Friday, September 30, 2011

Sameera Reddy Is Vijay’s Heroine - Yohan Adhyayam Ondru

If reports from Kollywood are to be believed, Sameera Reddy would play the female lead in Yohan – Adhyayam Ondru. Speculations about the leading lady in this film ranged from Samantha to Trisha but it is now being rumored that Sameera is the girl for Vijay.

Though Gautham Menon is now busy with Neethaane En Pon Vasantham, a trilingual, he has also set the ball in motion for Yohan – Adhyayam Ondru which will commence next year. The film is expected to hit the screens during the early part of 2013.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Rajini's fitness regime

Superstar Rajinikanth is on a strict fitness regime, making himself able and active to shoot for 'Rana'. Since the film's shoot is set to be restarted soon, the numero uno actor of Tamil cinema is equipping himself to play a triple role with morning walks, yoga and simple exercises.

"Rajini is seen going on walk in the mornings inside the Sri Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam premises and in the Poes Garden area, where his residence is located. This is after completing yoga sessions. He is also doing minor exercises," sources say.

Those in the upmarket Poes Garden neighbourhood get a pleasant surprise to see the Superstar on the road. Since the area comes under high security zone as it houses Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's residence, Rajini walks without any disturbance, add sources.

Director KS Ravikumar is ready to start 'Rana' anytime and is just waiting for Rajini's nod. Deepika Padukone and Ileana D' Cruz will play the Superstar's love interests in this film, produced by Eros International in association with Soundarya Ashwin Rajinikanth, music is by AR Rahman.


Courtesy:indiaglitz.com

Monday, September 26, 2011

Jiiva Says It’s Rumors About Gautham Menon’s Film

Following reports that Ram had walked out of the Telugu version of Nee Thaane En Pon Vasantham, it was said that Jiiva had bagged the offer. But, Jiiva has now confirmed that he is not doing the Telugu version. The star said that the Tamil version is being filmed at the moment and he is very busy with it.

Jiiva, however, refused to disclose who would be doing the Telugu version of NTEPV. It may be recalled that Gautham Menon has signed up Jiiva, Ram and Adithya Roy Kapoor for NTEPV’s Tamil, Telugu and Hindi version respectively but Ram moved out of the film and the director is looking for another suitable replacement.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Mani Ratnam’s Next To Begin

India’s ace director Mani Ratnam is all set to begin his next venture from October first week onwards. It is said to be a breezy romantic entertainer with actor Kathik’s son Gautham making his debut. There are several speculations about the leading lady in this film but no official confirmation has been made yet.

Karthik enjoys good rapport with Mani Ratnam and they have given a couple of hit films in the past like Mouna Ragam and Agni Natchathiram. The actor also played an important role in Mani’s last release Raavanan.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Aamir Khan Brings Glory To India

Aamir Khan's legendary film, Lagaan was released in 2001 and was nominated for an Academy award. Now 10 years down the line, the film continues to make waves. Time magazine in its compilation of the 25 greatest sports films of all time has given Lagaan the 14th spot. According to Time, "... this Bollywood epic is cause for joy of meteorological proportions" and is "the longest and most enthralling underdog - sports movie ever" .

Lagaan is the only Indian film on the list. It joins immortal Hollywood films like the Coen brothers' The Big Lebowski, Body and Soul, Breaking Away, Bull Durham, and Caddyshack.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Gautham Film Renamed

The Hindi version of Gautham Menon's Vinnaithandi Varuvaya has undergone a title change. The film starring Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson was originally called Prem Katha but it was felt that the title was not as lyrical and impressive as the Tamil one. The new name that has been decided is Ek Deewana Tha.

Gautham has a penchant for naming his films after popular songs like VTV, Pachaikilli Muthu Charam etc. Ek Deewana Tha is derived from an old Rishi Kapoor song and everybody thinks it suits the film perfectly.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Gautham's Hero Explains Why He Walked Out

Actor Ram who was supposed to work with Gautham Menon in his trilingual, Neethane En Ponvasantham had to face the heat as there were reports that he was throwing bad attitude and walked out because he refused to be kept waiting while the other actors finished their scenes. It was opined by many that he was being unprofessional.

Ram has cleared the air and said that he really wanted to do the film and had somehow found the dates in a jam packed schedule. However, the decision to make it a trilingual was sudden and that would cause delay. Moreover the dates would clash with his other film Endhukante Premanta. The other stuff that has been reported were all rumors made up to add masala to the story, he added.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Gautham Menon's Hero Walks Out In A Huff

Gautham Menon's ambitious trilingual, to be released in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi has suffered a setback. Jiiva, Ram and Aditya Roy Kapoor were roped in to play the lead roles and Samantha was the lucky heroine who was to be in all three versions. Ram apparently has opted to leave the project.

The reason is that Ram was kept waiting while Jiiva and Aditya finished shooting the scene in that order. He felt that he was wasting precious time and decided to walk out. Gautham had timed the shoot so that the actors could perform in order of seniority but Ram following his recent hit, Kandireega is big news in AP and did not take kindly to this treatment.

Now Gautham is wondering who will be willing to step in at the nth hour. Jiiva has quite the fan following in AP after Ko released as Rangam went on to score at the box office, so he might just do the Telugu version as well.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Rajini’s One-minute Scene For Shah Rakh

The buzz on airs is that Rajinikanth will do a one-minute guest role in Ra. One, a film that has Shah Rukh Khan in the lead. It will be interesting to see the Superstar and the King Khan share the screen space.

Though everything is kept under wraps, some unofficial sources say that Rajini will shoot for this scene at the Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad on October 4th.

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Sources say that Rajini may do this guest role for Eros International, as they are the co-producers of Rana and the distributors of Ra. One.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Rajinikanth's Ra.one cameo alongside Shah Rukh Khan

In one of the biggest collaboration for Indian cinema, Telugu portal 16reels reported that the god of South Indian Cinema Rajinikanth and Bollywood's baadshah Shah Rukh Khan will first time share the big screen in the movie Ra.One.

Rajinikanth, who will play cameo in the film, will start shooting for the film on October 4th in Hyderabad at the Ramoji Film City, sources said.

Directed by Anubhav Sinha, Ra.One stars Kareena Kappor and Arjun Rampal besides Khan, who is the producer of the film.

Reportedly the most expensive film in Indian cinema is a science fiction which will, according to Khan, revive the definition of superhero in Bollywood and will be released in 3D and 2D formats.

The film is slated to release on October 26, 2011.

Courtesy:dnaindia.com

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Jiiva - Gautham Menon Film A Trilingual

Gautham Menon's film with Jiiva evocatively called Nee Thane En Pon Vasantham is going to be a trilingual which will be released in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. In the Telugu version Ram is the hero and Samantha will be reprising her role as the heroine. In Hindi, Aditya Roy Kapoor seen in Zor Ka Jatka and Guzaarish will be the hero.

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Samantha just might do the film in Hindi as well though it is not officially confirmed. If things work out for her, this could be her dream Bollywood launch pad.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Jiiva - Gautham Menon Film A Trilingual

Gautham Menon's film with Jiiva evocatively called Nee Thane En Pon Vasantham is going to be a trilingual which will be released in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. In the Telugu version Ram is the hero and Samantha will be reprising her role as the heroine. In Hindi, Aditya Roy Kapoor seen in Zor Ka Jatka and Guzaarish will be the hero.

jiiva-samantha-14-09-11

Samantha just might do the film in Hindi as well though it is not officially confirmed. If things work out for her, this could be her dream Bollywood launch pad.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Valentine’s Day Special From Gautham Menon

Gautham Menon directed Nee Thaane En Pon Vasantham (NTEPV) will be a Valentine’s Day special. The film has Jiiva and Samantha as the lead pair, and shooting of NTEPV is now progressing in Chennai.

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We are told that Gautham intends to complete the shooting in Chennai and London in a single schedule as he has plans to release the film on Valentine’s Day 2012. Interestingly, Santhanam has been roped in as the comedian in NTEPV which is being produced by RS Infotainment. The film is touted to be an out-and-out romantic flick with loads of humor added to it. It will be a perfect gift for the lovebirds this Valentine’s Day, we hear.

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Gautham's does it for second time in 'Neethane En Ponvasantham'

Well if your wondering what we are referring to, Gautham Menon has roped in a comedian for the second time in his films so far! Santhanam who is ruling the roost in Tamil cinema has booked himself a berth in 'Neethane En Ponvasantham'. Gautham had earlier worked with Vivek in 'Minnalae' that starred Maddy and Reema Sen.

Santhanam plays an important role in this film and Gautham insists that he will be presenting not just Jiiva, but also Santhanam differently. So does he have a love story as well in this film, we'll have to wait to know that...

Tunes will be composed by AR Rahman. Costumes are designed by Nalini Sriram who was well-accredited for her casual styling that revamped Simbu's image in VTV.

The film has also been officially announced in Telugu with Ram playing protagonist, and Samantha again as the heroine. The film is titled 'Nithya', after her character, in the Telugu version.

Not just that, grapevine is abuzz that Gautham will be making this film a trilingual by making it simultaneously in Hindi as well, again with Samantha as heroine! If all goes well, it will mark Samantha's debut in Bollywood. An official announcement on this front will be made soon.

Courtesy:indiaglitz.com

Changes in 'Rana' script

Certain changes are being made to the original script of 'Rana' considering the health condition of Superstar Rajinikanth, who recently underwent treatment for kidney related ailment at a Singapore hospital.

This has been confirmed by lyricist Vairamuthu, who called on the top actor recently at Sri Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam in Kodambakkam. "I was so happy to meet Rajini after a gap," he says.

Vairamuthu adds: "Rajini is perfectly alright. And he is in a very good mood, cracking jokes and analyzing things in his own style. But still, some minor changes are being made to Rana as director KS Ravikumar is not ready to give any strain to the Superstar."

"We discussed many issues in the meeting that lasted for 45 minutes. The topics we covered including literature, politics, philosophy and life. Rajini is happy with the care and concern showered on him by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, DMK president M Karunanidhi and of course, his fans."


Courtesy:indiaglitz.com

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

‘Romba’ super, OC!, Entertainment

‘Romba’ super, OC!

You may have missed swinging to Rajinikanth’s Balleilakka in the film Sivaji, but there’s no escaping the infectious energy of this Michigan symphony chorus that does a super job of the Tamil hit

Prashanth Vidyasagar

Posted On Wednesday, September 07, 2011 at 07:40:04 PM

Michael Mitchell, the conductor and the professor of the group, during the performance of Balleilakka

Of his long list of chartbusters, A R Rahman’s Balleilakka from the Rajinikanth-starrer Sivaji - The Boss caught the attention of an unlikely group — a symphony chorus in Michigan in the US. The Oakland Chorale’s version of the song is on YouTube and many have pasted it on their profiles on social networking sites.

The Oakland Chorale (OC) is made up of students of music at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. The conductor and professor of the group Michael Mitchell says, “I am influenced by different artists and types of music. I grew up listening to classical music such as Mozart and Beethoven. But I also love rock and roll. Growing up in the 1970s, in the US, I loved Elton John, The Beatles and Bruce Springsteen. So my musical influences are diverse. It is because of this I especially love music that bends or blends genres. I love the idea of a university choir like the Oakland Chorale doing music from all over the world.”


Tongue twister
It’s this attitude that prompted OC to attempt their own version of Balleilakka. “I first heard a performance of Balleilakka in 2010 and was immediately excited about the possibility of doing it with the Oakland Chorale. It turned out that someone had written a version of the song and published it in the US. I was able to find and purchase this version. We wanted to do a performance that was as close to the original as possible. So we listened to a lot of recordings and watched the video from the movie so that we could do our best with the language and the singing style. It’s not easy for Americans to sing in Tamil, so we spent a lot of time working on the words,” says Michael.

It was a challenge for them considering it’s not just a Tamil song but a pacey one at that. It took the OC about three months of hard work to memorise the lyrics. Andy Vanscoy, who sings the male solo in the performance, deserves the best compliments. Andy says, “It took me about a week to memorise my solo and about two weeks to memorise everything else. The language was a pleasure to learn and I caught on very quickly.”

Once members of the OC learnt the song, they went onto add their own spin to it. The percussionists who are spot on with their beats are bound to catch your attention in the video. “The members of the Oakland Chorale have very diverse musical backgrounds, ranging from pop to musical theatre to nearly no background at all,” says Cheyanne Coss, who sings soprano in the group. That might surprise those who watched the video. She adds, “The response to the song has been wild, both when it has been performed and on YouTube. Often after the song at concerts, the crowd explodes — you can hear their reaction in the video.”


Spiced with spunk
Their diverse forays with music make the OC unique. “The thing that separates the Oakland Chorale from other groups is our passion and commitment to every piece we take on. Mitchell is the finest conductor I’ve ever worked with, and his high passion, high energy outlook makes for a completely different atmosphere than at most other choirs or other musical groups,” says Cheyanne, quite nailing the reason for those several replays of the video.

The OC plans to work on more music from India and especially with pieces created by Rahman as he is popular in the US. “I love the rhythm and pace of Indian music I’ve heard. As with many other musicians, the drum is the heartbeat of the music. The pacing of the music, the story told through the lyrics, all make for a fantastic song to sing and perform.
Between Slumdog Millionaire and the brilliant choreography on So You Think You Can Dance by Nakul Dev Mahajan, Americans have been introduced to Indian music. I think that the interest is enormous,” says Megan Higle who is a singer and an assistant director with the group.

The OC have started rehearsing again. “We will be doing one of my favourite new songs from Haiti that is very exciting, much in the same way that Balleilakka is and we will be performing in New York City in the spring of 2012,” says Michael. What does the OC think of Rahman? Michael says, “We didn’t know anything about the actor or the movie until we decided to do the song. The performance of Balleilakka in the movie is stunning. We just wanted to do a good enough job so that people like it and feel like we had honoured the composer, the actor, and the movie. I hope we did.”


Courtesy:bangaloremirror.com/

The Scoop On Jiiva - Gautham Menon Film

Gautham Menon's film with Jiiva and Samantha, Neethane En Ponvasantham boasts of an excellent cast and crew. AR Rahman is doing the music in a bid to recapture the musical magic of VTV. Art direction is by Rajeevan and cinematography will be handled by MS Prabhu. Nalini Sriram is doing the costumes and editing will be done by Antony.

The shoot commenced yesterday and today, filming is going on at Cafe Coffee Day, Nungambakkam. The team will be shooting in and around Chennai till the 24th of this month and then they will pack their bags and fly to London to film the later portions and a couple of songs.

In further news, Neethane En Ponvasantham is going to be a bilingual and will be released in Tamil and Telugu. Samatha will be seen in the Telugu version as well and word is that Ram, recently seen in the hit Telugu film, Kandireega with Hansika will play Jiiva's role. There is every indication this film is going to be a charming love story along the lines of Minnale and VTV.

jiiva-gautham-menon-07-09-11

Courtesy:behindwoods.com

Rajini Is All Set To Rock And Roll!

Rajini is ready to work again and he is raring to go. He has recovered nicely from his illness and is strong and fit now. The Superstar will be reporting for work on the sets of Rana from October 3rd. To make up for lost time, KS Ravikumar and the team intend to finish shooting in one long schedule. It is reported that the filming will go on in Chennai and Hyderabad and the unit will be flying abroad for the songs.

Deepika Padukone is the heroine and Sonu Sood is playing the villain. AR Rahman is doing the score. Art direction is by Rajeevan and cinematography by Ratnavelu. Editing is to be done be Antony. Soundarya Rajnikanth and her Ocher Visual Effects will be supervising the technical department.

rajini-rana-07-09-11

Courtesy:behindwoods.com