‘Kamal, an institution'
Pooja Kumar, who plays the lead along with Kamal Haasan in his next film Vishwaroopam , seems to have got more than what she had bargained for. The actor, who hails from Missouri in the U.S. and grew up watching his films, says Kamal is an institution from which anybody from around the world can learn.
She goes on to add, “I was stunned. He is an actor, director, singer, dancer, lyricist, producer and composer and yet, despite having achieved so much, still strives for excellence. He has a passion to learn.”
“I have learnt quite a bit from the gifted artiste. If you ask me to pick the best lesson I have learnt, I'd say it's the need to have a thirst for knowledge. Kamal is a voracious reader, and I consider reading important for a happy life,” says the actor with a smile.
Comedy again from Ezhil
Comedy is the flavour of the season and director Ezhil, whose Manam Kothi Paravai is doing reasonably well, hopes to cash in on the trend.
“After Manam Kothi Paravai, which featured Siva Karthikeyan and Athmiya Rajan in the lead, several people called me to tell me that they enjoyed the funny sequences in the film. Audiences seem to prefer comedies these days and so, I have decided to make another comedy. Work on my next film will start in August and I will be producing it apart from directing it,” says Ezhil.
Quiz Ezhil about reports in a section of the press which claimed that he was to do three movies, and he replies, “I was misquoted. I have been approached by three producers and I have agreed to do a film for one of them. That apart, I will be doing my own film.”
Adds the director, “Although I have not finalised the cast and the scripts for these films yet, Siva
Karthikeyan will play the lead in one of them.”
Here comes the prince
Actor Ganesh Venkatram has been signed up to play a prince in the award-winning director Roopa Iyyer's Chandra .
Says Ganesh about his role, “My character is from a royal family and Shriya Saran plays the female lead in the film. My character resembles those you find in a Mills and Boons novel.”
Ganesh says the film is to be shot in the U.S. and in some stately homes in India.
“A bilingual, it is to be made in Tamil and Kannada. I liked the story and hence agreed to do the role,” says Ganesh.