Power play
Guess who's going to be keenly following the IPL 2011 final? Our film stars — thanks to the upcoming Celebrity Cricket League (CCL). The matches will witness actors from Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films competing with each other. They will be held in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. And, Tamil tinseltown's own CSK, The Chennai Rhinos is represented by actors Suriya (the captain), Sarath Kumar, Arya, ‘Jeyam' Ravi, Madhavan, Vishnu, Shyam, Vishal and Bharath. The team is looking at getting a few tips from CSK at IPL final in Chepauk today. The CCL will be held from June 4 to 12.
Taking a leaf out of his book
Director Vetri Maran has bagged this year's National Award for his “Adukalam”. The film has won awards in a couple of other categories too. And, it all began with a book! Says the director: “As a student of English Literature, I used to read a lot. One book that had quite an impact on me was ‘Roots' by Alex Haley. ‘Adukalam' was inspired by this book. I remember not being able to take my mind off Chicken George, a character from the book, for over a month back then.”
Best foot forward
Saranya Ponvannan is on cloud nine, having bagged the National Award for best actress for her role in “Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru”. “I owe a lot to director Seenu Ramaswamy for this award. I kept asking him questions about village women and their way of life, and he was always very patient. Two aspects in playing that role required a lot of attention — ploughing the fields and walking without footwear. When I saw a rural woman wearing a specific type of footwear, I got a similar pair for my role. Such is the support I got from the team,” says the actor.
