It has been a very long time since a film has been certified officially as a Children’s Film and the unique distinction has been bagged by ‘Vannathupoochi’, a soon to be released film.

The Censor Board is in the habit of awarding the ‘Children’s Feature Film’ certificate to movies about children that also features them. It really has been a pity that no film in a number of years qualified for this certificate.

‘Vannathupoochi’ reportedly has an absorbing storyline that talks about the huge generation gap between children of modern times and old folks because of fast-paced revolutionizing technological advancements. An old man in a village finds himself to the very lonely and his granddaughter who lives in the city too is lonely due to many reasons. The bonding that the two have forms the rest of the story.

Azhagappan has produced and directed the film for Mother Arts Internationals and is very confident on the films prospects at the box office. Subsidized tickets would be made available for school going children and plans are on to enter the film in various Childrens’ Film Festivals around the world.

Shooting for the film ‘Sariththiram’ is going on near Top Slip in Pollachi. The film stars Raj Kiran, Aathi, Kalabhavan Mani and Sridevika. Produced by I. T. A Films, the movie is directed by Samy.

The film is similar to the legendary Bruce Lee starrer ‘Enter the Dragon’ in a way. While the Bruce Lee starrer talked of the way Kung Fu originated and prevailed in Hong Kong, ‘Sariththiram’ delves deep into the origins of Tamilnadu’s very own stick based martial art ‘Silambam”. Raj Kiran plays a Silambam expert and teaches the martial art to deserving students although he is of royal descent (Jameen).

The filmmakers reportedly were scouting for a traditional palace near the Pollachi area. Despite devoting a lot of time and effort, the search ended futile. Therefore they have decided to revamp an old house as a palace and have reportedly spent fifty lakhs in the endeavor.

Interestingly this newly constructed ‘palace’ is situated near the famous holiday destination Top Slip and so tourists have started spending time at the palace itself.

Looks like the film has created ‘Sariththiram’ with a tourist spot. 

Director Vijay made his entry into tinsel town with the Ajith starrer ‘Kireedom’ and made quite a name for himself. He is currently working for the project ‘Poi Solla Porom’ which is produced by Priyadarshan.

Talking about ‘Poi Solla Porom’, the director said, ‘a group of youngsters are up in arms against Nasser who plays a very powerful man. They can’t dethrone him with money or manpower and so indulge in mind-games to overcome the powerful man’.

On the kind of movies that he’d like to make, director Vijay said, ‘I want to break the regular routine that films are made with these days. I am gearing up to make a film with five heroes now and I am in talks with young heroines for the film. I have narrated the story to Telugu actor Mahesh Babu and will be able to say more about the project in a few days’.

Director Vijay is also planning to make a Hindi film with Imraan Khan in the lead.

Is creativity running out in Kollywood that filmmakers are not even able to find new names for their films? They keep resorting to names of old movies.

Titles like ‘Marma Yogi’, ‘Padikkathavan’, ‘Nam Nadu’, ‘Vettaikaran’, ‘Deiva Magan’, ‘Anbae Vaa’ and ‘Ayirathil Oruvan’ are some of the yesteryear titles that are being recycled now.

Actor - director Sundar C is planning to do a movie next titled ‘Ulagam Suttrum Vaalibhan’. When queried, he says, ‘it is like naming a child after a great leader or actor. A film with the title of a cult-hit comes with a tag that it has a lot of respect for veterans. I don’t think there is any mistake in it.’

Sun Pictures, a newly floated division of Sun Network, will be involved in producing and distributing Tamil films.

Initially they would be distributing movies including the Jeeva starrer ‘Thenavattu’, ‘Kadhalil Vizhunthen’ featuring Nakul and ‘Siva Manasula Sakthi’.

According to Hansraj Saxena, Chief Operating Officer, Sun Pictures, ‘Sun TV Network Limited already has a dominant presence in television, radio and the print media along with the recently launched Direct-To-Home service.

‘Our mantra has always been strong content creation and provision of software to every possible end-user. With the launch of Sun Pictures, we hope to complete this circle’.

Following the success of ‘Marudhamalai’, Arjun and director Suraj team up again for a film to be produced by T T Raja.

The latter had produced the Prashanth starrer Jambhavan earlier. Arjun is presently acting in ‘Thiruvannamalai’ and ‘Durai’.  Meanwhile Suraj is busy completing ‘Padikkathavan’ starring Dhanush.

‘It would be an action-packed commercial cocktail. Arjun will be seen in a new role that his fans would love a lot’, says Suraj.

Richard aka Rishi, brother-in-law of Ajith, is hopeful that ‘Thamizhagam’ will make it big.

The young lad made his debut with ‘Kadhal Virus’ and then rechristened his name from Richard to Rishi in search of success.

Rishi is shooting in Ooty for ‘Yean Ippadi Mayakkinai’, directed by ‘Sillunu Oru Kadhal’ fame Krishna.

On his brother-in-law Ajith, Rishi says, “He is a source of inspiration for me. He had no backing and it was his self confidence that propelled him to great heights in filmdom. I want to act with Ajith. But, I would like to prove myself before sharing screen space with my sister’s husband”.

“I play a police officer in ‘Thamizhagam’ while ‘Yean Ippadi Mayakkinai’ is a musical thriller. I play a salsa teacher in the movie”.

Sheryll Brindo is happy and brimming with joy these days. The young girl has made rapid strides ever since she made her debut in ‘Aransangam’ opposite Vijayakanth.

She is acting with Vijayakanth again in ‘Engal Aasaan’ and with Sundar C in ‘Vaada’.

Asked on why she chose to act with senior actors in the industry, the out-spoken Sheryll says, ‘it’s true that I am acting with seniors. Is there anything wrong with it? Many top heroines of Kollywood started their career by acting with veterans. I feel that I am gifted to get such offers, as I can learn from their experience. Both Vijayakanth and Sundar C helped me a lot in improving my performance’.

Stating that the entire film industry is a hero-centric one, she feels that there are some opportunities to prove her acting skills. It all depends on how one chooses her roles.

Speaking about ‘Vaada’, she says, ‘ I am playing the role of a building owner at Rishikesh, where Vivek runs a travels company. Sundar C is a driver employed by Vivek. Irked by their acts, I want to vacate them from my place, but in vain. In the meantime, I also fall in love with Sundar C and help him achieve the goal, for which he had come to Rishikesh’.