May will be a month for rationalists to rejoice. The movies Periyar and Ambedkar would hit the screens one after another during May.
Both Periyar and Ambedkar fought for the downtrodden and championed the cause of Dalits. Their penchant for rationalist ideas is widely known.
Ambedkar features Mammootty in the title role and the movie is being dubbed and released in Tamil. Noted producer Vishwas Sundar has obtained the dubbing rights in Tamil.
Periyar starring Sathyaraj in the role of the rationalist leader will be released on 25 May. Directed by Gnanarajasekaran, the movie features Kushboo and Jyothirmayi in the roles of Maniammai and Nagammai respectively.
Gnanarajasekharan, a bureaucrat, former censor board chief and director of off-beat films like Mohamullu Bharathy is coming out with his magnum opus Periyar, releasing on May 1.
The DMK government in Tamilnadu has funded this film to the tune of Rs 95 Lakhs. Periyar is based on the life and times of the Dravidar Kazhagam founder and social reformer Periyar E.V.Ramasamy. Sathyaraj plays Periyar, the icon of the Dravidian movement.
Says Rajasekharan: “ Periyar is a sincere attempt to chronicle this rationalist leaders crusade against social injustice. There is a message in the movie which can inspire today’s young generation.”
The film had its own share of controversies, with hard core DK members objecting to Kushboo playing the role of Maniayamma, Periyar’s wife. A petition was unsuccessfully filed in the Madras High Court objecting to a few lines in a song from the film. The cameraman of the film is Thankar Bachchan.
The state government is also going out of its way to promote the film and give it a good run. Some ministers in the Tamilnadu government, who has connections with the film trade, are distributing the film in certain areas. The idea is clear that the state government is going out of its way to ensure that the film gets a decent run.
The Tamil Nadu Government on Monday ordered 50 per cent concession for school students to view Periyar, a feature film made on the life of social reformer and founder of Dravidar Kazhagam Periyar E.V. Ramasamy.
The film Periyar was produced by Liberty Creations, part of Dravidar Kazhagam and the government gave a grant of Rs 95 lakh for its production. Sathyaraj donned the role of Periyar, his best role so far in his career, while actresses, Jyothirmayee and Kushboo, played Periyar's first and second wife Nagammai and Maniyammai respectively in the film.
Gnana Rajasekaran, an IAS officer turned director has directed the film. The movie was released on May 1st and people turned up in good numbers to watch this timely made film.
Recently, a government order issued by School Education Secretary, M. Kutralingam, said the film contained several social messages such as eradication of untouchability and superstitious beliefs, equality for women, prohibition and widow remarriage.
According to a press release from the education department, the movie would instil self-confidence and liberal thinking in the students watching it, thus paving the way for a brighter future for them.
Wear life jackets or get lost: Officer to Rachcha unit
2012/2/5 5:17:14 Mega power star Ram Charan Tej's forthcoming movie 'Rachcha' has faced bitter experience in Kerala. Its director Sampath Nandi plans for a duet song on hero Ram Charan Tej and Tamannah at famous Periyar Lake in Kerala. When, the unit is all set to start its shooting activity, the Officer-in-charge of the KTD has suggested the hero heroines should wear life jackets while sailing in the boat as a safety measure. But, as it looks funny to shoot a romantic song with hero heroines wearing life jackets, Sampath Nandi asked the Officer to allow shooting without wearing life jackets, for which officer bluntly denied. So, the unit has to pack-up form Periyar and said to be searching for another lake where life jackets are not must.
'Rachcha' has two songs left balance for shooting. If, the unit would have completed one song at Periyar, Sampath Nandi plans the other in abroad. But, now either he has to complete both songs at abroad or to find alternative location to shoot the song at Kerala. According to reports, 'Rachcha' film makers are planning to release the audio on 20th of February on the eve of Mahasivaratri. This movie is expected to release in the next month. However, still it's not an official word about the music and movie release dates.
NV Prasad and Paras Jain are co-producing this movie under Mega Super Good Films banner. Mani Sharma is giving tunes to this film.
Distributors were not interested in "Chennai 600028", neither were theatre owners because the film had no big names to boast of. But it has turned out to be a winner at the box office.
Now big theatres are opening their doors to the film and many distributors ruing their decision. The film, produced by S.P.B. Charan, the son of well-known singer S.P. Balasubramaniam, is a surprise hit.
The top five Tamil films are:
1. "Chennai 600028" - Director: Venkat Prabhu. Youngsters simply love this small film with unknown actors and with 'gulli' cricket as the backdrop. This is an unexpected hit because of its simplicity and realism.
2. "Naan Avan Illai" - Director: Selva. The film is a remake of an old classic with the same title. The remake is technically brilliant and sleeker. Jeevan is excellent in the role immortalised by Gemini Ganesan.
3. "Periyar" - Director: Gnana Rajasekharan. A film by a serious filmmaker like Rajasekharan was not expected to attract people, but it has got an excellent response throughout Tamil Nadu. Satyaraj is superb as Periyar.
4. "Unnale Unnale" - Director: Jeeva. The urban youth have lapped up this love story directed by cinematographer-turned-director Jeeva.
5. "Paruthiveeran" - Director: Ameer. The film is continuing its golden run.
Jyothirmayee is acting in a historical movie based on the the life history of Malayalam writer Nandanar. The movie, titled Adayaalangal, is directed by M.G. Sasi. Jyothirmayee plays the role of Meenakshi Kutty, a close ally to the great writer. The role is significant aand portrayed all through the movie.
Jyothirmayee, who acted in Periyar, recieved much appreciation for her character. Adayaalangal will further prove her worth and will bring even more laurels for her.
Tamil film industry always inclines to filmate the real life stories of public figures. They have already had their recent film, ‘Bharati’ which is a real life story of the celebrated Tamil Poet Subrahmanya Bharati.
Kamaraj Nadar’s life story was screenplayed. Another film is being made based on Tandai Periyar’s life story. Satyaraj is playing the main role and Khushbu accompanies him.
Sources say that fine film makers are trying to picturise the life story of Annadurai to re-acknowledge his greatness… and ‘Kamal’ is going to play the role of Annadurai. The shooting is to start from September 15th, Anna’s birthday.
2012/1/30 8:05:25 Former Chief Minister K. Rosaiah, who was appointed as Tamilnadu Governor during last year, for the first time has addressed the members of Tamilnadu Assembly today, on the eve of beginning of its sessions.
He described about the several welfare schemes being implemented by Kum Jayalalitha Government and its future plans. Rosaiah, who is known as a loyal worker of Congress party and the party high command, visibly embarrassed to read the Jayalalitha mark-draft prepared by her government, with which he is forced to criticize the Central Government for its discrimination against the State Government. The draft also forces him to criticize the Kerala Government for making controversy over Mulla Periyar Dam. He asked the people of Kerala not to believe the rumors about the Dam. He assures them that TN Government will take all preventive measures in safeguarding their interests.
Kuruvi is in its final leg and is progressing in and around Tamil Nadu gearing up for a possible mid-April release. The crew, including Vijay and director Dharani, is stationed in Salem for the shoots. It is learnt that Vijay will extend his trip to Erode after the shoots for the social welfare activities planned by the Erode wing of his fan club.
The events, planned in the evening of February 24, 2008 at 5.00 p.m. at the CST School grounds will also be attended by Minister of Handloom and Textiles NKKP Raja, MLA Palanichamy, and Erode Mayor Murugesan. Activities planned during the course of the event include distribution of computers to Government schools and tricycles to physically challenged students.
Prior to the event, Vijay will garland the Periyar statue located in Erode. Director and Vijay’s father S.A. Chandrasekhar is also expected to attend the event.
Vaikuntasamy appeared in the sea off Tiruchendur and lived in Samithoppu in Kumari maavattam. Even before Ambedkar and Periyar, he spoke of social equality and there are many temples for him and about 8 lakh of devotees.
To spread the wonder of his existence, director PC Azhagappan is making a film on Vaikuntasamy. He had directed 'Kamarasu' starring Murali and Laila. Now he has turned producer too. A newcomer raja is doing the role of Vaikuntasamy. Another young man Sanjay also makes his debut as the other hero. Sujibala is the heroine, a washerwoman.
Since it's a film about spirituality, did anything surprising happen? The director says yes and continues to describe what happened.
"Vaikuntasamy appeared before 175 years. We asked the support of his devotees. It was an utter surprise that his devotees contributed 1.75 crores," said Anbazhagan, closing his eyes and folding his hands in gratitude before the photo of Vaikuntasamy.
The film shooting starts this month end at Theni, Samithoppu and other places. Four songs have already been composed at Chennai by Bagavathy Sivanesan.
Both Madhavan and Sathyaraj have, in two separate occasions, confirmed that they would continue acting in so called masala films. They have responded to the queries related to their approaches towards masala films after acting in meaningful roles.
Sathyaraj in a recent press meet said: “If you are an actor, you have to do various kinds of roles.” When a reporter drew his attention towards his earlier statement that he would not act in masala roles after enacting the life of the legendary Tamil leader 'Periyar', Sathyaraj simply said that it was an emotional statement.
Madhavan, on the other hand hasn’t said anything voluntarily on the subject. He addressed the issue when our (Indiaglitz) representative queried him about his stand on acting in films like 'Rendu' and 'Arya' after handling powerful and meaningful roles like the one he had in 'Evano Oruvan'. “I can do such roles only if I continue to do the so called masala roles. These kinds of films keep me alive in the memory of the people. No one can keep on doing same kind of roles”, was his response.
True to their words, Sathyaraj and Madhavan are now doing typical commercial films. Sathyaraj is acting in 'Thangam' while Madhavan is doing 'Yavarum Nalame'. Both roles have lot of masala in them.
The Tamil as well as Telugu film industry saw a big high this year with some good films hitting the screens though not necessarily becoming hits The year 2007 clearly established that Tamil cinema is poised for a great growth in the coming years. Not only that the year saw more box office successes than the previous year but also due to the fact that along with some block busters, many medium and low budget films made it to the grade at the box office. New ideas in content and stylish narration have become the success mantra. Above all these things, it is the tax concessions doled out by the State Government that helped the raise in production and for many new talents to debut.
Interestingly the first half of the year saw more hits than the second half. The numbers of films released are about 110 straight and about 28 dubbed films. “Thanks to the tax free concessions given by the Tamil Nadu Government for films with Tamil titles and to the new multiplex culture, there are more hits than in the previous years,” says film historian ‘Film News’ P.G. Anandan. “The tax free system also brought down the ticket rates with Rs. 40 at the high. The Government has also increased the cash subsidy from Rs. Two and half lakhs to Rs. Five lakhs, besides the Rs. 6 lakhs for ten films and Rs. 10 lakhs for twenty films selected from among the low budgeted ones. Films like Mozhi and Chennai - 600 028 ran well thanks to the multiplexes. Another emerging trend is that today apart from the young Tamil audience, it is cine fans from other languages that are patronizing Tamil cinema. At every multiplex in the metros running Tamil films, though the tickets are priced at Rs. 120, one can find houseful shows thanks to the 50 per cent audiences from Hindi, Telugu or other languages.”
The year also saw the 884 day celebration of Chandramukhi and 312 days run of Paruthiveeran, 200 day run of Pokkiri and Sivaji (all released in 2007) with all the films still running. About 16 films celebrated 100 day run including a few of last year releases like E, Thalaimagan, Varalaru, Lee, Vallavan, Veyil, Thiruvilayadal Arambham. This year till now Mozhi, Chennai-600 028, Unnalae Unnalae, Periyar, Muni, Marudhamalai, Deepavali, Veerasamy and Karuppusamy Guthagaidharar were among them. Vel is a declared hit. The successful films include Polladhavan and Kannamoochi Enada. Thankar Bachan made two films; Pallikoodam and Onbathu Rubai Notu were made out of his popular novels. Vasantha Balan’s Veyil made it to the Cannes festival.
Corporates entity helped boost Tamil cinema to a great extent. The pioneer in this, Pyramid Saimira group has acquired about 250 theatres in Tamil Nadu alone and besides distributing is also producing films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and English.
Interestingly an old Tamil black and white film was converted into colour. “S.S. Vasan liked it so much he bought the rights of the Hindi film, Anarkali and dubbed it as Akbar and released during the Fifties. Now the film’s sound negative is lost but the picture negative is intact. Jabbar acquired the rights and restored the sound, recorded the same songs fresh with P. Susheela and Chitra and converted into colour. He gave a new title Aadal Arasi Anarkali and got it censored again. The film was premiered in Kalaignar TV recently, with excellent result before its theatrical release,” informs Anandan.
The first remake edition from a previous Tamil hit, Naan Avanillai was also a big hit paving way for some more. Billa released on December 14 is one such starring Ajith and remade from Rajnikanth’s 1979 blockbuster with the same title. Directed by Vishnuvardhan the film opened to fantastic collections. But the audience verdict is that while the original has soul the remake has more style than soul. However the costliest production that Tamil cinema ever witnessed was Rajni starrer, Sivaji produced by AVM Productions. Directed by Shankar the film mesmerized the audience for its sheer sheen and gloss and Rajnikanth.
Among the heroes, Sathyaraj has acted in more number of films, four to be precise. From slapstick comedy, he has evolved into a serious actor with Periyar and Onbathu Rubai Notu. The heroines busy with multi language offers are just restricted to one or two films. Asin made her entry into Bollywood with the remake version of Gajini. Among the music directors Yuvan Shankar Raja with 11 pictures tops the list.
As the year is closing down, now all eyes are on Kamal Haasan’s Dasavatharam slated for release during the first quarter of 2008. If Sivaji is released with 800 prints world over, Dasavatharam is expected to break its record with a thousand prints release. Tamil cinema is indeed poised for great growth.
Mega power star Ram Charan Tej's forthcoming movie 'Rachcha' has faced bitter experience in Kerala. Its director Sampath Nandi plans for a duet song on hero Ram Charan Tej and Tamannah at famous Periyar Lake in Kerala. When, the unit is all set to start its shooting activity, the Officer-in-charge of the KTD has suggested the hero heroines should wear life jackets while sailing in the boat as a safety measure. But, as it looks funny to shoot a romantic song with hero heroines wearing life jackets, Sampath Nandi asked the Officer to allow shooting without wearing life jackets, for which officer bluntly denied. So, the unit has to pack-up form Periyar and said to be searching for another lake where life jackets are not must. 
Former Chief Minister K. Rosaiah, who was appointed as Tamilnadu Governor during last year, for the first time has addressed the members of Tamilnadu Assembly today, on the eve of beginning of its sessions. 
