Shotcuts: It’s different!

Actor R. Parthepan. Photo: R. Ashok

R. Parthepan is known for doing things differently. For his next film, this begins with the title itself! Called Kathai, Thiraikathai, Vasanam, Iyakkam with a tagline that goes ‘A film without a story’, the movie has story, screenplay and dialogue written by the versatile actor. Though he will produce and direct the film, he will not act in it. “I want to do a film with only new faces. Also, the film does not need me. The script is ready and I’m looking for a heroine. The shooting will begin once that’s finalised,” says Parthepan. Kathai … will be the 12th film to be written and directed by him.

Sounds different

Get ready for

Yazh , a film in Sri Lankan Tamil dialect. It is written, produced and directed by M.S. Anand, who is based in Sydney, Australia. Anand, who did a two-year course on script writing and direction, has made a couple of short films and Mithivedi, a film on Sri Lankan Tamils. “When I completed Mithivedi, my Sri Lankan Tamil friends told me there have been films on their country revolving only around war and similar aspects, but none showcasing their way of life. So I came up with

Yazh . The film has new faces. Though the actors are all from Tamil Nadu, they speak only the Sri Lankan Tamil dialect in the film. In fact, I engaged a couple of assistants to coach them on how to speak the dialect,” says Anand.

Yazh , the musical instrument is said to be the connecting link for the characters in the film. The film has three lead pairs, including new faces Vinoth, Sashi, Misha and Leema Babu. Daniel Balaji and Neelima Rani, who were part of Mithivedi, are part of

Yazh too. The film will be released next month.

On God’s own country

Music director S.S. Kumaran is delighted — his second venture Suma Pictures’ Kerala Naattilam Pengaludaney is over. “The film has come out well. I have written the story and screenplay, directed it and also scored the music. I was approached to do the film in Malayalam too and release it in Kerala. The Malayalam version with songs is complete; it is called Kerala.com . The film depicts the culture of Kerala. I have shot it completely in Kerala,” he says. The film’s cast includes Abi, Gayathri, Abirami, Dikshitha, Gnanasambantham and Renuka. The camera is handled by Yuvaraj and editing is by Cedric.

Testing the waters?

Looks like music director G.V. Prakash Kumar is testing the waters to act in films. He first appeared in a song in Vijay’s Thalaivaa . Now he’ll appear in a song for the film Kanavukkottagai , directed by Arzil Moorthy. Arzil says, “When we were working on the film, lyricist Madan Karky suggested that we do a song on 100 years of Indian cinema, rapping the names of actors, directors, producers, writers, cameraman, music directors and others associated with Tamil films over the years. So, the film’s music director N.R. Raghunandhan approached his mentor G.V. Prakash who agreed to sing and act. It has been a satisfactory experience for all of us.”