Raavanan Still A Favorite

Mani Ratnam’s Raavanan is to be screened at the 29th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival on 13^th March 2011 at 9:30 pm in Castro Theatre. The film, which stars Vikram, Aishwarya Rai and Prithviraj, has already been in screened in several international film festivals and this is just another feather in Mani’s glorious cap.

The Hindi version of this film, Raavan also made it to a number of international and national film fests and came back winning accolades and awards.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Rajini To Speak In Hindi!

Good news is that Rajini’s Raana unlike his previous films will not be dubbed into Hindi and Telugu but instead will be shot simultaneously in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu. The bigger surprise here comes as Rajini has accepted to dub his own voice in the Hindi version of the film too. It is notable that Rajini has dubbed only in Tamil has refused to dub when his movies are dubbed in to other languages and so different voices have been used.

Rajinikanth who is well versed in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and English has acted in many Hindi films before. His last Hindi film that came 20 years ago was Bulanthi and he had dubbed his own voice in that film. Ever since, Rajini’s popularity in Bollywood soared as many of his hit Tamil films were dubbed to Hindi. Looks like Rajini is giving his 100% to Raana and we just cannot wait for it!

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Deepika Adjusts For Rajini’s Rana

The production team of Rana is set on having Deepika Padukone as Rajinikanth’s lead pair in Rana, sources say. The actress is also eager to be a part of this film more so because it stars one of the most bankable actors in the country. In fact the lady is said to be adjusting her dates so that she is available for the shooting.

Rana will be produced by Soundarya Rajinikanth and Rajini’s favorite director KS Ravi Kumar is to direct the film. The movie is said to be set partly in the historical era and this has increased the interest of the movie buffs.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Ar Rahman Loses To The Kings Speech

It is very unfortunate that AR Rahman had missed the BAFTA award for best music this year. He was nominated under the Best Original Movie Music category for 127 Hours and was a hot favorite among the Indians to win the coveted award. However, award went to Alexandre Desplat for The King’s Speech and he received the honor from Sir Paul McCartney.

The Outstanding British Film was bagged by The Kings Speech pushing behind 127 Hours, Another Year, Four Lions, and Made in Dagenham. Interestingly, the Best Film Award also went to The Kings Speech.

David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin won the Best Director Award and Best Adapted Screenplay Award respectively for The Social Network.

The Best Actor Award went to Colin Firth for starring in The Kings Speech and Best Actress Award to Natalie Portman for Black Swan.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Rajini Discusses Endhiran 2

The climax of Endhiran was such that fans left the theatres in anticipation that Shankar, Rajini and Kalanidhi Maran will come together for a sequel. Looks like this might take shape, if not now, but in the near future.

According to sources, Rajinikanth and Kalanidhi Maran met recently to discuss the worldwide collections of Endhiran and during this meet Rajini had enquired Kalanidhi about the possibility of the sequel.

With the Superstar showing keen interest in the sequel, Kalanidhi’s interest in the project went several notches up, we hear.

We know that Shankar is busy directing Nanban, a multi-starrer, and Rajini will soon don the greasepaint for the KS Ravi Kumar directed Rana. Therefore, there is a speculation that Endhiran 2 may take off only after Shankar and Rajini are free from their respective commitments.

Meanwhile, Sun Pictures is also contemplating on financing the epic film that director Mani Ratnam is planning to direct.

Though an official announcement on Endhiran 2 may take several months from now, if it is done, then it is certainly going to be a big day for Tamil cinema!

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Rahman regrets not meeting Bryan Adams

Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Bryan Adams, who is slated to perform in the country next week, will not be meeting Oscar winner AR Rahman this time around. The Canadian artiste and Rahman were scheduled to meet this month to discuss the music industry and possible collaborations in a closed-door meeting.

However, Rahman has been nominated in two Oscar categories for Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song) for Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours featuring James Franco because of which he will be in Los Angeles on the day when he was scheduled to meet Adams. “It is in fact unfortunate that I won’t be able to meet the legend (Adams) in person. I was really looking forward to this meeting and had cancelled all my other commitments for the day,” says Rahman.

Adams too was equally keen on meeting Rahman, who had bagged an Oscar for Boyle’s film Slumdog Millionaire in 2009. In fact, sources say the two were even planning to jam live during Adams’s forthcoming India Tour.

Rahman adds, “I wanted to exchange notes on music and explore possible collaborations. However, I hope the next time I’m in Canada or the next time Bryan is in India, we will meet and take things forward.”

Courtesy:hindustantimes.com

Gautham Menon's VTV Hindi version to commence from April

Subsequent to a great deal of conjecture, it has been divulged that the champion director of South Indian films, Gautham Vasudev Menon, is geared up to start the Hindi remake of his Tamil blockbuster Vinnaithaadi Varuvaayaa (VTV) on April 4, 2011. The Hindi version will be equally produced by IN Entertainment, which is an entity of the Hinduja Group, and Gautham Menon's Photon Kathaas. AR Rahman will compose the music for the Hindi edition just like he had perpetrated for VTV.

Prateik Babbar as well as Amy Jackson will enact the central characters in the Hindi version. Prateik is the son of the North Indian politician and actor Raj Babbar.


The lyrics for the Hindi version of VTV as well as the screenplay will be constructed by the eminent Javed Akhtar, who has written innumerable wonderful songs for countless Hindi films from the 1970s. The fact that he has survived in the Hindi film society for so long is an indicator of his lyrical potency. MS Prabhu will head the cinematographic department of the Hindi version.

Gautham has remarked that he has glued himself to the original version. The Hindi version will have Amy enacting the character of Jessy, who is a Malayali of the Syrian Christian community. Gautham has verbalized that Rahman has already provided him three songs. For the time being, they are abiding by the original Tamil tunes. However, Akhtar and Rahman will decide, whether the songs and melody for the Hindi audience have to be dissimilar from the Tamil version. VTV’s Hindi edition is likely to penetrate the theatres by July 2011.

Gautham has largely operated as a director of Tamil films, some of which have been remade by him in the Telugu and Hindi languages. Several Tamil movies of his have been lauded critically such as his action thrillers, Kaakha Kaakha and Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu. His immensely victorious semi-autobiographical movie, Vaaranam Aayiram, garnered the National Film Award for the most superlative Tamil feature film. This motion picture also granted him a nomination from Filmfare for the ‘Best Tamil Director’ honor.

Courtesy:oneindia.in

Working with Boyle was challenging: Rahman

AR Rahman More Pics

AR Rahman has been nominated for the Oscars again, much to the delight of his fans. His success in the West is an inspiring story, and his collaboration with Hollywood director Danny Boyle for "127 Hours" for the second time has worked out brilliantly once again.

Yet, while it's a euphoric time for the composer, the strain is also beginning to tell on him. He realises that it saps him out and hence, he has decided to cut back on his work and be kinder to himself.

The reticent composer confesses this and says, "Working with Danny Boyle was challenging as it required a different sensibility. He is known for the music of his films. It's a big thing to get accepted into another culture. But it hasn't been easy for me because of all the travelling. I've realised I have not been kind to myself." The hectic schedules and different time zones meant that he has spread himself too thin. "I'm going to do one movie at a time. I have realised that I need to cut back now to do justice to my work. Also, I want to spend more time with my family now."

Courtesy:indiatimes.com