More details about Dhanush's Bollywood debut

Last week we read that Dhanush was set to make his debut in Hindi, by signing a film titled 'Raanjhnaa', to be directed by Anand L Roy.Now we have more details about the project, to be produced by Eros International.

"It was not just a love story as reported earlier. It is going to be romantic comedy with Dhanush playing the role of a carefree youth," say sources in the know, adding: "A hunt is on by the director for the heroine."

It is being considered to rope in a North Indian actress, who is popular in the South as well, to share the screen space with Dhanush. "This will be helpful when the film is dubbed and released in Tamil and Telugu," sources say.

Dhanush, a National Award winning actor, hogged international attention with the success of "Why This Kolaveri Di...", a single number from his upcoming film '3', being helmed by his wife Aishwarya, who is the elder daughter of superstar Rajinikanth.

'Unnam' for the next week

After a very pathetic opening month of 2012 where none of the movies could make the viewers happy, Mollywood's February will start with the release of 'Unnam'. Scripted by Swathy Bhaskar and directed by Sibi Malayil, the movie is widely rumored to be a take on the Hindi movie 'Johny Gaddhar', which came out a few years ago.

Featuring Asif Ali as the hero, this thriller movie will tell the story about the unexpected entry of a policeman into the life of five member group played by Asif Ali, Prasanth Narayan, Lal, Nedumudi Venu and Noushi, who are planning to make some easy money. Shwetha Menon and Rima Kallingal are the heroines of the movie which is cinematographed by Ajayan Vincent.

Bollywood Malayali Music director John P. Varkey scores music for Rafeeq Ahamed's lyrics. The movie is produced by Naushad and Basheer under the banner of Kuniyil Productions. 'Unnam' will be brought to theaters by the third of February by R R entertainments.

Dhanush signs a Hindi film

He will play the lead role in a Hindi film titled 'Raanjhnaa', a love story.

To be helmed by Anand L Rai, the director of 'Tanu Weds Manu', the movie is expected to hit the floors soon. Confirming this development, Dhanush says, "Yes, I am happy to make my Bollywood debut with this film by Anand L Rai. It is a great script."

The director too is equally happy. He says: "Dhanush is a talented actor who is so simple and down to earth. I was mightily impressed with his performance in 'Aadukalam' and that was one of the reasons behind having him on board."

A couple of months ago, there was a buzz that Dhanush would wield the megaphone for a Hindi film. But this latest development has apparently put an end to the claim. In Kollywood, the actor will soon have his first release of 2012, '3'.

Jayaram in a Ranjith film!

Jayaram had a few winners last year, 'Seniors' being a runaway hit. His 'Swapnasanchari' did not do business as expected, and yet the actor had quite a decent year in 2011.

Jayaram looks all set to start off 2012 with a highly promising project. If reports are to be believed, he would be seen in the lead role in Ranjith's new film.

Ranjith has scripted several Jayaram films even before, like 'Peruvannapurathe Visheshangal', 'Kaikkudanna Nilaavu', 'Pookkalam Varavayi' and 'Summer in Bethlehem'.

The cast and crew of the Ranjith -Jayaram film are still being finalised. Meanwhile Jayaram would start acting in the Shaji Kailas film that he had signed up earlier.

Sreenivasan and Asif Ali in T K Rajeev Kumar's film

T K Rajeev Kumar is already on to his next project after 'Tatsamayam Oru Penkutti'.

The director's new film will feature Sreenivasan and Asif Ali in the lead roles.

Nedumudi Venu, Saikumar, Maniyanpillai Raju and Khushboo would offer support. Nithya Menon is the heroine.

This film would be produced by the banner that had made the hit film 'Passenger'. Shooting of the film would start by the end of March at Thiruvananthapuram.

Prithvi in 'Kochadiyaan' with Rajanikanth

For the last few days , all the important stories that are coming out in filmdom is some way related to the next big project in South India - the new Rajnikanth movie  'Kochadiyaan'. The movie to be directed by Soundharya in the scripts of K S Ravikuamr has also impressed and surprised everyone with its growing cast, day after day. The latest we hear is that Malayalee star Prithviraj is also considered to be in an important role in this movie which will be on sets in a couple of months.It is reported that Prithvi has been invited to the film by K S Ravikumar and that Sneha  will don the heroine of Prithvi in this movie.

Anyhow, this will be a news for celebration for Prithviraj who is already having a considerable number of admirers in Tamil Nadu after his roles in films like' Mozhi' and 'Raavan'.

Newcomers with Mammootty for 'Balyakalasakhi'

Director Pramod Payyanur, famous for his television and theatre productions, has stated that he will be using a plenty of freshers in his debut film 'Balyakalasakhi' based on one of the most famous writings in Malayalam. The movie which will have Megastar Mammootty in the lead as late writer Vaikkom Muhammed Basheer's famous character, Majeed, will have at least 15 new names carefully selected from college students and theatre artistes in various other supporting characters. The selection camp will be held from the 22nd of Febuary at various parts of the state. Those who are interested to don a role in the movie can sent their applications to 'Living art and estheis creations, Media Box Office, 28/630-A, K P Vallon road, Kadavanthra from today.

The announcement of the production of 'Balyakalasakhi' was held recently at Ernakulam, which was inaugurated by Prof M K Sanu.The movie which will be on sets soon, will have music by Shahbaaz aman, and Raghavan master. The movie will be on sets by the month of July.

Sreenivasan talking about Mohanlal- Never intended to hurt

As his latest movie has started debates over its intense criticism of Mollywood star systems, its lead actor and writer Sreenivasan maintains that he has never intended to hurt any of the superstars, including Lal. Sreeni adds that he just reflected the ideas and happenings around  the filmdom but the majority who had seen the sequences of 'IT raids' and 'Colonel title hunt' judged it as one that is framed against Mohanlal. Sreeni was talking to a popular media, describing the events that led him to the scripting of the highly critical 'Padmashree Bharath Dr.Saroj Kumar' which is currently in theatres.

In an interesting turn of events, Sreenivasan has also revealed that he has written about IT raids in the house of superstars, even before the same thing happened in actuality. Shocked with the developments following the IT raid, Sreeni immediately tried to contact the superstars of Mollywood to clear off the things. He was able to contact Mammootty, who after hearing about the plot asked whether there will be any criticism citing the name. As Sreenivasan assured that he will not be using any real names, Mammootty is said to have appreciated the effort and asked him to continue with the scripting. Sreenivasan also revealed that he has also tried to speak to Mohanlal, but couldn't get in touch as Lal has changed his mobile numbers. Sreeni believes that if Lal had seen the movie, he would have taken all in the lighter vein and will not feel any discomfort about its content.

Kaml Hassan's ‘Viswaroopam’: Status update

Besides playing the lead role, Kamal himself is directing and producing the movie, which is said to be made on a budget of Rs 120 crore. At present, select members of the movie's cast and crew are in the United States to shoot some important scenes.

"Kamal has shot some high voltage action sequences besides some romantic scenes in the US. The schedule in the United States is getting over today (January 20). He is giving nothing but his best to the movie," a source tells us.

Music for 'Viswaroopam' is being composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Kamal is being assisted in the making of the film by his younger daughter Akshara Haasan, who is very much interested at film making. "Plans are on release the movie for summer this year," the source adds.

Asif, Prithvi out of 'Kerala Strikers'

Young stars Asif Ali and Prithviraj has opted out of the Kerala Strikers cricket team, that is getting ready to have its first match next week. The younger stars are citing their heavy shooting schedules for not playing in the matches. The team including its captain Mohanlal and Indrajith is having heavy practise sessions at the Kochi stadium and many complaints were raised by the fellow stars against Asif Ali for not attending the practise sessions. He was reported to be not taking any phones from the management and team coach for the last few weeks.

Anyhow, the Kerala strikers will have its first match in the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) against Karnataka bull dozers on the 21st of this month at Hyderabad. Their first home match will be on the very next day where they will meet Bombay heroes captained by Salman Khan.

'Adaminte makan...' out of Oscars

The much expected desi winner 'Adaminte Makan Abu', which was India's official entry to the Oscars this year, is now out of the race. The film couldn't make it to the final nine of the total 63 films competing for the foreign language Oscars. The movie by debutante director, Salim Ahmed, did extremely well in Indian circuits and festivals winning four awards at the national awards and Kerala state Awards and Special Jury Awards at IFFI and IFFK.

Vetrimaaran unhappy with Simbu?

Silambarasan aka STR is said to be the reason behind National Award winning director Vetrimaaran dropping a works

hop he had planned for his forthcoming film 'Vada Chennai', which has Simbu and Rana Daggubati in lead roles.

"Vetrimaaran wanted to hold a workshop before the film hits the floors, since he wants the actors to be familiar with the script and the characters they play. But he had to cancel it at the last minute, after STR suddenly left for the US for his upcoming love anthem," sources say.

The director is currently waiting for the actor to start the workshop, it is said. To be produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri under Cloud Nine Movies banner, 'Vada Chennai' is a movie which will chronicle the lives of people in the northern parts of Chennai.

Meanwhile, when one of his followers on Twitter put a posting which read "VetriMaaran has postponed the workshop of STR's VadaChennai to a future date, due 2some difficulties", the director reacted sharply, saying: "It isn't STR's Vadachennai. Silambarasan is acting in Vadachennai which doesn't make the film STR's."

Fahad in the right track

After a forgettable debut a decade ago in his father's movie 'Kaiyetthum Doorathu', young star Fahad Fazil is finally in the right track. He is undoubtedly leading a range of new generation film makers with innovative concepts and ideas, becoming their favourite lead actor. This was more than evident in 'Chappa Kurisu' and 'Cocktail', which told some very different tales, though inspired from foreign movies. Suddenly emerging as the busiest young actor in the circle, Fahad's immediate release will be the movie with Sreenivasan in 'Padmashree Bharath  Dr. Saroj Kumar' in which he will appear in the role of a movie director. He has also been the leading star in Shalini Usha Nair's offbeat movie 'Akam' a take on Malayatoor's 'Yakshy'.

Fahad's big project in the pipeline includes 'Diamond Necklace' directed by Lal Jose and '22 Female Kottayam' the latest by Aashiq Abu. Both the movies will get completed in the first quartet of the year, after which Fahad will join his first comedy movie 'Thamarasseri to Thailand'.

'Diamond Necklace' byy Lal jose

As Lal Jose is ready to present his new film 'Spanish Masala' into theatres by the mid of this month, the pre production work of his other project 'Diamond Necklace' is in full swing'. A movie planned to be shot at Dubai, this flick in the scripts of Iqbal Kuttippuram, will look at the state of relationships in the contemporary society, where a man successfully maintains his love life with three different ladies.

The movie will also become the first big project of rising star in Tamil, Amala Paul who will rub shoulders with Samvrutha Sunil and Anushree, a new face, a find from a hit reality show. The movie will have Fahd Fazil, the lead man in many other recent experimental movies, donning the role of the protagonist.
 
Sreenivasan and Jagathy Sreekumar are also in the cast list of the movie which will have Sameer Thahir cranking the camera. The shoot for the movie is all set to start by the end of next month.

Bachelor Party with a heavy cast

Amal Neerad, has surprised everyone with his stylish narratives, whenever he came up with a film. After teaming up with the industry toppers Mammotty, Mohanlal and Prithviraj, he will have a casting coup for the new movie 'Bachelor Party' which will start soon at Ernakulam. The expected casting lines for the film includes Prithviraj, Asif Ali,Indrajith, Rehman, Kalabhavan Mani, Baburaj, Sampath, Jagathy Sreekumar , Ashish Vidhyarthy, Remya Nambeeshan and Nithya menon. The movie as usual is expected to be a new generation thriller, penned by R Unni and Santhosh Echikkanam.

'Nanban', 'Vettai' make huge collections

'Nanban' and 'Vettai' are cashing in a lot on Pongal holidays, which started on Saturday and go on till Tuesday. "Theatres showing Nanban and Vettai are screening extra shows which are packed with full house audience," trade circles say.

Brimming with hope that the starting of the year itself has turned out positive for them, the sources add: "Last Pongal the box office was dull and made only average collections. But scenes are straight contrasting this harvest festival.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government exempted Vijay starrer 'Nanban', directed by Shankar, from entertainment tax, after it found that the film was in adherence to the new standards set by the AIADMK regime led by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

As per the new rules, a movie applying for tax exemption should have a 'U' certificate from the Regional Censor Board and should keep within Tamil culture and sensibility. Since the 22-member committee felt 'Nanban' followed all the rules, it recommended the movie fit to be exempted from tax.

Suriya-Hari project to start soon

Director Hari and actor Suriya will come together for the fourth time. After tasting success with films such as 'Aaru', 'Vel' and 'Singam', the duo is joining forces again, this time for a big budget action thriller to be shot abroad.

Revealing the details, Hari says, "An official announcement on our next project will be made after Pongal holidays. Anushka Shetty is set to play the heroine, while Santhanam will tickle the funny bone. Music will be composed by Devi Sri Prasad."

The director adds: "I am so happy to join hands with Suriya again. He is a director's actor who is ready to do anything a filmmaker wants. It has always been an enjoyable experience working with him and am expecting the same in our next venture too."

Reacting to a buzz that their forthcoming venture would be a sequel to Singam, Hari says, "I am not in a position to confirm anything regarding this at this point of time. Things will be made clear after Pongal."

‘Nanban’ on Jan 12?

Till now we all thought that Shankar's 'Nanban', remake of Bollywood blockbuster '3 Idiots', will grace theatres for this Pongal which means there will two big releases on the same day ('Nanban' and 'Vettai'), But the latest buzz is that the release of 'Nanban' has been pre-poned and as per the new schedule the film will hit screens on January 12, 2012.

'Nanban' has Vijay, Srikanth and Jiiva in the lead roles; Sathyan will play the role of Chatur (Omi Vaidya), Ileana D'Cruz will appear in the role played by Kareena Kapoor, and Sathyaraj will appear as the insensitive professor Virus, which was played by Boman Irani. Harris Jayaraj's rocking tracks are already topping the charts.

STR world peace anthem gets 10 lakh views

Looks like viral marketing the new mantra in Kollywood! Within few days of its release STR's 'Love anthem for world peace' has reached one million mark on popular video sharing website.

At the time of reporting, the video had 10,01,785 views and 7,170 likes. With this song STR has joined hands with international musicians like Akon and Rihanna to promote world peace through music. The song will have lyrics in 96 languages!

Apart from rendering the song, Simbu has also written the lyrics and composed the music of this track.

"Divided by Languages, United by Love"; this is the basic theme of the song. Sony Music has launched a 2 min teaser of the video today and the entire album is expected soon.

‘Ko’ as ‘Satyagraha’ in Hindi?

Recently we have reported that well-known filmmaker Prakash Jha (of 'Rajneeti' fame) is likely to direct the Hindi version of K.V. Anand's blockbuster film 'Ko'.

Reportedly Akshay Kumar, who is known for his action thrillers, is highly impressed with the script and is keen on the project. However the director has plans to rope in Ranbir Kapoor as the protagonist. Now the latest buzz is that the film is titled as 'Satyagraha' in Hindi.

Looks like nothing can stop K.V. Anand's 'Ko' from creating records! The film has already turned out to be one of the biggest blockbusters in Tamil this year. K.V. Anand's racy screenplay, Anthony's sleek editing, Harris' mesmerizing music and the stylish costumes of Jiiva were the major highlights of Ko.