Mine of emotions
He has a clutch of films to his credit — Kakka Kaaka , Vettaiyadu Vilayadu , Pollathavan and Muthirai . Not for him the song and dance routine of the heroes. He wants to excel in anti-hero roles. “Playing a villain in style will get me more appreciation and screen space,” says Daniel Balaji. Along came such a role, Asoka, a Sri Lankan lieutenant, in director Anand Maiyur Srinivas' 90-minute thriller/drama, Mithivedi . Says the Sydney-based director, “ Mithivedi portrays the plight of civilians in mine-infested areas. Unless we create a global awareness about the fact that there are a million landmines still active in those areas, the chance of saving innocent civilians is very slim.” Neelima plays Selvi, an Eelam Tamil, who ventures into a minefield to make a living as a farmer. Mithivedi is releasing this week in the U.K., Canada and Switzerland, followed by Europe and India.
The long and the short of it
Even as he was giving the finishing touches to the script of his next feature film script, the producers with whom director Haricharan was negotiating offered him a short horror film to direct for Sahara One channel. Eagle Films of Mumbai were contacted by Sahara One to produce a series of short films in the horror genre. For variety, they wanted different directors to do the series titled Yeh Kaali Kaali Raathein . “When I was approached I thought it would interesting to do something in Hindi,” says Haricharan. He wrote the story and screenplay as well as directed Koel starring Ipshita Mallik, Akash Kapoor and Sanam Jain. The five-episode film was telecast recently.
Formula for fun
After assisting director Shankar since Gentleman , Madhesh produced Mudhalvan,Chocolate,Madurai (starring Vijay) and Arasangam (starring Vijaykanth) and even directed the last two films. His latest venture is Mirattal . “It is an action-comedy. In fact, our tag line is ‘100% thillu mullu ',” says Madhesh. The film stars Vinay and Prabhu. The comic quotient is provided by Santhanam and Kanjakaruppu. Mirattal is ready for release and Madhesh hopes people will enjoy it.
In search of love
Failure in love turns hero Vidhiyalraju into a criminal in Vettaiyadu . The hero falls in love with the heroine played by Udhayathara, who is an orphan, and helps her with her college education. But she falls in love with another boy in the college and elopes. The hero turns an emotional wreck and takes to violence. He targets newly weds, especially brides, and kills them. Eventually, he comes across his lost love Udhayathara, who is planning to get married. This far and no further. I cannot reveal the suspense,” says director K S Vijayabalan.
