Etcetera: From theatre to films

Inigo Prabhakar

Twenty-five years in Tamil theatre have honed her skills so much so director Janaki Vishwanathan cast her in her

Om Obama, and director Choladevan included her in his

Sandiyar , which is due for a Pongal release. But, Pillayarpatti Jayalakshmi was thrilled to play the hero’s villainous grandmother in director Bharathibala's

Vizha, which released on Friday. “I hail from Thanjavur but have been acting in Tamil theatre for a long time. The move to the silver screen satisfies my deep desire to play meaningful roles for a wider audience,” says Jayalakshmi.

Sensual music

Director Rupesh Paul’s Kamasutra 3D, based on Vatsayana's ancient treatise, uses Auro 3D sound technology. Sherlyn Chopra, Milind Gunaji and Nasser play the main roles. The music by Sachin and Sreejith has been receiving a lot of appreciation from listeners. “There are seven songs in the film. Of these, two are in English and we have experimented with western classical, opera and pop. The other songs are in Sanskrit and Hindi and have a Carnatic base and one song has been composed specially for a Sivathandavam sequence. The producers plan to have the official launch of both the movie and the soundtrack in February,” informs Sreejith. Kamasutra ’s soundtrack is in contention for the Oscar shortlist in two categories – Original Songs and Original Score, says Sreejith.

A dream run

Since his entry into films in 2001, Inigo Prabhakar has come up with performances that have made an impact in Chennai 28, Saroja, Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai and Sundarapandiyan . Now, Prabhakar eagerly awaits the release of Rummy in which he plays the lead. “The role is really powerful; in fact, even the hero’s name is Shakti! It has given me scope to explore various emotions. Director Balakrishnan's capacity to extract quality work out of the team has translated well on screen. I am happy that the music by Imman has also been well-received,” says Prabhakar who is already into the first schedule of his next film.

Mission to win

Short film director Hari is on Cloud 9. Just back from Delhi where his Mission Thiruvanmiyur won a prestigious award, Hari says, “I am glad to inform that my short film Mission Thiruvanmiyur , one of the two short films ( Akkanathil is the other) that got nominated in the Woodpecker Film Festival, has won the best film award in the nominated category. It was a three-day event which started off with a grand inaugural ceremony on December 19 at India Habitat Centre. Short films, documentary, environment-oriented films, ad-films and various other categories which were nominated for festivals were continuously screened on all the three days. The awards night was a lavish affair at the Suryaa Hotel in New Delhi. I would like to thank my production team — Sundaram, Surya Prasadh, Vigneshwaran, Boopathy and Vinoth Nathan — and all those who believed in me and travelled with me on my journey to this success.” Hari is now ready to convert his short film into a full-length feature, for which his script is ready. “We are searching for a producer who can fulfil our dream of entering into the Tamil film industry with a bang.”