Talk of the town

THE MAN whom the industry fondly calls Puratchi Kalaignar, on Thursday announced the launch of his latest project. This one is not a film. It's called Shri Andal Alagar College of Engineering, an engineering college that Vijayakant has built in memory of his parents, Andalamma and Alagarsamy.

The college awaiting affiliation from Madras University is housed at Mamandur near Chengalpattu. The actor admittedly ``struggled without proper education'' and has long been cherishing the dream of building a college for the poor and meritorious.

Now that he had his wife's support, he had no hesitation about going ahead with the project, he revealed.

The college will have a statue of his parents in the centre.

In five years, the actor hopes to have a huge college encompassing allied courses and a school for the poor within the 75 acre campus.

* * *

THE CAMERAS are all set to roll once again on the much awaited Maniratnam project `Kannathil Muthamittal'. Indisposed for a while, Maniratnam had to suspend shooting on his film, coming up after the popular `Alaipayuthe'.

But it's back to the sets again on August 11. Though a closely guarded secret, it doesn't keep Kollywood from speculating on the theme of the movie. Is it a love story as the title indicates or does it belong to a completely different genre? ``Keep on guessing,'' the Maniratnam crew says, ``We're not telling.'' Nanditha Das who has been hopping in and out of Chennai frequently, shooting for Thanker Bachan's `Azaghi' is slotted for a significant role in the movie.

Though her dates for `Kannathil...' are not yet finalised, her commitment with the movie is likely to bring her down south more often.

* * *

WHEN ONE of the gates of Singaravelar Maaligai on Rajaji Salai, was closed, there was little speculation. Made famous by the special courts, sudden decisions do not cause surprise here.

But the gate remained closed for days on end, leading to raised eyebrows. The grapevine has it that the sprawling premises was conveniently used by some Union Government offices located nearby to park their vehicles.

This was brought to the notice of a top revenue official, when there was not adequate space for parking vehicles during the issue of licences for IMFL shops.

The official immediately ordered the closure of a gate to restrict entry of vehicles, cutting off access to vehicles including those of the Centre. An unusual Centre-State problem.

A similar parking problem also used to crop up at the Fort St. George, where the Army and the civilian side (read State Government) had to settle it through discussion.

* * *

THERE'S MORE music coming up at Vineyard Centre tonight. Jamming tonight at the city's own underground rock station is Cosmic Debris for this week's edition of the Live 1o1 series.

Now, Cosmic Debris is a band of musicians from the past and present. There's Ashok Cherian on the vocals and guitars, Shaun Roberts (of Molotov Cocktail) on the bass, Sanjay on the guitars and keys and Vasanth on the drums. The buzz is that Cosmic Debris will spring a few surprises.

There would be a couple of other jamming sessions following the main band. If you want to sit back, unwind and listen to music, unplugged, plug in to the Vineyard Centre this evening (3740774).

By Sudhish Kamath,

Ramya Kannan and

K.T. Sangameswaran

Photo: K. Pichumani

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Ready for a hard ride
Next     : Training in rainwater harvesting