Mallika Sherawat in 'Raavana'

She sizzled and swayed in ‘Guru’. Now she will steam up the screen again with a hot item number. Mallika Sherawat had done a special song in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Guru’ and its no wonder she will do the same in his next magnum opus ‘Raavana’. She will be grooving on screen with stylish Vikram in the movie.

Mallika Sherawat’s song ‘Maiya Maiya’ in ‘Guru’ had featured the sexy actress grating to Arabic tune and her hip-shaking and belly dancing had become a popular track. Now, with this Mani Ratnam’s forthcoming bilingual project, let’s see what magic this hot gal has for us this time.

Courtesy: indiaglitz.com

Mahot killed in 'Ravana' shooting

Manirathnam's Ravana has been facing challenges of it own for some time now. The movie's shooting is happening at Trivandrum and an unfortunate event took place today. Actors Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan were not able to return to their hotel post shooting after an elephant went out of control. The elephant that was brought for the shooting created havoc all of a sudden and trampled the mahot.

The shocking unpleasant incident which occurred after the shooting of the movie ‘Ravana’ around 5 p.m. near the Athirapally waterfalls, blocked the road at nearby Athirapally forest area. Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan were present there and escaped the danger unscathed.

Courtesy:  indiaglitz.com

Rahman’s son turns singer

He is, his dad was, and his nephew now is, all his sisters are. So, what’s the big surprise in AR Rahman’s son Alim turning singer now? But yes, the Academy Award winning musician’s son has sung for a complete song in Rahman’s Hollywood flick, 'Couples Retreat'.

The film, touted to be a romantic comedy, is Rahman’s first complete Hollywood venture, as all his previous works have been for crossover movies. And last week, Rahman’s son Alim had recorded a song in the film.

It has been said earlier that Rahman’s children lent their voice for the chorus sections of a few songs, most notably “Dhinam Dhinam Deepavali” in 'Varalaaru'. But the composer is known to be highly protective of his children, not exposing them to the public eye.

But with this song and his son, he surely has signaled the arrival of gen next.

Courtesy: indiaglitz.com

Silambarasan is not what you think

Media reports oflate suggested that Silambarasan’s role in Vinnaithandi Varuvaya is that of an assistant director. But we hear from sources close to the film unit that the actor plays a youth who is just out of college ready to take up a job. Trisha plays a young girl already in a stable job. With this the speculations about the roles that the lead pair plays is considerably clear.

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya is said to be a breezy romance flick for which music has been scored by AR Rahman. Gautham Menon wields the megaphone for this entertainer.

Courtesy:  behindwoods.com

Raavan’s jinx continues with a tragedy

Raavan, the much-hyped film directed by Mani Ratnam, is now being shot in the forest area in Chalakudy in Kerala. The entire team, including Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, have been camping there for a couple of weeks. The film has already been delayed over a couple of months due to several unfortunate incidences.

The latest is a tragedy that struck the unit when a wild elephant entered the shooting spot and trampled a team member. However, details about the unit member who succumbed to the attack were not available immediately. Incidentally, the Raavan unit also had a trained elephant at the shooting spot.


Courtesy: behindwoods.com

AR Rahman ignores Kollywood

After winning the Oscar awards for his music composition in Slumdog Millionaire, the Tamil film fraternity intended to arrange an event to congratulate AR Rahman. However, the musician failed to give dates for the event and eventually the plan had to be dropped, revealed the Nadigar Sangam secretary, Radha Ravi in the Mandapam music launch function held recently. The actor said that while Rahman participated in the event held in Kerala to celebrate his award win, he did not offer dates for Kollywood to celebrate it. Radha Ravi rued that Rahman’s entry to filmdom was through Kollywood but the musician failed to recognize it.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

What caused Mani seethe on Raavan sets?

Director Mani Ratnam is working with some of the best actors and actresses in the Indian film industry for his forthcoming flick Raavan. However, this does not mean that all is well on the sets. The buzz we hear is that Mani is quite upset with Govinda who plays an important role in the film. The reason is that Govinda skipped the shots for three days in a row. While the actor made himself available on time in the previous schedules, trouble started when the unit moved to Ooty to shoot a few shots. 


Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Gautham Menon patches with Harris Jeyaraj?

Director Gautham Menon’s Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya is creating a huge expectation among the fans. With Silambarasan and Trisha starring in the film, the expectation just soared higher.

AR Rahman has scored the music for VTV and all the songs are said to have come out well. The director also has plans to sign up Rahman for his next venture. Does that mean he would never consider working with his close pal Harris Jeyaraj again? In a recent interview to a magazine, Gautham said that the decision was made by Harris. Could it mean that this successful duo will patch up at some stage?


Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Slumdog star Dev Patel in Hindi Nadodigal

With Nadodigal being declared a smash hit, the director is now busy working on its Telugu, Kannada and Hindi remake. The Telugu version is expected to commence sooner than the Hindi version and the director had signed up Ravi Teja to play the lead role. Talks are on with several leading Tollywood stars to play the important roles in the film. The Kannada remake is due to commence later this year with Puneet playing the hero.

The latest we hear is that Samuthrakani is holding a discussion with the Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel to play the lead role.


Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Raavan, a new chapter in Nikhil's career!

Like the typical Bollywood flick, everybody loves the outsider who makes it big. You know, the quintessential rags-to-riches hero sans a celebrated last name, who gets the hits.

Nikhil Dwivedi’s is turning out to be the classic case of the proverbial outsider storming Bolllywood without any star system to support him. He was noticed for his earnest debut performance in My Name is Anthony Gonsalves, and no less than the genius director Mani Ratnam impressed by his talent, signed Nikhil in his next cinematic vision Raavan, which turned out to be the best New Year gift any actor could get.

To Nikhil’s credit, the directors rave about his talent and his attitude, which they are sure will prove his altitude in the bollywood.

And sure enough Nikhil is not disappointing, as he has already signed on with 4 accomplished directors in their future projects. He has already built on the momentum that will pitchfork him as the star to look out for in the near future.

As Nikhil strongly believes that all of us are are in a common time zone, in the end, the hardworking people with talent, who are backed by their destinies will stay.

Well sure looks like Mani Ratnam’s Raavan can turn a new chapter, that one ‘ Zanjeer’ like moment, that will pitchfork Nikhil as the best young ‘Outside’ talent to become deeply rooted in the masses’ psyche like his illustrious predecessors!!

Courtesy: dayafterindia.com

Priyamani to debut in Bollywood with 'Ravan'

After Asin, Shriya Saran and Trisha, Priyamani enters Bollywood with a meaningful role in the Hindi version of Mani Ratnam's 'Ravan'.

She says she took up the offer because it was from Mani Ratnam and not because it was a ticket for Bollywood.

The National Award-winning Malayali actress is one of the busiest actresses in south India and has proved her mettle with an array of quality performances. In Telugu, she has been the female lead in Balakrishna's 'Putrudu' and Nitin's 'Drona'.

In Malayalam, her performance in Rajnith's 'Thirakkatha' was widely acclaimed and is now acting in Prithviraj's 'Puthiya Mugham'. In Tamil, her next release will be 'Ninaithaale Inikkum', directed by GNR Kumaravel.

Courtesy: msn.com

‘Sultan’ is coming soon!!!

Superstar Rajinikanth who is currently busy with this ‘Yanthram’ has also managed to wrap up his animation flick ‘Sultan- the Warrior’.

This is being made by his stunningly beautiful daughter Soundarya Rajinikanth and if all goes well, then the movie is likely to hit the screens anytime during the next month or so.

This is produced by Ocher Studios owned by Soundarya and Rajini has paired up with Vijayalakshmi in this animated flick.

It is also said that efforts are on to release the movie in various languages and if that happens, the film will create a new record for being released in so many foreign languages.

More details are to be released soon on this.

Courtesy: indiaglitz.com

Mani to start climax shoot of Raavan!

Mani Ratnam is planning to shoot the climax of his magnum opus Raavan in his favourite Chalakudy forest locations from July 16.

The buzz is that the artists who are doing this tri-lingual in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu mainly Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram and Aishwarya Rai have told the director that they have already given him over 100 days, and they cannot spare any further dates.
Mani and his buddy cameraman Santosh Sivan is planning to shoot the climax for the next 45 days in Chalakudy and Mysore forest areas. They have to shoot deep inside forest areas, for which permissions have to be granted by the respective state governments.
Added to that a few helicopter scenes inside forest areas have to be shot, for which special permission have to be obtained. Let us hope that Mani is successful in his mission to complete Raavan, this time.

Courtesy: sify.com

Rs 5 crore set for Rajni's 'Endhiran'

Shankar's 'Endhiran, the Robot', has created yet another record. For the film, art director Sabu Cyril has created a set costing about Rs 5 crore and this is considered to be the costliest set ever in the history of Tamil cinema.

The set has been made by using eco-friendly aluminium composite panel and can be recycled. At this set, a stunning fight sequence involving Rajnikanth and 100 robots was shot, it is reported.

The film, produced by Sun Pictures, is one of the costliest Asian films ever. The science fiction film has Aishwarya Rai playing the female lead. Rajnikanth plays a double role in the movie: As a scientist and as a robot he creates. AR Rahman scores the tunes for this futuristic film.

Courtesy: msn.com

Shankar’s ‘Boys’ to get dubbed in Hindi

Director Shankar, who has been churning-out incisive socio-commercial flicks; hop-skipped for a different attempt on “Boys’. The film won appreciations, but also generated controversies about double entendres and few “Bold’ themes. A.R. Rahman’s musical score being a sensational mania resulted in record-breaking sales of audio despites piracy. The audio success fetched more crowds for the film.

Now with A.R. Rahman ruling Bollywood with continuous success, producers have planned to dub “Boys’ in Hindi. Abbas Tyrewala who shot to fame with his directorial “Jaane Ya Tu Jaane Na’ will be penning dialogues for the Hindi version.

The film has Siddarth of Rang De Basanthi fame, Bharath, Nakul, Genelia D’Souza of Jaane Ya Tu Jaane Na in lead role with Vivek enacting a prominent role.

Courtesy: thaindian.com

A.R. Rahman is not stepping out of my film- Gowtham

Ace Filmmaker Gowtham Menon has been spelling magniloquently Hollywood-fangled flicks in Tamil Cinema. With his previous film “Vaaranam Aayiram’ based on Tom Hanks starrer “Forrest Gump’ turning to be a blockbuster, he has almost completed shooting for his forthcoming flick “Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya’ starring Silambarasan and Trisha in lead roles. Academy Award Winner A.R. Rahman has scored music for the film and recently there were rumours about him backing off from the project.
Gowtham Menon clarifies, “A.R. Rahman hadn’t come up with any such issues and he was quite disappointed going through the rumours. He has composed 5 fantastic songs with different genres and I have completed filming 3 of them at Malta Islands. Once, the shooting is done; Rahman will be kick-starting with background score”

Gowtham Menon is producing the film, he has decided to release the film by Diwali

Courtesy: thaindian.com

Will Mani make money now?

The maverick movie maker Mani Ratnam is back in action and currently he is busy wrapping up his forthcoming venture ‘Ravana’ which is being made in Hindi and Tamil.

The expectations are high on this one given the fact that Mani is leading from the front and the cast is exceptional in the form of Vikram, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya, Priyamani and others.

Now, the industry pundits are waiting to see whether Mani can spin his magic once again at the box office. The film will be dubbed into Telugu as well and the release would be happening simultaneously across all regions.

Mani has recently recovered from a stroke and he has already embarked onto other projects.

Courtesy: indiaglitz.com

Aishwarya's Tamil stuns Rajinikanth

Aishwarya Bachchan has many hidden talents. One is her ability to grasp languages quickly. This, the unit of Shankar's Endhiran discovered while shooting with Aishwarya. She was required to hold her own against the glib-talking super-talking Rajni Sir. "And since Tamil isn’t really familiar territory for Aishwarya everyone including Rajni Sir and director Shankar was ready for several re-takes as she got used to the dialogue." To everyone's surprise Aishwarya got a grip of the language in no time at all.

"And she was soon rattling off the dialogues and getting hanged of the emotions with equal skill in both the Hindi and Tamil takes. So much so that Rajni Sir who has waited for decades to work with Aishwarya was taken aback." When asked about the above incident Aishwarya laughs, "Regional languages have never been a problem. I did a Bengali film Chokher Bali and I was able to get a hang of the complex intonations, though later they needed a particular sing-song tone and my voice had to be dubbed."

But the buzz in Robot is that they are planning to retain her Tamil lines in the final print. Says the actress from Ooty, "I'm not at familiar with Tamil. My mother tongue Tulu is very different from Tamil. But you must remember my first film River was in Tamil and I had to say lengthy lines in that film. From my beginnings with Mani Ratnam in Tamil to this my second Tamil film of my career….it's been quite a journey."

At the moment she's shooting in the freezing cold in Oooty for Mani Ratnam with Abhishek. "We shifted from the jungles of Kerala to Ooty by car so I couldn't accompany Abhishek. I've finished this schedule and go back to Shankar and Robot. Really gruelling."

Courtesy: oneindia.in

Vikram in 19th Step?

A few days back, it was speculated that Vikram might be roped in for 19th Step, directed by Bharat Bala. Now, unconfirmed reports indicate that a meeting did take place between the star and the director, so this rumour could well come true. Vikram is truly excited that his Kanthaswamy will be released soon. He is also working on Raavan with ace director Mani Ratnam.
There have been no press meets or major announcements regarding this, but it is believed that director Bharat Bala is doing deep research on the topic and does not want any controversies, especially with a period film. He is consulting with writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair and wants to make it as authentic as he can!
Bharat Bala is credited with the success of Vande Mataram music videos which he filmed during India's 50th year of Independence. 19th Step will have A.R. Rahman teaming up with Bharat Bala once again after several years!
19th Step is produced by Walt Disney Productions, and has Asin and Tadanobu Asano in lead roles. Kamal Haasan is also said to be in the cast, but there has been no confirmation yet. Has Kamal opted out of the project? Is he teaming up with Murugadoss for a Bollywood flick? These are some questions that keep lingering!


Courtesy: galatta.com

Aishwarya gets Karate training

Rajnikant’s mega budget next Endhiran starring him along side Aishwarya Rai seems to have garnered a lot of curiosity as the makers are keeping the production a close guarded secret. But the audience interest about it seems to be multiplying day by day as inside details are being leaked out. We managed to find out one such inside info about Aishwarya Rai’s character in the film.

Our sources reveal, “After having learnt sword fights for her English movie The Last Legion, Aishwarya has been training herself in Karate for Endhiran. A noted stunt master Ramesh who has been running a Japan Shito-Ryu karate school in the South for over 30 years, which is affiliated to the World Karate Federation is training the actress for the movie. Ramesh is teaching Aishwarya the basics of Karate for now. In the movie Aishwarya Rai and the other girls in the film will be learning Karate from her hero. Rajnikant is already trained in Karate so he will not have to train himself. Some interesting scenes were shot recently in the VIT University in Chennai.”

Aishwarya Rai has always been a quick learner. Even during the making of the The Last Legion Aishwary Rai had trained herself in the sword fight. She took her skills forward in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Jodhaa Akbar. Her trainers have always been enamoured by her quick learning skills. Apparently Ramesh was also charmed that the actress was able to repeat the karate movements easily.

Ramesh has also acted in Mani Rathnam’s Iruvar (1997) which was Aishwarya Rai’s first ever film. He has also acted in over 400 movies made in South India since 1986 with almost all the leading heroes of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam languages. -Sampurn Media

Courtesy: thaindian.com

Jackson was reading Tagore, planned work with Rahman

Pop legend Michael Jackson was reading poetry by Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore during the last days of his life, and had commissioned Oscar-winning music maestro A R Rahman to create a unity anthem for his new album.

Rahman got the job after his Academy Award success courtesy Danny Boyle's multiple Oscar winning underdog dramaSlumdog Millionaire early this year.

Jackson's last brushes with Tagore suggest he was developing a special bond with India, reports contactmusic.com.
"A R Rahman met Michael Jackson after the Oscars in Los Angeles and Michael asked him to compose a unity anthem for him... Michael's planned new album would have had a huge Indian feel to it... Michael was reportedly working with Adnan Sami, which was to include Indian musical instruments like the sarangi, tabla, and dholak," said an insider close to Rahman.
The unity anthem wasn't the first time the pair would have worked together, as they collaborated earlier on a track titled Ekam satyam.

A source suggested Jackson's brother Jermaine encouraged the King of Pop to explore Indian music, as "Jermaine's wife Halima reportedly lived in Chandigarh in India for some time".
Jackson was secretly also studying Hinduism in the last years.
"Michael reportedly learned how to meditate and he was a vegetarian. When he was presented statues of Hindu deities Ganesha and Nataraja, Michael knew who they were. He was also very anxious to meet Mother Teresa before her death. He had a great interest in all things India for some time," said Rajan Zed, the president of the Universal Society of Hinduism.





Courtesy: sify.com

Sun TV pumps in Rs 2 bn towards movies in FY'09

Sun TV Network Ltd. has pumped in Rs 2 billion towards movies, upping its investments at a time when many players are crowding the market in the southern region.

Movie acquisition for telecast rights makes up the bulk of the investments for Sun TV Network which runs a clutch of highly successful channels in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam languages. 

"We have invested Rs 2 billion towards movies in FY'09. We have a library of 8500 films," says a source in the company.

On the film production front, Sun TV has an investment plan of Rs 700-800 million for 10-12 movies a year. "We have a pipeline plan and the strategy is to produce small and medium budget movies," adds the source.

Sun grossed a revenue of Rs 280 million from the few movies that it released last fiscal. "We had a 15-20 per cent RoI (return on investments) from the movies that we released in the fiscal," says the source.

Sun is producing Endhiran on a budget of Rs 700 million. "The movie will come up by the end of this year or erly next year," says the source.

Sun TV, which has Rs 3.30 billion of cash on its books, has a capex requirement of between Rs 750 million and Rs 1 billion in FY'10.

Courtesy: indiantelevision.com

Vairamuthu's son in Endhiran

Here is yet another interesting snippet about Rajini's Endhiran - The Robot. Leading lyricist Vairamuthu's son Madhan Gorkey is going to make his debut with the help of Superstar Rajini and director Shankar.

It is really a dream gift for the recently married Madhan Gorkey. Things aren’t simple when you’re fixed for a great task in the superstar’s film. Earlier, it was Vairamuthu who was supposed to pen all the songs for Endhiran.

But in course of time, the versatile lyricist suggested to Shankar and Rajnikanth about his son Gorkey and got the green signal from both of them.

At the moment, nothing has been revealed about the song for which Gorky will be penning. Looks like it would be a romantic duet song for which Rahman has plans about roping in the best unheard voice from Bollywood.
Courtesy: oneindia.in

Sabu, the trendsetter

Noted art director Sabu Cyril is on a roll. The set he has put for Shankar-directed Endhiran starring superstar Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai 

Sabu Cyril

Bachchan has become a major tourist attraction. 

The set for the climax scene, erected behind an entertainment complex on the ECR near Chennai, is reported to have cost around Rs 5 crore. It is definitely the most expensive set put up for a Tamil film. The sequence shot on this expensive set will have Rajinikanth, who plays a scientist, fighting with 100 and more robots which are his look-alikes! 
Sabu Cyril has revolutionised the concept of an art director in Indian cinema. Today, he is one of the busiest production designers (as Hollywood would call him) in Indian cinema. 

Currently, Sabu is the art director for three Bollywood filmsand Endhiran is his first film in Tamil in five years, after Shankar’s Anniyan. 
Says Sabu, “I’m doing more work in Bollywood because the budgets are bigger there which gives you room to experiment. But as far as Endhiran is concerned, it is close to my heart as it is my 100th film as an art director. I’ve been fascinated by the project ever since director Shankar narrated the script. I had originally signed up for the project 10 years ago, when Shankar was planning to do it with Kamal Haasan. 

We had even done a photo shoot then. Later, SRK was supposed to do it, but that too did not work out. Now, Rajinikanth is doing it and he is the right choice.” 
Sabu has always been innovative and uses new materials for constructing film sets. He had remarked in an earlier interview that the perception of an art director had changed from being seen more like a carpenter who does the sets to wizards who give life to the film. Today, with the art director being consulted on everything from the colour scheme to the lead actor’s wardrobe, he had also requested that the term art directors be replaced with their Hollywood equivalent, production designers. 

In Endhiran, Sabu is using aluminum composite panel (ACP) for creating the sets. “Endhiran is the first film in India to use ACP to create eco-friendly sets, which unlike wood, can be recycled and cost only a third of the price of wood,” says Sabu and adds, “And structure wise, we have used scaffolding as support system.” 

Today, directors like Mani Ratnam, Shankar, Priyadarsan, Farah Khan and actors like Shah Rukh Khan want only Sabu for their films, but he just does not have the dates. When Karan Johar, who has worked only with his regular art director Sharmista Roy, wanted to create a flood scene for his My Name is Khan, he called up Sabu Cyril. And last week, Sabu signed up one more sci-fi film, this time with Shah Rukh Khan (RA-1), which will be directed by Anubhav Sinha. The shooting for the film will commence next year. 
“I love doing sci-fi as we have to do it on a limited budget, but at the same time, come up with sets that compete with Hollywood. I’ll prove with Endhiran, the biggest challenge in my life, that we are on par with the best in the world,” he signs off.

Courtesy: timesofindia.com

Soundarya on animation!

It was Shriya Saran and now it is Soundarya Rajinikanth. The next guest lecturer on the ‘Times Avenues’ list was the Superstar’s daughter, to give a special lecture on her favourite topic and also her career field – animation. The talented lady shared her views on the subject and spoke about the opportunities available in the country when one chooses the animation career. She said, “There is a huge future for animation in India. Apart from the creative line, there are almost 10 times more opportunities on the technical side.” Talking about her current hot project, ‘Sultan’, she is very much looking forward to its release. Her love for pictures and images made her to choose animation over other forms in the film field and she decided to make an animation film with her dad as a hero. One can expect the usual masala and flavour of a commercial film from an animated Rajinikanth in ‘Sultan’, for she revealed, “There’s action, drama, revenge and love... It’s a commercial film. I am a commercial person. A confident Soundarya said, “I’m sure ‘Sultan’ will be path-breaking and we are working towards it.” The daddy dearest says when it comes to the opinion between the two movies ‘Sultan’ and ‘Endhiran’, she replied, “He thinks of them as two prestigious projects. The work to be put in them is the same.” It is said that this highly creative mind has other innovative plans like launching a ‘School of Thoughts’, which will be “a platform to people who have ideas.” Like they say, ‘like father, like daughter.’

Courtesy: indiaglitz.com

'The 19th Step' shelved?

The grapevine is abuzz that The 19th Step featuring Japanese superstar Tadanobu Asano, Kamal Haasan and Asin, directed by Bharat Bala and 

Asin

produced in association with Walt Disney productions has been tentatively put on the backburner.

There is nothing official about it as the producers, the director and the stars have never held a press conference or made an announcement officially in the media about this project. 

Yet, The 19th Step was all over the media — about Asin learning Kalaripayattu, the martial art of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram, Tadanobu Asano spending time in Chennai going through the costumes made for the film and a photo shoot with the lead actors which never took place. However, director Bharat Bala, who was doing intense research on the subject along with the film’s writer M T Vasudevan Nair, kept a studied silence on the matter. 
Now, our sources in the industry have confirmed that the film has been put on hold. A source close to the development told CT, “Yes, the film has been tentatively put on hold, due to creative differences over the script between the director and one of the actors. There will not be any media briefing as the producer and the director have never officially announced the project.” 

The rumour mill has it that Kamal Haasan has declined the project due to various reasons. To be fair to Kamal, the actor has never said that he is a part of this project, as his forthcoming Unnaipol Oruvan was always the focus of his interest. 
Meanwhile, the latest we hear is that Vikram has been approached for the film by the director. A few days back, a meeting did take place between Vikram and Bharat Bala, where they discussed the issue of the star stepping in for the project and giving priority ‘tatkal dates’ as the shooting of the film was to start in the middle of August in Mongolia. 

Vikram had heard the script from M T Vasudevan Nair a few years back, and was initially very keen to do the role of the ‘Asan’ or guru, who teaches Asin, a princess, the art of Kalaripayattu. The star was offered a price that was almost twice what he gets for doing a Tamil film. The film would have been his big ticket to international cinema as Walt Disney were the co-producers. 

As per our sources, Vikram is walking a tightrope over his earlier commitments. Mani Ratnam’s Raavan has been delayed, and it looks like a good chunk of the film is being re-shot after Santosh Sivan replaced Manikandan as the cameraman. Vikram has to immediately start work on producer Mohan Natarajan’s film with KS Ravikumar as the director, a project he had signed more than two years back. He also has another long-pending commitment with director Selva Raghavan and producer Ramesh to do a film. Till he completes these films, it looks like Hollywood has to wait!
Courtesy: timesofindia.com

Only few songs by ARR: Vinnaithandi Varuvaya?

Hoping to create an unseen charm Silambarasan and Trisha are gearing up to pair up again with, ‘Vinnaithandi Varuvaya’ after ‘Alai’. Directed by Goutham Menon the music scores of the movie is handled by the man who has been playing the tunes with great passion, over the years. As the title hints of the memorable romantic song, ‘Vinnaithandi Varuvaya’ will have the same music director of the ‘Minsara Kanavu’.

An interesting yet heartbreaking tale is spun regarding the music of ‘Vinnaithandi Varuvaya’. The musical maestro was supposed to compose five tracks altogether but, as his dairy is over flowing post Oscar; it is said that he has opted to stop with few songs. It is worthy to note that two songs have been composed already and the shooting for those two songs are done.

Now if it is the truth this would be a blow for the audio companies who have tied their confidence to the movie’s songs, assuming the songs would be composed by the great musician. But a source from our Musical Maestro has rubbished these rumors by saying that the re-recording of the movies is currently happening in Los Angeles.

Well people lets just wait and hope that our beloved composer recreates the magic.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Aish fights Rajini

On the sets, of course! The girl who has stolen hearts is all set to kick. And she’s not dueling with any actor, but the biggest of ’em all: the superstar. This is for the film ‘Endhiran’ in which she plays his love interest.

It is now confirmed that Aishwarya Rai has an action sequence in the Rajini starrer, and she is currently undergoing coaching from the Japan Shido Riyuv institute in Chennai for Karate. This school is being run by Ramesh, who has been a martial arts coach for 30 years now. 

Remember Aish as the brave and beautiful Rajput princess of ‘Jodha Akbar’? With a bit of luck she is ready for a tough fight with our own superstar this time. Her nimble fingers and slender hands are now being taught to learn the deadly self defense art.

But that’s not all for the Mangalore beauty, who has also been learning carnatic music and bharathanatyam to play her role in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavana’. These south Indian projects are definitely a demanding, yet rewarding work out for the World Beauty.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

What’s brewing between Gautham Menon and Rahman?

Gautham Menon and AR Rahman are very unhappy over rumors that the latter refuses to compose the background score for Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya. A few days earlier, there were reports that Rahman is not satisfied with the pay packet and refused to score the BGM.

Clarifying on this issue, Gautham said that Rahman called him up when such reports surfaced to find out the reason for the rumors. Rahman was also very disturbed that the media persons did not verify their claim before writing.

Gautham said that Rahman had already composed five songs for the VTV of which three have already been filmed. Rahman will work on the BGM once the shooting is done.


Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Priyamani opens up on Ravanan

National award winner Priyamani who is working in Mani Ratnam’s Ravan said that she has completed most of her work expect for a few scenes with Abhishek Bachchan.

Speaking about the project she said that she is happy to work with Mani than getting an entry into Bollywood. She also stated that she agreed to be part of this venture, just because it was directed by Mani.

Priyamani will be leaving for South Africa shortly for a Telugu film shooting.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

AR Rahman’s music in Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa

Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa starring Silambarasan and Trisha is almost complete but for a few shots and the climax scene. VTV, a breezy love story, has been shot in Chennai, Kerala and Malta. AR Rahman has composed some soulful music for the film and of the five songs for which he had composed music, three have already been shot. While the Hosanaa song has been rendered by the Jai Ho fame Vijay Prakash, AR Rahman has sung the song Omana Penne. Both these songs have been penned by Thamarai and choreographed by the Adiye Kolluthe fame Flexy Stu. Shot in Malta – Hosanaa and Omana Penne – have been captured exceedingly well by cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa, sources say. It is expected that VTV would hit the marquee during the month of November.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Is Raavan getting delayed?

According to sources Southside, things are apparently not going as planned on Mani Ratnam's Raavan.

Apparently, the legendary director wants to re-shoot some parts of his film.

These sources claim Mani doesn't like Abhishek Bachchan's [ Images ] work in certain scenes, where the actor -- who plays the title character of Raavan -- has been overshadowed by Madhavan, who plays Ram.

Madhavan has apparently done such a fine job that Mani wants to re-shoot some scenes so that his hero can hold his own.

The film, which also stars Aishwarya Rai [ Images ] Bachchan, will also have a song choreographed, we hear, by the renowned dancer, Astad Deboo.

Courtesy: rediff.com