Rajini’s confession!

The Ulaganayagan Kamal 50 show, organized by Vijay TV to honor the achievements of Kamal in the world of cinema raised quite a few eyebrows. The Nehru Indoor Stadium was bursting at its seams with the who’s who of the film fraternity attending the same.
Few interesting occurrences spiced up the event, like the superstar’s confession about where he learnt acting. In his address, Rajini mentioned that during his earlier days, when he worked with Kamal in KB’s movies, the latter tipped him on how amazing an actor Kamal was and that how Rajini should learn the art from him. “From then on, I started observing Kamal in the sets and began to infuse his flavors in my acting. I learnt Kamal’s nuances when I worked with him and tried to bring it in my performance,” Rajini confessed.
He also revealed that he wasn’t comfortable signing up for Robot since the movie was scripted with Kamal in mind. “However, Shankar convinced me that he has made necessary changes and modifications to suit it to my character. Only after deliberations, I decided to take the project,” he added.



Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Kamal served with legal notice

Production house Pyramid Saimira issued a legal notice to Kamal Haasan with regard to the advance he was paid for making the movie Marmayogi. The notice claims that Kamal was paid an advance of Rs. 10.9 crores initially which he never returned although the movie was officially shelved. The movie’s total budget was a whopping one hundred crores.


Besides, the notice sought Kamal to clarify why he had produced Unnaipol Oruvan, which is due for release soon, before Marmayogi was finished. According to the contract, Kamal is bound to finish Marmayogi before moving on to another venture.


Courtesy: behindwoods.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

Kamal and Murugadoss together!

This sounds like one combination that can’t fail. Arguably India’s finest actor is ready to join hands with the most promising of young directors, AR Murugadoss.

This doesn’t seem to be the dream of the film buffs alone. Director Murugadoss, who is yet to begin his next project after ‘Ghajini’, also shares this dream to work with the Universal Hero.

He announced this at an event held recently which was attended by Kamal Haasan himself. The director went on to publicly state that he was a big fan of Kamal, who’s experimentation with roles has fascinated him a lot. He also went on to state that he would like to do a project with Kamal as the hero.

AR Murugadoss has earlier directed ‘Dheena’, ‘Ramana’ and the Suriya-starrer ‘Ghajini’ that went on to be made in Bollywood with Aamir Khan reprising Suriya’s role. Murugadoss has been holding talks with Shah Rukh for his next film, even while he will be teaming up with Suriya for another film soon.

Courtesy: indiaglitz.com

"I knew the story of Endhiran 10 years ago”

Art director Sabu Cyril, in a recent interview to a magazine, said that director Shankar narrated the story of Endhiran to him 10 years ago. He recalled the photo shoot that took place with Kamal Haasan but the project did not materialize any further. Similarly, Shah Rukh Khan also opted out of Endhiran and finally Rajinikanth lapped it up. Sabu said that Rajini is the most apt hero to play the role.
The proud art director said that he was signed up for the venture 10 years ago. Sabu said that he had used Aluminum Composite Panels to create sets for Endhiran. These are not only cost effective but can be reused and environmentally safe. The art director added that Aluminum Composite Panels have been used in the Indian cinema before.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Asin injured while practicing Kalari

Actress Asin Thottumkal got injured during a 'Kalari' fight practice session for her yet to be launched 19 Steps in which Kamal Hassan plays a crucial role. Directed by Bharat Bala and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the film will be launched soon in Chennai. Japanese actor Tadano Asano is playing the male lead role. In 19th Step, Asin plays the role of a princess who is expert in Kalaripayattu, the Kerala form of Martial Arts.

Now the actress is busy practicing the arts in proper manner. An expert from Kerala is teaching the art to the actress in Chennai. During one of her recent practice sessions, she accidentally slipped and fell while trying to jump from a certain height injuring her leg in the process. But she hopes to be back in action soon and resume practice. According to the sources, the shooting of the movie will be begins at the second week of July in Chennai.

Courtesy: oneindia.in

Rahman Got A Japanese Tie-Up

The ace Indian Music composer AR Rahman will join hands with the Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi for the music of film which is an Indo-Japanese venture. The film stars Indian actors like Kamal Haasan and Asin as well as Japanese actor Tadanobo Asano. The film shows that martial arts are originated from India and not from Japan, as the myth around the world is.

One source revealed, “Rahman, Bharat Bala (director) and some people from Disney (producer of the film) met Joe Hisaishi in Tokyo on April 6 to discuss the film.”

“Kamal was very keen to work with a Japanese actor after he met Jackie Chan during the music release of Dasavtaram. This is a $50 million project by Bharat Bala who will also be directing the film. Research work on the martial art form is currently on,” added the source.

Rahman and Bharat Bala are currently in Tokyo.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Kamal to teach Asin Martial arts

In what can be considered as a big step towards international recognition for Indian film artistes and technicians, Walt Disney will be producing The 19th Step, which will consist of many Indians behind and on the screen. Indian cinema’s fastest rising star Asin will be paired with Japanese superstar Tadanobu Asanno, an internationally acclaimed actor. She will be playing a princess in the movie. What makes the cast even more exciting is the presence of Kamal Haasan. He will be seen as Asin’s martial arts mentor in a high impact cameo.

What more! The film will be directed by Bharathbala known for his stirring picturization of song videos, especially Rahman’s Vande Mataram. Speaking of Rahman, he has been given the responsibility of scoring the music for the movie. And, India’s other Oscar winner Resul Pookutty will be present in the sound engineering department. So, it is one heavily loaded Indian line up that will be making its presence felt in an international project. We saw what appropriate international exposure can get us when Slumdog Millionaire brought home two Oscars. This time round, we have the legendary Kamal as Indian cinema’s ambassador. Wishing all success to the team of The 19th Step. Neil Armstrong once said ‘a small step for a man, but a giant leap for mankind’. Let’s hope that the following thought turns out true, ‘The 19th Step for Walt Disney, a giant leap for Indian cinema’.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Kamal's message for Rahman

The entire Indian film industry has gone ecstatic over the clean sweep of Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscar's today. The celebrities are now coming out with their congratulatory messages and Kamal Haasan is one among the early birds to wish the Mozart of Madras. The actor had said he felt like he was walking along with A.R. Rahman on stage to collect the award. According to Kamal Haasan, he always found Rahman to be very simple and .

uncomplicated. The actor added that he was proud and happy as an Indian for Rahman's fete The Ulaganayagan, while talking about the musical genius's humility, recalled an incident during the Marmayogi project. Kamal pointed out that while he was going gaga over a song composition for the film, Rahman was calm and composed. Kamal said that Oscars is not like Olympics because each entry is judged based on American standards and not on universal standards. "It is good that Indians are doing well and they cannot be ignored at the Oscars anymore", the star added.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Kamal finds no takers...

Even Rajnikanth’s daughter is not interested in backing the South superstar’s big-budget film 

IT has been reported widely that Kamal Haasan’s film Marmayogi is on the verge of being shelved as its producer, Pyramid Saimira, which has suffered huge losses with Kuselan (a film that had Rajnikanth in the lead) bombing, is apprehensive about going in for another big-budget film.

Industry insiders reveal that Kamal has got rattled by this news and is looking out for new producers in case Saimira backs out. He seems to have approached Rajnikanth’s daughter Soundarya Rajnikanth to bail him out and the news is she might turn him down.
“Pyramid Saimira’s big release was Kuselan, which had a reported budget of around Rs 650 million, but the film flopped and the producers could not even recover 50 per cent of its costs. They had to even compensate the exhibitors and distributors and so obviously they will be apprehensive in going ahead with Marmayogi, which has a budget of Rs 120 crore. They can’t afford to suffer any loss,” the insider says.

The source adds, “Kamal has somehow got the hunch that the producers are apprehensive and he fears the worst.  He has approached three new companies and one of them is certainly Soundarya Rajnikanth’s.”

But Kamal might not get lucky with her. “Soundarya is currently busy with the big budget animation film Sultan, which has her father playing the lead, and she is shelling out money like anything. Moreover, Rajni’s Endhiran  and Kamal’s Marmayogi might clash at the box office. It is improbable that Soundarya will back a film that is pitted against her father’s,” the source ends

Courtesy: dnaindia.com

Marma Yogi is not abandoned!

Putting the ever-churning rumor mills to rest, production company Pyramid Saimira convened a press meet at the Devi Sridevi preview theater in Chennai today to throw light on Marma Yogi. Swaminathan, who heads the operations of the Pyramid Saimira, spoke to the press. He clarified Pyramid Saimira's stand on the issue and refuted rumors that

the company is going through a finance crunch that is gripping the global economy. "Saimira's finances are healthy and the company is well insulated against the crisis. We have steady finance flow to be able to fund a 150 crore project," he noted. He also admitted that Marma Yogi plans are on hold temporarily and Saimira will resume the project once the turbulent world economy has settled. "We have no intentions to abandon the project," he assured.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Kamal's plans for Thalaivan Irukkiran

So what if Trisha and Shriya were straining their muscles to learn martial arts and the nuances of Tamil language for Marma Yogi? All this will not hopefully go down the drain now that Marma Yogi is abandoned. Kamal is planning to utilize the dates of these two pretty lasses for his next venture, Thalaivan Irukkiran. Since Sai Mira couldn't mobilize funds for

Marma Yogi, the project is, in all probabilities, shelved. Tentatively titled Thalaivan Irukkiran, the new movie is touted to be a racy adventure comedy with involvement from some of the bigwigs of the Indian film industry. The movie will star the likes of Mohanlal, Rishi Kapoor, and Venkatesh and scored by A R Rahman. Kamal directs Thalaivan Irukkiran while Gemini Film Circuit will produce this venture, to be shot in the USA and Switzerland. An official announcement in this regard is expected soon.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Kamal's Marmayogi postponed!

Kamal Hassan's magnum opus Marmayogi has been temporarily shelved even before the shooting of the film started.

The shooting of the much-hyped Marmayogi was to start this month. Sources in Chennai says that the shooting was shelved as the producers felt that the budget of this movie is going to cross the estimated amount. Remember that it was Kamal’s dream project with 5 heroines including big names like Hema Malini, Trisha and Shriya.
As the producers Pyramid Saimira backed out now, Kamal Hassan has decided to suspend the shooting. The market buzz is that the producers felt that the film with a budget of Rs 100 to 120 crores is too much because a Kamal Hassan's movie as hero doesn’t have that much of market thoughMarmayogi is going to be a trilingual movie.
Kamal Hassan was supposed to act and direct this movie and had Venkatesh and Mumaith from Telugu too in pivotal roles. With Marmayogishooting being called off, Venkatesh will start shooting for his next filmKrishnam Vande Jagadgurum.
One person who will be badly affected by this cancellation is Trisha because she said 'No' to many other projects in Telugu and Tamil because ofMarmayogi. 


Courtesy: sify.com

Marma Yogi, Endhiran & the Global economic crisis

On Kamal Haasan’s birthday, the news that we are receiving about Marma Yogi is not a cause for any celebrations. Credible sources have revealed that Marma Yogi might be neck deep in trouble, to the point of being indefinitely postponed or infinitely worse, be dropped. The reason is quite simple: the global economic crisis. Many were deceived

into thinking that the global meltdown was not indeed global and that India was insulated. Now we have proof that there are problems everywhere. Pyramid Saimira is reportedly wallowing and the processes of Marma Yogi have been temporarily held up. But it is not only the global economic crash that is behind Marma Yogi’s predicament. Kuselan is also being seen as a key factor. As everyone knows, the losses incurred by Pyramid Saimira due to the Kuselan debacle were huge and to top it all, they were even forced to refund distributors. It is in this scenario that SUN Pictures made an entry showing some interest. A team was entrusted with the responsibility of making a thorough research of all resources that would have to go into Marma Yogi. The report presented said that even the pre-production activities of the movie would cost quite a sum which would make the project difficult to execute; SUN Pictures exit; enter OCHER Studios and Warner Brothers. Talks are doing the rounds that Soundarya Rajnikanth has shown enough interest in Marma Yogi. It is believed that Warner Brothers are ready to go by her word and enter the movie. But conversations are still at a very primary stage and nothing is official or confirmed. To add to speculations, it has come to light that Rajkamal films have registered the title ‘Thalaivan Irukkiran’. Further enquiry revealed that Rajkamal indeed intend to go ahead with such a movie without much delay. However, other details were not available. From Marma Yogi to Endhiran. The global meltdown has not spared this one too. It has been reported that the London based Ayngaran Groups funds might be stuck in the European markets that is going through a liquidity crunch at present. With the third schedule of Endhiran slated to begin some time next week, the required funds are yet to arrive and London Karunas is reported to have left for London for the same purpose. Again, the unexpectedly poor show of Deepavali releases Aegan (own production) and Seval (outright purchase) seems to have not done them any favor. However, the troubles with Endhiran are not as serious as ones with Marma Yogi. If, Ayngaran is able to accumulate the funds in time, the shooting will proceed as planned. Otherwise, the worst scenario we are looking at is a delay which is not much of an issue, looking at what Marma Yogi is facing. But with dates being bought, a delay might make schedules go haywire, especially with Aishwarya Rai who also has Ravana. We just hope that all troubles settle down at the earliest.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Kamal’s ‘Marmayogi’ to start rolling from Nov 10

After a sensational hit like ‘Dasavataram’, Kamal Hassan is taking yet another prestigious project in his own direction. The story sittings for the film are in progress for the past several months. Kamal Hassan is in search of set properties, busy in selection of locations for the past some time and he had also grew beard exclusively for the film. It is well aware that Kamal Hassan always tries to keep something special in each of his film. He keeps his image aside when it comes to acting and he lives for films alone. With ‘Marmayogi’ Kamal is planning to one step ahead and is striving hard to make it a big hit too. In the process, he made several rehearsals with the artistes who are going to play in the film in different characters. Trisha is playing one of the heroines. The film has a typical story. It will not have any specific importance to a particular character and all the roles are equally important. This great film is most likely to start rolling formally from November 10 and efforts are being made in this regard.

Courtesy: nonstopcinema.com

Asin not in 'Marma Yogi'

Denying all the speculations which were saying that Asin would once again share the screen with Kamal Haasan for a cameo role in 'Marma Yogi', the actress has now confirmed that there is no fact in it. The talented actress who has reached incredible heights in her career co-stars with Salman khan and Ajay Devgan in 'London Dreams' and she has been back to Mumbai recently after completing the shoot for the film for 45 days in London and Paris. Asin's next venture includes 'The 19th step', produced by Walt Disney, which would have Kamal Haasan and acclaimed Japanese actor Tadanobu. This multi-lingual film which is to be made in Tamil, English and Japanese will be directed by Bharat Bala who has made hundreds of classic commercials and also has directed acclaimed music videos including 'Vande Mataram' and 'Pray for me brother' of Maestro A.R.Rahman. 'The 19th step' will be the first Indian film on martial arts; it speaks about 'Kalaripayattu', which is claimed to be the source of all Oriental martial art forms. And what is foremost interesting is Asin plays the role of a Japanese princess that can even turn other actresses green with envy. Asin is sure going places!

Courtesy: indiaglitz.com

Marma Yogi - Sun vs Saimira?

Although the photo shoots and initial groundwork of Marma Yogi are over, the movie has not taken off yet. Initial speculations also averred that Marma Yogi will kick off during September last week or October. In the midst, there was also news that Trisha and Shriya being asked to concentrate on their other projects. Latest in the series of news is that

Sun Pictures and Saimira are contending for the production rights of the movie. When contacted, SUN Pictures' Managing Director Saxena mentioned that talks were on in that direction, however nothing has been finalized. On the contrary, spokesperson from Saimira declared that the project has been bagged by them and that shooting is proposed to start from second week of November. More updates in this regard awaited.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Venkatesh's role in Marma Yogi

These days two films from the Tamil film industry are attracting a lot of attention and the more and more spot light falls on them, the more and more they try to wriggle away from it. Mum is said to be the keyword and nobody knows what's happening at the shooting spot. No marks for guessing this. The films are Shankar's Endhiran and Kamal's Marm Yogi.

A Tamil tabloid has released a few distant looking shots of Endiran and some shooting news. But as regards Marmayogi, there are wide varieties of speculations doing their rounds and the unit is yet to confirm the same. But for the fact that Kamal, Trisha and Shriya are in the film, nothing else is known. As per the latest buzz, Telugu actor Venkatesh will be doing the role of a Brahmin Pundit in Marma Yogi. Venkatesh is a versatile actor who has essayed different roles. Let us wait for the confirmation.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Asin in 'Marma Yogi'

Rumours are agog that Asin would share screen space with Kamal Haasan again after 'Dasavatharam'. Sources say Asin has been assigned to do a cameo in 'Marma Yogi', to be directed and enacted by Kamal Haasan. 

Kamal Haasan has managed a casting couch with who's who of the film industry to be a part of the project. Shriya, Trisha, Hema Malini and Venkatesh have already agreed to do prominent roles in the film. 

The buzz is, Kamal has opted for his star cast to do rehearsal in Chennai before commencing the shooting. The star cast will gather and perform a mock performance before going to the floor. 

Asin is considered by Kamal Haasan as his lucky mascot.

Courtesy: indiaglitz.com

Around 7 places in Chennai for Marma Yogi

Kamal Haasan’s Marma Yogi is shaping up in a big way with all the ground work almost over. The shooting of this movie is expected to commence sometime in the second week of October as planned earlier. The latest report on this film is that Mumaith Khan has been roped in to play an important role and will also

do an item number. Veteran actress and danseuse Shobana has also been signed up to star pair up with Kamal Haasan. Interestingly, Shirya plays Kamal’s wife and Trisha plays his lady love in the film. Sources have it that Kamal will appear in three different roles in the film. Recently Kamal held a photo shoot in a background filled with swords and artifacts from that period. More interestingly, Kamal will build seven sets for the film all over Chennai.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com