Good news for A.R. Rahman's fans

Great news for A.R. Rahman's fans! While the maestro is gearing up for the audio release of his next venture Chakkara Katti, which is slated for release on July 11th, good news for the film's unit comes in the form of Sony BMG. For, the audio major has lapped up the audio rights of Chakkara Katti. The film will be the

launch pad of Shantanu, son of actor-director Bhagyaraj. Incidentally, Chakara Katti is directed by Kala Prabhu, son of legendary producer Kalai Puli Thanu.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Bye Dasavatharam, Hello Robot

The Dasavatharam fever is over. Now the hype around Superstar Rajinikanth's next big film Robot has started. According to the latest buzz, director Shankar has changed his cameraman for this big project for the 4th time and now it is Rathnavelu who will be handling the camera for Robot.


He accompanied with Shankar for a three week world tour to finalize the locations for Robot. As of now they will be going to Vienna, capital of European country Austria. After this, they will fly to Brazilian capital Rio de Janeiro. As per the suggestion of the superstar, the team will visit Vietnam also. One of the songs will be shot in the exotic locations of Hanoi, the capital city of the red country.

According to Shankar's close associates, the film will be launched in the second week of August in Chennai and will shift to Vienna for the shooting the song portions with Rajini-Aishwarya.
Courtesy: oneindia.in

T-Series acquires the Music Rights of 20 films from UTV

This can probably be touted as one of the biggest landmark deals in the Indian Music industry, which has seen a resurgence over the past few months. According to reliable sources, music label major T-Series, run by music baron Bhushan Kumar, has acquired the music rights for 20 forthcoming films of UTV Motion Pictures at a whopping Rs. 27.50 crores, in what is arguably the biggest music deal in the industry.

Some of the major titles include Dilli 6 of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra starring Abhishek Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor at Rs. 5 crores, Main Aur Mrs Khanna starring Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor at Rs. 6 crores. It is learnt that two films starring Shahid Kapoor were closed at Rs. 3.5 crores each.

UTV Motion Pictures is one of India's largest integrated film studios and has had a record year at the box office in the current year, with films like Jodhaa Akbar and the critically acclaimed Aamir in recent times. The studio had ventured into the music business by launching its own label UTV Music with Jodhaa Akbar, however, had Sony BMG distributing Aamir and with this partnership has possibly entered into a strategic relationship with the leader in the industry, T-Series.

Music has been an integral component of Bollywood not just in terms of content, but indeed in marketing of the film and getting an encouraging opening. When Bollywood Hungama contacted T-Series to confirm and ask if their marketing initiatives had resulted in this acquisition, they refused to comment. We will be tracking this alliance and will have more for you very soon.

Courtesy: indiafm.com

Aishwarya Rai's dates problem sorted

Director Shankar has agreed to give two-month break to Aishwarya Rai when the shooting for Mani Ratnam's film begins
Aishwarya Rai, who was worried how she would manage her tight schedules, is now relieved; she had signed Shankars Robot which stars Rajinikanth; she has also signed Mani Ratnams bilingual with Abhishek in the Hindi version and Vikram in the Tamil version; earlier, the schedules of these movies clashed. Aishwarya was worried about an impossible juggling of schedules that was dangling above her head like a sword. But she still went ahead and signed both films.

Pleased by this, director-producer Shankar has decided to give a 2-month break to Aishwarya Rai when Mani Ratnams film shooting begins. And moreover, filming for Robot begins in July or August, a little earlier than Mani Ratnams film which begins in September. So this buys Aishwarya time that she can spend on her homework too.
It also shows how cooperative Kollywood directors are.

Courtesy: starboxoffice.com/

GHAJINI actress going great guns!

Prominent Tamil actress Asin is going great guns. The day she was signed opposite Aamir Khan in the hindi remake of GHAJINI, Bollywood welcomed her with open arms. And today she is flooded with big offers.

According to the latest buzz the south superstar Asin is in talks with Vipul Shah regarding the upcoming film LONDON DREAMS starring Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan. Infact Asin got so excited about this project that she went ahead to do a photo-shoot for the film. On the other hand she has bagged a plum role in yet another esteemed project to be directed by Priyadarshan opposite Akshay Kumar. This Akshay Kumar starrer film will be produced by Venus.


Rumors have it that Asin is also being considered to be caste opposite Shahid Kapoor and Big B in one film each.

Meanwhile the pretty actress is busy with the shooting of GHAJINI.

Courtesy: glamsham.com

Rahman approached for Rockstar?

India’s ace music composer A.R. Rahman might compose for Jab We Met director Imtiaz Ali’s venture Rockstar that has John Abraham in the lead.

Rockstar, a drama, puts a businessman centrestage. He takes the subway everyday on his usual mundane commute to work.

Suddenly, one fine day, he is transported to another time and place as his mind wanders into the world of Rock ’n’ Roll.

An escapist film, Rockstar will convey a message of escaping the modern claustrophobic consumerist existence. It is however reported that the project is currently on hold.

Courtesy: dnaindia.com

Robot’s perfect plan

Robot, which will see the coming together of the best talents of film industry, will go on floors soon. After the stupendous success of Sivaji, Shankar and Rajini will be working once again together and the industry and fans are expecting an encore of the same magic which was woven around Sivaji. There indeed was a small pause after the demise of writer Sujatha in the progress of Robot, but the speed has been picked up now with the induction of writer Balakumaran who has taken charge of script department.

Second schedule of discussions are going on now. As the project, banner and the star cast are humongous in proportion and also of long duration, Shankar is keen on having a perfect and realistic plan. It has been reported that minute details in every day shooting, be it a song sequence or an action scene, is touted to be planned well ahead of time and the plan to be duly implemented. It has also been said that the official announcement regarding the launch of Robot will be made soon.

Courtesy: behindwoods.com

Aamir still out of action

Aamir Khan is yet to start shooting his action sequences for Ghajini as he is still to recover fully from his hamstring injury. The actor has been advised 2 more weeks' rest.

A source close to Aamir reveals, “His physiotherapist has not given him the go ahead for any action sequence and they are advising him against any hard core action scenes too. He is still on painkillers and is exercising every morning. But after two weeks Aamir will go to Chennai to film for them.”

The source adds, “Before visiting the doctor, Aamir was very happy when he realized that his hamstring had recovered and thought he could start shooting the action sequences for Ghajini very soon. In fact in his blog update on June 3 he had written – ‘tomorrow I resume work on the action sequences of Ghajini. I think my hamstring has recovered, but I’ll get to know tomorrow. Wish me luck.’ But the doctor advised him against it.”

On the film schedule, the source says, “There is no hurry. He has started shooting his non-action scenes.”

Meanwhile, Aamir is busy promoting his nephew Imran Khan’s debut film “Jaane Tu Yaa which is releasing on July 4.

Courtesy: starboxoffice.com

Rajini will ‘act’ in Sultan The Warrior

KEEPING the word about Sultan The Warrior being 90 percent realism in animation, Soundarya Rajinikanth,MD,Ocher Studios, and stunt master Peter Hein are in Vietnam now, shooting the action sequences of this film, which will animate the superstar.

Following the system followed by animation movies of world standard, most of the scenes of the film will really be shot, before they are animated and exaggerated. It is only for this reason that the crew is now in Vietnam, trying to capture original Vietnamese stunts.

Meanwhile, Rajinikanth,who has agreed to lend his voice for the animated version, will also be acting out his entire portion for the movie. But his dates for the movie have not been fixed and Soundarya Rajinikanth, producer and director of the movie, is waiting for the Superstar to give her dates.

The movie will have music by AR Rahman, art by Thotta Tharani and is set for an April 2009 release.

Courtesy: newindpress.com

Asin's London Dreams with Salman

Asin, one of the most prominent leading actresses of South Indian cinema, is said to have signed two new films in Bollywood, even before her first Hindi film Ghajini opposite Aamir Khan hits the theatres.

Reports say that this Malayalee actress has agreed to star in Vipul Shah's Salman Khan-Ajay Devgan starrer London Dreams, in which she will be paired opposite Salman. She has also signed a film to be directed by Priyadarshan opposite Akshay Kumar. However official confirmation is yet to come.

Meanwhile, rumours has it that the release date of Ghajini has changed from October 2 to a later day. It is said that Aamir Khan's minor accident had adversely affected the film's progress. Anyway, Asin has already turned one of the hottest newcomers with a couple of films with Bollywood big boys.

Courtesy: oneindia.in

What happened to Aamir’s cameo?

Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na... is special to Aamir Khan. It marks the debut of his nephew Imraan, na!

Anyway, Aamir had actually planned to do a special appearance in this film. He was to play a cop in the movie, but then got so busy that he just couldn’t get down to doing it.

And in his place came Murli Sharma. Accustomed to playing the bad guy in films, Murli will play a good cop in this one. But will Aamir find a way of being a part of the motion picture that’s so close to his heart? Koi jaane na!

Courtesy: timesofindia.com

Aamir tells all...

Aamir Khan — the otherwise politically correct actor — seems to have rubbed many co-actors the wrong way off late, the latest being Salman Khan.

Recently there were reports that the song Pappu Can’t Dance from his nephew Imran Khan’s debut film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa was a dig at the Bollywood hunk.

However, an insider said that as soon as these baseless reports emerged, Aamir didn’t waste any time and made a special call to Salman to clarify the issue. Incidentally, the two Khans — who are long standing friends and go back to Andaz Apna Apna days — had not spoken for a long time and were completely out of touch.

The insider said, “Aamir’s call proved to be a welcome connection between the two.” Surprisingly, even though Aamir clarified that the Pappu... song’s lyrics which talk about a ‘muscular bachelor’ were not directed towards him, the otherwise hot-headed Salman was dismissive and took it in his stride. Bypassing all the talks about Pappu..., all he wanted to know is when was Aamir taking him out for dinner.

When contacted, Aamir confirmed this saying, “Salman can dance pretty well so there it goes. But actually I am thankful that this has made me call him as we hadn’t connected since long. Salman is a most chilled out person. My attempts to clarify were fruitless as he would just not listen to anything, but in the process we have decided to go out for dinner one of these days. We have both been busy, so it will be actually a great catching up session.”

Courtesy: timesofindia.com

Can he deliver a hit for Mahesh this time?

Mahesh’s film with Warner Bros. is getting hotter even before the film entered the script stage.

This trilingual will go to floors next year; meanwhile Mahesh will complete his current assignment with Trivikram.

Latest buzz on Mahesh’s film with Warner Bros. is that AR Rahman might score music for this film. Rahman scored music for Mahesh’s Nani earlier but failed to impress. Nani music and film too had flopped big time. If Rahman is roped in for this film we have wait and see if he can deliver a hit for him this time.

Courtesy: andhracafe.com

Research for Robot begins

Robot, the latest to come from the Shankar-Rajinikanth team, has begun its ground work and research. The whole process is being done with the strictest of security arrangements. Sivaji, the previous film by Shankar-Rajinikanth, was a big hit; during its making, some of the images were released on the internet without proper authorization. In the wake of this incident, the producers have arranged for even stricter measures to ensure proper security.

Director Shankar has imported computers from the US to be used for the special effects to be shot in the movie. Access to the place were the computers are kept is limited only to the actual people using them.

Meanwhile, Rajinikanth is still working on Kuselan and any commitment to Robot will be decided only after he completes it.

Courtesy: galatta.com

Extreme graphics in 'Sakkarakatti'

Santhanu, the son of master screenwriter and director K. Bhagyaraj is starring in a film titled ‘Sakkarakatti’. Another famous son Prabhu (son of producer Kalaipuli Dhanu) debuts as director with this film.

The movie has extensive Computer Generated Imagery for the song sequences. A. R. Rahman has composed the songs. A song titled Chinnamma has been with graphic designers and animators for the past 13 months. Such is the magnitude of the CGI part of the song that is being planned with detailed storyboarding and precision.

Another song titled 'I miss you da….' also has tremendous graphics portions and graphic designers are working on it for 7 months and are still at it.

This kind of planning and execution is creating a lot of expectations for the film.

Certain illegal music portals have been carrying a song called 'Good Morning Tamilnadu' and claim it is from the movie ‘Sakkaraikatti’. However, the filmmakers have told Indiaglitz exclusively that this is not true and are denying it vehemently.

Courtesy: indiaglitz.com

Pawan and 4000 junior artistes in Puli

After Jalsa, Pawan Kalyan’s next project is attracting a lot of attention from the media. In fact, the success of Jalsa has raised expectations for his next venture.

Puli is the tentative title of Pawan Kalyan’s next film which was set to begin on June 23th. Now it has already been brought forward three days to June 20th, according to sources.

S.J. Suryah is the director, Singanamala Ramesh will be the producer and the music will be composed by A.R. Rahman.

The specialty of the film will be the opening shot which will be canned with the hero and 4000 junior artistes.

Courtesy: galatta.com

Working with Aamir is fantastic: Jiah

In a short span of less than two years, this sultry babe with an enchanting pout and lustrous locks has worked with bigwigs like Ram Gopal Varma and Amitabh Bachchan.

Actress Jiah Khan, who has now bagged Aamir Khan's prestigious project Ghajini, talks to NT about some of the things close to her heart.

We don't get to hear anything about you these days. What are you up to?

My entire energy and waking hours are dedicated to Ghajini these days. It is such an engrossing film that I don't even have the time to think about anything else. But I am not supposed to say anything else about the project.

There are rumours that you have chopped your lustrous locks for one of the forthcoming films on Shahid Kapur's advice...

No way! I will never do that unless a role really demands it. All these rumours are silly.

If you had to choose between Ramu and Aamir as your favourite director, whom would you choose?

(Giggles) This is a tough one! Each one is a genius in his own right and their techniques are quite distinctly different. So, both remain my favourites.

With your western upbringing and exotic looks, you are just right for the crossover projects. Why aren't you doing these?

I am doing a couple of such projects. The discussions are on, but till the time I actually sign these, it won't be appropriate to talk about them.

You were quite bowled over by Big B after Nishabd. Who are the other industry men who are hot according to you?

I haven't worked with many of them to comment on them. But yes, I find those who are not married, quite hot. Shahid for one, is a wonderful guy to work with.

You are doing quite a few stunts these days for your films. Is it because your role model Angelina Jolie also does her own stunts?

Yeah, maybe! Angelina's stunts are quite awe-inspiring. I also like the way she lives her life on her own terms and I admire her concern for children and animals.

Doesn't it scare you sometimes that you might get hurt?

It maybe scary at times but unless you do your own stunts, you can't convince the audience about the depth of your emotions on screen. So, you have to go for it. After all, it is for a cause.

Grapevine has it that you will be appearing in Dhoom:3. Are you ready to change your image for that?

It's not confirmed as yet. But, if it comes through and the role demands it, I don't mind changing my look completely.

One recent movie that you really liked...

Taare Zameen Par. There wasn't a single minute when I didn't cry during that movie. I felt completely drained out emotionally. And when the lights were switched on in the theatre, I saw that all the people had tears in their eyes.

And what do you have to say about Aamir Khan?

Meeting him and working with him is an experience in itself. As a director he's fantastic. I absorb any advice or input that he gives me. He's a wonderful person too.

Who's the lucky man in your life?

I am not very comfortable talking about my private life but I will say just one thing 'I am so happy these days'!

What about your singing aspirations? After all, you are a trained opera singer.

I play piano and sing and dance at home. But that's a very private thing. These things help me to destress.

Courtesy: timesofindia.com

Rahman named best music director at IIFA

A.R. Rahman was named the best music director for his score in "Guru" at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) 2008 awards here Sunday night, while the Shah Rukh Khan starrer "Om Shanti Om" swept a number of technical awards.

Shreya Ghoshal won the honours for the best playback singer (female) for "Barso re" from Mani Ratnam's "Guru", which film also bagged awards for the best background score (Rahman) and best song recording (H. Sridhar).

The best playback singer (male) award was bagged by Shaan for "Jab se tere naina" from "Saawariya".

Veteran Javed Akhtar was named the best lyricist for "Om Shanti Om", which also garnered awards for best special effects (Red Chillies Entertainment), best art direction (Sabu Cyril), best costume design (Manish Malhotra, Karan Johar and Sanjeev Mulchandani) and best makeup.

The award for best screenplay was won jointly by Anurag Basu ("Life in a Metro") and Jaideep Sahni ("Chak De! India").

"Chak De! India" also took home the trophy for best cinematography.

Imtiyaz Ali was named the best dialogue writer for "Jab We Met".

Courtesy: indiainfo.com

Aamir is all set to clash with Shah Rukh again?

There may be murmurs around the release date of Ghajini being changed from October 2 to a later day but our trade sources insist that there is no other option for the film but be postponed.

Says the source on condition of anonymity, "There is no way how Ghajini could make it to 2nd October.

Ok, so it is a great time for release but then the film hasn't managed to make a kind of progress, which would enable it to be ready for release on 2nd October.

Aamir Khan has gone through quite a few accidents, minor as they may be, but all of that has adversely affected the film's progress."

Courtesy: ittefaq.com

Aamir's cameo in nephew's film?

The debut film of nephew Imran Khan is so close to Aamir's heart that he is keen to do a cameo in it.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na... is special to Aamir Khan. After all it marks the debut of his nephew Imran, and the comeback of his uncle Mansoor Khan.

We heard that Aamir was keen to do a special appearance in the film. The actor was to play a cop, but then got so busy with Ghajini that he just didn't find the time to play out his role.

His place was then taken over by Murli Sharma. Accustomed to playing the bad guy in films, Murli will play a good cop in this one.

But will Aamir find a way of being a part of the motion picture that's so close to his heart? Koi jaane na!

Courtesy: indiatimes.com