"I could not accommodate Dasavatharam and Marmayogi!"

Ravi K Chandran has made Bollywood sit and take notice of the talents of technicians down south and as a result is associated with the kingpins of the Indian film industry. In an exclusive interview to Behindwoods recently, he spilled a few beans on his absence from Kamal's Dasavatharam and about his upcoming project with the King Khan.

Ravi revealed that Kamal approached him for Dasavatharam before the movie kicked off and he could not agree to the project owing to prior commitments. He also stated that when Kamal's Marmayogi plans shaped up, he was approached for the cinematography of the movie. "Since I am currently busy with Shahrukh Khan's My Name is Khan, I could not take up Marmayogi," he noted. My Name is Khan is directed by Karan Johar and also has Kajol in the lead role.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Robot - The meaningless rumors!

We had reported that Sujatha’s unfortunate demise would be a stumbling block for Robot while praying that the prediction should fail. But how can the loss of a great writer such as Sujatha not affect a creative team, it has, and as a result Robot will be delayed. Bad news, but that is the truth. Though we don’t now the full details of the reschedule in the making of Robot it is confirmed that the movie won’t go on floors by April-May, the start will be postponed at least until May. This is due to the script and dialogue works that have to be completed in the void created by Sujatha’s absence. It might be fair enough to estimate that the movie will not take off until after June.


While this might not look to be of great significance given that Rajini has made himself available without any other commitments after Kuselan, the real problem is going to b with the dates of Aishwarya Rai. She is currently at the peak of her powers with offers flooding her and it is pretty well known that she has granted her dates to Mani Ratnam’s next project which will have Abhishek with her once again after Guru. This film will mark the return of Mani Ratnam to the small, charming romance. Aishwarya has reportedly given dates up until June for the proposed shoots of Robot and plans to join the sets of Mani’s film immediately after that. Now, this delay will throw all her plans into turmoil. Though Mani might understand the situation that Robot is in, and being a close friend of Rajini might try to work out some kind of arrangement, that might not be of great help because even Abhishek is in no position to make any adjustments. He is currently in the US shooting for Karan Johar’s production Dostana. Also, his movies such as Drona and Dilli 6 are in various stages of production.

So, the casting and planning of Robot is in a spot now. Various suggestions and ideas are doing the rounds that include shooting all of Rajini’s solo portions and fights first and scheduling Aishwarya’s shoots for later. But only Shankar, the one man who knows fully the requirements of Robot can take a decision on this. Meanwhile, there have been some meaningless rumors that have started floating around saying that Aishwarya Rai has opted out of Robot. Now, this is blasphemous, at least at this stage. Aishwarya’s casting was a carefully made decision after much thought from both sides and a mere two month delay will not undo that. If Aishwarya has opted out of any movie, it is Pan Nalin’s Buddha, where she was cast as Yashodhara.

With the current troubles Robot needs all the support that it can get, being Tamil cinema’s biggest dream yet. We have to be patient because the movie is a coming together of all that is big and mighty in Indian cinema- Superstar, Shankar, Eros, Ayngaran and Aishwarya-such combinations are not very easy to handle. Let’s hope everything is sorted out and Robot gets a free run until completion - even if it means a couple of months or even more of a delay. Good things never happen in a hurry.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Aishwarya Rejects one more!

Close on the heels of the confirmation from Aishwarya Rai that she will be acting opposite Rajinikanth in Robot is the news now that she will not be part of Jhansi Ki Rani: The Rebel, Ketan Mehta's ambitious historical sequel to Mangal Pandey: The Rising..

The media is abuzz with the question of why Ash has walked out of the project. Is this so that she can allocate enough time for Robot?

Speculations are rife. Readers might also remember Behindwoods carrying the news of the actress turning down a Karan Johar offer quite recently.

Talking to the media, Ash expressed her disappointment over her being linked to the project. "Please stop dragging my name into Jhansi Ki Rani. Ketan spoke to me nearly two years back when he was very keen on making this film with me. But thereafter, he has not been in touch with me and I don't think that as of now I am working in Jhansi Ki Rani. So I would appreciate it if the media stops writing stories about me playing Rani Laxmibai." The actress further added that what she was most keenly looking forward to now was her Hollywood stint in Pink Panther – an enormous and nice change from all these Bollywood blockbusters.

What is also more newsworthy is that Ash might write her own life story. Her glittering life is begging to be made into a best selling biography (and a movie) and though several publishers have been asking her permission to commission a book on her life, Ash has turned them all down. The reason was revealed only recently: she plans to write an autobiography.

Courtesy: Behindwoods.com

Super Star bags the Best Entertainer Award

NDTV, the private Television channel known for its candid and forthright opinion presented awards to Indian heroes in a grand ceremony which was held in the capital last evening. Super star Rajinikanth did Tamil Nadu proud by winning the Best Entertainer Award for 2007 while A R Rahman was awarded the NDTV music award.

The Boss was given the award by none other than the Honorable Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh who himself was honored with the Best Leader of 2007.

The event had questions being shot at the winners from various sections of the audience along with NDTV crew. Rajinikanth was attired in a simple kurta and pyjama and when he went to collect the award he was shot a poser from the Badshah of Bollywood who wanted to know what should one do to become the Shahenshah. Super star smilingly said that Shah Rukh will certainly become the Shahenshah one day. To a question on whether he will take the plunge into politics, he said that he believes in God and destiny. Other South Indians who took away the awards were, Dr.A P J Abdul Kalam as the Inspirational Leader of the year and Vishwanathan Anand for Sports Leader of the year. The event was attended by the crème-de-la-crème of India like the Gandhi family, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, the Ambanis, Shah Rukh Khan and his buddy Karan Johar and a host of other luminaries

Courtesy: Behindwoods.com