Sameera Reddy had to be rushed to a private hospital after she fainted on the sets of the untitled film directed by Prabhu Deva starring Vishal. Doctors treating Sameera have advised a week’s rest as Sameera is suffering from fever.
Sources close to the actress say that she has been working round the clock for the past several months as she has committed to a Telugu and Hindi film apart from several stage shows and this has taken a toll on her health.
After the stupendous success of ‘Siruthai’, Karthi is taking his time to decide on his next. While the production house is almost confirmed to be his Green Studios, the director has not been decided yet.
As per latest news available with us, directors Boopathy Pandian and Jagan are trying their best to convince Karthi.
Boopathy Pandian was fairly successful in his combination with Dhanush. Their films together like ‘Devathayai Kanden’ and ‘Thiruvilayadal Arambam’ were big boosts to Dhanush in his early days. However Boopathy Pandian’s last film ‘Kadhal Solla Vandhen’ failed to evoke interest in spite of some good music from Yuvan Shankar Raja.
On the other hand Jagan is waiting for another good one to prove his mettle after his decent debut in ‘Raman Thediya Seethai’. Even the almost there ‘Ilaignan’ missed his hands last year.
The Nanban team, including Vijay, Jiiva, Srikanth, Sathyaraj, director Shankar, is now in Dehradun to shoot a major portion of the film there. The director had initially planned to start the shooting of Nanban in Dehradun but changed the location to Ooty where he shot the first schedule.
With Vijay joining the Nanban team, the entire unit had left for Dehradun recently. On the sets yesterday, Srikanth, who plays an important role in the film, celebrated his birthday. Vijay, Jiiva, Shankar and others made the occasion special by arranging a small party for the actor.
Kollywood is importing its newest item girl from Bollywood via Ajith’s 50th film ‘Mankatha’.
She is the gorgeous Kainaat Arora who wooed the audience in the song 'Aila Re Aila' from ‘Khatta Meetha’ directed by Priyadarshan. Yes, the same film that introduced our Trisha to Bollywood.
Kainaat Arora is just back from doing an item song in ‘Mankatha’. She shot for the song with Ajith for four days. So what was it like dancing along with Thala. Kainaat has no words to narrate it. She raves about him and says” he is not only a great actor but a great human being too.”
Ajith on his part surprised the bombshell with his customary culinary skills too. During the four days, one day Ajith surprised Kainaat with boiled chicken, on another day he made lovely dosas and chicken soup for her.
All said and done, Kainaat is sure that her hot item song with Ajith in the film will be a visual treat to all. Let’s hope so.
Poonam Kaur has been signed up to do the all-important second heroine role in Prabhu Deva directed untitled Vishal film.
This Punjabi kudi had made her debut in SAC's Nenjirikkum Vare and also seen in a small role of an air hostess in Radha Mohan directed Payanam.
The pretty Poonam had also done the same role in the Telugu original with Gopichand and Anushka.
She is now all-excited to be a part this Prabhu Deva directed action entertainer.
Recently, Poonam was in the news, after being dropped from a Malayalam film titled Thriller after a two-day shoot as B Unnikrishnan, the director later said that she could not act for nuts!
Indian music maestro A.R. Rahman missed getting the Oscar in the 'Best Original Score' and 'Best original Song' categories. The Oscar for Best Original Score went to the duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for their soundtrack in Inception. The Oscar for Best original Song went to to Randy Newman for ' We Belong Together'.
A.R. Rahman and British pop singer Florence Welch performed 'If I Rise' from 127 Hours at the prestigious Academy Awards ceremony. Notably, this is the second time Rahman is performing at an Oscar awards ceremony. Earlier, Rahman performed at the Oscars in 2009, when he won two Academy Awards for Slumdog Millionaire.
The big breaking news in south cinema is Mani Ratnam signing Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu to do his next bi-lingual film in Tamil and Telugu.
Mahesh Babu popularly called 'Prince' in Tollywood has tweeted on Sunday (Feb 27): "Now for some big news. Met Mani sir this morning, yes the legendary
Mani Ratnam. My dream is coming true finally. I will be working in a Mani Ratnam film. One of the happiest days in my life."
The buzz in Kollywood is that veteran director Mani Ratnam is working on making a period film Ponniyin Selvam with Vijay, Vikram and a third star. So is Mahesh Babu the third actor in the film?
Kalki's epic novel Ponniyin Selvan is widely regarded as the greatest novel ever written in Tamil. It deals with the fortunes of the Chola Empire during the 10th century.
The story revolves around Vandiyathevan, a charming young man who comes to the Chola land to deliver a message from Crown Prince Aditya Karikalan. Meanwhile sources in Hyderabad say Mahesh-Mani project has nothing to do with Ponniyin Selvan. It is a different film which will be shot in Europe!
Will the secretive Mr Mani Ratnam please clarify, so that the media can stop their guessing game and report the actual truth?
Dabangg is setting new records not only in Bollywood, but also in Tamil and Telugu. With Dabangg opening to an overwhelming response, the enthusiasm to acquire the Tamil and Telugu remake rights has increased overnight. In fact, producer Arbaaz has already received several lucrative offers for the same.
The latest buzz is that Kollywood producers Mohan Apparao and T. Ramesh have purchased the remake rights of Dabangg for a whopping amount, the highest ever paid for a remake. Sources say that they are in talks with Karthi and Simbu to play the role of Chulbul Pandey. But the grapevine has it that Simbu is likely to star in this comedy-action musical entertainer.
It is almost confirmed that one time bitter foes now good friends Dhanush and Simbu will clash once again. Yes, two of their eagerly awaited films Maapillai and Vaanam respectively are scheduled to release on April 8, 2011!
As per our trade sources, Sun Pictures have told their regular set of theatres and distributors to take Maapillai booking from April 8. Meanwhile Ganesh the producer of Vaanam feels that April 8 is one of summer 2011's best dates to release a film.
The world cup finals would be over on April 2 and the IPl would just have started and interest on cricket will be low after the world cup. The Tamil Nadu 2011 assembly elections though dates are yet to be announced are likely to be in the last week of April.
Looks like the remake fever has caught on the Tamil film industry and news about Simbu playing Chulbul Pandey in Dabangg's remake is creating maximum buzz. There is another interesting news in this wake and that is the critically acclaimed Madhur Bandarkar's Hindi film Fashion is to be remade in Tamil.
Nayanthara was initally approaced to play the role essayed by Priyanka Chopra but she is said to have refused and the offer seems to have fallen onto Trisha's lap. The supporting role that was played by Kangana Ranaut is to be reprised by Priya Mani. It is noteworthy that both Priyanka Chopra and Kangana Ranaut won the National Award for their respective roles in Fashion. We will keep you posted with the further developments.
Dhanush and Genelia D Souza who had worked together in Uthama Puthiran, has become good of friends. Dhanush who is currently shooting for Venghai with Tamanna under Hari's direction in Trichy is in praises for her Uthama Puthiran co star Genelia.
Dhanush after seeing Genelia's stunts in her upcoming multi lingual movie Urumi directed by Santosh Sivan, praised her action stunts and her dare devil act.
Dhanush tweeted, “ Saw Urumi trailer. Looking awesome. Ur stunts r looking convincing! (Sic)”
The film is a remake of the Telugu hit Shouryam that had Gopichand and Anushka in the lead.
Earlier last month, after a soft launch, Prabhu Deva had shot comedy scenes between Vivek and Sameera at the same college.
Vishal who plays a cop in the film has started shooting only from Friday (Feb 18), as he was busy completing Bala's Avan Ivan.
Prabhu Deva directing Vishal in an all out action movie has created a positive buzz around the film.
The film has music by Vijay Antony and it is sure to turn out into a peppy entertainer.
Dhanush-Hansika Motwani starrer Mappillai, a remake of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth’s yesteryear blockbuster with the same title, is all set to grace theatres on April 8.
Mappillai is directed by Sooraj, who earlier made Dhanush’s Padikadhavan. Mappillai will have the same team of technicians as Padikadhavan working together. Mani Sharma scores music while Venkatesh cranks the camera. Shiyaji Shinde is the villain.
The film also marks the Kollywood comeback of Manisha Koirala, who will play the role of Dhanush's mother-in-law.
Actress Sonia Agarwal is all set to kickstar her second innings in the tinsel town. Her ex-husband Selvaraghavan recently got engaged with his longtime girl friend 'Gayathri'.
The actress Sonia Agarwal got divorced from Selvaraghaan and is right now living in Chennai. Speaking to the media she said that she not looking out for any kind of relation in the near future and has plans only to kickstart her career again in the tinsel town. She made it clear that she would enter into the wedlock only after three years.
She is currently acting in 'Vanam' who has been initially approached for the same role in 'Vedam' telugu version but she happened to act in Tamil version now.
Sonia wished her ex-husband on the occassion of his engagement for finding a new life partner and wished him to start a new life.
Vishal is targeting a place in the Guinness Book of Records, for his performance as a squint-eyed in 'Avan Ivan', directed by National award winning filmmaker Bala.
"I believe this is the first time for an actor to perform squint-eye throughout a film. We are in the process of applying to the Guinness Book of Records," says the actor.
Thrilled at sharing the screen space with Arya in the film, he says, "He is one of my best buddies for the past many years. We knew each other very well even before both of us entered cinema. I was only happy to know that he was my co-star in Avan Ivan."
Not ready to take a break, Vishal has started his next, directed by Prabhu Deva with Sameera Reddy playing the female lead. "It would be an unusual entertainer which is targeted at all sections of the audience," he says.
After the record-breaking Ayan, Suriya and director K.V. Anand are all set to team up again. Reportedly titled Matraan, this project will go on floors in March 2011. Suriya is currently busy with Murugadoss' 7aum Arivu and K.V. Anand is currently directing Ko with Jiiva and Karthika in the lead roles.
According to close sources, Suriya will be seen playing a unique role of Siamese twins. Suriya will be seen in a double role where both the characters he plays will be conjoined and will eat, sleep and do every other job together. The latest buzz is that director Anand is trying to rope Bollywood beauty Sonam Kapoor or Sonakshi Sinha as Suriya's heroine. More details are awaited!
The rapport Malaysia Vasudevan shared with many in the Tamil film industry was evident on Sunday, when they were present at his residence in Chennai on Sunday, to pay their last respects to the celebrated singer-actor who passed away earlier in the day.
Kamal Haasan, who was visibly upset, said, “He has been my friend, my voice and co-actor for many years. He was ill for a long time and I had recently gone with SPB to meet him.”
Music composer Deva, who had used Vasudevan’s voice for several films, said, “His was a solid voice which emoted in a beautiful way. The Tamil music industry will sure miss him a lot.”
AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa condoled Vasudevan’s death and recalled that he had sung around 8000 songs. “His demise is a big loss to the Tamil cinema industry,” she said and expressed her condolences to the bereaved family members.
Southern beauty Asin is all set to play the lead role in Sajid Nadiadwala-directed Housefull 2, which stars Akshay Kumar in lead role. The latest buzz is that the actress will undergo a complete image makeover in the film.
Get ready for the biggest musical blast from the most successful team. According to the sources from Red Giant Movies, we hear that the music launch of ‘7am Arivu’ is scheduled to be held during mid-of-March. The makers of this movie are keen on completing the project at scheduled time as Udhayanidhi Stalin has plans of releasing it by April.
Apart from this reason, A.R Murugadoss has been receiving constant calls from Bollywood and it is reported that he will direct A-league superstar.
‘7am Arivu’ will have a simultaneous release in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi as Surya, Shruthi Haasan and A.R Murugadoss have bigger brands in Bollywood and Telugu film industry as well.
Harris Jayaraj has already made a great time by the very beginning of 2011 with the stupendous success of 'Engeyum Kadhal' and 'Ko' and he is sure about striking with a hat-trick spell.
It's said that one song, written by Na. Muthukumar, has already been composed by Harris and the London trip is to concentrate on the rest of the songs for Nanban. More updates on Nanban follow soon.
According to reliable sources, South Indian beauty Asin has been approached by the makers of South Indian superstar Rajinikanth's next film Rana to be directed by K.S. Ravikumar under the banner of Eros International and Chennai based Ocher Studios.
The sources said even a one-line summary of the script has been narrated to the actress and she is keen to team up with the super star, since the script fascinates her and the film has A.R. Rahman composing the tracks. Notably, Asin had worked with Ravikumar earlier in Varalaru.
Meanwhile, Rana is said to be a live action magnum opus with Rajinikanth playing a triple role. Made in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu, the film will go on floors in March and will hit screens in early 2012.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an organisation working for the well-being of four-legged creatures, has thanked Trisha for her care and compassion towards animals.
In a message to the actress, Sachin Bangera, senior co-ordinator, media and communications, PETA said, “We were so happy to learn more about your animal rescue work. You are such a wonderful example for others to follow.”
“Thanks for extending your support to our campaign to encourage the public to adopt Indian community dogs,” he added. Also, as a token of appreciation, the organisation has also sent a t-shirt for Trisha and her dog.
Expressing happiness, Trisha, who has always been advocating for the cause of showing love towards street dogs, says, “Received the sweetest card from my PETA family. I was so touched and felt like every little thing we do to help animals is worth the effort.”
Kajal Agarwal who is still establishing her charisma in south Indian films has now got one more domain to challenge. The beauty has been signed for the Hindi remake of ‘Singam’ in which she will play the romantic lead opposite Ajay Devgan. It was said that Anushka who did the Tamil version, was being considered for the role.
Kajal has been waiting for a good offer to enter Bollywood for quite sometime. Earlier there was news of her entering Bollywood with the Hindi remake of her Telugu blockbuster ‘Magadheera ‘.
‘Singam’ is being remade in Hindi by Reliance Big Pictures with Ajay Devgan playing the tough cop. Prakash Raj will essay the same role he did in Tamil. It will be directed by Rohit Shetty of Golmaal series fame. The project will start rolling this month and release in July.
Despite the film turning out to be a hit, Prakash Raj did not pay up the loan and the financier has now sought an action with a plea that Payanam’s copyright and negative rights should not be handed over to Prakash Raj if the amount is not settled.
When Prakash Raj offered one of his properties as surety, the court rejected it on grounds that it is owned by his former wife Lalitha Kumari. Immediately, Prakash Raj’s advocate submitted an application that Lalitha is willing to give the property as surety and the court vacated the stay on Payanam’s release.
Though Trisha has denied that plans are on to arrange her wedding by this year end, the actress has definite plans about her marriage. She has said in a recent interview that hers would certainly be a love marriage with the consent of her parents.
Furthering on her ideal husband, Trisha has said that he should be a handsome guy who will be able to give her the confidence that she can live with him for the rest of her life. The actress, however, added that she is in no hurry to tie the nuptial knot just because her contemporaries are doing so.
Selvaraghavan has finally made it! He has got the green signal from Kamal Haasan to direct his next flick. It was reported earlier that Selva and Kamal had met a few days ago and discussed the possibility of working together. When Selva gave him a storyline, Kamal was so impressed that he agreed to it.
It is now said that Kamal has begun the groundwork for this Selva-directed flick. As a beginning, we hear that Kamal is hitting the gym everyday to tone up his physique for the role. Music will be scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja for this project, which is yet to be titled.
Director Selvaraghavan and Geetanjali Raman will be formally engaged today, February 10, 2011. The director and Geetanjali, daughter of Advocate General PS Raman, are deeply in love and are planning to tie the nuptial knot with their parents’ wishes sometime in June this year.
The couple’s parents Mr. and Mrs. PS Raman and Mr. and Mrs. Kasturi Raja along with their family and friends will take part in the engagement ceremony that is scheduled at PS Raman’s residence in Chennai. The engagement will be a very private affair.
Latha Rajinikanth and Soundarya were served with an arrest warrant by the Saidapet Magistrate Court in Chennai following a cheque bounce case. They had obtained a loan amounting to 20 lakhs from Sumarchand Bafna and issued a cheque when he demanded the dues.
But the cheque bounced following inadequate amount in their account and Bafna immediately filed a petition last morning (February 9, 2011) seeking their arrest. When this was brought to the notice of Latha and Soundarya, they immediately paid the dues through a Demand Draft and the case was revoked by the complainant.
With little more than two months left for ‘Mankatha’ to hit the screens, the cast and crew of ‘Thala’ Ajith’s 50th film are extremely busy with the project. “The team led by Venkat Prabhu is working overtime to get things right,” sources say.
“The shooting is almost over but for the last schedule which is planned in Mumbai. It will start in the last week of this month. Important scenes on Ajith and Trisha will be shot there,” they maintain.
Confirming this, Trisha, who will join the ‘Mankatha’ team in Mumbai on February 26, says, “I already had a blast working with Ajith, Venkat and others. Eagerly looking forward for the Mumbai schedule.”
Claiming that he film will be a complete entertainer, the actress adds: “It is going to be a rollicking movie and a treat to the audience.” Buzz is that ‘Mankatha’ is about gambling that takes place during cricket matches.
Nayanthara watched her recent blockbuster, her first Kananda film Super in Hyderabad.
Rockline Venkatesh and her hero superstar Upendra arranged this special show for her at the Prasad preview theatre. The film which is now being dubbed into Telugu had its audio launch in the city the next day.
Why is Nayanthara still called the 'Queen Bee' of Kollywood, in spite of her constant media victimisation and not having a single film in hand?
We guess, it's because she does not have a substitute in Tamil to do the glamour roles with attitude and style.
Recently, a Mumbai based company tried to get in touch with the actress as they could not think of any other actress, when they decided to remake their Fashion in Tamil.
Said a source close to the production house: "There is no other actress right now who has the right attitude and acting capabilities to carry that role made memorable by Priyanka Chopra in the original".
Undoubtedly the lady, still has the star power, which is no less than a hero. Nayanthara has got certain stature and value among cinegoers and audiences look forward to her movies.
There were reports that Trisha’s parents are actively looking for a suitable groom to get their only daughter married. This was, of course, promptly denied by the actress who said that her career still remains her top priority.
The latest news doing rounds in Tollywood is that Trisha is in love with a popular businessman and will soon settle down for marital bliss. Denying this, the lady has said that there is no truth in this news and wondered where such baseless rumors are springing up from.
Trisha says that when she plans to marry, she would do so after making a proper announcement and until then her fans and media should wait patiently.
Kamal Haasan's daughter Akshara Haasan is pursuing her elder sister Shruti's path and trying for opportunities in Bollywood. The 20-year old was initially interested in a position behind the camera but has now decided to try her hand at acting.
Akshara's mother Sarika, a veteran actress herself, is nurturing and introducing the wannabe actress to Bollywood biggies. Kamal Haasan had recommended Shruti to various directors. Now it's the mother in the act for her younger daughter.
Reports say that pretty Samantha, who played Trisha’s role in the Telugu version of ‘Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya’ and starred as debutant Atharva’s heroine in last year’s ‘Baana Kathadi’, is said to be turning a blind eye to Tamil film offers pouring in on her lap.
For some reasons, she appears to have decided that except her mentor and director Gautham Menon’s films, she would never be committing herself to doing any other Tamil film(s) in the near future. For Menon, though, her call-sheet diary is always there for him to fill up the requisite number of days.
Samantha was to star opposite Ajith in his landmark 50th film which was to be directed by Gautham Menon a few months back. As it turned out, Gautham and Ajith fell out with each other, resulting in Samantha missing out on what could have been a major break in her career.
For the present, Samantha is said to in no mood to turn to Kollywood as she is planning to ‘cement’ her place in Tollywood but would make a ‘concession’ if Menon approached her for a role in one of his films. Samantha reminds one of Anushka, who switched over to Tollywood after her debut film in Tamil (‘Rendu’) flopped and then had to invariably make a comeback to Tamil films.
Latest news about Anushka is that she will be starting in Billa 2. This movie will be starting in April. They are expecting actress Nayantara to do the same glamour role as Nayantara did in Billa 1. 
Pairing with Ajith many believe that actress Anushka will be that perfect pair to give more spiciness to the movie. Director Vishnuvardhan is directing the movie while Nirav Shah handling the camera.
Sana Khan who is well known for her glamour can be seen very differently in the film Payanam which has Prakash Raj and Nagarjuna in the cast. Sana Khan has donned an important role in this film. Sana Khan has acted realistically without any make up. Payanam is a film about plane hijack. She says that her role has come out well and this film will earn her a good name.
Sana Khan while speaking said,” I am very happy because I have acted with Nagarjuna whom I adore very much. There is a gap between films because I am interested in acting in different kind of roles. Director Radha Mohan and Prakash Raj have given her tips and also have guided me. I will not leave glamour but I will give importance to it if it has good story. Payanam will be an important film in my career. I can never forget the experience acting the film Payanam. I am very proud because this film has brought out my acting skill.”
Actor Vijay has become No.1 again. In a recent poll conducted amongst Tamil film buffs across the globe, Vijay has made a record of 47% Vijay followed by Ajith Kumar 38%, Rajnikanth 9% and Suriya with 6%. The actor recently happened to meet journalists for a press meet, which indeed was almost like SOS meeting. When journalists questioned him on politics, he kindly requested them not to point out any questions over the arena.
The actor said, “I am really thankful for my fans for being so patient and welcoming me with the good results. Now my complete focus is towards Velayudham and I am exerting my earnest efforts to make it a successful movie. I would like to act in films like Superstar Rajnikanth’s ‘Raja Chinna Roja’ that is meant for children. These days, Agriculture has been reduced to core. I am looking to be a part of such movie that enhances the importance of Agriculture.”
