kkmoidusharjah: Festival Attractions

kkmoidusharjah: Festival Attractions

Fans go ga ga over Rajnikanth’s 100th Tamil film

Fans go ga ga over Rajnikanth’s 100th Tamil film


BY KK MOIDU
SIVAJI The Boss, the 100th Tamil film of legendary actor Rajnikanth, which was released in UAE last week is creating history.
The most expensive Indian film ever made, with a budget of around Indian Rupees one billion is also the most awaited film in the Tamil film industry.
Being screened in the UAE from the first day, hundreds of cinegoers crowded theatres to have a glimpse of their favourite star in hislatest mega movie Sivaji, which is expected to break box office records.
Sivaji was released in Sharjah Concorde cinema on June 14. Eldorado Cinema in Abu Dhabi, Grand Galleria in Dubai and Club Cinema in Al Ain was released on June 15.
Eldorado Cinema I and II in Abu Dhabi has been screening 10 shows daily to packed houses from the day of release.
The sources said the shows are packed for the coming days as well. No Indian films have received this kind of response so far.
Club Cinema in Al Ain is screening the film four times daily. A staff in the theatre said all the shows are running to full houses for the last two days and it has created a Rajni wave. The theatre would screen the movie for at least two more weeks.
There are chances of the shows being scaled down since the theatres have to screen other films scheduled for the coming weeks.
In Grand Galleria, Dubai, the film is running four daily shows to full houses with the entire week fully booked by cinegoers. The sources said the film will run for a minimum of one month.
In Sharjah Concorde Cinema, the film that was released at 7:45pm show on Thursday, a day earlier than its scheduled global launch, now runs five times a day to packed houses.
The tickets for the next few days are fully booked for the night shows. The response for daytime shows on weekdays is less compared to night shows. But many are returning without tickets for the 7:45pm and 11pm shows.
Theatre staff and the viewers said they are highly satisfied with the new film from Thalaivar, the title accorded to the star.
Paneer Selvam, a fan of Rajnikanth, who was fortunate enough to get a ticket to watch his favourite actor's film on the first day, said he is happy about the film, the performance of Rajni, technical perfection of the film, direction of Shankar, AR Rehman's music and especially the theme.
A staff member of the theatre most of the viewers are Indians from the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
Mohammed Shabeer from Ponnani, Kerala who watched the film from Grand Galleria, Dubai said he had booked the ticket in advance. A fan of Rajni films like Basha, Padayappa, Arunachalam etc. he said he enjoyed Sivaji.
Rajni's last release Chandramukhi was in 2005. His fans were eagerly waiting for the superstar's film. Sivaji does not disappoint. The movie is set to make history by smashing all his previous records.
The film is also expected to re-write the collection record since the past records of Rajni films have been broken only his own new releases.
The film's story is very simple about a man who fights against evil machines and cleans the system. With Rajni's style, veteran craftsman Shankar's master touch and AR Rahman's music, the movie has all the ingredients of a mass entertainer like punch dialogues, romance, comedy, big sets, breathtaking action scenes and the good beats the evil plot.

LIGHTING UP THE FESTIVE SEASON

Lighting up the festive season

Half-a-dozen Tamil films featuring popular heroes will be released for Deepawali, writes KK Moidu

The movies in the race are the Vikram starrer Bheema, Vijay's Azhakiya Tamizh Makan, Ajith Kumar's Billa, Surya's Vel, Polladhavan starring Dhanush and Jeevan's Machakkaaran. Although these films are different, they also have some similarities.
Bheema has already got attention for the reunion of Vikram and Trisha after Samy. Bheema and Billa tells the story of the underworld. Prakash Raj is appearing in important roles in Bheema and Billa.
Vijay is, for the first time, paired with Shriya Saran in Azhakiya Tamizh Makan. Vijay, Surya and Ajith are playing dual roles in their films. Namitha is one of the heroines in Billa and Azhakiya Tamizh Makan. Vel is Surya's second film with director Hari. It is Asin's second film with Surya, their earlier film Ghajini was a superhit. The titles of Billa and Polladhavan are inspired from earlier Rajnikanth films.
Yuvan Shankar Raja, who steals the heart of music lovers with his impressive tunes, has composed the music for Billa, Vel and Machakkaaran. Vel and Bheema will be simultaneously released in Tamil and Telugu.
The song sequences of Bheema and Machakkaaran are picturised in New Zealand.
Bheema
Vikram, who skyrocketed to cult status after the success of superhit Anniyan will return to the silverscreen in the much-awaited Bheema. The actor is doing a hefty role in the film; he put on weight and also attended a special bodybuilding course to match his role. Vikram appears in very fashionable clothes and worked hard to do full justice to the role.
Sparkling Trisha plays the female lead opposite Vikram in Bheema. Prakash Raj also plays an important role in the film. Bheema, directed by Linguswamy is produced by AM Rathnam under the banner of Sri Surya Movies. Lyrics of veteran poet Vairamuthu is tuned by Harris Jayaraj. The song sequences in the film are shot in Switzerland, New Zealand and Madurai.
An action-packed entertainer, Bheema not only tells the story about the tough life of the mafia world, but also has other ingredients like romance and sentiments to magnetise all Vikram fans.
The release of Bheema was delayed for a long time for various reasons. However, Bheema overcame all obstacles and the final court case has been cleared. According to reports, a Travel Agency (Travel Markets), filed a case against the producer for cheques that bounced. Travel Markets demanded an arrangement for the outstanding payment and a stay order for releasing Bheema. The court agreed on the first demand, to pay the Travel Market dues, but declined to stay the release of the film.
Bheema's Telugu version will release on the same day as the Tamil film. Vikram's previous hit Anniyan was released in Telugu as Aparichithudu and ran for more than 100 days in Andhra Pradesh. Pawan Kalyan released the Telugu audio of Bheema in a function attended by Vikram and Linguswamy.
Azhakiya Tamizh Makan (ATM)
Azhakiya Tamizh Makan directed by Bharathan is Vijay's 45th film. Vijay plays a dual role in the film and the two heroines are Shriya Saran and Namitha. Vijay fans are thrilled to see their favourite star's dual appearance and he is for the first time acting with Shriya. After her pairing with Rajnikanth in Sivaji The Boss, the actress reached a new milestone in her career.
Music of ATM is scored by AR Rehman and the big budget film is produced by Swargachithra Appachan.
Vijay, who is delighted with his massive hit Pokiri, hopes that he can repeat his success in ATM and satisfy his huge fan following. Director Bharathan, who proved his aptness as a dialogue writer in Dharani films, has also worked with Vijay in the earlier superhit Ghilli as an assistant director and dialogue writer.
Billa
Another crowd pulling star, Ajith, plays the title role in the lavish and spectacular entertainer Billa. The movie is a remake of the 80s Rajnikanth-Sripriya blockbuster of the same title and that itself was the remake of the Bollywood hit Don, starring Amitabh Bachchan. The latest Billa is made with the essential modifications and the film fully exploits modern technology with special effects. William Ang, who has directed stunts for Jackie Chan films, was roped in for some exclusive fight scenes.
Tamil leading ladies Nayanthara and Namitha play the heroine roles of the film and that has created lot of hype and expectations among cinegoers. Nayan and Nami are the girl friends of the world famous notorious don Billa. Nayanthara is playing Sripriya's role in the Rajnikanth starrer Billa. The film features Nayanthara in a two-piece bikini suit and that already has made headlines. The other heroine Namitha, plays a meaty role. Both the heroines fight scenes are also included in the film.
Versatile Prakash Raj will play the role of Major Sundar Rajan and Prabhu is playing an influential role in the film.
The movie was extensively filmed in Malaysia including the Petronas Tower, Langkawi Island and the 'Little India' of Kuala Lumpur (Jalan Masjid India area).
Billa is directed by Vishnuvardhan for which he did the script, screenplay and dialogue.
Yuvan Shankar Raja tunes the music for the film. According to reports, the song My Name is Billa is remixed and an item number done by Mumaith Khan Vethalayai Potendi is retuned. Both the songs are shot in Kuala Lumpur with choreographer Raju Sundaram.
The makers of the film hope that it will become not only a hit in Tamil Nadu but also in neighbouring Kerala like the original Billa.
Vel
Surya plays a double role after Perazhagan in the big budget film Vel, directed by Hari. He appears in one role as a masculine, angry young villager and settles disputes in his own style. His second role is a secret and the maker's only know that he is a hero or a villain. His undisclosed second character is the most important link in the story which makes it more interesting.
This is Surya's second film with director Hari. Their earlier film was Aaru. Asin is doing a fun-loving girl role in the movie and her character name is Miranda Meenakshi, a TV anchor. She appears with a new look by wearing traditional costumes and eyeglasses. Music for the film is scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja. The song of the film Kobakkara Kiliye is pictured in Munnar and has become a hit.
Vel, produced by M Chinthamani under the banner of Raja Kaliamman Media works, will be noticed for its good crafted script. The film has all the essentials of a superhit. Other artistes are Vadivelu, Nasser, Kalabhavan Mani and Charan Raj.
Surya's last film was Sillunu Oru Kadhal released last year. After completing Vel, the actor will start working in the forthcoming film Varanam Aayiram which will be released in 2008.
According to reports, S Panduranga Rao and KVV Sathyanarayanan are dubbing Vel in Telugu as Deva under the banner of Aishwarya Cine Creations. Bellamonda Suresh presents the film in Telugu for the Deepawali release.
Polladhavan
Young and thin hero Dhanush, the son- in-law of Rajnikanth, is paired with Ramya in Polladhavan. Dhanush created hysteria among the youth with his films, especially the song Manmada Rasa. His latest Polladhavan is a romantic entertainer and the story appeals to people of all ages.
Dhanush plays a young boy's role in the film with dreams to come up in life. The setbacks faced by him in reaching his mission is told in a romantic way. The film also give importance to action and humour and it is edited by VT Vijayan.
Polladhavan is the maiden directorial venture of Vettrimaran, who was an associate cinematographer of director Balu Mahendra. GV Prakash Kumar has been roped in to score the music and has come up with half-a-dozen peppy songs for the film produced by Kathiresan.
The cinematographer of the film is Velraj and it was mainly filmed in Chennai.
Although the title of the film is inspired from the yesteryears Rajnikanth superhit, it will not influence Rajnikanth's Polladhavan.
Machakkaaran
Although Jeevan signed Machakkaaran much before Naan Avanillai, the latter was released first. Jeevan made his debut in University, the film bombed at the box office and his efforts went unnoticed. He achieved success in Kaaka Kaaka but vanished for three years. Jeevan surprised everybody with superhits Thiruttu Payale and Naan Avanillai. His previous hits encouraged him to compete with biggies on the occasion of Deepawali.
Jeevan, who always played heroic roles with a negative touch, has succeeded in winning audience sympathy in the climax. In the lively entertainer Machakkaaran, his love interest is Kamna Jethmalani. She is the grand-daughter of veteran lawyer and politician Ram Jethmalani. Kamna made her Tamil debut in Idhayathirudan directed by Saran.
She is playing a charming role in the film and Malavika appears in a song scene.
Machakkaaran is directed by Tamilvannan and the music is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja. A song shot in New Zealand under the choreography of Raju Sundaram is the major highlight of the film. Cinematography is by Venkatesh and production is by Madras Entertainment.
All these films, featuring favourite heroes, will compete with each other to attract movie buffs during the festive season.

AIMING HIGH-Bala Chandra Menon

CINEMA

AIMING HIGH

BEST ACTOR NATIONAL AWARD WINNER
PADMABHUSHAN BALA CHANDRA MENON IS BACK TO DIRECTING FILMS WITH DHE INGOTTU NOKKIYE, AFTER AN INTERVAL OF FIVE YEARS. KK MOIDU WRITES

Bala Chandra Menon is one of the most
renowned names for direction in Malayalam
cinema in the past. According to reports, his comeback vehicle, Dhe Ingottu Nokkiye,
includes Bhavana in the cast and sends a message against suicides.
The film, produced by AVA Anoop, will be distributed by Vaisakha movies who have been riding high on the success of Hallo and Chocolates. Bichu Thirumala and M Jayachandran score the music.
Menon, ‘the one man entertainment team’ in Malayalam cinema, is planning to present some new faces in his latest venture. He is an
expert in introducing new artistes.
He has contributed many newcomers
to the Malayalam film industry like Shobana in April 18, Parvathi in Vivahithare Ithile, Maniyan Pilla Raju in Maniyan Pilla Athava
Maniyan Pilla, Karthika in Manicheppu Thurannappol, Annie in Ammayane Sathyam and Nandini aka Kausalya in April 19.
As a director, Menon’s last film was Krishna Gopalakrishna, but he couldn’t repeat his earlier success in the film. He played the title role in the film and also produced it. He
wrote the story, did the editing and
sung a song in it as well. No other film personality has served the industry like Bala Chandra Menon by handling almost all the departments, especially in a film he has
produced.
After the flop of Krishna Gopalakrishna, he didn’t direct films but he wrote the script for
Varum Varunnu Vannu directed by Ramadas. Menon also played the lead role in the film but the film bombed at the box office.
Menon, who excels as an actor and director, was not directing films for the last couple of years. He is energetic, but the fifty-plus actor
has not tried to play heroic roles.
Instead, he concentrated on acting
in mature roles as well as act and direct TV serials.
He featured in a mature role playing a 75-year-old barrister Sankaran Nambiar in Saphalam. He played the college professor role in Malayalam cinema’s biggest box
office hit Classmates, a campus love story directed by Lal Jose. He also acted in a prominent role in the Mammootty-starrer Rappakal directed by Kamal. He continued
his presence in Malayalam films by acting in the recently released Pranayakalam.
Menon will appear on the silver screen with superstar Mohanlal after a sabbatical of about a decade in the forthcoming campus film College Kumaran directed by
Thulasidas. According to reports, the film will have six heroines in prominent roles.
The ace actor-director Bala Chandra Menon has completed more than three decades in filmdom. He was born in 1954, the son
of Sivasankaran Pilla and Lalitha Devi. Menon’s wife is Varadha and he has two sons Akhil and Vinayak and a daughter Bhavana.
Bala Chandra Menon’s father was a railway station master and retired as commercial controller. His father wished his only son
would be a doctor or join the Indian
Administrative Service. But Menon
always dreamed about acting and he proved his talent as a speaker, actor and singer in his college days in Kollam Fatima Matha College.
In order to fulfill his dream to become a film personality, Menon didn’t miss films that came to his town and even skipped classes to
watch matinee shows. He continued
his acting interest in University college,
Thiruvanathapuram, but forayed
into politics and was the university
union chairman of the college.
After completing his graduation
in BSc (Geology) and earning a degree in journalism, Menon started his career as a reporter in the popular Malayalam film magazine Nana.
Menon learnt his first lesson in film making from Madras. Being a reporter, he got freedom to move freely on the filmsets. He closely watched the happenings in the
industry and learned the techniques
and tricks of the business. He polished
his writing skills and talked with actors and technicians.
Menon entered in the film industry
after he failed to obtain an admission to the Madras Film Institute. He has begun his career as an actor in film but he also wrote
and directed many films. He acted
in a succession of comedy-laced
family dramas, and created in the process a style of his own. His films stories were based on his experiences in society and personal life.
Bala Chandra Menon made his directorial debut in Uthradarathri in 1978 and he won the Kerala State Award for best story writer.
Menon presented different styles of films and that turned out to be the biggest hits. His typical style of acting also captured the interest of the audience. He selects compelling themes and catchy titles for his
films like Ente Ammu Ninte Thulasi Avarude Chakki, Ithiri Neram Othiri Karyam etc.
Menon has directed more than three dozen films but his masterpiece is Samantharangal. He shared the best actor National Award with
Suresh Gopi (Kaliyattam) for his
acclaimed performance as a railway
station master.
Although Menon’s first love is direction, he worked hard as a filmmaker. He was compelled to do the station master role in
Samantharangal. Veteran actor Thilakan, who had agreed to do the role, was busy with his schedule.
Menon, who wanted to make a film
based on the railways for nearly a decade, decided to go ahead with the project.
The producer was doubtful about Menon’s ability to perform as an old Muslim man in the film, so he backed out. Menon himself produced the film, his advantage was
his intimate knowledge of the railway
station, being the son of a railway
station master. He played the lead role in Samantharangal and succeeded in his mission. He shared the Best Actor National Award of the year, but the award kept away
the audience, like other art movies,
and the film lost the identity of a Bala Chandra Menon film.
Samantharangal was entirely different from Menon’s other films. In his earlier films, he played the younger hero roles but after
Samantharangal he started appearing
in serious roles in films and serials.
Bala Chandra Menon, with his different style and presentation and signature head-scarf, created strings of hits in the 80s and early 90s. His movies were based on the unusual
relationships of the ordinary community.
Menon was a favourite for the family audience and his style of acting captured the interest of women audience. He created comedy hits like Chiriyo Chiri and Karyam Nisaram. His other biggest hits are Prashnam Gurutharam, Oru Painkilikatha, April 18,
Ammayane Sathyam etc.
Critics and audience unanimously
consider the period between 1986-90 as the golden age of Malayalam cinema. Bala
Chandra Menon’s films were running
in packed theatres by competing
with many talented director’s
films. The speciality of Malayalam
films at the time were detailed screenplays dealing with day-today life of the people with a touch of humour. The films were also
supported by brilliant cinematography.
Most of the films like Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha released during this period slendered the gap between art and commercial cinema. Other prominent directors like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Sibi
Malayil, Bharathan, Kamal and
Hariharan also directed commercial
films without loosing its artistic
value.
Ace director’s like Priyadarshan, Sathyan Anthikkad, Siddique-Lal also created movies
with good humour during this period.
Although Bala Chandra Menon has not been directing films for the last five years, he is aware of the pulse of the Malayalam film industry.
Everybody hopes that his new film Dhe Ingottu Nokkiye will pull back his family audience and Menon will repeat his directorial success.

IN THE RIGHTGROOVE-Charmi

IN THE RIGHTGROOVE

TELUGU LEADING LADY CHARMI IS BACK IN TAMIL FILMS AFTER A HIATUS OF FOUR
YEARS, STARRING IN THE PRABHUSOLOMON DIRECTED FILM LAADAM, WRITES KK MOIDU


Charmi, the most happening
heroine of Telugu cinema, has
created hits with front-line
Telugu heroes. Her re-entry to Tamil
films will not only fill the acute
shortage of glamour girls in the
industry, but it will also be a threat to
other top heroines.
According to reports, Charmi is
doing a heroine-oriented role as a
female gangster in her comeback
vehicle Laadam. The male lead of the
film is debutante Aravindhan.
Aravindhan, an assistant of the
prominent director Mani Ratnam, is
facing the camera for the first time.
Kota Srinivasa Rao, Dheeraj Kher
and Babu Antony, top villains of
South Indian films, will terrorise the
audience in the gangster-oriented
thriller.
The film, produced by
Ponnurangam under the banner of
Chola Creations, has music scored by
Dharan. The movie also exploits new
technical equipments like Tripov
camera, probe lens etc.
Gave Mick Harry, who has
worked with veteran cameramen like
PC Sriram and Ravi K Chandran, is
the cinematographer of the film.
Charmi was brought
back to the Tamil film
industry by director
Prabhu Solomon of
Tamil hits Kokki and
Lee fame. She plays a
female gang member
in the film and hopes
her role will be a
milestone in her
career. She has done
a lot of preparation
for the film; this
vivacious girl has
become
astonishingly slim
and pretty in her
new look.
The lively
Punjabi girl,
Charmy, was born
on May 17, 1987, in
Vasai, Mumbai, in a
very orthodox family.
Her real name is
Charmy Kaur and she
spells her first name as
‘Charmme’. She won the
hearts of filmgoers with her
performances in decent roles as
well as sparkling and vexatious
roles in Telugu films like Laxmi, Style etc.
Director Krishna Vamsi projected her as a
hot actress in the Telugu film industry. Even
after doing a great role in the Telugu film
Anukokunda Oka Roju, Charmi was forced to do
provocative roles in films. Her item numbers
became a craze for the young fans. Because of
this, she was approached to do an item song in
Stalin, but declined due to her commitment to
other films. Anushka Shetty later did the part.
Although Charmi had an
ominous beginning with
half-a-dozen consecutive
flops, the chubby actress
overcame all hurdles with
her positive thinking,
easy adaptation of
changes, bright smile and
the support of her parents.
Buxom Charmi made
her debut at the early age
of 14 in the Telugu film
Neethodu Kavali with
Deepak in 2002. The film
bombed at the box office
but she gained the attention
of the south Indian film
industry with her noticeable
performance. She used to get
her cheques in the names of
her parents. Her father looked
after her shooting schedules
while her mother always
accompanied her on the sets.
Charmi’s Tamil debut in
Vijaya T Rajendher’s Kadhal
Azhivathillai opposite
Silambarasan was also a box
office disaster. Her insignificant
role in the Tamil films Aha
Ethanai Azhagu and Kadhal
Kisu Kisu failed too. She also
tried her luck in Malayalam
films with Kaattu Chempagam,
but failed in the industry which
always welcomes heroines from
other states. Finally, she struck
gold in the Telugu film industry.
Charmi shifted her base to the
neighbouring Telugu industry and
appeared in Sri Anjaneyam,
directed by Krishna Vamsi. The
ace director projected her as a ‘hot
girl’ in his film where she exposed
a lot in short and wet dresses. But
the film failed miserably at the box
office. Her pairing with Ravi Teja in
Chanti added one more flop to her
career.
Although success was elusive, it
was Gowri that put Charmy on the
Telugu film industry scene nearly
two years after her debut. She was the
leading lady of Sumanth in the film
and its success gave her career a
boost. Her stupendous success in
Mass with Nagarjuna strengthened
her position in Telugu films.
Chakram, opposite Prabhas,
released with big expectations, but it
didn’t make any impact on the
audience and turned out to be a box
office disaster. However, the turning
point of Charmy’s career was her
critically acclaimed performance in the
lead role of the heroine-oriented thriller
Anukokunda Oka Roju. She won the
Santosham best actress award for her
role as Sahasra in the film. Charmi was the third
winner of the prestigious award, which started
in 2003. Earlier, it was won by leading ladies
Asin Thottumkal for Shivamani 9848022338
and Trisha Krishnan for Varsham.
Although Chrmi’s movies were doing well,
producers were offering her bewitching roles
and she acted in a bunch of
films like Political Rowdy and
Allari Pidugu. In Political
Rowdy, she played a naughty
college girl who grabs the
attention of a thug and makes
him fall in love with her for a
fun. The gangster proposes to her
and she cannot say no
to him out of fear.
Mohan Babu was the producer and the male
lead in the film. He played the double role of
two brothers; as Giri, a village Romeo and the
other as Ranjith, an ACP. Charmy was their
cousin and the love interest of Giri while
Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif was the other
heroine.
Charmi’s three Telugu films Laxmi, Style and
Chukkallo Chandrudu were released in a period
of three days in January 2006.
In Laxmi with Venkatesh, Charmi crosses all
limitations and the movie did moderate business
at the box office.
The second directorial venture of Raghava
Lawrence, Style turned out to be a biggest hit of
the year. Lawrence also played the hero, the
other heroine was Kamalinee Mukherjee.
Charmi’s role as Sandhya in the triangular love
drama Chukkallo Chandrudu proved to be a funfilled
entertainer. Sidharth Narayan played the
male lead of the film. There were three heroines
in the film, Charmi played one of the love
interests of the hero, Saloni Aswani and Sadha
were the other heroines. The movie was directed
by Mani Ratnam’s associate, Siva Kumar.
Charmi’s Pournami released last year with
lot of expectations because of the huge cast. Her
performance in the film was much appreciated,
but that could not save the movie from being a
box office disaster. Charmi did not learn South
Indian classical dance but she surprised the
audience with her ‘Bharatha Natyam’ and
‘Kuchipudi’ dances. The film, directed by
choreographer-turned director Prabhu Deva, had
Prabhas in the male lead.
Charmi’s last year’s release Chinnodu,
written and directed by Kanmani, was a moneyspinner
at the box office. Sumanth was her male
lead; he played a rugged man’s role as the
protector of a cycle stand owner who gives him
shelter. Charmi loves the hero, assuming that he
is a chocolate boy.
Rakhi, directed by Krishna Vamsi with Jr
NTR in the lead role, gave her one more hit last
year.
In the forthcoming Telugu thriller Manthra,
directed by Tulasiram, Charmi plays the title
role. The movie goes deep into the tension of
a modern girl, who lives a happy life. Manthra
is also the story of various events that
occurred in the life of a girl and some scenes
will thrill the audience. The theme of the
suspense thriller is ‘every belief may not be
true’. Charmi hopes the role will be an
immemorial one in her career.
Manthra is jointly produced by Kalyanram
and Raviprakash under the banner of Generation
Next. The hero of the film is V Raviprakash and
the choreography is by Prem Rakshit. The
highlight of the movie is its artwork and
locations. The makers hope that the film will
run beyond the expectations of the audience.
Although Charmi has acted in about twodozen
films in a variety of roles, mainly in
Telugu, she has only a few hits to her credit.
Even then, she is getting offers from front-line
directors and big banners of Telugu films
because of her good looks and acting talent.
In her five-year career, Charmi has played
the lead opposite front-line Telugu heroes like
Venkatesh, Nagarjuna, Prabhas, Sidharth, Ravi
Teja, Sumanth, Jr NTR etc.
To fulfill her desire to act in Tamil films, she
accepted the role in Laadam without thinking
twice. If the movie is a success at the box
office, she will prove to be a tough competitor
to other Tamil heroines.
Charmy can fill the shortage of heroines by
taking on glossy and non-glamorous roles —
because she can handle both with equal ease.

kkmoidusharjah: Winning Smile - Trisha

kkmoidusharjah: Winning Smile - Trisha

Winning Combinations-Meera Jasmine

Winning combinations

Meera Jasmine considers the possibility of winning awards before she accepts offers in Malayalam films, writes KK Moidu

Meera Jasmine appeared in run-of-the-mill roles in other language films, but on home turf, she has never made her presence felt in commercial potboilers.
Meera Jasmine, a simple girl from Thiruvalla in Kerala, is famous in the South for working in all the four South Indian language films, ie. Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Although she is one of the busiest heroines, she accepts offers from Malayalam cinema directors who are known for making award winning films.
Meera's forthcoming films Calcutta News directed by Blessy and Ore Kadal directed by Shyamaprasad is in this genre.
Calcutta News, to be entirely picturised in Calcutta, is making news as it is her fifth screen appearance with Dilip. Meera plays the role of a singer in the film while Dilip is a TV producer; the story of the film revolves around the happenings in his life. Like his earlier films, director Blessy himself does the screenplay.
Blessy proved his talent in his previous films Kaazcha and Thanmathra but could not succeed in getting a hat-trick with his last venture Palunk.
Blessy wants to regain his lost status in the industry with Calcutta News. As a first step, he has selected Meera Jasmine as the heroine. In films directed by him earlier, the heroine was played by newcomers and male leads were handled by senior actors like Mammootty and Mohanlal.
In Ore Kadal directed by Shyamaprasad, Meera Jasmine is acting opposite superstar Mammootty for the first time. He plays an internationally acclaimed economist, Dr Nathan, who lives a lonely life and never believes in long lasting relationships.
Meera Jasmine plays Deepthi, a housewife, who lives in a flat close to Nathan. She lives with her husband, a marketing officer in an insurance company. Deepthi immediately develops a fancy for Dr Nathan and realises that they have much in common between them, including the same emotional strains. That brings them together and a mature romance develops between them. The script of the film is by the director Shyamaprasad himself.
Meera's much delayed Rathrimazha is directed by famed director Lenin Rajendran, a film-maker who always gives importance to female artistes. Lenin has featured Meera Jasmine in a dominant role in the film. She plays opposite Vineeth in the film which is much talked about for its dance and music.
Ramesh Narayan won the last year State Award for the best music director and singers Sujatha Mohan and Srinivas got the female and male singers awards for the songs in the film.
National Award winning actress Meera Jasmine was born on Feb.15, 1984 in Kuttappuzha, Thiruvalla in Kerala. Born as Jasmine Mary Joseph to Joseph and Aleyamma, the Syrian Christian by birth completed her schooling in Mar Thoma Residential School, Thiruvalla.
Meera Jasmine was not born into a family of actors. Nobody encouraged her to act or dance during her school days. Like other heroines she is not a 'Kalathilakam' or a model. Before her entry into films, nobody noticed her talent. She was attracted to the industry and accepted a film offer against her father's wishes.
Meera joined the industry without much expectations of success. She was ready to go back to her studies if her film did not do well, but the amazing response she received after her debut made her choose acting as her career.
Meera made her debut in the Malayalam film Soothradharan in 2001 directed by Lohitha Das. Her debut film bombed at the box office, but that did not affect her career. She has starred in a dozen Malayalam films in her six-year career and the movies is made on home turf is different from the films made in other languages.
After her foray into other language films her presence in Malayalam films has been limited. For the last three years, Meera was doing one Malayalam film each year. Rasathanthram in 2006, Achuvinte Amma in 2005 and Perumazhakkalam in 2004. Her role in Perumazhakkalam won her State Award for the best actress and Vanitha-Chandrika Award. Her performance in Achuvinte Amma won her Filmfare and Lux-Asianet Film Award for best actress.
All her Malayalam films were noticed for different reasons. She was repeatedly casted by same directors in their movies. Her debut Soothradharan was directed by her mentor Lohitha Das and he completed a hat-trick by casting her in Kasthooriman and Chakram. Her performance in Kasthooriman selected her for Lux-Asianet Film Award for Best Actress.
Lohitha Das never repeated heroines in his earlier films. In Bhoothakkannadi Sreelakshmi was the heroine, Divya Unni played the female lead in Karunyam and in Kanmadam Manju Warrier played the heroine role.
Meera played female leads in three Kamal directed films Gramaphone, Swapnakoodu and Perumazhakkalam.
Sathyan Anthikkad casted Meera as a heroine in his earlier films Achuvinte Amma and Rasathanthram. Meera played a boy's role in the first half of Rasathanthram and it was noticed by her first screen appearance with Mohanlal. Sathyan completed hat-trick by repeatedly casting Meera as a heroine in latest film Vinodhayathra.
Although Meera has appeared four times opposite Dilip, none of their films became a box office hit. But Sathyan Anthikad's latest Vinodhayathra, where Meera played Dilip's female lead, was a success.
In Paadam Onnu Oru Vilapam directed by veteran TV Chandran, Meera fetched the prestigious National Best Actress Award. She portrayed a 15 year old Muslim girl Shahina and won the nations greatest recognition of an actress at the age of 22 by defeating experienced and efficient contenders. She also won the Filmfare Award, Mathrubhumi-Medimix Award and Lux-Asianet Film Award for best actress for her portrayal of Shahina in Paadam Onnu Oru Vilaapam.
Meera's Tamil film entry made her a well-known star in the South. The success of Tamil films Run and Bala in 2002 give her the chance to work with popular actors of the Tamil industry. She won the Filmfare Best Female debut actress award for Run. The success of the films lead her to work with famed directors like Mani Ratnam's Aayudha Ezhuthu and SS Stanley's Mercury Pookkal.
Meera has acted in more than ten Tamil films. Her recent Tamil film Parattai Engira Azhagu Sundaram, with Dhanush as her male lead was a hit. In her forthcoming film Nepali, she is the love interest of Bharath.
Meera Jasmine has not only showed her presence in the Telugu films in 2004 with Ammayi Bagundi and Gudumba Shankar but also entered Kannada cinema by co-starring with Puneet Rajkumar in Mourya. Her latest Kannada film Arrasu is also a hit.
Meera's biggest Telugu hit was Bhadra with Ravi Teja in the male lead. Her other Telugu films are Raraju, Maharadhi Kalyani and upcoming film Yamagola Malli, she is the female lead of Srikant.
Meera was lucky enough to perform in a variety of roles and she played ordinary characters seen in our day-to-day life. She wants to be a part of good cinema, earning money is not only her aim.
Although Meera is not fluent in other languages, her Tamil and Telugu films are dubbed by her as she believes that acting will be incomplete if the voice is different.
Meera is a lover of Ilayaraja's music and many of his songs are known to her by heart.
Along with fame, Meera has been bothered by controversies and gossip — property matters with her parents, being born in a Christian family and her visits to Hindu temples and an affair with SJ Surya, after her pairing with him in Thirumagan.
Although Lohithadas is her mentor, she refused to act in his films like Chakkaramuthu. The heroine role was later played by Kavya Madhavan opposite Dilip. The film didn't do well at the box office. Meera recently rejected another offer from Lohitha Das to play the heroine role in Nivedhyam. He is introducing a new heroine to the industry through this film. The lucky girl is Rakitha aka Bhama from Kottayam. She is an anchor of 'Thali' airing on Surya TV.
Will Lohitha Das's new discovery Bama become a competitor to Meera in the future, or Bhama will also shift her base to other languages for more lucrative offers like her seniors? Only time will tell.

Honours for Talent-Vijay

Honours for talent
Tamil actor Vijay, the best among the heroes of his generation, was
recently honoured a doctorate by Dr MGR University, writes KK Moidu


20 TIME OUT The Gulf Today / Thursday, September 6, 2007

Vijay and veteran director
Shankar, two
sought-after film personalities,
were conferred
a doctorate for
their immense contribution to the
film industry. The Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO)
chief, G Madhavan Nambiar presented
the honorary doctorate to
Vijay at MGR University last
month. He said Vijay deserved the
honour because he served as “a
role model for the youth” in his
films.
However, Vijay appealed to his
innumerable fans to avoid using
‘doctor’ before his name during a
function held to celebrate the 126th
day of the superhit Pokkiri, a
Telugu remake of the Tamil film.
He also promised he will remain
their intimate Vijay.
Vijay is a success guaranteed
hero and has delivered many blockbusters
in his career. He is a hero of
the masses and a safe bet at the box
office.
The name ‘Vijay’ means victory
and the super star of Tamil films
has proved the name to be appropriate
and continues his success journey.
Vijay’s forthcoming film
Azhagiya Thamizh Magan (ATM)
has made adequate money even
before its release. According to
reports, producer Appachan has
made enough money from ATM.
The movie has made a new record
among Vijay films in terms of business.
Pyramid Saimira Theatres had
brought the worldwide distribution
rights of the film for a massive
amount of Rs25 crores.
ATM, directed by debutante
Bharathan, will hit the screen on
Deepavali. Bharathan was an assistant
of director Dharani and he also
served as a dialogue writer in
Vijay’s superhit film Ghilli.
Vijay w i l l h a v e t w o heroines
in ATM — Shriya
Saran and Namitha.
The fans of Vijay are eagerly waiting for
the release of the film,
one of the r e a s o n s being he is showing his chest
on the screen for the first time. Like other Vijay films, songs will play an important role and his fans are
waiting for his chic dance movements.
One of the songs in the film was
picturised on Phuket beach in
Thailand with the glamorous
Namitha. Another romantic duet
with Shriya will be noticed by the
catchy locales of Switzerland.
Director cum choreographer
Prabhu Deva, a dance wizard, has
also agreed to do a number for the
film. The music is by AR
Rehman. ATM is Vijay’s
45th film and it promises to be a
pure entertainer.
Vijay not only plays the lead role
in the film but will also sing a song
in it. His earlier recordings have
proved his vocal ability in films like
Sachein, Bagavathi etc.
In Thamizhan, he sang with costar
Priyanka Chopra. Vijay did the
playback singing for Surya in
Periyanna and for Vignesh in Velai.
He sang the song Oormilaa
Oormilla for the film Once More
and Thottabetta Rottu Melae for
Vishnu with his mother Shoba.
After completing Azhagiya
Tamizh Magan, Vijay and
director Dharani teamed up
again in Kuruvi. Their earlier
film Ghilli was a moneyspinner
and it was one of
the most memorable films
of Vijay’s career. Ghilli, a
remake of the Telugu film
Okkadu, was a delightful
start to his career and the
movie took his career to a
new horizon.
Kuruvi, the big-budget
film, will be produced by
Udhayanidhi Maran, the
grandson of Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister M
Karunanidhi. It is a rich
commercial entertainer
with a lot of action and
adventure.
The title Kuruvi
does not mean the
‘chatter-bird’ in the
film. The film tells the story of a
young man who makes his living as
a ‘Kuruvi’. He lives in Burma
Bazaar in Chennai and goes to
Singapore and Malaysia as a ‘courier’
and comes back with forbidden
items. He lands in Singapore without
appropriate documents and the
cops suspect him to be a smuggler.
In order to prove his innocence, he
uses his brain and muscle power
against the underworld. The music
for the film is composed by
Vidhyasagar. According to reports
Malayalam film industry leading
lady Nayanthara will play the
female lead in the film, the first
time she is pairing opposite Vijay.
She earlier did an item number in
the Vijay starrer Sivakasi, where
Asin played the heroine.
The trio Vijay-Dharani-
Vidhyasagar said that Kuruvi is not
a sequel of their super hit Ghilli but
the movie is totally different.
Vijay will play the lead role in a
Prabhu Deva directed untitled film
after completing ATM and Kuruvi.
Ayesha Takia will be his love interest
in the film.
In another forthcoming actionthriller
directed by Gautam
Vasudeva Menon, Vijay will play
three different roles. Gautam
Menon is for the first time joining
Vijay for the mega movie.
According to reports, Vijay will
be donning a cop role after
Pokkiri.
Vijay was born on June 22, 1974
in Chennai as Joseph Vijay
Chandrasekhar. Vijay, credited on
screen as “Ilayathalapathi” which
means ‘Young General,’ also had a
huge fan base. He is the son of SA
Chandrasekhar and Shoba.
Vijay has acted in around 45
films and was born in a family of
film personalities. His father, SA
Chandrasekhar, is a director and
mother Shoba is an accomplished
playback singer. Chandrasekhar has
directed more than 60 films and


produced around 30 films.
Vijay is married to a Sri Lankan
Tamil Hindu Sangeetha and they are
blessed with two children, Jason
Sanjay and Divya Saasha.
Chandrasekhar introduced Vijay
into the film industry. Vijay made a
humble beginning in the industry as
a child artiste by doing minor roles
to follow his dream to become an
actor. He dropped out of the visual
communications course at Loyola
College to pursue his acting career.
Now he is a coveted hero.
Vijay made his debut as a hero at
the age of 18 in Naalaya Theerpu
directed by his father SA
Chandrasekhar. After continuing in
the industry for five years he was
noticed for his role as Raja in Poove
Unakkaga.
Vijay was mostly acting in average
budget films and mainly performed
in romantic, comedy, drama
and action thrillers. He stole the
hearts of people through his spectacular
performances in films like
Poove Unakkaaga, Kadhalukku
Mariyadhai, Kushi, Ghilli, Sivakasi,
Thirupaachi and the recently
released Pokkiri etc.
Vijay movies rarely harm the
producers and his humble and polite
behaviour has made him a favourite
among directors and colleagues.
Vijay’s entertaining performances
has secured him a place in the hearts
of cinegoers.
Vijay has won several awards in
his career. These include State Best
Actor Award for Kadhalukku
Mariyadhai. He won the
Kalaimamani Award, Dinakaran,
Film Today, Madras Corporate Club
best actor award for Ghilli. He is
also the recipient of Dr MGR Award
in 2000.
Like in Tamil Nadu, Vijay is the
most popular after Rajnikanth in
neighbouring state of Kerala. He has
received offers from Malayalam films
but has not accepted them because of
the toughness of the language.
His Pokkiri was not only a super
hit in Tamil Nadu but also in Kerala
and it has completed more than 100
days in Kerala theatres. Vijay films
were receiving a huge response in
Kerala like a Mohanlal or
Mammootty film.
However, Vijay always helps the
poor and needy and he is planning
to start a charitable trust in the name
of his sister Vidya, who died when
she was just two years old. The
main aim of the trust is social service
and he will help poor children to
continue their education. He will
protect the deserved children and
sponsor them for their studies till
their graduation.
Although evergreen Rajnikanth
is the one and only superstar in the
industry, the serpentine queues and
festive mood in front of theatres at
the time of releasing Vijay movies
shows that the ‘star-throne’ is not far
from the hero.
No other actor was compared to
Rajnikanth earlier and many consider
Vijay for Rajni’s position in the
future. Vijay himself is a great fan
of Rajni and readily confesses that
he will always be his fan.

New Challenges: Mandira Bedi & Lakshmi Rai

20 TIME OUT The Gulf Today / Thursday, September 20, 2007

NEW CHALLENGES

MANDIRA BEDI AND LAKSHMI RAI, BOTH FROM
OTHER STATES, ARE MAKING THEIR DEBUT IN
MALAYALAM FILMS IN LEAD ROLES, WRITES KK MOIDU



Bollywood actress and
commentator Mandira
Bedi will play the heroine
in director Rajeev
Nath’s Ezhaam Mudra
opposite Suresh Gopi. South Indian
actress Lakshmi Rai is appearing
opposite Mohanlal in Rock N Roll
directed by Ranjith.

Mandira Bedi
Ezhaam Mudra is based on
Hollywood classic Casablanca.
Mandira Bedi is donning the role
immortalised by Ingrid Bergman in
the original.

Mandira shot in to fame with the
success of miniscreen serial Shanti.
She also played the villain role as Dr
Mandira ‘Mona’ Kapadia in popular
soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu
Thi.
Mandira is also popular as a
cricket commentator, television presenter
and got international fame
during the Cricket world cup in 2003
and 2007.


She was one of the presenters of
Fame Gurukul, an Indian television
show that ended on 2005. Mandira
replaced R Madhavan as the anchor
of Deal Ya No Deal.

Mandira has been dragged into
controversies in several incidents like
her criticism of the Bangladesh
Cricket Team after they defeated the
Indian team in the World cup 2007
group. That created a stir in
Bangladesh.
A complaint was filed against
Mandira on the disrespect of the
Indian National flag as well. She
wore the saree on the programme
Extra Innings sporting flags of different
countries taking part in the
2007 Cricket World Cup. The place
of the Indian flag was at the bottom
of the saree near her feet. This
enraged the Indian viewers.
According to reports, she apologised
to the Sikh organisation, SGPC
(Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak
Committee) for sporting a tattoo on
her back, which infuriated the Sikh
community.
In her long span of more than
one-and-a-half decades long career
she has acted in only half-a-dozen
films and a TV movie Bali. She has
also acted in the Tamil film
Manmadhan along with
Silambarasan and Tamil leading lady
Jyothika.
Mandira was born in April 15,
1972 and was brought up in
Mumbai. She did her schooling at
the Cathedral and John Connon
school in Mumbai. She is married to
film director Raj Kaushal and lives in
Bandra, Mumbai.
Her debut in the Malayalam film
Ezhaam Mudra is a return for Mandira
to the South Indian screen after a gap
of three years. She was last seen in the
Tamil film Manmadhan in 2004.
In Ezham Mudra, Suresh Gopi not
only plays the lead role as a navy doctor,
but also serves as a producer. The
movie once again brings the LTTE
into the backdrop and also tells the
touching story of the Sri Lankan crisis.
Action hero of Malayalam films
Suresh Gopi, who created waves onscreen
with his brave cop roles and
punch dialogues, is concentrating on
offbeat films.
He not only follows the footsteps
of other superstars like Mammotty,
Mohanlal and Dilip by producing the
film, but he also seems to be more
interested in quality acting. Ace director
and winner of National Best
Director Award, Rajeev Nath’s Ezham
Mudra, is one among them.
The other forthcoming projects of
Suresh Gopi in offbeat roles are based
on Shakespeare’s Macbeth and another
is about the world renowned Indian
painter Raja Ravi Varma. directed by
Lenin Rajendran.
Mandira mesmerised viewers with
her remarkable smile during the
Cricket World Cup Series on the mini
screen earlier. Her entry to the sports
world created many controversies and
she survived all that and become a
trendsetter. Now, can she make an
impact on the Malayalam film industry
which she failed to do in
Bollywood?
Lakshmi Rai
Lakshmi Rai was born and
brought up in Bangalore and later
moved to Belgaum. She began her
career as a model and was successful
in the field from her school
days. She appeared as a child artiste
in the Kannada film Valmeeki
directed by Sivaraj Kumar. After
watching her modelling as a child,
Sivaraj Kumar chose her for the
role in Valmeeki.

Lakshmi Rai, with her beautiful
looks and pretty smile, won the
Miss Belgaum title twice. After
watching her modelling show, RV
Udayakumar offered her the heroine
part in the Tamil film Karka
Kasadara. Vijay’s cousin Vikranth
was her male lead of the film.
Lakshmi Rai is a tall and endearing
heroine from the Karnataka and
in a short span of time she has acted
in more than half-a-dozen movies
in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
She was also lucky enough to
play the heroine opposite senior
actor Vijayakanth in the Tamil film
Dharmapuri directed by Perarasu.
She also appeared as the female
lead of Parthiban in the Tamil film
Kundakka Mandakka directed by
Ashok. In another Tamil film,
Nenjai Thodu, directed by Raj
Kannan, her hero was Gemini.

Lakshmi Rai appeared as the
love interest of Sharath in the
Telugu film Neeku Naaku and acted
in the Kannada film Snehana
Preethina as the heroine of
Darshan.
Although Lakshmi Rai did not
know anything about the
Malayalam film industry, she
accepted the lead role opposite
Mohanlal. The main reason for
signing the offer was the limited
callsheets. She agreed to do the role
without even knowing the story of
the film. Lakshmi was offered roles
in Malayalam films like
Pazhassiraja but she couldn’t
accept them because of her busy
schedules in other languages.
Finally, she appears in the
Malayalam film as the heroine of
frontliner Mohanlal in the musical
entertainer Rock N Roll. She plays
the role of a singer Daya Shrinivas.

Mohanlal appears in the film as a
world famous drummer
Chandramouli. In order to meet his
friends and troupe members,
Chandramouli returns to Kerala.

Music for the film is composed
by Vidyasagar set to the lyrics of
Girish Puthancherri. The film also
features two other heroines,
Radhika and Shweta Menon. It is
produced by PM Venugopal and the
cinematographer is Manoj Pillai.
The Malayalam film industry
always welcomes heroines from
other states. Lakshmi Rai, who
completed an acting course from
Mumbai and gained the attention
of South Indian film industries
with her glamorous roles, hopes
that the singer role in Rock N Roll
will be a turning point in her career.
Moviegoers are eagerly waiting
to see her performance in the film.
They want to find out whether the
actress is competing in the industry
with her glamour or her acting
talent. Will the fans of Malayalam
films be charmed by her magic?

The Gulf Today / Thursday, September 20, 2007 TIME OUT 21

Impressive Innings: Mammootty

IMPRESSIVE INNINGS

MAMMOOTTY DONS THE UNIFORM OF A POLICE OFFICER FOR THE 25TH TIME IN ROWDRAM, SCRIPTED AND DIRECTED BY RENJI PANIKKAR, WRITES KK MOIDU


20 TIME OUT The Gulf Today / Thursday, September 27, 2007
In Rowdram, Mammootty
once again plays the role of a
brave cop, which made him
the best in the industry. His
character Narendran, nicknamed
‘Nari,’ is an Assistant Police
Commissioner in the film.
Narendran is an honest police officer
and always stands for truth and
justice. This quality irritates many
people in his own department. He
always fights against evils and will
do anything to defeat them and protect
the life and property of the public.
Narendran is the son of a police
officer who lost his life on duty. He
is a direct appointment to the
department with the special permission
of the chief minister as the
Assistant Commissioner of
Ernakulam. He is assigned to prove
a murder case that happened in
Kochi. But a battalion of enemies
are waiting for Narendran in the
city and they play dirty games to
make the investigation more complicated.
Sai Kumar is the villain of the
film and debutante Manju plays the
heroine role as Narendran’s wife.
She is from Ernakulam near
Cherthala and is doing a fashion
designing course in Chennai.
Mammootty is well-known in
films for his police officer personification,
especially for his style and
dialogue delivery. His first police
officer role in Yavanika, which was
directed by KG George, propelled
his career to new heights. The performances
of Mammootty in the
khakhi uniform has never harmed
the producers.
Mammootty celebrated his 54th
birthday on Sept.7, on the sets of
Rowdram. The film is directed by
Renji Panikkar who is one of the
best in creating strong dialogues.
Rowdram is Renji Panikkar’s second
film as a director and his 14th
as a script writer. His maiden directorial
venture, superhit Bharath
Chandran IPS, was also a police
story. Suresh Gopi played the title
role in the film and he regained his
superstar status with that film.
Renji, with his articulate writing
skills, has not only been credited
for the success of many Mohanlal
and Suresh Gopi films but also created
the superhit film The King with
Mammootty.

The King, scripted by Renji
Panikkar, was released 10 years ago
and was directed by Shaji Kailas.
Mammootty played the central
character as a collector and it turned
out to be the biggest hit of that year.
Rowdram, produced by
Marikkar Films and scheduled to be
a Christmas release, will have
enough action and punch lines.
Other cast members include Lalu
Alex, Vijayaraghavan and several
regulars from the industry.
The title of the film Rowdram
was changed to Showryam, but after
a week the director chose to stick to
the old title Rowdram. In a few
months time, the film will finally
appear on the screen.
Mammootty last appeared on
screen as a cop in Balram v
Tharadas directed by IV Sasi. He
played a double role in the film, one
as a police officer and another as a
don. Although the movie was a box
office disaster, his performance as a
police officer was much appreciated.
Mammootty has played heroic
roles in more than 300 films in different languages. ALaw graduate,
he started his film career as a junior
artist in Anubhavangal Palichakal
in 1971. His first film as an actor
was Devalokam and it was not
released in theatres. MTVasudevan
Nair and KG George played important
roles in moulding the his career,
having given him the opportunity
with Vilkanundu Swapnangal and
Mela.

Mammootty’s first superhit film
as a hero was Thrishna directed by
IV Sasi. After the success of the
film, Mammootty and IV Sasi
together created many hits.
Mammootty’s talent was later
tapped by directors of international
repute like Adoor Gopalakrishnan,
Pavithran and TV Chandran.
In a period of five years from ‘82
to ‘87 Mammootty has acted in
more than 150 films as a hero. Very
few actors in the world of cinema
have done such a large number of
heroic roles within a short period of
time. Mammootty created a record
earlier by acting in 35 films in a single
year.

However, the turning point in
Mammootty’s career was New
Delhi, directed by Joshi and
released in 1987. The actor almost
lived the role of the film’s central
character, G Krishnamurthy, a journalist,
who takes revenge against his
politician enemies, for victimising
him. Mammootty’s completion of
the role was widely appreciated and
it propelled him to super-stardom.
Mammootty has won several
awards in the long span of more
than two-and-a-half decade’s as an
actor. He started his award hunting
in 1981 for the film Ahimsa, with a
second best actor award.
His role as Karunan in
Adiyozhukkukal directed by IV Sasi
got him the Best Actor State Award
and Filmfare Award. Mammootty
won the State special jury award
and best actor Filmfare award for
Yathra directed by Balu Mahendra.
The film proved to be one of the
best in Mammootty’s career. He
shaved his hair for the film, only
one example for his efforts to play
his character perfectly.
Mammootty fetched the best
actor National and State Award for
his role as Chanthu in Oru
Vadakkan Veeragadha. The film
was directed by Hariharan and
penned by literary genius MT
Vasudevan Nair. Mammootty’s performance
in Mathilukal directed by
Adoor Gopalakrishnan was also
considered for the award.
Mathilukal was based on a novel by
literary great Vaikkom Muhammed
Basheer and Mammootty received
the Filmfare Award for his performance.
His role as a hunter Varunni
in Mrugaya, directed by IV Sasi,
and another film Mahayanam, was
also examined for the State Award.
Mammootty won the Filmfare
award for Amaram directed by
Bharathan. He played the role of an
uneducated fisherman who dreams
of making his only daughter a doctor.


Mammootty immortalised the
roles in Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s
Vidheyan and TV Chandran’s
Ponthanmada. He received the Best
Actor National and State Award for
his fulfillment of the roles in both
films. His performance in
Valsalyam was also judged for the
State Award.
Mammootty not only won the
National Best Actor Award for Dr
Baba Saheb Ambedkar directed by
Jabbar Patel but also obtained international
fame. His last State Best
Actor Award was for the film
Kaazhcha directed by Blessy.
Mammootty is a winner of nine
film critic awards and he also won
the prestigious Filmfare legendary
actor award in 2007. He was triumphant
of the Etisalat Everest
Award for Best Actor selected
through a poll. It was an award for
the best actor for all time
Malayalam Cinema.
The Government of India honoured
Mammootty with a ‘Padma
Shri’ in 1998 in recognition of his
contribution to cinema.
He created not only super hits in
Malayalam but also in other languages.
He made his Tamil debut in
Maunam Sammatham . He has
acted in Tamil films with front-line
directors of the industry like K
Balachander and Mani Rathnam.
His performance along with superstar
Rajnikanth in Thalapathi made
him a favourite in Tamil. His other
Tamil film Kandukondain
Kandukondain directed by Rajeev
Menon was also a superhit. His costars
of the film were Aishwarya
Rai, Tabu and Ajith.
His other Tamil super hit films
are Marumalarchi, Arasiyal and
Makkal Aachi. Fazil directed
Kalippoch Kelkkava was another
successful film that gained box
office victory by competing with
Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan
films in Tamil Nadu.
After a long interval,
Mammootty is acting in a new
Tamil film. Tamil action hero Arjun
is also doing an important role in
the film and the film will have two
heroines — Mamta Mohandas and
Sneha. Mammootty’s last Tamil
film was Viswa Thulasi. His acting
was noticed in the film but the film
was a box office disaster.
Mammootty tried his luck in
Bollywood but he couldn’t repeat
his south Indian success in Hindi
films. He made his Hindi debut in
an arty film Thriyathri . His first
commercial film was
Dharthiputhra which bombed at
the box office. Mammootty’s Sau
Jhooth Ek Sach won critical
acclaim but the film didn’t do well
at the box office.
Mammootty’s Telugu film
Swathikiran was a superhit but the
remake in Malayalam titled
Pramanam was a failure on home
turf.
For Mammootty, the year 2007
started with the big hit Mayavi.
Then followed Big B, Mission 90
Days and Ore Kadal but none of
the films performed well at the
box office. But his part of the
films were applauded and his role
as Dr Nathan in Ore Kadal
became another best in his career.
Mammootty’s Ramadan
release, Nazrani, directed by
Joshi, is a sure winner at the box
office. Another project in the
pipeline, Pazhassiraja, directed by
Hariharan based on the script of
MT Vasudevan Nair, is also tipped
to be a winner.

After learning from his earlier
box office flops, Mammootty has
given up acting in many films
together at the same time. But now
he has returned to his old style
because he does not want to miss
good offers coming his way.
During the last few months,
Mammootty has acted in many
films at the same time. He is still
working on different projects like
Pazhassiraja, Vandematharam
and Katha Parayumbol. He is also
in a superstar role in
Kathaparayumbol which is produced
by Mukesh and scripted by
Sreenivasan.

Other forthcoming projects of
the superstar are Theeppetti
Chandran and he is doing a double
role in a film directed by
Anvar Rasheed. He will also play
a pivotal role in the multi starrer
AMMAwhich features Mohanlal,
Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Dilip and
Prithviraj.
Mammootty is also acting in an
English film The Late Night
Beggar.
In an eventful career spanning
more than 25 years, Mammootty is
not only enjoying a megastar status
in Malayalam cinema but is also
merited with securing prestigious
awards. He has secured a place in
the hearts of people — but his thirst
for acting still remains.
Mammootty has tasted failure
several times but he has an uncanny
ability of bouncing back. After
all, Mammootty, the super hero of
Malayalam cinema, is the last word
in personality and talent. And he is
continuing his journey of success.
The Gulf Today / Thursday, September 27, 2007 TIME OUT 21
CINEMA

HITTING IT OFF TOGETHER: Madhupal

20 TIME OUT The Gulf Today / Thursday, September 13, 2007
HITTING IT OFF TOGETHER
PRITHVIRAJ AND NAVYA NAIR COME TOGETHER AGAIN IN MADHUPAL’S DIRECTORIAL DEBUT THALAPAAVU, WRITES KK MOIDU

After serving the film
industry for nearly oneand-
a-half decades as
assistant director and
actor, Madhupal, a popular
face on the silver screen and television,
is making his maiden directorial
venture with Thalapaavu.

Madhupal, armed with a post
graduate degree in commerce and a
course in journalism, joined the industry
as an associate director. He is a
writer and has authored a collection
of short stories and a couple of books
like Ee Jeevitham Jeevichu
Theerkunnathu, Hebrewil Oru
Premalekhanam etc. He tried his luck
at script-writing was not successful.
Madhupal started writing from his
schooldays and was penning stories
at the age of 10 for children’s magazines
Poombatta and Balayugam.
His association with cinema started
when he was a child. His father, an
employee of the Kerala State
Electricity Board, was also running a
theatre in Palakkad. That gave him the
opportunity to watch films showing
in the theatre and his interest for films
begun.
After completing his education,
Madhupal started his career as a journalist
in Mathrubhoomi and India
Today and he also worked in a bank.
But his fascination for films attracted
him into the film industry. He worked
in many projects as an associate director
and scriptwriter, but his earlier
works like the Mohanlal-starrer
Australia and Yamanam, directed by
Bharath Gopi, were not released.
Madhupal also worked as an assistant
for eminent director Rajeev
Anchal in Butterflies, Guru,
Kashmeeram etc. His association with
Rajeev Anchal was a turning point in
his career. He acted in Kashmeeram
in which he played a negative role.
After that, he appeared in character
and villain roles in many films.
Madhupal also worked as an assistant
director for the film Made in
USA, that had Madhavan in the lead
and was picturised in the United
States. He also played the role of
Violin Johny in the film. He replaced
an NRI Sibi David for that role due to
an unavoidable circumstance.
Madhupal was noticed on the
small screen and achieved success not
only as an actor but also as a director.
He fetched the Critics Award for the
second best actor for his role as Hari
in Kaazhcha. It was a series of MT
Kathakal and was aired on Amritha
TV. Madhupal won the critics award
for Akasathe Paravakal aired on
Kairali TV. He also worked as an
assistant to Jude Attipetty for the serial
Shararanthal.
He also acted and directed around
a dozen serials and did few documentaries
for government departments.
Madhupal writes for magazines
and also finds time for social activities.
He was engaged in several projects
to help the victims of the tsunami
and is associated with Shanthigiri
Ashram at Pothencode near
Thiruvananthapuram.
As an actor, Madhupal continues
his presence in recently released films
like Sooryan, Nadiya Kollappetta
Rathri, Detective etc. Although he is
playing negative roles, he was rarely
cast as the foremost villain. His roles
were limited to an assistant of the primary
villain or a gang leader in many
films. His distinguished looks and
memorable performances made him
a sought-after actor in character and
villain roles.
Now, Madhupal finally takes up
the job of directing a movie. His
Thalapaavu is noticed by the reunion
of Prithviraj and Navya Nair. The
female lead of the film, Navya Nair,
appeared earlier as the love interest of
Prithviraj in his debut film
Nandhanam. Though the movie was
a superhit and performed well at the
box office, Navya hogged the limelight
and even won the State Award
for Best Actress for her portrayal of
the film’s Cindrella-like character,
Balamani.
After doing few Malayalam films,
unlike other Malayalam heroines like
Nayanthara, Meera Jasmine, Bhavana
etc., Navya turned her attention to the
Tamil film industry. Early in her
career she paired opposite senior
director-cum-actor Cheran in
Mayakannadi. She gave up many
offers from Malayalam for
Mayakannadi and Aadum Koothu
with TVChandran. But both the films
fell below expectations and bombed
at the box office.
Her forthcoming Tamil film is Sila
Nerangalil. The movie is the directorial
debut of popular Malayalam
director Jayaraj, a four-time winner of
the National Awards. Vincent
Ashokan, the villain of Pokkiri and
Aalwar, is her male lead in the film
which is a thriller penned by R Raj.
Navya’s passion for meaty, art
ventures pulled her career back a little.
By realising the loss, she is now
working in commercial films and reestablished
herself in Malayalam
films with two Onam releases. She
paired opposite Mohanlal in Alibhai
and in Kichamani MBA her hero was
Suresh Gopi.
Navya’s forthcoming Malayalam
film SMS will be directed by Surjulan
of Madamma fame. Bala is the hero
of the film and it is his second film
with Navya. Earlier, they paired in
Kalabham, which failed to attract the
crowds at the box office. Mukesh will
play a pivotal role in SMS. The film
is a suspense thriller with an equal
dose of comedy.
Navya also has a couple of other
projects in her kitty. She pins her hope
on Thalapaavu opposite Prithviraj.
Prithviraj too won the hearts of
filmgoers as Manu in Nandanam and
soon became a favourite in the industry.
His pairing with Navya Nair was
perfect and many expect them to be a
hit pair in the future. But the pairing
was repeated only in Vellithira directed
by Bhadran. Vellithira didn’t do
well at the box office unlike other
Bhadran films.
Although Prithviraj got ample
opportunities to handle different types
of characters in the beginning of his
career, his movies only did moderate
business at the box office.
When weighty roles dried up on
the home turf he made his Tamil
debut in veteran cinematographer KV
Anand’s directorial debut Kana
Kandain. He portrayed a different
kind of villain in the film. The success
of the film earned him heroic roles in
Tamil films and he became a favourite
for Tamil audience.
Prithviraj repeated his success in
Malayalam after the surprise victory
of Classmates, a campus love story
directed by Lal Jose. He also won the
State Best Actor Award for the film
Vasthavam directed by Padmakumar.
Although Prithviraj is busy in
Tamil, he is doing Malayalam films.
His forthcoming Chocolate directed
by Shafi is ready to hit the screen. In
another upcoming project Boss,
directed by Padmakumar, his heroine
is Meera Jasmine and the film is
scripted by AK Sajan. Sai Kumar,
Jagathy, Lalu Alex and Manoj K.
Jayan are doing other important characters
of the film. Chandrakumar produces
the film under his banner
Malavika Productions.
Kangaroo directed by Raj Babu, is
another forthcoming Malayalam film
of Prithviraj. The movie scripted by J
Pallasserry also stars Jayasoorya,
Jagathy Sreekumar, Harishree
Ashokan, Suraj Venjaramoodu and
Salim Kumar.
Prithviraj films are hits in Tamil
but he failed to attract crowds on his
home turf. His recently released
movies Khaki and Veeralippattu were
well made films, but the lukewarm
response of the audience only added
two more flops to his career.
Navya Nair is going through a lean
patch in her career after her two big
releases Mayakannadi and Aadum
Koothu bombed at the box office. Her
recently released films also didn’t do
anything good for her career.
Both Prithviraj and Navya hope
that Thalapaavu will work in their
favour. Other important roles of the
film will be played by Jagathy
Sreekumar, Lal and Kalabhavan
Mani.
The film, scripted by Babu
Janardhanan, will start rolling at the
end of the month. Thalapaavu is produced
by Tamil actor Mohanraj under
the banner of Civic Films. According
to reports, ONV Kurup will pen the
songs of the film and it will be composed
by the youngster’s favourite
musician Alex Paul.
As a director, Madhupal can contribute
a lot to the directorial department
— not only for Thalapaavu—
but also for the film industry. His
experience in most of the departments
of film-making will help him a lot.
This may be one of the reasons why
he should concentrate more on being
a director.

Winning Smile - Trisha

16 TIME OUT The Gulf Today / Thursday, October 4, 2007

WINNING SMILE

LEADING LADY OF TAMIL AND
TELUGU CINEMA, TRISHA
KRISHNAN, BAGGED THE
KALAIMAMANI AWARD AND
NANDHI AWARD FROM THE TWO
RESPECTIVE STATE GOVERNMENTS,
WRITES KK MOIDU

Attractive actress Trisha was
honoured with the
Kalaimamani Award from the
Tamil Nadu Government and
the Nandhi Award from the
Andhra Pradesh Government recently.
Trisha is the reigning queen of Telugu
cinema, and to retain her top rank in Tamil
films, she is doing as many films in Tamil
as well.
Trisha, nicknamed Honey for her beautiful
smile, hails from Palakkad, Kerala.
Born on May 4, 1983 as Trisha
Krishnamurthy, she is the only daughter of
Krishnan and Uma Krishnan.
The Tamil Iyer actress was brought up in
Chennai and completed her schooling from
Church Park. She then did BBA from
Ethiraj College, Chennai.
Trisha entered the film industry through
modelling. She appeared in advertisements
for famous brands like Pepsi, Fair and
Lovely, Medimix, Josco Jewellery, Prince
Jewellery and Kumaran Silks. She recently
replaced Rani Mukherjee as the brand
ambassador of Fanta India. Trisha is the
brand ambassador of Scooty Pep+ and substituted
Preity Zinta. Even for Perk
Chocolate, she replaced Preity Zinta.

Trisha won the Miss Salem and
Miss Chennai contest with her striking
looks. Her participation in Fa
Miss India Femina Contest bagged
her the Miss India Miss Beautiful
Smile title. After winning these
awards she got ample opportunities
to work with leading designers and
choreographers. She turned out to be
a high-flying figure in fashion
shows. She also starred in Phalghuni
Pathak’s music album Meri Chunar
Ud Ud Jaye.
Trisha made her debut in the
Tamil film Jodi with a cameo role.
Her first film as a heroine was Lesa
Lesa directed by leading director
Priyadarshan. Her male lead of the
film was Shyam. Her first film
released was Mounam Pesiyathe
and she won the Filmfare debutante
award and critical acclaim for her
performance in the film. Her hero of
the film was Surya and it was an
average hit at the box office. Trisha
bagged nearly half-a-dozen heroine
roles even before the release of her
first film. Her performance in Mani
Ratnam’s Aayudha Ezhuthu,
Unakku 18 Enakku 20 and
Manasellam brought her into the
limelight. She co-starred with
Siddharth Narayan, Madhavan and
Surya in Aayudha Ezhuthu, a
remake of the Hindi film Yuva.
Trisha dubbed herself for Aayudha
Ezhuthu.
Trisha’s couple of films like Ji,
Aathi, Pournami and Aaru didn’t
perform well at the box office. Her
role in Saamy opposite Vikram and
her pairing in Ghilli opposite Vijay
helped her become one of the most
sought-after heroines in Tamil cinema.
The success of Saamy and Ghilli
put a stamp on her popularity.
Trisha repeated her Tamil success
in the Telugu industry also. Her film
Varsham was a superhit and she won
the Filmfare Best Actress Award.
She went on to co-star with Sidharth
Narayan in Nuvvostanante
Nenoddantana in a village girl role
as Sini. Nuvvostanante
Nenoddantana directed by Prabhu
Deva was an entertainer. The film
tells the story of a rich boy who
wants to marry an ordinary girl and
her brother opposes the relationship.
The film was a box office hit and
Trisha won the Filmfare Best
Actress Award and Nandhi Award.
Trisha repeated her role in the Tamil
remake Something
Something.....Unnakkum Ennakum.
Her hero of the film was Jayam Ravi
and the film repeated the box office
victory in Tamil.
The big budget Telugu film
Sanikudu, with Mahesh Babu, was
thought to be a below average film,
but it managed to get a fantastic
opening and did average business at
the box office. Trisha played the
female lead opposite senior Telugu
hero Venkatesh in Aadavari
Matalaku Ardhalu Verule. The film
was the Telugu directorial debut for
Selvaraghavan. The entertainer
received good response from the
family audience and Trisha’s performance
was one of the highlights
of the film.
Trisha also played the heroine
opposite Telugu stalwart Chiranjeevi
in Stalin. The songs of the film were
picturised in Italy and Austria.
Anushka Shetty performed an item
number in the film directed by AR
Murugadoss.
Trisha succeeded in playing a
comedy role in her recently released
Tamil film Kireedam opposite Ajith.
The film with good expectation has
won rave reviews from the media
and good response from the public.
Kireedam is a remake of the
Malayalam blockbuster of the 80s
and the film is about the bondage
between a father and son.
The release of the film was celebrated
in Tamil Nadu by her fans
with great joy. They organised blood
donation camps, distributed sweets
and erected cut-outs of the actress to
celebrating the release of their
favourite screen heroine’s film.
Although she was replaced by
Nayanthara in Ilayathalapathy
Vijay’s forthcoming Kuruvi from the
team of the superhit Ghilli, Trisha’s
hands are full with offers not only
from Tamil but also from the Telugu
industry. She has played the heroine
role of more than two dozen films in
her career spanning more than five
years with crowd pulling heroes.
Trisha earlier opted out from
playing the heroine in Vallavan
opposite Silambarasan because her
character in the film was extremely
glamorous and later Nayanthara did
the role. Trisha earlier rejected offers
for films like Majaa opposite
Vikram and Don opposite
Nagarjuna due to her prior commitments.
The female lead of Majaa
was later played by Asin and
Anushka Shetty played Nagarjuna’s
female lead in Don.
In Trisha’s forthcoming Telugu
films, she will play the female lead
opposite Ravi Teja in the VV
Vinayak directed Bezawada Bujji
and Prabhas starrer Bijjigadu under
the direction of Puri Jagannadh.
Her ready-to-release Tamil film
Bheema, directed by Linguswamy,
will be noted for her pairing with
Vikram after the superhit film
Saamy. Abhiyum Naanum is another
prestigious project for her, produced
by Prakash Raj and directed
by Radha Mohan. Prakash Raj also
plays her father in the film.
Trisha will play the female lead
in Gautham Menon’s Chennaiyil
Oru Mazhaikalam with four male
debutante heroes. AR Rehman will
compose the lyrics of renowned poet
Thamarai for the film. The story of
the film is about life in the underworld
and it will be a musical entertainer.
Trisha is a winner of Vijay TVs
most Favourite Tamil Actress award
in 2006. Her rivals for the competition
were Simran, Jyothika and
Asin.
Although Trisha is very popular
in Tamil and Telugu films, she has a
massive fan base in neighbouring
Kerala. Her Malayalee fans watch
their favourite heroine’s Tamil and
Telugu films with interest. She
couldn’t satisfy them by appearing
in a Malayalam film, unlike other
leading heroines of the industry.
Finally, Trisha will appear in a
Malayalam film Target. But, to her
fan’s despair, it is a dubbed version
of the Telugu superhit Athadu starring
Mahesh Babu in the lead.
Athadu was the highest grosser of
2005 in Telugu. Other important
characters of the film are played by
Prakash Raj and Nassar. The film
scripted and directed by Trivikram
Srinivas tells the story of the tough
life of two friends from the street.
Their struggle to reach the pinnacle
of society is telling in the film. The
songs of the dubbed version in
Malayalam will feature the voices of
leading singers MG Sreekumar,
Jyotsna, Sujatha, Vineeth
Sreenivasan, Franco etc.
Trisha, with her beauteous smile
and entertaining performance, is
doing well in Tamil and Telugu
films. But will her appearance in a
dubbed Malayalam film satisfy her
fans? Or would they like to watch
her in other language films other
than a dubbed Malayalam film?