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Asin roots herself in Bollywood?

Asin’s foray into Bollywood with the Hindi version Ghajini is expected to seal her fate in the Hindi filmdom. It is no secret that Asin nurses a strong desire to establish herself in Bollywood. While she is hoping for more Hindi films to come her way, Asin was initially touted to be cast with Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan in Vipul Shah’s London Dreams. When the industry was expecting a confirmation from credible sources regarding her position in this project, out of the blue comes the announcement that she would be cast alongside Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty in Aise Ko Taisa. Sources have it that most of the star cast in this film will be the same as Hera Pheri. And as like Hera Pheri, Aise Ko Taisa is slated to be a laugh riot.

Rocky’ to star in a Hindi film worth Rs. 90 crores

He immortalized the man with a will that could never be broken. He boxed his way into our hearts over a span of three decades as Rocky Balboa and now he is set to play a part in a Bollywood film. Many believe that he is an over the hill knight but they wouldn’t have watched this year’s Rambo or the final installment of Rocky that released in 2006. Getting Sylvester Stallone to act in a Hindi film is definitely one of the biggest casting coups that Bollywood has pulled off from Hollywood and we are not forgetting that Johnny Depp will be playing a role in Shantharam.

Sylvester Stallone has agreed to play himself in the movie titled Kambhakth Ishq. The movie will have Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in the lead and will be produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. Kambhakth Ishq is set to become the first Indian movie to be shot inside Universal Studios, as the entire story is set in Hollywood, with Akshay playing a professional stuntman.

The biggest thing about the movie is its budget that is set at Rs. 90 crores, a figure that exceeds Sivaji and Dasavatharam and unbelievably the producer has trusted a debutant director Sabir Khan to helm the project.

Wedding bells in Kollywood

It's time again for wedding bells in Kollywood. This time, tying the nuptial knot is Kaniha. The actress, in a ceremony held on June 16th 2008, wedded yesteryear actress Jaishree's brother Radhakrishnan. The groom, a software professional, runs a software company in the US. Kaniha forayed into the film industry with the film Five Star starring opposite Prasanna. She also played Ajith's wife and mother in the film Varalaru. The wedding was attended by Prashanth, Prabhu, Cheran, Suhasini, directors K. Balachander, K.S. Ravikumar and Gautham Menon among others. Behindwoods wishes Kaniha a very happy married life.

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Villu team at Dasavatharam

Dasavatharam’s phenomenal release had everyone vying to catch the first show. And the Villu team is no exception to it. Currently, the Villu team, including Vijay and director Prabhu Deva, are shooting in Palani. After a hard day's shoot on Friday, 13th June, incidentally the release date of Dasavatharam, they decided the best way to relax would be to see Dasavatharam. And the entire team headed to the theatre nearby to watch the film. When the unit was rounded up to know their reaction, it was evident from their expressions that they enjoyed Kamal's movie to the hilt.

Priyamani in Shankar and Mani Ratnam's film

Out of the blue, Priyamani gets a telegram from director Shankar. The telegram congratulates her for winning the National award for best actress for Paruthiveeran, and praises her performance in it. Now comes the interesting part - at the end of the mail - Shankar signs off suggesting they should meet.Kollywood insiders are reading this as an offer to play an important character in Robot. Earlier, insiders also spoke to Behindwoods about rumors of Mani Ratnam casting Priyamani in his next project, starring Vikram, Ash, and Prithviraj. Priyamani is going places – and how!

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Anil Ambani’ Big Music for Rs. 2.25 crores

Rajinikanth-starrer Kuselan’s audio rights have been lapped up by Anil Ambani’s Big Music for Rs. 2.25 crores! Though several music companies have been vying with each other, Big Music finally emerged the winner in the bidding race. Kuselan’s music director, G.V. Prakash, happens to be the nephew of ace music director A.R. Rahman.Surprisingly, the price for Kuselan is much higher than Sivaji’s audio rights. It is also worth mentioning here that Sivaji’s music was composed by G.V. Prakash’s uncle A.R. Rahman. The Kuselan album contains five songs for which Daler Mehendi Shankar Mahadevan, Kailash Kher, Shriya Ghosal, Hariharan among others have rendered their voices. The audio release is slated to be held in Chennai on June 30, 2008 by Big Music.

Rs. 18 lakh helicopter for Dhanush!

It is not new in Kollywood to use helicopters for film shoots. We have seen movies that were made even a decade ago using choppers. The latest to join this bandwagon is Padikadhavan. Though Padikadhavan happens to be the name of Rajinikanth’s yesteryear hit, it is not a remake. Incidentally, the film stars his son-in-law Dhanush in the lead role along with Tamanna. Padikadhavan is directed by Suraj. The latest buzz about this film is that a helicopter has been hired to shoot a stunt sequence in Hyderabad that involves Suman and Tamanna. Sources say that the helicopter was hired from a Bangalore-based company for just two days. Guess what the price would be for just two days? Well, it is an astounding Rs. 18 lakhs! Now, that’s one fight to watch out for!

Hollywood Corner

The Incredible Hulk opens today. This follow up to Ang Lee’s Hulk is an explosive, action packed epic by the director of Transporter. A sampling of reviews from several newspapers and magazines indicate a hit. Variety calls the film, “A straightforward actioner that delivers the goods with no unnecessary frills or digressions.” Also opening today is Night Shyamalan’s The Happening, starring Mark Whalberg. Critics have already panned this B movie sci-fi effort from Shyamalan as a “case of crippling Shyamalania" that is goofy and trite. “He still sees dead people”, says the Washington Post, “only now they're the best thing in the movie.”

The surprise hit last week was Kung Fu Panda, an animated film with the voice of Jack Black that overtook even Indiana Jones and Sex and the City at the box office. Critics have praised it for its quality of animation and storytelling. It’s probably the first animated kung fu movie Hollywood has made.

Releasing next week will be Get Smart with comedian Steve Carrel as the funny spy, Maxwell Smart. In the weeks following, we’ll see Angelina Jolie in an adaptation of a cult graphic novel called Wanted, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, and the eagerly awaited sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight.

Dasavatharam-Review

Starring: Kamal Haasan, Asin, Mallika Sherawat, Jayapradha, Nagesh, Nepolean, Santhana Bharathi, P Vasu, R Sundarrajan, Erode Sounder

Direction: K S Ravikumar

Music: Himesh Reshammiya,

Re-recording: Devi Sri Prasad

Production: V Ravichandran
Dasavatharam, which was under production for almost two years, has finally hit the marquee and in style. Kamal and the marvel of technology rule this venture of Aascar Films directed by K S Ravikumar who has packaged Kamal's dream with aplomb.
It would be an uphill task in understanding Dasavatharam if one does not pay adequate attention to the opening stadium scene where Kamal as scientist Govinda Ramasamy, renders an acceptance speech for all the praise he receives. The ensuing 12th century sequences will not fall into place if one does not concentrate on this scene.




Kamal as Rangarajan Nambi, in a gravity-defying movement, flies from the bottom of the statue and thrashes the baddies who are involved in removing the Lord Ranganathar idol. Napoleon plays Kulothunga Chozhan who is an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. He agrees to pardon Kamal if he just chants Om Nama Shivayah but the latter meets his watery grave by saying Om Namo Narayanaya along with the idol.

Sharpness of dialogues exchanged between Kamal's family and Napoleon in this scene is commendable and a testimony to the clashes between Saivism and Vaishnavism that persisted in those earlier times. Napoleon, albeit in a small role, dazzles in his performance as the Saivite King. His arrogant countenance and 'mightier than thou' body language reiterate the experience of this veteran star in filmdom.

Cut to the present time again: Govinda Ramasamy (Kamal) is a scientist working in America, researching the components of biological warfare which are potent enough to wipe out the human race. The story that follows shows Kamal in a race to save mankind from the hands of his superior who purloins this dangerous chemical. His struggle begins in America and ends in Chennai on the 26th of December 2004 - during the Tsunami.Out of the ten Kamals, the first one who walks away with plaudits is Indian RAW agent Balram Naidu who is presented with little make up. His Telugu dialogues are enjoyable and remind us of the SPB of Guna. Next is Boovaraghan with his Nellai Tamil. His body language is exemplary. The Japanese kung fu exponent comes third in this avatar race with limited dialogues and moderate make-up. The remaining Kamals fail to make an impression.The theatre broke into raptures when the American Kamal asks the Japanese Kamal if he remembers Hiroshima to which the Japanese Kamal counters with, 'Do you remember Pearl Harbor?' Dialogue writing in the movie needs to be singled out.
The filmmakers ought to have done a better job of the poorly conceived Mallika Sherawat song sequence. The lady has disappointed her fans. Asin has done her job as best as she could, given her hysterical character. M. S. Bhaskar tries to make us laugh. Cinematographer Ravi Varman has worked in sync with the story line and his camera movements are commendable. He has used artificial lighting well, especially with the lengthy shots where more than two Kamals appear on screen. Himesh shines in the Kallai mattum kandal and Mukunda numbers, while Devi Sri Prasad has done a good job with re-recording. The usual filmi gimmicks such as grandma-Kamal walking on the shoulders of people, and Bush-Kamal trying to act hip could have been avoided.In short, with unexpected twists and turns missing in the film, Dasavatharam is a make-up magic show that disappoints as drama and satisfies as a technical showpiece. Atheist Kamal seems to be indirectly affirming the existence of God here.

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