Itsy-Bitsy

Susi Appadithan

Love and duty

Picture this scenario: There's a husband and an ailing wife. There's his sister's best friend, who is quite concerned about the wife and at the same time is in awe of the husband who devotes so much time to look after her. In the process she falls in love with the man. And he is torn between his wife, who is on the death bed and the attention he his receiving from this girl. There is chaos, confusion and misunderstandings. Director Suresh Raj explores emotions in Susi Appadithan . Puneeth and Rattan, Shaira Khan and Vasavi are the main protagonists in this drama of human relationships.

Kollywood beckons again

She was cast in a significant role in her debut film — Adoor Gopalakrishnan's

Nizhalkuthu in Malayalam. She became well known in Tamil films with Cheran's Autograph . Thiruppachi and Tirupathi followed and Mallika's career was on a roll. She then moved on to do Kannada and Malayalam movies. “I may soon be signing up to play the lead in two Tamil films. I have just completed director Sandhya Mohan's Mr. Marumagan and will start work in director Satyan Anthikad's next that has Mohan Lal in the lead. Both are in Malayalam,” says the actor, who is on the lookout for some challenging and meaty roles in Tamil films.

A bag full

A sequel to

Muni ,

Kanchana has a bit of suspense with liberal doses of comedy and action. It will appeal to a wide variety of audience including children, says director-actor Raghava Lawrence. The film will see Sharat Kumar in the role of a transgender. Lakshmi Rai plays Raghava's love interest. With five films under his belt as a director, of which he has acted in three, Raghava says, “

Kanchana is not exactly a sequel. Only the character played by me is the same as in the original but the storyline is very different.”

Sound of good music

To suit the character, hero Sanjay grew his hair and beard before director Subbu Sujatha started filming Thandava Kone . After Aval Peyar Thamilarasi , heroine Nandagi plays a very realistic role which, according to the director, will fetch her lot of recognition. Very selective with his assignments, composer Ilaiyaraja was reportedly quite taken up with the script of Thandava Kone and has composed some excellent songs and background score for the film. In fact, he has even written the lyrics and sung a song which is an ode to a mother. “The story is about how the passing away of the hero's mother changes his perspective,” says Subbu Sujatha.

Closer to reality

His five-year experience as an assistant director has helped Satya Siva to tackle a serious subject in a light-hearted manner in Kazhugu . The story is based on a real-life incident — about a suicide that takes place in Kodaikanal. “I have shot in the real location of the incident. The film is about four persons who are sent there to recover the body of a suicide victim. Krishna (seen in Katradu Kalavu ) and Bindu Madhavavi (of Veppam fame) play the lead. The other three are Karunas, Thambi Ramayya and Praveen. I decided to deal with the story in a humorous film so that the majority of the audience will understand that suicide is not the way out for a problem,” says Siva.