Mani Ratnam impressed by Rajni’s Sivaji

Impressed by the stunts in Sivaji – The Boss, ace director Mani Ratnam has roped in the stunt director Peter Hains for his forthcoming bilingual film Ravan. Peter Hains has carved a niche for himself in the Indian film industry by choreographing stunt scenes for various films including Sivaji, Gajini (Hindi version) and Anniyan.

The film’s shooting had to be stalled when the lead pair, Abishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, were held up in Mumbai owing to the ill health of Amitabh Bachchan. Sources have it that shooting will recommence after Diwali. Ravan – the Hindi version - stars Abishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead role with Vikram playing the antagonist. In the Tamil version Vikram and Aishwarya Rai play the lead roles and Prithviraj plays the villain role.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Sneak peak on Mani Ratnam’s next….

India’s ace director Mani Ratnam is gearing up for his next project and the industry is abuzz with a variety of colorful speculations. It is being said that the project will be a bilingual to be made in Hindi and Tamil. Aishwarya Rai will be the screen partner for the heroes in both the languages. Prithviraj and Priya Mani also are reported to be in pivotal casts.

An interesting fact about this project is that Karthik who made everyone sit up and notice his performance, albeit a small one, in Mani Ratnam’s Mouna Ragam would be making a comeback as a villain. In fact Karthik’s role in Mouna Ragam is considered as a benchmark even now for guest appearances and the actor brought in a fresh lease of life in the short but intense role and made a memorable impact on the audience.
As regards off screen cast, cinematographer P C Sriram was to handle the camera for this project but due to prior commitments, he is said to have opted out of the project and in his place comes Manikandan who has worked in prestigious projects like Anniyan in Tamil and Om Shanthi Om and Main Hoon Na in Hindi. When a question was raised about the main plot of the film, it was understood that it would be based on the story of the epic Ramayana. Readers may recall that Mani Ratnam had earlier made Thalapathy drawing inspiration from Mahabharata.


Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Shankar goes global trotting

Director Shankar known to be a perfectionist when it comes to finalizing locations with the grandeur element is reportedly on a three-week world tour to choose the right locations for his film ‘Robot’ starring superstar Rajinikanth.

Shankar has planned on beautiful Vienna in Austria for a spectacular song sequence. The ace director accompanied by cinematographer Ratnavel, will be going to Austria first and then will scout for locations in Rio de Janeiro, the second major city of Brazil.

Starting off a film by shooting a spectacular song sequence has been Shankar's habit over the years. The 'Vaaji, Vaaji' song was shot in Hyderabad in an extravagant set before proceeding with the rest of the ‘Sivaji’. Similarly, 'O Sukumari' was picturized first for ‘Anniyan’. Going by the same trend, one can expect ‘Robot’ to be kick started with a song sequence featuring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai in Vienna.

Hanoi in Vietnam would be the duo's final destination in their location hunting spree.

The shooting for the film is expected to begin sometime in August.

Courtesy: indiaglitz.com