikanth has got an okay to direct a film with mature romantic love subject that she has prepared and common friends have put across the idea to STR aka Simbu about him acting in it.

The Aishwarya- Simbu combo on face value may look a speculation but it is not that cannot take place, says a source in STR camp.  He points out that STR and Hansika were madly in love and when they broke up, the film that they were acting together ran in trouble as STR avoided acting with her. Now a matured and professional STR did an extended cameo for woman centric film Maya with Hansika in the lead. So it cannot be ruled out if STR says yes to ex GF Aishwarya , hopes the Simbu pal.

Dhanush answering Q&A with fans said that it was his brother and father who helped him career wise and not being a son in law of Rajinikanth. Trade sources say that Tamil film industry big wigs are not so receptive as before and Dhanush feels that indirectly it could be his pa in law's larger than life image that is playing out. Dhanush has signaled his distance from Rajinikanth to his fans and that of Thalaivar. A tweet from past  by Dhanush - “To win a national award for best actor on the same stage where my Thalaivar was winning the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award was just indescribable

On the domestic front, the kids will be with Aishwarya. Whenever Dhanush is free, kids would be with him. When Aishwarya took ill in Hyderabad, kids were with Dhanush who was shooting in Ooty. A legal separation is not on the cards as division of properties to custody of kids would have to be trashed out. Instead, a mutually agreed agreement has been arrived said a source close to Dhanush family.  Dhanush is acting in a film directed by his brother Selvarghavan.

Etharkkum Thunindhavan : Suriya takes no logic route : It is no Pandiraj film either

 Etharkkum Thunindhavan is meant to tell that Suriya is still a MASS hero and Director Pandiraj to achieve this had to wear the cap of Hari ( remember Singham)  most of the times and revert back to his trademark films with joint rural families and their lives with some humour and goody goody characters. So you are caught in between these stools. Pandiraj fails to be a Hari and here Suriya goes amok to cover it up. You get two stunt scenes that will be greatly applauded by Balayya fans. ( Suriya cannot ignore the Andhra fans ).

To those have seen Suriya's SP and Jai Bhim on OTT, it is  in your own good that you stay away. To put it lightly,  what if the lawyer in Jai Bhim got the Pollachi sex case and he got fed up and put away  his black gown and decided to flex his muscles to win the case. For any MASS hero you need a strong villain. It need not be brawn but brains too.  Here the villain has neither of this - a sissy played by Vinay. Priyanka Mohan does what is expected of her.

This pattern of a emotional scene followed by fight - song - comedy and back to emotion has been brought back by Pandiraj. If there is anything that deserve high rating is cameraman Rathnavelu and his work. Imman is the next after him with his music and BGM,

Are theater owners helping PMK to stall Suriya film release ?

 Are theaters pulling out from screening Etharkkum Thunindhavan  for their own selfish gain and using PMK opposition as a reason ?. Sun Pictures ,the producer is seeing many theaters announcing in many districts that screening ET will be a risk and hence are screening Valimai as usual.. The reason being that Valimai run into third week will only give profits to theater owners. The PMK opposition to release of ET is on the grounds that Suriya's previous  film Jai Bhim released on OTT had hurt the sentiments of Vanniyar caste and the actor should tender a public apology. The youth wing head of PMK has asked theatres to not screen the film ET.

Though theaters in  North Districts being cautious can be reasonable as PMK can create trouble, In other areas too the film is being cold shouldered by movie halls. In Madurai, the film has lesser number of screens than what a usual Sun Pictures film gets. Valimai State distribution is done by Madurai Anbu.

Sources say that there is a conspiracy to yank the film off saying that Prabhas film Radhe Shyam is doing better as it is releasing one day later. Two weeks later comes RRR and ET will totally vanish. As  Suriya gave all his films ( acted and produced ) to OTT during Covid time, theater owners were wanting to teach him a lesson. As it was Ruling party backed Sun Pictures, there was nothing much to do. Now PMK has come as a  cover to hide behind  to hit at Suriya.   

PMK is politically weak and in last two polls got trounced badly.. However, the scare it can create in some Districts might keep the audience away. In Chennai, 16 shows per day are booked.in every release theater. 

In this proxy war between Theater owners and Suriya, caught is Sun Pictures. Sun Pictures  will get police backup and probably have PMK trouble makers picked up today night but theaters unwillingness and a silent word of mouth publicity  is what stumps them. Will Suriya fans help to turn the tide ?,

Ajith AK 61 is Vallamai' (Power) and Khiladi is copy of Sathuranga vettai 2 ?

 

Ajith Kumar's next after Valimai is titled Vallamai' according a talk in the industry. The film will go on the

floor next week after a office pooja in coming week. Now known as AK 61, the film cast- crew and title will be revealed at the launch. Every Ajith film launch is a closed door affair and done without any fan fare. First look of Ajith sporting a white beard has been released and buzz is that the actor will be playing a dual role or  character . Actor Kavin who is known for Bigg Boss Tamil is in the castalong with Yogi Babu ( his portions were edited out in Valimai) is another news. It is not known whether music will be by Ghibran or Yuvan. Valimai carried Yuvan's name but Ghibran is said to have done the BGM.

Meanwhile the producer of Tamil film Sathuranga Vettai 2 whose story has been written by Valimai's director H Vinoth has moved the court saying that Telugu film Khiladi starring Ravi Teja has lifted many scenes from his film and that the OTT release should be stopped. Satthuranga Vettai 2 has been in the cans due to financial issues and finally is getting ready for a release. It has Aravind Swamy and Trisha in the lead.