Prabhu in Mumbai for Raavan shoot

Prabhu, one of ace director Mani Ratnam's favourite heroes, has left for Mumbai for the shooting of the director's upcoming bilingual Raavan/ Ashokavanam, in which he plays a vital role, similar to Ramayan’s Vibheeshan. The shooting begins on August 28 in Khireshwar village near Malshej ghat, about 90 km from Pune.
Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Govinda and other film personalities will visit the village for the shooting. Meanwhile, the shooting of the film recently ran into trouble once again, with the forest authorities in Maharashtra slapping cases against 14 people from the crew for trespassing into forest property at Khireshwar village near Malshej Ghat.
According to reports, the crew, with the help of some villagers, erected two sheds and dumped materials used for erecting sets on forest land without obtaining permission. The crew's version is that they had applied for permission, which was under consideration.
This is not the first time that Raavan is running into trouble. Earlier, the Kerala Forest Department stopped Mani Ratnam from filming Raavan in the jungles of Malayathur, after it was found that the crew had constructed huts inside the forest, which comes under protected and reserve areas.



Courtesy: galatta.com

Priyamani's indirect Bollywood entry

After Asin, Genelia, Shriya and Trisha, yet another South Indian actress is entering Bollywood, albeit in an indirect way! She is none other than reigning rani Priyamani, who would be essaying a role in the Hindi version of ace Mani Ratnam's big budget bilingual Raavan/ Asokavanam, said to be a modern adaptation of the epic Ramayana.

It is heard that the National award-winning Priyamani is playing Surpanakha’s role in this film, produced by Mani Ratnam's sister Sharda under Ratnam's banner Madras Talkies. Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai are the lead pair in Hindi, while Vikram will play the lead opposite Aishwarya in Tamil.

Speaking about her role in Raavan, Priyamani said that she plays a powerful and tough character in Raavan, and accepted the offer without any hesitation. "It was an honour in itself to be called personally by Mani Ratnam, asking if I’d be interested in doing a role in his film. And why wouldn’t I? He is an institution in himself." According to Priyamani, few directors give artistic freedom, and Mani Ratnam belongs to that group.

Courtesy: galatta.com