She is curvy and can give the Trishas and Asins a run for their money. With a wicked twinkle in her eyes, she sneaks around the party circles of Kodambakkam, not wanting to be spotted by directors - she doesn’t think she’s star material enough. Be it a new film launch or a big fat celebrity wedding, Daisy can be seen stealthily eavesdropping on celebrities, gathering news and whispers.
So pucker up people, watch out for Daisy every month as she opens up interesting incidents from her Kollywood Diary of events. And do not miss her witty, saucy Daisy Speak comments made in good taste – Daisy ishtyle.
March - The Month That Was!
March was annotated with poojas, press meets, releases, audio releases, weddings, and sadly an unpredicted bereavement. It had Rajini written all over it. In less than a year of Sivaji’s release, he announced his next project.
Now off to the month’s events…
Movie Launches
“This is 50% Pasupathy’s film, 25% Vadivelu’s and only the rest of 25% mine,” Rajini announced to the thronging pack of journalists – including me of course – at Kuselan’s launch. As precious as his time is, he left in a jiffy after making that statement leaving the crowd asking for more!
Did you know Surya shed a lot of flab - not that he had too much of that before - as seen by me for the movie launch and press meet of Ayan? Nope, it’s not in an attempt to look younger than his younger sibling. It’s for the K.V. Anand directed Ayan where he stars opposite the Punjabi hottie Tamanna. And no prizes for guessing- the hot topic of discussion at the event was indeed the title.
Pyramid Saimira has decided to provide a fresh leash of life to 24 impoverished producers by co-producing their movies. Ten producers were selected in the first phase and the inaugural event was held. Upcoming directors will direct these films.
The other launches held in the month include Engal Aasan with Captain Vijayakanth in the lead and the Sneha Prasanna starrer Achamundu Achamundu.
Jeyam Ravi and his brother turned the audio release a little bit of a family affair - while Ravi revealed the plot details (although there is nothing to closely guard for the fact that Santosh Subramaniam is Bommiluru’s remake) Raja warned him not to let out the spoilers.
Speaking in Arasaangam’s audio launch, Vijayakanth declared that he has focused on songs for his new movie unlike his recent movies. “Songs will be visually rich,” he added.
Dhanush and G.V. Prakash supported the cause of Papparamittai – a kid’s music album.
Vallamai Thaarayo’s audio launch sparked a row and let the rumor mills churn out more gossip when Parthiban did not turn up for the event. Check out for Parthiban’s handwritten press release in this regard!
Thoza - with a partial bunch of the starcast of Chennai 28 - and Santosh Subramaniam’s press meet were held. But it was Vellithirai’s press meet that grabbed a few eye balls. More so Prakashraj’s statement about not regretting mocking star titles – Captain and Dhalapathy. He said he showed what is prevalent in the industry.
Cheran made a touching statement at the Raaman Thediya Seethai press meet by appealing to the media not to match make him with his heroines. “I have a family to go to,” he said.
Bharathiraja’s daughter Janani Aishwarya’s wedding engagement witnessed the who’s who of the industry.
Vishal’s brother Vikram Krishna walked the aisle with Shriya Reddy. Their wedding was attended by kingpins of the industry including Rajini and Maniratnam.
Rahman announced his plans for a music school with the screening of visuals of the school.
aving been under wraps since hitting the floors, stills of Ajith's Aegan and Vijay’s Kurvi have been officially released recently. Kuruvi stills look promisingly racy while Aegan Ajith sports a heavily bearded look.
US Consulate’s ban on a few South Indian artistes came as a shock to the industry and the incident brought to light the human trafficking scandal. Actor Flora Shiny was questioned in this regard and she maintained her innocence that it wasn’t her fault her makeup artist did not have proper papers.
Shriya planted one tight slap across the face of an over enthusiastic fanatic who tried to molest her at Tirupathy during her visit to the temple on Ugadi.
Although the IPL Chennai cricket team ‘Chennai Kings’ wear an international look with famous national and international players on the list, the IPL board decided to give it a regional flavor and roped in Vijay and Nayan as brand ambassadors. A promo video is already on air featuring the duo directed by Rajiv Menon.
amil cinema’s biggest losses of the year came in the form of Raguvaran’s untimely demise. Widely admired and loved by fans for his nonchalant villainy and the salt and pepper voice, Raghuvaran passed away this month leaving behind the legacy of a decade-old acting prowess demonstrated in many of the finest movies he was a part of. Raghuvaran leaves behind his divorced wife Rohini and a son.
For once, the stars outnumbered the spectators. They were seen thus in the protests held in support of the Hogenakkal water supply project that also raised voice against the violence unleashed over innocent Tamils in Karnataka. The protests also made headlines when Rajini bashed the miscreants in Karnataka for the atrocities. Few heads turned in surprise when Silambarasan and Nayan were seated next to each other – but only to check messages and fiddling with their mane.
Of more than a dozen movies that were released, Santosh Subramaniam and Yaaradi Nee Moghini won the hearts of family audiences. While Sandai is catching up among A, B, and C centers, Nepali, with an interesting plot, has released to average houses; so is Thozha. Vellithirai has received a lukewarm response and Kannum Kannum is showing signs of wearing out.
