Going places
Archana Kavi joins the long list of female actors who migrate to Tollywood for name and fame. She will be seen in the Tamil film ‘Aravan,' directed by ‘Veyil' Vasantha Balan. It is a period film that will see Archana as a demure girl from another century. Playback singer Karthik makes his debut as music director with this film. Meanwhile ‘Mulla' star Meera Nandan is busy with her first film in Tamil, ‘Valmiki,' while Parvati, who made her debut in ‘Out of Syllabus,' is a busy star in Kannada.
Ghazals and more
Film music buffs have some good music to look forward to during the Onam season. Lenin Rajendran's ‘Makara Manju' has four delightful songs by Ramesh Narayan. “Hariharan, Sujatha, Srinivas and I have sung the songs composed by Kavalam Narayana Panikar and K. Jayakumar. The one sung by Hariharan and Sujata song is really special. Hariharan sings a number by Mirza Ghalib while Sujatha renders the lines composed by Jayakumar. It is a first in Malayalam cinema,” says the veteran singer and composer who is also busy tuning 10 ghazals for an album. The songs have been visualised beautifully by Lenin and master cinematographer Madhu Ambat.
On a high
Another music composer who is on a high is M. Jayachandran who is working on a wide variety of films. His Onam release is the Mohanlal-starrer ‘Shikhar,' which has songs in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. While K.J. Yesudas sings the one in Malayalam, Shankar Mahadevan and S.P. Balasubramaniam sings the Tamil and Telugu songs, respectively. “I always try to look for variety in my work,” says Jayachandran. He will also be composing for the remake of yesteryear hit ‘Rathinirvedam' and Fazil's unnamed film, which, Jayachandran, says is a musical.
Friendship song
Meanwhile, script writer Krishnan Poojapura who had penned the hits ‘Ivar Vivahitarayal,' ‘Happy Husbands' and ‘Sakudumbam Shymala' says his latest story for Saji Surendran eulogises friendship. In tune with the theme, M.Jayachandran plans to remix the old chartbuster ‘Ye Dosti' from Sholay. It will be sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Udit Narayan. Just the right song for a movie that toasts the ties of friendship!
