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The big Bollywood summer officially kicked off on a triple delight day, 21st March, a unique day on which Holi, Good Friday and Milad-e-Sharif (in parts of India) coincided. This meant that nearly everyone had the day off, at least in North India and there couldn’t have been a better date to release a film thought the subsequent days have the shadows of examinations

looming over them. It was on this day that Race released and going by trade reports from different circuits the movie has literally ‘raced’ off to a great start.

This comes as no surprise as the Hindi audience have been starved off a big release since Jodha Akbar and the movie features some big names like Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Anil Kapoor and as many heroines in Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy. With the perfect formula for a summer biggie director duo Abbas Mustan, regarded as the best Bollywood has to offer for thrillers, it seems that nothing can go wrong.

 With a mega release, official figures stand at more than 3000 shows a day in India, Race is all set to take over as the Bollywood torchbearer from Jodha Akbar which has been running for quite some time now, and carry on until the next big summer release is ready to take over. 

Malaikallan the film which created waves in Tamil Nadu in 1954 with M G Ramachandran and Bhanumathy cannot be easily forgotten by movie buffs. Now the title of this film is being used by Rajkiran for his next project to be produced and directed by the actor himself who also will be donning the main role.

Drawing parallels between the two movies, Rajkiran says, “I am acting in this film with the same objective for which the legendary M G R acted in the old film. My film will talk about a society when it is totally revamped in economical, political and sociological front”.

He also said that he will be doing roles which will be in sync with his age. The usual sentiments which are unique to his films will find place in Malaikallan too. Rajkiran is planning to start the shoot by May and release the film for Diwali. 

Pyramid Saimira, one of Asia’s largest entertainment groups, has entered into an agreement with the China Society of Music Research Board (CSMRB) to promote arts and cultural cooperation between the two countries. This agreement enables Saimira to venture into the Chinese market for which guidelines and consultations will be offered by the
CSMRB body. Further, this agreement also facilitates Saimira to bring in renowned Film, TV, Music, and Dance artists from China to India.

To this effect, the Jiangsu Pyramid Longzhe Group has been formed with CSMRB’s approval. This organization would operate theatres, distribute films, and engage in other culture promotional activities in china. Kick starting the effort, Saimira’s cultural delegation from India had performed their show in Beijing yesterday at the China Child Art Theatre Hall. In the home turf, Saimira has released Kannum Kannum and the Telugu movie Abbo Aadavallu this Friday. That apart, Simran Thirai, a television series with Simran in the lead is also being aired on Jaya TV.

Jayam Kondaan the upcoming film directed by Kannan who had his initial training under Mani Ratnam is happy with the way the film has shaped up. The movie has Vinay, Bhavna and Lekha Washington in lead roles. According to the director major portion of the film has been completed and the crew will be flying now to Russia to shoot song sequences.

Vinay is a civil engineer working in London who comes to Chennai and meets Bhavna, a college student interested in sports. Lekha is a modern girl with progressive views and the film revolves around these three characters. Jayamkondaan also has Vivek, Santhanam V M C Haneeefa in the supporting cast. Vidya Sagar has tuned in music and Balasubramanian has cranked the camera and the film will be a summer vacation release. While discussing his film, Kannan says that Jayam Kondaan’s specialty is its spontaneity.

He further adds, “My hero Vinay will be like the boy-next-door and people will be able to relate to him easily. I have not given any message in the film as I feel it is not necessary. I do not want to disappoint people who come to theatres to watch my film. 100% entertainment would be assured within the logical boundaries”. 

Ileana D’cruz the slim Goan beauty who made her presence felt in the Mahesh Babu starrer Pokkiri (Telugu) is currently rocking the Tollywood. Like most of the stars, she too started her modeling career before she shifted gears to film acting. She was seen in more than five Telugu films with popular stars and is committed to two other films which are in the

making. In Tamil, she was last seen in Kedi with Ravi Krishna and Tamanna where she played the docile love interest of the hero.

Currently reigning the Tollywood, Ileana commands the highest pay cheque there. She has been aspiring to build a house in Hyderabad and settle down there. Her long cherished dream has come true now with the actress buying a flat for Rs 1.75 crores. She has also planned to have a massive house warming ceremony where all the leading artists of the industry would be invited.

Remaking old movies have become quite common these days. But another trend cropping up now is naming new films with titles from yesteryear hits, even though the storyline may not have anything to do with the old classic- as in Polladhavan.

Some producers have apparently lodged a complaint against using their film titles to new movies at the Producers’ Council. The administrative committee deliberated upon the issue, and a consensus emerged that this practice should not be encouraged any further.

However, those intending to name their projects should obtain a no objection certificate from the producer or their legal heirs, declared Rama Narayanan, President, Producers’ Council.

Audio of the Jeyam Ravi starrer Santosh Subramaniam is slated to release on Sunday, March 23, 2008 and to give heads up to the media, the actor’s brother and director Raja called in for a media briefing at the Green Park Hotel in Chennai.  Raja briefed the media about the remake – SS is the remake of the cult Telugu hit Bommarillu, incidentally directed by Raja’s former assistant director.

Addressing the media, Raja declared that it’s no mean task to remake a movie. “People think it’s as easy as falling of a log to remake movies, but it’s a very difficult task since the movie has already achieved a cult status. It’s like trying to redo a magician’s trick after seeing him perform. Luckily, we have got everything in place and I’m pleased with the output,” Ravi declared.

In his briefing, Jeyam Ravi stated that he plays the guy who leads a double life by being a quiet studious at home and a freak outside. For which, Raja was quick enough to interrupt and warn mockingly at Ravi not to let out the spoilers to the media. Prakashraj plays Ravi’s authoritarian father and the scenes between the two seem to have turned out convincingly well according to Ravi. Genelia retains her lead role for the remake. 

Kuselan – Superstar Rajinikanth’s next venture – is up and running and shoots are on in the Ramoji Rao film city in Hyderabad. Scenes involving Nayanthara, Sneha, and Rajini were shot today. Rajini plays himself for this Tamil version of the Malayalam hit Katha Parayumbol that also has Pasupathy and Meena in vital roles. 

Besides, scenes of Livingston and Santhana Bharathi who play the smalltime local goons wanting to be photographed with Rajinikanth were also canned in today’s shoots. Prabhu and Manobala played the police officers trying to maintain the crowd under control.

Produced by Balachander for his Kavithalaya Productions and directed by P. Vasu, Kuselan’s background music is scored by G.V. Prakash. Rajini’s role for Kuselan will be extensive as opposed to the cameo Mammootty appeared for Katha Parayumbol.

The Dhaam Dhoom girl – Jeyam Ravi’s heroine – is in trouble again. Kangana Ranaut, the new sizzling Bollywood actress, is known for her star tantrums. But she may have gone too far this time. Her driver, Rajesh Shah, has registered a case against her at a Mumbai police station for allegedly slapping him.

This was not the first time this has  happened, he claims. At another time, she had hit him because he had got her the wrong kind of fruit juice. More seriously, perhaps, is his allegation that Kangana’s sister, Rangoli, had even made death threats to him on the phone. The actress in her defense has said that she struck him because of his (repeated) rash driving.

Poonam Bhajwa, the Telugu actress, who is now acting with Jeeva in ‘Thenavattu’, has entered Kollywood with big dreams. Now the Tollywood beauty is paired the happening young hero Bharath. Both of them pair up in Hari’s next film ‘Seval’.

Hari, known for surefire commercial entertainers, is all set to commence his new venture. After the successful movie ‘Vel’ featuring Suriya and Asin, he is doing a film featuring Bharath, who has transformed as an action hero recently. ‘Seval’ is produced by M.A Jinnah of Jinnah Creations, the leading distributor in Tiruchi area.

The action packed entertainer, with right dosage of sentiments and comedy, might be started by the month of May. The young and fast upcoming music director G.V Prakash has been roped in to score the music.

It is said that Hari is trying to get Simran to do an important role in the movie. It is worth recalling that it was Simran, who acted in Hari’s maiden venture ‘Thamizh’ opposite Prashanth.