Violin maestro Kunnakudi R Vaidyanathan passes away

Violin maestro Kunnakudi R Vaidyanathan died in a hospital here on Monday night after prolonged illness here.

He was 75 and is survived by wife and two daughters.

Vaidyanathan was admitted to the hospital following cardiac problems and the end came around 8.45 pm, family sources said.

Vaidyanathan, known for introducing novelties in his violin concerts, had performed all over the world. His concerts with ‘Thavil’, a traditional south Indian drum instrument, was welcomed by music lovers in the country.

He also composed music for several films.

He had headed the ‘Iyal Isai Nataka Mantram’ (Sangeetha Nataka Academy) of Tamil Nadu for several years.

He was also the Secretary of Thygabrahma Sabha, Tiruvaiyaru in Thanjavur district, which organised the annual Aradhana Festival of the great Carnatic music composer Saint Thyagaraja.

Shooting for Endhiran (Robot) to begin...

It’s official at last. The shooting of Shankar’s Endhiran (Robot), which is being billed as Kollywood’s most historic venture, is to begin on September 8.
Industry sources said director Shankar, superstar Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bacchan left for the US on Friday along with a 40-member crew to film two songs for the film.
The movie, which has generated a lot of interest, boasts of a fabulous creative team including director Shankar, music director A R Rahman and ace cameraman Rathnavelu.
While Mary E Vogt, the well known designer who has worked in Hollywood movies like Men in Black, Batman Returns and Inspector Gadget will be designing the scientific outfits for the sci-fi movie, the animatronics of the film will be handled by the Stan Winston Studio (USA), which was responsible for the impressive animation sequences in movies such as Predator, Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, Iron man and the Terminator. The visual effects and animatronics co-ordination will be done by Indian Artiste.
Stunt director Yuen Woo Ping, who made audiences gasp with his stunts in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Matrix and Kill Bill, has been put in charge of the action sequences of the movie.
Hollywood companies like ILM, Tippet, Café EFX; and Hong Kong companies like Centro and Menfond have been roped in to work on VFX. The movie is being produced by Ayngaran International Films Pvt Ltd., and Eros International.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Simbu sings for Ennai Theriyuma

The actor has sung the remix version of ‘Thanni Karuthudichu’ for ‘Ennai Theriyuma’, whose audio launch is on Sunday. Superstar Rajinikanth has been invited to be the chief guest. But will the actor perturbed by Kuselan’s problems, make an appearance is anybody’s guess. ‘Thanni Karuthudichu’, a popular song from ‘Ilamai Oonjalaadhugiradhu’, has been remixed and rendered in both Tamil and Telugu for ‘Ennai Theriyuma’, which launches Mohan Babu’s son Manoj as the hero.

Sneha Ullai and Riya Sen play the heroines of this movie, which has music by Achu. Achu, actually Arun, is the son of popular Malayalam music director C Rajamani.

The music of this movie is said to be a fusion of carnatic and hip hop. This film was made in Telugu as ‘Nenu Meeku Telusa’, directed by Ajay Sastri. In the movie, Manoj is said to play the role of an amnesia patient. With Mohan Babu being a bosom friend of Rajinikanth, it is expected that the Superstar will make it to the audio launch function on Sunday.

But sources close to the Superstar reveal that he is perturbed by the entire controversy shrouding ‘Kuselan’, and may not appear in public to launch the audio. Source: www.newindpress.com

Deepika Padukone awarded as the sexiest actress

It was a happy moment for Bollywood Actress Deepika Padukone when heard that she has been stated as the best sexiest woman in the World by Men’s Life Style Magazine.

Deepika was adjudged on the basis of reader’s reaction, feedback from Industry and by gauging her potential to be the ‘Next Big Thing’.

So, it is an scintillating thrill for Deepika Padukone as she joins the list of the World’s best sexiest women like Lindsay Lohan, Eva Longoria and Marissa Miller. Speaking on this, the 22yr old actress has said that she is more elated about this fact she has been taken to the higher level.

Deepika Padukone made her debut in Bollywood with the film Om Shanthi Om starring opposite Shah Rukh Khan in the female lead role. Her alluring looks and sleek shaped body has won the laurels and her recent flick with Ranbir Kapoor titled ‘Bachna Ae Hasino’ is a bigger hit.

Source: Tamilwire.com

Achchamundu Achchamundu - A Thriller Movie

For the first time in Tamil Cinema, a film has been made using the services of Hollywood technicians in its entirety. The film is 'Achchamundu Achchamundu' and sources say that the film has shaped up in a stylish format with breathtaking intensity all the way.

The Hollywood crew was given the English script of the film so that it was easier for them to understand the scenes and dialogues. A few of the crew even managed to get some Tamil language coaching sessions with Prasanna and Sneha, who were more than enthusiastic to teach them. The crew was also very energetic and excited about the project and provided full support to translate director Arun Vaidhyanathan's vision into film.

'Achchamundu Achchamundu' boasts of a crew that has worked in the latest Indiana Jones film and in the Bruce Willis starrer that is expected to release soon.

This film could go down in history as the first film that linked Tamil Cinema with Hollywood.

Kuselan Movie Review

Cast – Rajinikanth, Pasupathy, Vadivelu, Meena, Nayanthara, Livingston.
Camera – Aravind Krishna
Music – GV Prakash Kumar
Story – Srinivasan
Screenplay, Dialogues, Direction – P.Vasu
Producer – Kavithalaya and Seven Arts

If you want to see and enjoy a family drama with sentiment, clean comedy and neat portrayals, Kuselan is the only answer among all the recent releases. Kuselan, truly the most awaited movie of the year is released amidst lot of expectation and fanfare today and no doubt the film is surely a different attempt by Superstar Rajinikanth and Vasu.

First we should congratulate Rajini and director P Vasu for the honest remake of the meaningful Malayalam original Katha Parayumbol (of course there are some cliches, but those are tolerable!). The gist of the story is very simple but interesting. Rajini wants to convey the importance of true friendship. ‘Matha, Pitha, Guru, Nalla Nanban and finally God’ is the new lineup that the Superstar follows in real life too and the message to convey the young generation to follow.

Balu alias Balakrishnan (Pasupathy) is a poor barber, who is living in a tiny village Marayur and struggling to manage his day today life with a beautiful wife (Meena) and three children. He is unable to buy some good basic equipment to develop his barber shop located in the local Market. But he is quite satisfied with what he has despite the antics of his competitor (cum one time assistant!) Vadivelu, who earns lot of money by forcing local people to visit his shop for cutting and shaving.

One day the entire climate of the village totally changes just because of the arrival of Superstar Ashok Kumar (Rajinikanth) for shooting his film. Everyone in the village go to see and take photographs with the Superstar. But heavy police and Z category security force prevent them to have a glimpse of the Superstar.

Meanwhile news spreads around the village that Balu and the Superstar are close childhood friends. After knowing the fact, everyone in the village give new respect to Balu and his family. The local money lender comes forward to help him to develop his saloon with all brand new modern equipments to just get an intro with the Superstar. Everyone in the village wants to cash in on their friendship.

But just because of his ego, Balu does not like to even pay a visit to the guest house where the Superstar is staying. But the entire village, including his own family members force him to visit the Superstar and renew their relationship. How do the old friends meet at last? The question leads to the sensational, never ever seen climax of the film.

For years, many have doubts and questions about Rajinikanth’s personal life, Himalayan trips, saint like life style and political interests. In a face to face conversation between Rajini and a critic (Sundar Rajan), P Vasu exposes the other side of the Superstar well. The way Rajinikanth replies to all the queries of Sundar Rajan is excellent and it helps the Superstar himself to satisfy a faction of people, who are always pinpoint him.

No doubt, Rajini is the real star of the entire show. From the second reel itself the film rounds the Superstar. Most of the scenes reflect Rajini’s real life incidents and not even exaggerated a bit. Performance wise Rajini easily overtakes all the characters and particularly in the sensational climax everyone is stunned with the outstanding, class performance of Rajinikanth. (I have witnessed that most of the young audiences came out from the show with tear and mostly women audience hail the superior performance of Rajini!)

Pasupathy who comes throughout the movie has done his role well. Meena just repeats the same performance that she has already done in the original. Vadivelu is one of the real winners of the show. Particularly in a scene with the superstar, Vadivelu has played well and showed the exact feelings of a villager while he is happening to see a superstar once in his poor life. Nayantara is just appearing as the co-star of the movie and she has also done her job quite well. Other comedians Santhanam, Livingston, MS Bhaskar, Brammanandam, Chinni Jayanth have also played their part well and help a lot maintain the tempo of the film.

Aravind Krishna gives a new tone to the movie and his style of picturisation is really good. Three songs of GV Prakash Kumar are hummable but the opening song of the Superstar is not up to the level to Rajini’s earlier films. The Superstar is just appearing in the film for just 40 minutes. But most of the audiences feel that it is a different but complete Rajini movie.That is the magic of superstar Rajinikanth!

A.R. Rahman Thirukkural Ode Album

A.R.Rahman the busiest Music Director is looking to workout a project which he had in mind for a longtime. His “Vande Mantharam” album becomes the sprits of youngsters and now he has plans to do an album based on “Thirukkural”. It was Illayaraja who does a spiritual “Thiruvasagam” years ago. A.R.Rahman with the playback singer Blaze is working on “Thirukkural” one of the world famous Tamil literary works.

The main motive of doing so is to take Tamil to next generation. The talented A.R.Rahman says that the project to be made with supreme care and it will be the dedication to the genius poet Thiruvalluvar. The album is to capture the hearts of young to carry Tamil to next generation

Vijay's VILLU shooting in pollachi..

The Vijay- Nayanthara action entertainer Villu, directed by Prabhu Deva is making brisk progress. Last week, during the nights, action scenes were canned for the film in and arond the busy streets of Chennai.

The film has some awesome action scenes which are very crucial to the story. After completing the Chennai schedule, the unit has now left for Pollachi to shoot a song for the film.

According to sources in the industry, Prabhu Deva wants to shoot the ultimate Kuthu song for the film. Remember some of the most popular Kuthu numbers in Tamil cinema have featured our Ilayathalapathy. One of the major highlights of Vijay- Prabhu Deva’s earlier Pokkiri was the songs and its picturisation. Who can forget the chartbusting kuthu number Mambazham ma…?

Similarly in Villu, music director Devi Sri Prasad is said to have composed a mass kuthu number which will be picturised on Vijay and Nayanthara in Pollachi this week. The song, it is believed, is sure to make the fans of the star happy.

Shriya with Kamal Haasan

It was reported a few days earlier that Shriya would play the heroine in Kamal Haasan’s ‘Marmayogi’. But then the news has turned out to be totally false. Shriya was in Chennai for a brief period and has categorically denied her association with ‘Marmayogi’.
I was quite surprised to see the media go hammer and tongs on me being a part of ‘Marmayogi’ because nobody had approached me to be a part of the film. If such an opportunity came, I’ll most definitely be one of the happiest people in the world”, says Shriya.

The gorgeous actress has her hands full at the moment and is part of Vikram’s ‘Kanthasamy’ and was in Mexico for the film’s shooting. She is slated to start filming for ‘Jaggubhai’ soon where she plays Sarath Kumar’s daughter. K. S. Ravikumar would direct that film.

Shriya will be pairing with Dhanush once again as she will be joining the successful ‘Polladhavan’ team soon, for their next film. Director Vetri Maaran is currently coming up with a story that’s expected to have a slick and compelling narration.

The two Hollywood projects that Shriya has been part of have reportedly shaped up very well. ‘The Other End of the Line’ produced by Ashok Amritraj has the actress play a Call Center employee who falls in love with a customer just by listening to his voice.
The other English movie she is working in is Deepa Mehta’s ‘What’s Cooking’ where she’ll share screen space with Seema Biswas and Lisa Ray.

Shriya is also part of a Hindi project titled ‘Mission Istanbul’ which is expected to release by the end of this month.

Will smith wear Hancock costume for Jada

Will Smith wears his Hancock costume for his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith in the bedroom. The Hollywood star has confessed that he dons the tight fitting leather outfit, worn by his superhero character in the new film, to please Jada when there is no one else around. He said, “I took the suit home and my wife and I use it sometimes. Just around the house. It’s great.”

The 39-year-old star, also known by the nickname ‘Big willy’, revealed his perfect day would be to play a round of golf with his wife, catch a movie and rush home for some romantic time alone with Jada. He added, “It would have to be a horror film. Horror films make her all clingy”.

Mallika is quite a pagli

Mallika Sherawat is back in the city from Los Angeles where she was busy with the preproduction work of her international project, Unveiled, to promote her next film, PNC's Ugly Aur Pagli. Given that the actress is prone to living life on her terms, she could very well be the "pagli", but ugly she certainly isn't by any stretch of imagination! Mallika, by her own admission has a fascination for oldermen and while the rest of her contemporaries go crazy vying for the two song, one dialogue parts in big films, she goes right ahead and gets her own films commisioned by production houses with the meatier parts ofcourse. In so many aspects, she doesn't conform to the quintessential Bollywood heroine and it seems to be working for the sexy actress. The ordinary just doesn't do for her & she's a plain pagli for the bystanders who witness her professional antics. And the trailers of Ugly Aur Pagli are heating up the screens as only mademoiselle can.

Love Story 2050 - (Download songs,Read the full story)

CAST: Priyanka Chopra-double role(Zeisha & Sana), Harman Baweja (Karan), Boman Irani (Dr.Yatender Khanna), Archana Puran Singh.

DIRECTOR: Harry Baweja

MUSIC DIRECTOR: Anu Malik, Harry Baweja

WRITTEN BY: Harry Baweja

PRODUCER:Pammi Baweja

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SONGS

STORY: It is a story about Karan (Harman Baweja), a young, spirited, sporty boy who lives life off the rules and Sana (Priyanka Chopra), a young petite, shy girl who lives life by the rules. This develops into a magical love story.
Karan's uncle, Dr. Yatinder Khanna's (Boman Irani) much developed time machine finally works. Sana expresses her wish to travel ahead in time to Mumbai in the future
We land in Mumbai 2050 in the time machine... along with Uncle Yatinder, Rahul and Thea (Sana's younger brother and sister). Flying cars, 200 storey buildings, robots and sky rails have changed the very face of Mumbai.
Through a series of twists and turns, the time traveler Karan finds himself separating from his love. QT, a friendly femme robot and Boo, a small robotic teddy bear play their distinct roles in bringing their love story together but soon find themselves under the threat of the demi-god of the future, Dr. Hoshi.
Will Karan be able to overcome the threat of Dr. Hoshi and win his love and travel back in time?

Nayantara falls in love with Dhanush

Nayantara and Dhanush : Nayantara, who was involved in love with Tamil actor Simbhu almost two years ago, is again in love with an actor this time. It is reported that this time she is eyeing a married man Dhanush, son in Law of Rajinkanth.

According to the sources, it is said that the two became close from the making time of “Yaradi Nee Mohini”. From then on the two were seeing each others seriously. But recently the two met on the sets of “Kuselan” when Dhanush came to talk to his father in law.

Some sources also reveal that, Dhanush and Aishwarya are fighting daily over this issue and very soon Nayantara can get a warning from the superstar.

Aishwarya Bachchan Officially Signs for Rajini’s Robot

There were many buzzes that Aishwarya Rai will be acting for the film “Robot” later it was said that Ash will not be acting for the film. The film “Robot” is produced by Ayngaran International. This is said to be Shankar’s dream project with RajniKanth. The Director Shankar designed the script well and the story is building well and the official announcement of shooting will be made soon. Aishwarya Bachchan misses previous Rajini films because of tight schedule. This time she is leading RajiniKanth for the first time and she has signed for the film for a massive Rs.6Crores.

The trusted source from Production side reveals that Shankar has paid Rs.2Crores as advance for the film. Aishwarya makes record for the highest ever remuneration paid to an actress for an Indian Film. A day before the actress unveils in a meeting with Shankar and she had also given clues for how much she is getting for this particular film. It will be good to watch Rajini romancing Ash.

Kuselan Movie Photo Gallery & Preview

Producers Kavithalaaya and Seven Arts held press meet at Hotel Le Meridian in Chennai on Wednesday (June 18) evening and released the official stills of Superstar Rajinikanth starrer Kuselan Movie. Superstar is rocking in all the stylish photos released.This is a bi-lingual and will be simultaneously released in Tamil and Telugu.

In Telugu the name has been changed to Kathanayakudu instead of Kuseludu. The shooting of the movie is complete and is currently in the post production stage. The audio release of the movie will be on June 30 and the music is too good according to director P.Vasu.

Rajinkanth will appear in three out of five songs that is composed for the film by young music composer G.V Prakash. The three songs are the introduction song, the song featuring all the film stars and the third song which is a duet with Nayantara.

Kuselan and Kathanayakudu are both being directed by P. Vasu who also directed Chandramukhi. The Tamil version of the movie has Superstar Rajinikanth, Pasupathy, Nayantara and Meena in the lead roles. The Telugu version stars Rajinikanth, Jagapathy Babu, Nayantara and Meena.

And Kuselan is making the biggest news ever as it nears completion. Rajinikanth, Ajith, Vijay, Suriya, Vikram , and Dhanush will be seen together in a song in this film. Yes! It is incredible but true!

The film stars Rajinikanth, Nayantara, Meena, Pasupathi and Vadivelu. The filming is almost complete now except for one song which celebrates the completion of 75 years of Tamil Cinema. The makers of Kuselan have decided to make this song incredibly grand. That is the reason they have decided to rope in all the frontline actors of Kollywood. The song begins with the words ‘Cinema…cinema… MGR, Sivaji, NTR….ivargal irundha cinema…..inimale idhu pol varuma’.

Superstar rocks...Let us wait for the movie..!!!

Download Songs From Vinay's Jeyam Kondaen-( .Mp3 )

Jeyam Kondaen starring Vinay, Bhavana, Santhanam and Vivek. Music composed by Vidyasagar.

Click here to download

Actress Bhavana though not successful with most of her Tamil flicks has been making great waves with her scintillating looks among the youngsters. However, her combos with great leading actors like Jayam Ravi and Madhavan hasn’t been working out. But now, with great devotedness and likeliness she has been wholeheartedly working on her present project.

The film titled ‘Jayam Kondaen’ features her in female lead role pairing up with Unnale Unnale fame Vinay. Over here in this film, she will be dubbing for her own voice and this is the first time Bhavana is coming up with such an effort.

Bye Dasavatharam, Hello Robot...

The Dasavatharam fever is over. Now the hype around Superstar Rajinikanth’s next big film Robot has started. According to the latest buzz, director Shankar has changed his cameraman for this big project for the 4th time and now it is Rathnavelu who will be handling the camera for Robot.

He accompanied with Shankar for a three week world tour to finalize the locations for Robot. As of now they will be going to Vienna, capital of European country Austria. After this, they will fly to Brazilian capital Rio de Janeiro. As per the suggestion of the superstar, the team will visit Vietnam also. One of the songs will be shot in the exotic locations of Hanoi, the capital city of the red country.

According to Shankar’s close associates, the film will be launched in the second week of August in Chennai and will shift to Vienna for the shooting the song portions with Rajini-Aishwarya.

I don't want to be called hot: Katrina Kaif

Katrina Kaif's sizzling number "Sexy lady" in "Race" and now an impending item song in the sporty film "Blue" have given her a sensuous image, but she's surprisingly uncomfortable with it.

"I want to retain the image of the girl next door. I don't want the hot image. Even in 'Sexy lady' I'm fully clothed. I'm still the girl next door. It's not the conventionally sexy kind of song," Katrina told IANS.

"Race", where she's pitched for the sensuous sweepstakes against Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy, has Katrina pulling out all the stops to erase the homely image.

But she says: "I don't think so. Everything in 'Race' looks larger-than-life, very fulsome, urgent and exaggerated. The actors are styled accordingly. I haven't done anything like it. Everyone's talking about it. I guess that's a good sign."

Katrina is equally reluctant to accept she's doing the most expensive item song ever in "Blue".

"I wouldn't know about how expensive it is, but I'm doing a special appearance in 'Blue' and the song-dance is part of it. Yeah, I'm part of the film in a unique way. Akshay Kumar got me into it.

"As for the expenses, nowadays so many numbers are thrown into the public's face. I don't think it's right for actors to talk about the financial side of a film," said the actress who gave hits like "Namastey London" and "Welcome" last year.

Next, ask her about the status of her relationship with Salman Khan and she clams up. "I'd like to keep that personal."

Is it right to presume she's still with Salman?

"You can presume whatever you like. You can presume I'm an alien from outer space, if you like. Right now I'm in a very happy place.

"Even rumours of us actresses fighting for space in 'Race' is way off the mark. I've my own place in 'Race'. My confidence-level has grown in recent times and, yes, it's partly because of the hits that I've had."

After a number of films where her voice was dubbed Katrina finally used her own voice in "Namastey London". And now she says she has dubbed for "Race".

"I've been working very hard on my diction. I try to speak in Hindi in my daily dealings."

After being with Salman, who patented the name Prem in a series of films, Katrina seems stuck with another Prem, Ranbir Kapoor, who's her co-star in Rajkumar Santoshi's "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani".

"I guess they're worth being stuck with," she replied tongue-in-cheek. "I just love the script, my character and Ranbir's role. He's so much into his work. I'm also getting there. For me acting is no longer a hobby."

Gautham Menon's Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikalam to kick-start soon

Starring :Trisha Krishnan, Satish, Veera, Karthik, Shaam Nethra Nikita

Music : A. R. Rahman

Finally after getting completed with Vaaranam Aayiram, Gowtham Menon has kick-started with the shooting of Vaaranam Aayiram today. The film produced by P Madhan and J Ganesh under the Escape Artist Motion Pictures Banner was launched today. The film is centered on Chennai a place where IT industry and in particular the call centre mania in this metro city.

Not alone will the movie focus on the life lead by the professionals working at call centres, but also on the problems faced by them, especially by ladies during night time. With Trisha playing the lead role Satish who made his debut in Unnale Unnale will play an important role.

Apart from their work, the film will also draw strong lines on the health and problems faced by these professionals. For the very first time, AR Rahman joins hands with Gowtham and he will be tuning 6 melodies.

Ajay Devgan in remake of Arasangam

Madhesh, the director of Arasangam, announced that he would remake Arasangam in Hindi with Ajay Devgan in the lead.

The director says, "Arasangam receives overwhelming response from all the corners of the state. Many have told that it is a different attempt with actor like Vijayakanth, who knows for punch dialogues and ferocious action blocks. I simply tried to deliver a film with a different Vijayakanth, who is not much talked or kicked against the baddies. His brain power only does that job throughout the film. As expected the film worked out well."

Speaking about the film's remake in Hindi, he says, "I showed the film to few Hindi stars like Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar and The King Khan Shahrukh. All of them appreciated me and Ajay Devgan came forward to do the Hindi version of the same. So, my next movie will be the Hindi remake of Arasangam..."