Here's a story that's bound to warm your hearts and revive your faith in humanity. On Sunday, a little-known person from a remote corner in Kerala called Suresh was honoured by actor Parthepan through his Manitha Neya Mandram at Lakshmi Hall in the presence of some of the best-known names in the Tamil film industry.
His claim to fame? The man was being rewarded for his honesty, and for not succumbing to temptation. “Suresh is a poor lottery ticket seller in Ernakulam, Kerala. One day, a poor customer of his, Ayyappan, purchased five tickets from him. However, as he did not have the money to pay Suresh then, he told him to keep the tickets with him till he returned to pay for them in the evening. Suresh agreed. When the results came in, Suresh realised that one of the tickets Ayyappan had left with him had won a sum of Rs. 1.4 crore. Despite many around him suggesting that he keep the winning ticket as Ayyappan had not yet paid for it, Suresh left his stall to find Ayyappan and hand it over to him. In fact, Ayyappan himself told Suresh that he did not want the ticket as he hadn't paid for it. But Suresh insisted that the ticket belonged to Ayyappan and it was only fair to hand it over to him. I don't know whether I would have been so honest. It is only fair that someone like Suresh who has been honest, despite being in the throes of poverty, is rewarded,” said Parthepan at the function organised to honour the poor ticket seller, who was flown in to Chennai and brought to the hall in a limousine by Parthepan's organisation.
Suresh was honoured with a cheque for Rs. 1 lakh and presented the Best Humanitarian Award. The actors present on the occasion, including Vivekh, Prasanna and Rohini, showered praises on him.
A blood and eye donation camp too was organised on the occasion by the Mandram.
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Romancing the screen
Dance master Raju Sundaram will be acting in a Tamil film again. The film, titled AKQJ and Joker , will star Shaam, Vaibhav and Allari Naresh along with the dance choreographer-cum-actor. Sneha Ullal, Neelam and Kamna Jethmalani have been cast as the female leads in the film, which is to be directed by Anil Sunkara who produced “Dookudu,” a big hit in Tollywood.
Says Raju Sundaram, “Anil is a good friend and I've known him for long. I did not even listen to the script when they approached me for the project. All I was told was it is a fun film on the lines of ‘The Hangover.' I'm choreographing for a lot of Telugu films at the moment and I thought acting would be a good change.”
The film, sources claim, will be a stereoscopic 3D movie and the first comedy 3D film in India. Bappi Lahiri and his son Bappa Lahiri are to score the music for the film.
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Song for friendship
Friendships matter, even to those in Kollywood. Music director G. V. Prakash has sung a song for his friend Raghunandan in his next film “Neer Paravai,” which is being directed by Seenu Ramasamy. The film stars Nakul and Sunaina in the lead.
Says Prakash: “I am not into singing, but Raghunandan is a good friend. When he approached me for a song, I could not say ‘no' and hence sang it for him. I got him to come down to my studio to record the song, which has been penned by Vairamuthu. It was a nice experience on the whole.”
