Archive for category music
Thambikku Indha Ooru targeting the B & C audiences.
Posted by ganesh in Cinema, Entertainment, Information, Public, competition, music, tamilnadu on March 6th, 2010
Why do Tamil filmmakers insist on rehashing earlier masala movies of Rajinikanth and Vijay with younger heroes? Director Badri along with Bharath has dished out Thambikku Indha Ooru another pot-boiler using all the clichés and gimmicks associated with mass movie targeting the B & C audiences.
The film has no story, logic, reason or continuity with scenes cyclostyled from earlier films. The hero and heroine gets into a Kingfisher flight in Hyderabad and lands in Chennai on Air India! All leading artists in the film ends up at Binny Mills for the climax shoot out with the villain who is heroine’s father as the hero fights two dozen stuntmen and saves everybody including his foster parents and also “discovers” his dad !!
There is no originality in the film. Akil (Bharath) is a rich guy who along with his friend Cola Kumar (Vivek) runs a south Indian restaurant Sakunthala food palace in Singapore. His dad (Nizhalugal Ravi) arranges his marriage with family friend’s daughter Priya (Madhalasa), but Akil is in love with Divya (Sanya Khan) a squash champion from India, modeled on Sania Mirza!
When the marriage is called off, Priya’s dad in a fit of rage blurts out that he never wanted his daughter to marry an orphan. It shocks Akil whose foster dad reveals that his biological parents are in Chengalpet and a ambulance driver (Thalaivasal Vijay) knows the truth. Akil comes to Chennai in search of his parents and gets into trouble with Divya’s dad Thirumalai who does not like her getting married at a time when she is about to sign a Rs 5 Crore endorsement deal! He also runs into the bad books of Kumaraswamy (Prabhu), which leads to the final climax where everything is unraveled.
Bharath apes Vijay’s mannerisms and dance movements and tries his best to pass off as a mass hero. Vivek is highly irritating as a retrograde male stereotype making crude stale jokes and poking fun at Tamil super heroes, Telugu actors and Malayalee girls. Outrageous is a pretty good word to describe Vivek who uses double entendre liberally. Discussing the merits of the female performers would be doing great disservice to them. So mum’s is the word.
There is not even one hummable number from Dharan. By the time the film has strayed into its last scene, after two hours and 30 minutes you are past caring. No two ways about it Thambikku Indha Ooru is an unmitigated endurance test.
Thiruvaiyaru Iyyarappar Natyanjali Festival from March 12
Posted by ganesh in Festivals, Information, Temples, Thiruvarur, competition, dance, music, programme on March 4th, 2010
Iyyarappar Natyanjali Festival will be held at Iyarrappar Temple at Thiruvaiyaru near here in connection with the Mahasivaratri festival from March 12 to 14, according to Iyarappar Natyanjali Trust President V Gopalan.
In a press release here today, he said 38 dance troupes and 300 artistes would take part in the grand festival to be held at Thiruvokakka Mandapam before the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
Temple would remain open throughout night on March 13, the Mahasivaratri Day, he added.
He said it was expected that an artiste from Paris, Koiniyo, called as Paris Lakshmi, would also take part in the Iyarappar Natyanjali this year.
Dr Muthkumarasamy Thambiran of Dharumapuram Adheenam would participate in the festival. Tamil Nadu Minister for Commercial Taxes S N M Ubayadullah would inaugurate the festival on March 12.
Union Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam would participate in the festival on March 14,
Nandagi who makes her debut with Aval Peyar Tamilarasi speaks.
Posted by ganesh in Cinema, Communication, Entertainment, Information, Other, Public, music, programme on March 4th, 2010
How did you get interested in acting?
I was never interested in acting as such…I don’t even have a port folio and I didn’t go around knocking at the door of the producers; this opportunity came to me and I didn’t want to miss it.
Interesting, how did it happen?
The director spotted me in a temple and asked me if I was interested, and here I am.
The story has been oft repeated time and again by various heroines. Isn’t it?
I can’t say for others but my story is true and authentic. I consider Aval Peyar Tamilarasi as a gift from god.
We heard you are a Tamil speaking girl, quite a rarity in Tamil cinema these days?
Yes, not many heroines can speak good Tamil but I am Tamil speaking girl from Kanchipuram.
Tell us something about Aval Peyar Tamilarasi?
It is a gentle love story that happens over a period of time. It has a lot of interesting subplots and my role has a lot of scope for performance.
Coming from a non filmi back ground, how did you prepare yourself for the role in Aval Peyar Tamilarasi?
I did a lot of home work and preparation for my role; I used to look bright and fresh and the director didn’t want it. Based on the director’s suggestion I used to stand under the sun to get a tan. I have 3 looks in the film; I play a girl studying in high school for which I lost weight to look the part. I also play a 25 year old girl in the same film for which the director asked me to put on some weight…. I just did what the director asked me to do.
There are rumors going around that heroes throw a lot of tantrums on the sets, especially the popular heroes. That being the case, how was it working with Jai?
Jai is a no nonsense guy, A thorough professional. He was very helpful throughout the shoot and used to suggest lot of things whether it was my looks or my acting.
Heroines are merely showcased as glam dolls, would you take up such roles or stick to roles with substance like this?
In my opinion, I don’t think that roles with too much of glamour can translate into success. We do have good directors like Mr. Ameer and Sasikumar who do not show women in repulsive way. I would continue to look for such roles rather than a mere glam doll.
Vikram plays the villain;Bollywood debut with Mani Ratnam’s Ashokavanam
Posted by ganesh in Cinema, Communication, Entertainment, Information, Other, businesses, modification, music, tamilnadu on February 25th, 2010
We know that Tamil actor Vikram will make his Bollywood debut with Mani Ratnam’s Raavan. Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai are the lead pair in Hindi and Vikram plays the villain; he will play the lead opposite Aishwarya in Tamil. Sources add that Mani Ratnam is in a dilemma regarding the title for the Tamil version; Ashokavanam and Raavana are under consideration.
Now the latest buzz is that the ace director is planning a special trailer to introduce the National award winning Tamil actor in Bollywood. The special trailer will be a curtain raiser showcasing Vikram’s style and substance using scenes from his earlier movies. There are reports that Amitabh Bachchan will release the trailer in March.
Raavana, said to be the modern adaptation of the epic Ramayana, revolves around Raavana, the ruler of Lanka, who kidnapped Sita. The story culminates with Sita taking the side of Raavana instead of Rama, who suspects her chastity after having spent so much time in Raavana’s custody. Music is by Oscar winner A.R. Rahman. Raavana is produced by Mani Ratnam’s sister Sharda under Rathnam’s banner Madras Talkies.
A Tamil film called Tamil Film
Posted by ganesh in Cinema, Communication, Entertainment, Information, Other, businesses, music on February 20th, 2010
Imagine a hit popular film song whose lyrics do not mean a thing. The year 2010 in Tamil Nadu opened with a song on eveybody’s lips — even those
who don’t speak or understand Tamil. That is because one doesn’t have to really know Tamil to understand the song.
The lyrics don’t mean anything and are utterly nonsensical.
The new Tamil film, whose song O Maha Zeeya is a rage, is an out and out spoof on the entire Tamil film industry. The movie Tamizh Padam is just clever enough to recognise its celluloid namesake as a form of a sociological satire, attractive for its corny negation of the Tamil film world.
All director CS Amudhan has done is to cull out all the clichés from popular Tamil cinema and created a narrative around them. And it works wonderfully well. So you have scenes that pay back-handed homage to blockbusters like Thalapathy, Batsha, Anniyan, Apoorva Sagothararkal, Kadhalukku Mariyathai, Mouna Ragam, Mozhi and many more. And you have popular dialogues by Rajnikant, Kamal Hasan and even by Illaya Dalapathi Vijay being mimicked to great effect.
One look at the storyline will tell you where it is all coming from. One doesn’t have to go too far. The film opens with a child being born, who immediately after its birth delivers a deadly dialogue. The hero Shiva (Mirchi Shiva) is a college-going kid whose friends, made to look like youngsters, are actually comedians who have aged through the years working in the Tamil film industry. Shiva falls in love with his classmate but his attempts to marry her are foiled by the girl’s father who rejects him for being poor. The guy turns into a millionaire within a few moments (a la Rajni movies).
But there are more surprises in store, or is it surprising at all? Shiva actually turns out to be an undercover cop who is in town to rid it of all its criminals. In between Shiva goes to his village in search of his father. He has his share of court scenes and, of course, the near-impossible fight sequences enhanced with some digital interventions.
Amudhan has used all possible cinematic larger-than-life images we are all so familiar with, to put his point across. More than the film being given any serious thought to, Tamizh Padam turns out to be a roller-coaster ride through Tamil filmography. And this Amudhan manages to achieve without being offensive. It is like watching all the comedy shows Tamil and Malayalam audiences are familiar with on their respective language channels.
Tamizh Padam is one spoof on celluloid that stays clear of being camp. It has its fair share of witticisms and is extremely hilarious at times. No wonder it caught the imagination of the audience.
“Every cliché in Tamil cinema has been spoofed in the film like a comic take on mother sentiments, hero and his friends, falling in love all of a sudden, exaggerated fight scenes and what not. But the underlining thing is its storyline,” says CS Amudhan.
The film produced by Dayanidhi Azhagiri, the son of union minister for chemicals and fertilisers MK Azhagiri, under the banner Y Not Studios, has come with another winner after the success of his Varanam Aayirum in 2009.
The music of the film by Kannan is also a melodious complement to Tamizh Padam’s loud humour. The picturisation of the song Oh Maha Zeeya is in sync with the entire tone and tenor of the film. The nonsensical lyrics are a killer and the song has been sung by Hariharan and Shweta Mohan as if they understood every word of the song. And Shiva’s lip syncing is nonpareil.
Oh Maha Zeeya is more of a comment on song sequences in Tamil films in the popular genre. For students of cinema, this is truly an effective chapter allowing them to look for references from the past.
Through the play of lampooning interruptions, the viewer can also see how Tamizh Padam has harnessed both movement and spectacle. There is surely a Paadam (lesson) in Tamizh Padam. Something which spoofs in other languages have failed to pull off so well.
Women’s International Film Festival in Chennai between 28 February and 9 March
Posted by ganesh in Chennai, Cinema, Communication, Entertainment, Festivals, Information, Other, Public, cultural, music, programme on February 20th, 2010
Rathi Jafer, director, InKo Centre, Chennai, at a press meet to announce the 3rd Samsung Women’s International Film Festival in Chennai on Thursday. Film critic Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan, Goethe Institute director Karl Pechatscheek and Samsung general manager Ruchika Batra are also seen.
Giving a fitting homage to women folk around the world, InKo Center, Chennai, along with Samsung Electronics, is organising the third edition of Women’s International Film Festival in Chennai between 28 February and 9 March.
‘Started two years ago, the Women’s International Film Festival has become a powerful platform to give women’s perspectives under one umbrella.
We are trying to bring in a new critical vocabulary about women’s films here,’ Rathi Jafer, director, InKo Center, said at a press meet here on Thursday.
‘A total of 175 films from 53 countries will be screened over nine days across two screens. The festival will cover 75 years of women cinema presenting films from 1935 to 2010. The opening film will be Firaq by Nandita Das,’ she added.
‘One unique thing about this international film festival is that it is focused and gender-based. Not the theme, but gender becomes a subject of matter of these films,’ said Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan, film critic and festival curator.
‘Using the form of cinema we think we can build a platform to associate with the people. This festival is part of the Samsung Hope Project, the company’s corporate social responsibility initiative,’ Ruchika Batra, general manager, Samsung, said.
The third Samsung Women’s International Film Festival would give voice and expression to the perspective of women and celebrates her spirit using the medium of cinema.
The film festival will include a strong Korean and Indian section of feature films, short films and documentaries as well as a section on World Cinema in all three categories.
Films are scheduled to be screened at Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall and the South India Film Chamber.
The third edition of this festival also aim to showcase the work of talented Chennai-based film makers who have made a significant contribution to Tamil Cinema in particular and to Indian Cinema more generally.
Over one week film-makers, festival curators and film studies specialists both national and international will visit Chennai to introduce their films and to interact with the audience.
The delegate passes are priced at Rs 200 for the general public, Rs 150 for members of film societies and Rs 100 for students.
All original track singers of A.R.Rahman’s compositions will assemble on Feb 28
Posted by ganesh in Chennai, Communication, Entertainment, Information, music on February 17th, 2010
All original track singers of A.R.Rahman’s compositions will assemble on a single stage to pay tribute to his music here on February 28. ‘Rahmania’, the musical tribute to Rahman, would be held at the Wesley High School grounds in Royapettah. Singers including Benny Dayal, Srinivas, Suresh Peters, Naresh Iyer, Haricharan, Swetha Menon, Sujatha and Suvi Suresh will belt out numbers which they originally sang for Rahman, during the three-hour show.
The director of the show, Praveen Mani, told mediapersons here on Tuesday that it would be Chennai’s tribute to the Oscar and Grammy winner. “The show is about friendship, about good music and a good cause,” he said.
The proceeds would go towards providing facilities for children of V-Excel Educational Trust, a centre that offers educational opportunities for children with autism, dyslexia and mental retardation.
Pointing out that it has been an honour to be part of Rahman’s journey, singer Srinivas said “Compositions of a few legends end up not in records, but in people’s hearts. We will try to musically cover most of his journey right from 1992 to 2010.” For details contact: 9841016161 or 9840047101.
Features of 3G services to be launched in Tuticorin shortly
Posted by ganesh in BSNL, Cinema, Communication, Departments, Entertainment, Information, Tuticorin, games, government, music, programme, tamilnadu on February 11th, 2010
With the use of modern technology, the novel features of 3G services from the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited are expected to be launched in Tuticorin shortly. It provides facilities of video streaming, video conference, mobile broadband, mobile television and high quality voice at a high speed data of 14.4 mbps.
All works necessary for the installation of equipment to offer 3G services to the customers have been kick started here on Wednesday. S.E. Rajam, General Manager, Mobile Service Operations, Madurai, paid a visit to Tuticorin and inspected the progress on the work site.
A meeting, led by the General Manager, N.R. Natarajan, BSNL, Tuticorin, was convened at the office and the staff from various wings were apprised of the technical expertise about the 3G services. Speaking at the juncture, Mr. Natarajan explained about the modalities to be worked out. According to sources from the BSNL, twenty nine places have been identified in Tuticorin town for offering 3G services. Once the testing is over, the BSNL will start enrolling its customers.
Prior to the introduction of 3G services, the BSNL had 2G services with its features confined to voice and data. The Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) through 2G services have been activated throughout the district here at a speed of 384 kbps.
Vishal as Theeratha Vilayadu Pillai, a romantic comedy about a Casanova
Posted by ganesh in Cinema, Communication, Entertainment, Information, Other, Public, businesses, competition, music, programme, tamilnadu on February 11th, 2010
Image: A scene from Theeratha Vilayadu Pillai.
Vishal made his acting debut in Tamil in 2004 with Gandhi Krishna’s Chellame. It was an instant success. His second film Sandakozhi with Meera Jasmine was also a success. But his last few films were repetitive and were rejected by his fans.
Now the actor hopes to revive his box office chances with Theeratha Vilayadu Pillai, a romantic comedy about a Casanova who romances three girls played by Neetu Chandra, Sarah Jane and Tanushree Dutta.
The movie is directed by Thiru and produced by his brother Vikram Krishna for their own production house, G K Films Corporation, (their father G K Reddy was a producer of Tamil and Telugu films for many years).
Vishal tells Shobha Warrier what to expect from the movie.
How different is Theeratha Vilayadu Pillai from your earlier films?
It is different in presentation, genre and my appearance in the film. We did not set out to make a different film; the script did. My character Karthik is a Casanova, the likes of which I have not played before. Those who think it’s like any other Vishal film will be in for a surprise.
In all your films, you follow a set pattern. Are you scared to experiment?
No, no. Remember I am only eight-films-old!
When I did Sandakozhi, I didn’t know Thimiru was next in line. At that time, I didn’t know about Thamarabharani. I would say each film had its own signature.
I am doing Theeratha Vilayadu Pillai not because my previous films didn’t do well. It just happened. I always wanted to do a romantic film and I got a script like this only now.
Unlike your earlier films, will this be an urban and more stylish film?
Yes, it is an urban film and I play a young man from Chennai.
24 Hours of Anger is the first Tamil film in Singapore.
Posted by ganesh in Cinema, Communication, Culture, Entertainment, Information, Other, businesses, music, programme on February 9th, 2010
Gurushetram – 24 Hours of Anger is the first Tamil film that has been made in Singapore. The movie is all set to be released at the Golden Village Cinemas in Singapore during the month of April. The release will coincide with the Tamil Language Month celebrations in Singapore.
Gurushetram – 24 Hours of Anger is jointly produced by Singapore Film Commission and Blue River Pictures, a Singaporean Production Company. The film is directed by TT Dhavamanni.
The cinematographer of this film is Lucas Jodogne. Music has been composed by Rafee of the Jaggubhai fame, and editing is by Praveen KL.
The trailer of Gurushetram – 24 Hours of Anger will be out soon!
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