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kandukonden kandukonden - tmc

Rajiv Menon has postponed the release of his multi-starrer 'Kandukonden Kandukonden' to April14th, the Tamil New Year Day.
Rumour mills have it that Menon showed the film before a rural audience in Dindigul and is re-shooting the reels which have received an adverse reaction! Mammootty is reported to be doing a negative role in the film. 

Mudhalvan -tmc

SHANKER'S Mudhalvan has been embroiled in controversies from the time it was complete owing to its political content. Most politicians in the state have raised a hue and cry over its portrayal of the state politics. Sadly, amidst the din of controversies the film's special effects have gone unnoticed. 

Specially, the massive traffic jam sequence in the film that has been computer generated after shooting the scene with very few vehicles. Also the two songs Mudalvane and Azhagana Ratchasiye have specially generated backdrops. The film was originally written with Rajnikanth in mind but after he refused the project it went to Arjun whose power packed performance seems to have enthralled the audience. 

A.R Rahman's U.S offers

The news that A.R. Rahman got offers from U.S companies  is old.  Now he is ready to start work on his first project for 20th Century Fox.  Many are speculating that the ace M.D may stop scoring music for Tamil movies once he gets more offers from the west.  These rumors seems to have some substance to them since he has not accepted any new Tamil films, he is only working on the Tamil films he accepted last year.  But there are rumours stating that Rahman may take an year off from composing any music at all.

kandukonden kandukonden - ntm - 07.11 - Cinematographer turned director Rajiv Menon's sophomore film will have a talented cast ensemble.  The movie will have Ajith, Mammooty, and Abbas heading the cast alongside Aishwarya Rai, Tabu and Shamli (Shalini's Anjali-fame sister).

Rajiv Menon directed AVM's 50 anniversary film Minsara Kanavu, which turned out to be a modest hit. 

It is the story of a 'Setti Nadu' family moving to the city.  The story revolves around the daughters finding love in the city and how this affects the family.  Mamootty appears in an important and different role.  The dialogues for the movie will be penned by Sujatha.

Rajiv's good friend A.R Rahman, who played a part in the director landing the directing job of Minsara Kanavu, will again score the music.  The earlier reports indicate that the music will be another hit album by A.R Rahman.

This big budget flick's song sequences were shot around exotic international locations with lavish sets.

Apparently Aishwarya Rai was so excited about her character in the movie, that she has taken an interest in the Tamil language.  The former Miss World plays a talkative character in the movie.

interview with shankar - it - 07.11 - Q: How do you like AR Rahman's music? He says that you and Manirathinam are the two directors who bring out the best in him?

A: What I like in Rahman is his fighting spirit and 'never say die attitude'. For example I wanted a song with the theme "smile" and the lyrics were written and the composing done but somehow I was not feeling very comfortable with the end product.
Something was lacking and Rahman too felt the same. Then I got the idea of a song with the theme "no" and this excited me so much that I was very satisfied with what was created finally. Rahman has given a lot of folk music for this film. We have seen to it that the music caters to people of all ages and tastes.

taj mahal - ntm - 07.11 Manoj is the star of Taj Mahal and son of Bharathiraja another interesting side of Manoj is that he is also a musician.  He has finished his first album. He has sung 6 songs.  The album will be released after Taj Mahal's release.  The title of his album is the same as Bharathiraja's first movie Pathinaru Vayathinile. 

Bharathiraja changed his son's name from Manoj to ManiBharathi.  He changed his name because the name ended with the 'pulli' letter.  But Manoj did not agree, so his name stays as Manoj

muthalvan - ntm - 07.11  One of the scenes of the movie Mudhalvan was shot on a moving car in rush hour traffic.  The shooting caused a traffic jam in Annasalai for two hours. Shankar is known to hold most of his shooting in private places away from the media so the story line of the movie stays secret.  It seems he felt this particular scene required to be shot in that particular location.

Alaipayuthe - ntm - 07.11  the movie's shooting started without a poojai, and is continuing in Chennai.  Mani Ratnam is trying keep his new movie out of the media buzz which his movies are known to suffer.  It is reported that he is trying to finish the movie in a mere four months, that's a first for Mani Ratnam.  Also the movie will not have a single song, but A.R Rahman will score the background music.

The story deals with two lovers who get married opposing their families.  But unlike many Tamil movies, this one deals what happens after the marriage, and how the newly weds handle problems in their lives.  There were some reports which claimed Mohanlal and Shah Rukh Khan were to appear in guest roles, but that rumour seems to be not true.

mutalvan - Shanker's penchant for using a brahmin family or the brahmin community as a whole in his films has been seen earlier. He is back in action again with 'Muthalvan'.

Shankar who was shooting near the Kapaleeswarar temple decided that he would not serve non-vegetarian food to the unit since it would offend the locality inmates. The maami's were thrilled to have hero Arjun sit in their small houses and sip special maami cofee with them.

An action scene was filmed where a crumbling Brahmin house was blown up and the entire Brahmin community watched the scene with awe. Apparently they like Shankar for having portrayed a Brahmin as a toughie in the film 'Gentleman'.

taj maghal -  tt 26/06 - If any one single person can be credited with breaking away from the norm, it would be Bharathi Raja. With his very first film "16 Vayadhinile", he broke from tradition by discarding the garish sets, chalky make-up and gross over-acting that was typical of Tamil cinema. He shot his film in natural rural surroundings, discarding the dubious luxury of having a cardboard set erected. The film went on to become a mega success - and the course of Tamil cinema had changed forever.

True to form, Bharathi Raja is once again all set to create a sensation on the silver screen with his newest film, a tribute to youthful, tender love - appropriately titled Taj Maghal.

For Taj Maghal - a delicate love story, Bharathi Raja brings together the talents of some of the best names in the industry. Mani Ratnam for the story and dialogues, Madhu Ambat and Vairamuthu for lyrics and A.R. Rahman for music. Could one ask for a better team?

And as if to do complete justice to his film, the cast too has all new faces. In the lead is his son Manoj with Riya Sen who comes from a legendary film family. Yes, you guessed it - she's Suchitra Sen's grandaughter and Moon Moon's daughter. This is a first film for both youngsters and they couldn't have asked for a better banner to launch their careers.

Scheduled for a Pongal release, Taj Maghal is being filmed at spectacular locations such as Kulu Manali, Badhami, Hampi, Bellari and Poomparai. And with Bharathi Raja himself at the helm directing the film - we can safely expect another trend setter.

Incidentally, Rahman also scored the music for Natarajan's Sangamam and Rhythm. Udaya has cinematography by Ravi K Chandran, editing by Suresh Urs, dialogue by Suresh Urs and lyrics by Vairamuthu.

rhtyhm- by tmo - Rhythm, directed by Vasanth who made hits like Keladi Kanmani, Nee Paadhi Naan Paadhi, Aasai, and the recent Nerukku Ner (the last two films for Mani Ratnam's Madras Talkies banner) stars Arjun (Gentleman) and Meena. Vasanth, who is a movie buff, has even named his second son Ritwik after the legendary director, Ritwik Ghatak. Vasanth's wife is cinematographer Jeeva's sister. Music for Rhythm has been scored by A R Rahman, their first time together, and the buzz is that it is a brilliant score.

Supposedly, it was Rahman who came up with the title of the film as well, figures, given that ARR is known for his complex rhythm structures. Does that signal a musical? We'll know, come the Festival of Lights.

makers of kadhalar dhinam - Kathir is a die-hard romantic. He is also a die-hard Net buff. And together, those two facets of his personality explain his latest directorial outing, Kaadhalar Dinam (Lover's Day), starring Pune-based debutant Kunal opposite Bollywood belle Sonali Bendre.

It is, on the surface, a thrice-told tale -- young boy meets young girl, young boy flips for young girl, young girl ditto for young boy... The catch being, this time the meeting takes place on the Internet.

Kathir is an inveterate surfer, the cybercafes of Madras and Bangalore being a favourite haunt. And the social chat rooms on the Web are a firm favourite. "When I logged in to those chats, I noticed that most of what goes on is romantic in nature, and that is what sparked off the idea for this film," he says. The Net, of course, forms only a quarter of the story -- the rest happens in real time.

Interestingly, the Net also provides Kathir his best bet for finding stars. Kunal, apparently, had come to Bangalore for an interview to join, of all things, the army when Kathir saw him outside the Bangalore cybercafe, and approached him with the offer of this film. Given the name of Kathir himself in the directorial credits, and that of A M Rathnam (producer of mega-budget hits like Indian), it was little wonder Kunal grabbed at the chance.

And Sonali? "Simple, this time round I wanted someone young and trendy; we are talking the age of the Internet here. I needed someone who suited that ambience, that kind of storyline, so I thought of Sonali. "Besides," says Kathir, "these days, the trend is for films, especially the big budget ones, being bi- or multi-lingual, so it helps to have a face that is widely known outside the boundaries of your own state."

Kathir has assembled an 'A' team, with P C Sriram handling cinematography, A R Rahman providing the music, and Thota Tharani handling art direction. 

allay paayude - cg 12/06 - Director Manirathnam is busy again with his next venture "Allai Paayude", a name that figuratively refers to vacillating mind. This one is supposed to be a quickie from Mani, with its story written by the director himself. The movie too has Aravinda Swamy the choicest actor of Manirathnam, but he is not the main hero. Newcomer Madavan plays its lead role with Shalini as its heroine.

Incidentally seasoned actress Kushboo should be happy about her role opposite Aravanda Swamy in "Allai Paayude", because it was her desire that she should act opposite Aravinda Swamy. Besides she also wanted to act in a movie directed by Manirathnam. Now with "Allai Paayude" both the wishes of Kushboo have come true.

Mohan Lal and Sharuk Khan are also expected appear in guest roles for the movie. A.R. Rahman is responsible for the background music of "Allai Paayude", which incidentally does not have a single song sequence.

Normally movies with love story depict how the lovers would overcome adversities from various quarters and emerge successful with their marriage in the end. However what happens to these couples after their marriage? Are they successful in their married life or not? These are the kind of questions that are seldom answered in all those movies. But with "Allai Paayude" Mani plans to analyze this unexplored aspect of lovers after their marriage.

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