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.