Rahman had an angio and I am not his ex Wife: Saira / Ravi Mohan -Basil in Sri Lanka for SK film

As we heave a sigh of relief that A R Rahman has returned home after a brief morning stint at Apollo, Chenna,i Mozart’s wife Saira Banu put out a post in which she gave clarity of her husband’s health and also her martial status. Music composer A R Rahman, who was admitted to a corporate hospital here following dehydration, had undergone an angiography and was on IV. After this he has returned home and is doing fine now, his family s first reaction from the music director's sister, AR Reihana refuted reports that Rahman was hospitalised after he complained of chest pain. His manager Senthil Velan confirmed hospitalisation. So also his other sister Fatima Shekar. It was clarified by Saira banu wife of ARR who is separated but not divorced. Read her her post which is a transcript of her vvoice post – As reported by ETimes, AR Rahman's wife Saira Banu shared a voice note on Sunday (March 16). She began her message with a heartfelt "Salam" as she acknowledged the ongoing Holy month of Ramadan. She shared an update on Rahman’s health, saying, "Assalamualaikum. I wish him a speedy recovery, and I got the news that he had chest pain and had angiography. By the grace of Allah, he is fine now; he has nothing serious." She further clarified that Rahman was initially diagnosed with dehydration after returning from London, where he had been feeling unwell, which led him to seek medical attention. Saira Banu requests not to address her as AR Rahman's ex-wife Saira also stated that she and Rahman are still legally married despite their separation. "We are not officially divorced," she clarified. "We are still husband and wife, and it’s just that we have been living separately for the past two years because I was unwell. I didn’t want to add any stress to him, but please, I request that you do not refer to me as his ‘ex-wife’."

Basil Joseph from Malayalam industry is said to be latest addition to ongoing Tamil film Parasakthi directed by Sudha Kongara. It has Sivakarthikeyan and Ravi Mohan as the hero and baddie respectively. Basil’s PonMan released on OTT is trending. With a string of hits, Basil is currently flavour of the Malayalam industry as his moderate budget films with content that more realistic are favourite of family audiences. Sources also say that the unit of Parasakthi has erected a set resembling the Madurai railway station in Sri Lanka.

Thalapathy son Jason film hero is Sundeep : Singer who `disturbed' A R Rahman wife

 Thalaoathy Vijay's son Jason has narrowed down his selection of the leading man for his first directorial. From what we hear is that it is Sundeep Kishn ( new spelling as per numerology). In Tamil, we have seen him in Dhanush film Captain Miller and Rayaan. He is related to cinematographer Chota K Naidu. Coming from a well to do family, he has produced two films in Telugu. He was part of Lokesh 's debut film Maanagaram. In Hindi he played Major Vikram in TV series The Family Man. Last month there was a news that fans have given him the title People's Star. Though unconfirmed, we hear that ARR son A R Ameen is scoring the music.Lyca is bankrolling the film.

As we took Rahman's name, we would give you a news not related to divorce. A R Rahman sent an invitation to Ram Charan to attend the annual Mushaira Ghazal event at Kadapa Dargah, and Ram Charan fulfilled his commitment. Despite observing Ayyappa Swamy Deeksha, Ram Charan presented prayers, a ‘chadar’, and flowers at the historic Dargah,  As per 41 day Ayyappa penance, one should not visit the graveyard or attend a funeral wearing the holy mala ( necklace). Dargah is considered a graveyard of the Saint. If one is forced to attend a funeral, then the mala is kept aside and 41 day penance broken.

Two things have come out of the A R Rahman - Saira divorce. Rahman only wanted a good looking educated girl to take care of his mother and his children and home after marriage. He had spoken about it in his interview. Secondly Saira is a Kutchi Muslim and her marriage was conducted without any Meher being agreed upon if the marriage ends in a divorce. In such circumstance the courts will give 50 % of the hubby's assets to wife as settlement. The lawyer put it at Rs 1000 crores for Saira. Going through the interview, it remains a mystery as what could go wrong as Rahman had made it clear that he wanted was a person to be a housewife and not demanding any time from him. “I want a simple wife — someone who wouldn’t give me much trouble so I could carry on doing my music.” He chuckled as Simi reminded him of his other specifications: “Some education, some beauty, and loads of humility.”m this is all he wanted.

Rahman bought a house in UK to st up home but Saira came back to Chennai as she felt lonely. Three children have rallied behind Saira, is evident from the public talks that have come up. Though speculative in nature, insiders point out to involvement with  a singer who has roots abroad. Her involvement with the composer was extra more than usual as per those in the know.

Rahman was part of the Maajja's ambitious goal of promoting Tamil music on a global scale. When the music composer Santosh and his daughter- singer Dhee and rapper Arivu blamed the organisation for not paying any money for song Enjaami that minted money, ARR issued a clarification that he was not in the organisation for getting money.

My meeting with legenday Dilip Kumar recalled

 My meeting with legendary Dilip Kumar in Chennai when he came down to attend the shoot of Izzatdaar was mentioned in my blog published on May 30 2020, It was part of my write-up on Late Raghuvaran.(https://southfilmy.blogspot.com/2020/05/no-replacement-yet-i-belong-to.html)

1990 Hindi film ‘Izzatdaar’ had  stars Govinda, Dilip Kumar, Madhuri Dixit, and Anupam Kher. South actor Raghuvaran also made his Bollywood debut with this film. Director was K Bapiah and Producer Sudhakar Bokade,

Then I was working for `Screen' the top selling film weekly from the Indian Express (Mumbai) Publications. My Editor Ms Udaya Tara Nayar was accompanying the actors coming from Mumbai. She was considered a part of Dilip Saab's group as she was a family friend. She later went on to be Dilip saab's biographer and pen a book on him.

It was after a long time that Dilip Saab was coming to Chennai. He was booked in Taj Coromandel's Presidential suite. I waited at the hotel lobby for the team to arrive, I saw Dilip Saab and Sairaji alight and come in, They were taken to the suite.

My Editor came behind and I went with her to the hotel room. It was the summer time and shoot was planned mostly indoors and that too inside the Taj Hotel. In one shoot, I saw my friend Raghuvaran taking part in it. I saw the scenes which was a confrontation between Dilip Saab and Raghuvaran. After the shot there was claps.

The shoots continued. Everyday there was a press briefing for the Mumbai press crew that came with the unit. Dilip Saab did not attend any of them.

One evening, I was told by my Editor that I was invited to join Dilip Saab for dinner, as he was going back to Mumbai. I reached the suite at 7 PM. It was a big house inside the hotel. I saw a team of cooks with a chef in the kitchen area, Many servant maids, It reminded me of the Mughalai sets that I had seen in films. The atmosphere was such. I waited in the living room.

After some time, a maid walked in and told me in flowery Urdu that Dilip Saab was ready to meet me. The way she said it sounded as if I was given the audience to meet the Emperor.

As I walked ( quite a long way) to the sitting room, I saw Dilip Saab seated wearing a night gown ( usually one sees in Hindi films). He waved me to a seat. He asked about his friend Sivaji and spoke about his taking part in a function to unveil the statue of Late N S Krishnan. He said that MGR and Karunanidhi had attended the function.

He spoke about his struggling days that he spend in Chennai. The friends who supported him. Sairaji walked in with my Editor, The conversation shifted to Vyjayanthimala and Pondy Baazar shopping.

By then a tray rolled in. It had silver utensils filled with certain deliciacies. He said it was Afghan food and rolled out the names. He ate one of them and talked to the Chef ( waiting in the wings) in chaste Urdu ( later I learnt it was Pashto).

Our conversation veered to the day's shoot and the scene with Raghuvaran. I have written about it in my earlier blog on Raghuvaran. His words that still ring a bell Excerpts - In the night, at the Presidential suite of Taj Coramandel, Dilip , myself and my Editor Taraji with Saira Banu was sitting around a table watching the TV. Dilip asked me - Raghuvaran is your friend ?. I nodded. Then what he said was something memorable. " As long as an actor is saying his dialogue , he is doing theatrics. When he does not say anything and his face , eyes and cheek muscles speak, that is acting. Your friend has that ability. Don't leave him," said Dilip.

I heard from my journalistic friends who had come from Mumbai with the crew that at one point Govinda stopped giving dates to the film and refused to shoot for the film. The producer Sudakar Bokade asked Dawood Ibrahim to call Govinda and advice him to begin the film again. Govinda fearing for his life complied and agreed to finish the film.

Saab spoke about how he came back after a few setbacks in the mid-1960s when  Leader and Dil Diya Dard didn't live up to expectations. He  bounced back with Tapi Chanakya's Ram Aur Shyam, which hit the screens in 1967 and emerged as a big hit. It, incidentally, was a remake of  NTR's Telugu classic Ramudu Bheemudu. The Telugu version was also remade in Tamil and Malayalam as  Enga Veettu Pillai and Ajayanum Vijayanum with MGR and Prem Nazir in the lead.

He did not act in any Tamil film but Mughal-e-Azam was dubbed and released in Tamil as Akbar in 1961. Similarly, the 1957 classic Naya Daur was dubbed in Tamil as Pattaliyin Sabatham in 1958.

In his biography “Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow”, he revealed that Saira Banu conceived in 1972 but developed high blood pressure in her eighth month of pregnancy and the doctors couldn’t save the baby, which had been strangulated by the umbilical cord. After that, they did not try to have children believing that it was God’s will.