Zinta At Cannes

Ilayathalapathy

Rumour are circulating that Vijay’s new film directed by Prabhu Deva is going to be a remake of the Hindi film Soldier. Vijay usually does the remake of Telugu hits; so has he changed language this time?

Ajit’s Billa, a remake of the 80's hit Billa with Rajinikanth in the lead was a copy of the SRK starrer Don, which was again a remake the 80's hit with Amitabh Bachan as the hero. It says that Ajit’s new film Aegan is a remake of the SRK starrer Mein Hoon Na.

Now Vijay, by appearing in the remake of Soldier, seems to be following the same path as Ajith; Soldier was released in 1998 with Bobby Deol and Preity Zinta in the lead roles. Vijay will have Nayantara as his lady love and shooting will take place at exotic locales of Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Biju Menon will be the villain.



Vijay’s date with Nayanthara in New Zealand!

Vijay's fans were reported to be keenly expecting the official announcement of their star's next project Singam. However, director Hari has once again played spoilsport where the title of the film is concerned by announcing that he has registered the name Singam and Surya would star in it. It is worth mentioning here that prior to this Vijay was keen on the title Seval, but Hari refused to part with it. With the title issue finally being put to rest, Vijay's project with Prabhu Deva is all set to commence during the first week of June. This film, as per unconfirmed reports, will be a remake of the Bollywood blockbuster Soldier. It is said that the first half of the film will be shot in New Zealand and the team, including the lead pair Vijay and Nayanthara, are expected to leave the country sometime in June.

Naan Kadavul’s best kept secrets

Bala’s magnum opus is nearing completion and in an exclusive interview to a Tamil tabloid, the director has revealed some of the closely guarded secrets of the movie. Naan Kadavul is mostly shot in the banks of the Hindu holy river Ganges and opens with Arya’s rudradadavam in the shores of the river. While recollecting an incident during the shooting, Bala mentioned that a Sadhu visited the spot after hearing the song ‘Orumuraya Irumuraya’ composed by Ilayaraja and did not leave place until the song was over. “He hails from northern India and did not understand a word of Tamil, however, I could see tears running down his cheeks towards the end of the song,” Bala said. The Sadhu touched Bala’s feet before leaving mentioning that he could decipher the meaning of the song without understanding the language. “Such was the power of music and that was when I realized Ilayaraja’s music has no boundaries,” Bala further added.



Bala has brought to light the lives of Agory Sadhus, who are said to be cannibals surviving on the dead in the banks of Ganges, for the first time in Indian cinema. The movie also focuses on the lives of physically and mentally challenged people and beggars. “I wanted to employ real people in the movie and hence we had to interact with such people a lot to make them deliver the dialogues perfectly,” Bala revealed.

There are scenes of Arya consuming Pooja’s dead body (and Arya plays an Agory) which might invite trouble from the censor board. However, Bala has an equally powerful climax scene in hand just in case the censor officials raise concern. Besides, Bala revealed that the climax fight scene took about one month to shoot. “The fight scenes will be real and we had to work for a month to that effect,” Bala was quoted as saying.

Aishwarya Rai - After Rajini & Mani

After their first venture together with Mani Ratnam for Guru, Ashwariya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan will once again team up with the ace director. But this project is slated to commence only after the magnum opus Robot, with Rajini is complete. Meanwhile, the actress, along with hubby Abhishek, has been signed up by director Rajiv Menon for the Hindi film Dhun. Rajiv had earlier worked with Ash in the film Kandukondein Kandukondein. It is worth mentioning here that Rajiv was the cinematographer for Mani Ratnam's Guru.

Varanam Aayiram on August 15

Suriya-Gowtham Menon team’s much-awaited Varanam Aayiram is planned for release on August 15th.

The movie features Sameera Reddy, Diya and Simran in key roles. Suriya appears in dual roles and it is for this movie that he gained his famous six pack abs after rigorous workouts. Harris Jayaraj has composed six songs for the film.

After Kaakha Kaakha, expectations about this film are very high.

Vadivelu is back as hero

Comedian-turned-hero Vadivelu met with success in 'Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi'. However his next venture 'Indiralohathil Na Azhagappan' disappeared without any trace at the box office.

Vadivelu chose to concentrate on doing comedy roles immediately. However he has changed his minds to do the lead role in a comedy film again.

Buzz is that the movie would be directed by Raj, who is wielding the megaphone for a teleserial for children - Mayavi Marisan.

It is a hilarious entertainer and is about a youth, who gets struck in peculiar situations for no fault of his.

The movie is expected to go to floors from August.