Celebrations with a heart
Birthdays are ideal occasions to give back to society. And, that seems to be the mantra of many filmstars. A trend set by the likes of Rajinikanth, Ajith and Trisha has percolated down to the younger lot of actors such as Bharath, who recently celebrated his birthday at Udavum Karangal. Says Bharath: “I've been doing this for a few years now, in private. But, I thought that by making these actions public, others will follow suit.” Bharath donated six specially-fitted tricycles to the physically challenged and treated a thousand inmates of Udavum Karangal to a substantial meal.
Name game
People known by three initials have mostly been successful in films and politics. Remember MGR, NTR, SSR (Rajendran) and TMS (Soundararajan)? Now, ‘little superstar' Simbu has adopted a new name — STR (Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendran). And, after the success of VTV (three letters again!), STR seems to have attained minor superstar status.
Planned moves
A van Ivan, Kitch and Yuddam Sei areunder production and Baley Pandiya is due for release. And, producer Kalpathi S Agoram has already started planning ahead — he is bringing together the hit combo of Ayan, Suriya and director K V Anand, for a mega project that will kick off in February 2011. Says Kalpathi, “As a producer, distributor and exhibitor, I look at a production from every angle for its commercial viability. In this game, it is the producer who is at the risk of losing money. So, I ensure that my films have the right ingredients to make them box office successes.”
Sensitive theme
Cinematographer-turned-director M. Nagendra Kumar has brought together a talented trio — Suhasini Mani Ratnam, Archana and Sivaji Rao — for his forthcoming Ullamellam Thalladuthey . Says Nagendra: “I've attempted to tackle a very sensitive subject about a widowed mother, her daughter and son-in-law, who is almost as old as the mother. A piece of gossip about a non-existent relationship between the mom-in-law and son-in-law upsets the daughter and, almost believing it, she decides to sacrifice her marriage to make her mother happy.” A tricky tale, indeed, but the climax will be the clincher, says Nagendra.
Futuristic fare
Producer/director/hero of Vizhiyil Vizhunthaval , Ajaz seems to be a content man after the release of his maiden venture. In fact, he is quite upbeat about his future in the film industry. Says Ajaz: “Being in the software industry and having been associated with a lot of back-end work for films, we have the right expertise, knowledge and infrastructure needed to produce hi-tech films. VV was quite graphic intensive (all the sets were created using graphics). We'll see how viewers accept VV before deciding on our next production.”
