Paruthiveeran won Osian's-Cinefan competition awards:

Cinema buffs were treated to some brilliant performances by the cast of Tamil film "Paruthiveeran" on day five of the 9th Osian's-Cinefan compet ition film festival. It has won the best film award wich was directed by Ameer Sultan and starring debutant Karthik and Priyamani in the lead roles, explores the relationship between two strong characters - a small-time criminal and a girl from the respected Thevar community. For its strong narrative that allows reality to be played out cinematically, rendered with visual energy to connect with a wider audience.
Priyamani bagged the best actress award for her intense and vivid portrayal of a character driven by obsessive love and for her performance in a broad range of acting prowess.

Dhanush in guest role

Besides his upcoming film ‘Yaaradi nee mohini’ and ‘Pollathavan’ Dhanush had accepted do guest role in Selvaragavan’s “Ayirathil Oruvan”. But the reason behind the acceptance is very crucial. By Selvaragavan’s Kadhal Kondean, Dhanush came to in Kollywood with full swing, soon danush became very popular in Kollywood. In the mean time Selvaragavan asked Dhanush to do a song in “7G Rainbow Colony”, but Dhanush refused to do that, this issue became major focal point between brothers.

Later on they resolved their issues amicably, recently again Selvaragavan asked Dhanush to do guest role in “Ayirathil Oruvan”, without any second thought Dhanush accepted the offer, this time Dhanush again don’t want to take any chance. This was the reason which pushed Dhanush to opt guest role in Ayirathil Oruvan.

Pooja walkedout of Billa

Actress Pooja explained why she refuses to act in Ajith’s forthcoming big don movie Billa. Pooja said, director restricted my role with a Two Piece, so I refused the offer.
Pooja is very keen in making value oriented subject, according to Pooja the film should be value oriented otherwise it wont stay in people minds.

Dasavatharam released by november

Kamal’s Dasavatharam shooting is still under progress. Earlier the team planned to release the movie by August 15th, but due to lapse in shooting schedule the shooting was drifting. According to reliable sources, Director K. S Ravikumar planned to winding up the shooting by August and to work on post-production work for the movie.
And the post-production will again drag another two months, so the film may get release on November 8th coinciding with kamal's birthday and deepavali. It’s still a prediction about the release date; so far their is no official claim from the team.

Sanjay Dutt and Six Years

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, convicted of acquiring illegal weapons from gangsters linked with the country's worst bombings, will appear in court on Tuesday for likely sentencing.
Dutt, 48, was cleared of conspiracy in the serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993 that killed 257 people, but found guilty of unauthorised possession of an AK-56 rifle and a pistol.
Dutt's punishment carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and fines, but he could appeal.
"I'm mentally prepared for any sentence, but please pray for me," Dutt told the Times of India newspaper last week.
His lawyers have urged that the actor, who found fame playing macho gangsters and anti-heroes, be set free for his good behaviour during his bail.
The actor has been on bail since 1995 after more than a year in prison during initial investigations into the blasts.
His trial has transfixed Bollywood -- the world's largest film industry by volume and ticket sales. Millions of dollars are riding on movies already under production which involve the star.
The actor, son of legendary Bollywood couple Sunil and Nargis Dutt, is the most high-profile among 100 people, mostly Muslims, found guilty in the bombings trial, one of the world's longest-running court cases, which ended last year.
So far, a special anti-terrorism court has sentenced 96 people, including 12 to death, mostly on charges of conspiracy, preparing the bombs or leaving explosives-laden cars and scooters at several Mumbai landmarks such as the main stock exchange, two crowded markets and a cinema.
Police say the bombings were ordered by India's most wanted man, Muslim gangster Dawood Ibrahim, to avenge the destruction of an ancient mosque by Hindu zealots in 1992 and subsequent Hindu-Muslim riots in Mumbai and elsewhere across the country.
Dutt has said he procured the weapons to protect his family during the riots.

Know him... Sanjay Dutt

As all of you know about Sanjay's F industry life, here some words about his PL and Contros..

Personal life
Despite getting into trouble with the law, Dutt has maintained his huge fan following. Bollywood megastar, Salman Khan has had his brush with the law, but the public never seems to back him as much as they back Dutt.
Sanjay Dutt's problems started while he was still in high school. He took up drugs, probably as he could not handle the pressure of being the son of one of India's most well known and superstar couples. His drug problems were huge enough to worsen his mother's health who was already diagnosed with cancer. Nargis Dutt died a few weeks before his first film was to be released.
A heartbroken Dutt took to doing more drugs, but managed to reach out to his father who sent him just in time, to a rehab center in Texas, But on reaching New York, Dutt suffered from a collapsed lung. After attending a rehabilitation program in the United States, a sober Dutt started working in films again. He married Richa Sharma, who had nursed him back from his Lung injury and the couple had a baby girl who they named Trishala a year later, but 2 months later Dutt learned that his wife had brain tumor. After his wife's death a bitter custody battle between Dutt and his in-laws over the custody of his only daughter ensued, which Dutt lost.
It is rumoured he dated Madhuri Dixit some time between making Khalnayak and being arrested but they later broke up.
After working hard at resurrecting his career with the mega hit Saajan and his first Filmfare nomination for the best actor in a lead role, Dutt found that the Mumbai Police had filed a charge against the actor for his alleged involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombings. After being arrested, Dutt spent more than 18 months in Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai. Once he was released from jail, Dutt married Rhea Pillai but the marriage did not last too long and the couple divorced in 2005 after spending the last few years apart. Rhea is now married to tennis player Leander Paes. His father, died in May 2005. Sunil Dutt was the sports minister of India at the time of his death.
However on 18th January 2007 Sanjay Dutt faced another shock. One Abhimanyu Altekar (35) Filed an Intervener’s Application against Sanjay Dutt and further stated that He deserves no mercy. As per Abhimanyu’s application Sanjay Dutt was 33+ and enough mature when he brought illegal weapons and also knowing difference between legal and illegal weapons as he was already having legal weapon(s). So his act can not be considered as a “Mistake made due to lack of knowledge”. Sanjay Dutt should not get benefit of bond for his family, as he was on bail for 12+ years and given a chance to earn and make provisions for his family if he gets jail sentence for his offence. His career remained intact, successful, smooth in spite of his role of an accused in Bomb-Blast case. He has minted a lot of money due to his lucrative profession. So he has used his chance of bail (i.e. mercy to make provisions for his family in advance.) The application filed by Abhimanyu Altekar was logical and right on merit but it was opposed by prosecution and advocate of Sanjay Dutt due to legal issue of Locus Standi. However later Abhimanyu claimed that he has Locus Standi because he is an aggrieved person due to act of all of the accused in the matter of Sanjay Dutt and respondent who is State Govt. of Maharashtra. There was strong reaction among people due to suspicious stand of prosecution and State Govt. of Maharashtra. Though the intervener application filed by Abhimanyu was rejected by court, it was strong enough and sufficient to the ignite issue of Suspicious Stand of prosecution and State Govt. of Maharashtra. Just after few days of this application relatives of convicted people from 1993’s Bomb- blast case protested against, Sanjay Dutt, court and also against Suspicious Stand of prosecution and State Govt. of Maharashtra. Therefore Abhimanyu became ‘Virtual Intervener’ in the matter of Sanjay Dutt.
Abhimanyu’s application indirectly raised doubt against of prosecution and State Govt of Maharashtra and faith about Indian Judiciary. On the other hand Abhimanyu was also an accused in another bomb-blast case and got ‘Clear Acquittal’ In the same incident there was no any casualty due to said Bomb-blast. it is much older case of 20-21 December 1990 than sanjay’s matter, And ended after 16 years. Abhimanyu stated that he was falsely implicated as he was eye-witness of the same crime for which he was arrested. But to save real culprits and to make show of prosecution and investigation he was arrested and prosecuted. He also says that he has sufficient evidence against real culprits who planted a bomb in his case, but State Govt. of Maharashtra didn’t take it.
There is no provision for justified compensation in India if someone proves that he was falsely implicated and prosecuted in a criminal case. The Indian law can give max. compensation of 100 Indian Rs.( Just 2.08$ ) to such victim from concerned investigation officer. Sanjay’s bail is extended till 20th February 2007.
It was Also seen that RTI ACT 2005 can provide shield to all Govt. Officials who work at their best to perform their duties. Due to RTI Application Filed by Abhimanyu about Pending security Insurance for TADA Judge HHJ Shri. P.D. Kode, it was exposed that the proposal for same insurance was pending for 12-13 years But letter due to pressure of same RTI Application & Media news about same insurance State Govt. of Maharashtra provided Security Insurance to TADA Judge.


Alleged involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombings
Sanjay Dutt was arrested on April 19, 1993 for alleged involvement in the March 12, 1993 bombings of Mumbai.
Mumbai was engulfed in riots as an aftermath of the destruction of the Babri Masjid complex in Ayodhya in December 1992. The resulting riots claimed hundreds of lives and it is during this time that Sanjay Dutt stands accused of obtaining an illegal firearm for protection. As per the CBI case filed in a TADA court, it is alleged that Abu Salem and his men went to Dutt's house on January 16, 1993 and gave him three AK-56 rifles, 25 hand grenades, one 9 mm pistol and cartridges. He returned two AK-56 rifles, hand grenades and cartridges to Hanif Kadawala and Samir Hingora but kept one AK-56 rifle with himself. It is also alleged that after the blasts, Sanjay, who was shooting in Mauritius on learning that Mumbai Police is investigating his involvement in the blasts instructed his friends to destroy the rifle. According to the allegations, the rifle was destroyed by Yusuf Nullawalla, Kersi Adjenia, Rusi Mulla and Ajay Marwah according to Dutt's request. The rifle and cartridges formed part of the consignment, which was smuggled into India at Dighi Port on January 9, 1993, in pursuance to the conspiracy as the CBI alleged.
Dutt denies the charges that he was involved with the larger conspiracy to rape other women, but acknowledges that he personally knew the other accused. On learning that Mumbai police were looking to question Sanjay Dutt, his father asked him to immediately return from Mauritius. Sanjay however instructed his friends to destroy the rifle and then called the then Mumbai Police Commissioner of Police and informed him of his plans to return to India immediately, where he was arrested upon landing.
After his arrest in 1993 Sanjay Dutt spent 18 months in the jail and was released on bail. During this time, Sanjay Dutt received tremendous support from arguably the entire Indian Film Industry as well as from the Indian public who supported him through the ordeal.

Verdict

On November 28, 2006, A special TADA court found actor Sanjay Dutt guilty under the Arms Act of possessing an illegal weapon. He was cleared, however, of the charges of terrorism and conspiracy. Judge P D Kode said of the ruling in the open court:
"During my reasoning I have not found him (Sanjay) to be a terrorist." Dutt's bail has been extended a number of times since the ruling and is still in progress.
While Sanjay was cleared of terrorism charges namely the TADA Act, one of his friends who transported the AK-56 guns for Sanjay namely Baba Chouhan was found guilty under TADA Act. Sanjay's sister Priya Dutt is a ruling party MP.

Other controversies

In 2001 he was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate about alleged hawala deals in connection with the probe into the underworld-Bollywood nexus. No charges were filed against the actor.
Trasnscripts/Tapes proving underworld connections On the night of November 11, Sanjay Dutt spoke on the telephone for 45 minutes to the underworld don Chhota Shakeel in Karachi. The audio tapes show Sanjay try to please shakeel with a gift and talk about several Bollywood/Underworld figures.

Bommalattam - Audio Launch

Veteran Director Bharathiraja's Bommalattam movie audio was released on 28th july.K. Balachander released the audio CD of the movie and Kamal Haasan recieved the first copy.
Bharatiraja, is directing Bommalattam simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil. Bommalattam is said to be a movie without a message.
The cast includes Nana Patekar and Arjun. The female leads are Rukmini Vijaykumar and Kajal Agarwal. Bommalattam introduces Himesh Reshammiya as music director in Tamil. Almost all Bharatiraja's earlier movies were musical hits.

Nagesh n Dasavatharam

Nagesh is one of the greatest comedians ever to have graced the screens. His body language and timing are unmatched even today. The comedy king is now taking up only a few films and will be seen on the big screen in the upcoming behemoth Dasavatharam. In an interview published in a daily, Nagesh was asked, who he rates as the best actor?

He had no second thoughts on it and immediately said: “There’s only one artiste in the whole Universe. It’s Kamal Hassan. Without him there’s no cinema. Have you watched Anbe Sivam?” Kamal Hassan also shares great admiration for Nagesh and would definitely be overwhelmed by this comment from the living legend who has been in the film industry for more than four decades. And he has also added that “another person whom I salute for his boldness is Cho Ramaswamy.”

Shankar's Robot

Buzz is that Shahrukh Khan and director Shankar would come together for their next. SRK was highly impressed after with Shankar's directorial skills, after watching Sivaji starring Rajnikanth in the lead role.
And apparently Shankar has approached SRK for his next venture, supposedly, a sci-fi flick (it is tentatively titled Robot).
Interestingly, Shankar had considered Hrithik Roshan for the project. It is learnt that Hrithik has opted out because he would commence shooting for Krissh 2. At last sharukh going to pair up with shankar for Robot.
It is rumoured that SRK has agreed to be part of the movie. SRK will be producing the film for Shankar with the post-production in the USA.

Climax of 'Krieedom' changed

Ajith's Kireedam has been receiving mixed reviews. A sad ending to the movie, where Ajith's fails to realize his father's dreams of becoming a cop was not received well by Ajith-fans.
As a result, director A L Vijay has opted a change in the climax. Now the climax has been re-edited and it has a positive ending.Director Vijay says, “The movie is doing well at box-office especially in urban centres. But the climax has been changed due to request from Ajith fans and the audience in general. They want a positive ending”.

Shruthi hasan unable to find her father

Kamal Haasan's daughter Shruthi Haasan had been to the shooting spot of Dasavatharam, which features the actor in ten different roles. Unable to find her father in the sets, she made anxious enquiries with an old man with big moustache and long hair, standing near director K S Ravikumar, about her father.
Little did she realize that it was her father to whom she was enquiring to. The whole set went to laughter She has even sung a song in Dasavatharam, set to tunes by Himesh Reshmaiyya. Having learnt both Western and Carnatic music, Sruthi Haasan is keen on turning a music composer, though she has been getting a lot of offers to act..
Her father has been constructing a state-of-the-art recording studio for his daughter in Chennai. The studio will be utilized by Sruthi Haasan to pursue her career in musicSearch is on to find a suitable name for the recording studio.

Sivaji Vs Kreedom

Vs

Kreedom which was released this weekend got off to a bumper opening. But Rajinikanth’s Sivaji is still going stronger.
Find out which movie collected more over this weekend.




The ranking is based on the collections in Chennai over this weekend ( Friday, Saturday & Sunday )




SIVAJI
Cast: Rajnikanth, Shriya, Vivek
Direction: Shankar
Music: A.R.Rahman
Production: AVM

Yes, it is Rajinikanth who is still sitting pretty unperturbed on the throne. Sivaji is continuing to draw record crowds. People have made it a habit to see the movie more than once.
Trade Talk:Sivaji has stuck to its place in Chennai, in the weekend where Ajith came up with his new movie. The theatre count has helped the movie to keep its numero uno position for the 5th straight week.

Public Talk:Rajini charisma + Shankar’s magic = smile for AVM.

The movie is re-writing history and the family audiences all over the world want to see their superstar in action in the big screen.

N.O. Weeks Completed: 5.
N.O. Shows in Chennai over the last week: 609.
N.O. Shows in Chennai over this weekend: 243.
Average Theatre Occupancy over the last week: 63 %.
Average Theatre Occupancy over this weekend: 78 %.
Collection over the last week in Chennai: Rs.1.00 crores.
Collection over this weekend in Chennai: Rs.0.48 crores.
Total collections in Chennai by end of the sixth weekend: Rs.8.50 crores.

Verdict: Blockbuster (History rewritten)

KIREEDOM
Cast: Ajith, Trisha, Rajkiran, Vivek
Direction: AL Vijay
Music: G.V.Prakash
Production: Suresh Balajee

The movie is hailed as the best performance of Ajith till date and has touched many a hearts, which has translated into good numbers in the box-office. It’s a valiant effort by a debutant director to choose such an off beat theme and not to compromise with the story after getting the nod from a star.

Trade Talk:Good Publicity and Ajith’s star value has translated into a superb opening for the film. Ajith has proved yet again why he is termed as the king of openings.
Kreedom is behind Sivaji in collections also because of the facts that its number of screens is much lesser. It would be very interesting to see if the movie can sustain this opening momentum and eat into theatres of Sivaji.

Public Talk:The rich sentimental sequences have gone down well with the family and ladies audience. Good reviews from the critics and the masses are sure to reflect in a long run of the movie. .

N.O. Days Completed: 3 days.
N.O. Shows in Chennai over this weekend: 189.
Average Theatre Occupancy over this weekend: 98 %.
Collection over this weekend in Chennai: Rs.0.31 crores.

Verdict: Good opening.

Release of Kireedam

Ajith fans had a gala time at theatres where Kireedam was released on Friday morning.
They queued up in large numbers since the morning and distributed sweets and cheered their favorite hero. Huge cutouts and posters were put up in front of the theatres.
Kireedam, a remake of the Malayalam hit of the 80s, the film scores because its core is about humanism and the values that bond all cultured beings. The natural bonding between a father and son is brought out spontaneously by Ajith and Raj Kiran. Kireedam is a commercial movie.
A grand opening for Ajith's Kireedam indeed.

"Kamal Hassan is the Real Actor" - Vikram

Hero Vikram says that Kamal Hassan is the real actor who inspired him a lot. He acclaims his performance in the film 'Swathy Muthyam'. He says, "Acting like mentally retarded person is very difficult. One has to control his senses while acting in every moment. Even if an iota of originality comes out, the show becomes a flop. I watched 'Swathimuthyam' many times. I tried a lot not to get influenced by him when I was portraying in the film 'Siva Putrudu'. Kamal is my role model. Hat's off to him".In fact, Kamal Hassan has his own unique stand in Indian film industry. He is portraying the role of George Bush in 'Dasavataram', for which he is practicing the body language of him now. He also made the set of 'White House' erect in Chennai peripheries in the Art direction of Thotta Tarani. Now all eyes are pinned on Kamal Hasan's 'Dasavataram', the biggest budget film in which Kamal is portraying 10 different roles.

Sivaji in Kerala

In response to Sivaji's phenomenal success worldwide, AVM productions have decided to dub the movie in Hindi! Director Shankar and music composer A.R.Rahman have agreed to this. The tamil version of Sivaji has racked up to Rs 1.5 crore so far from North India. This is at least 8-10 times of what a regular Tamil movie makes in a North Indian market. It is running successfully at 5 screens in Delhi,
Sivaji is everywhere. In the whole Indian media (not only southern, but in the northen media as well). I think no other regional language movie than Hindi got such a wide coverage in the national media. NDTV, CNN-IBN everybody is talking about the movie. The PR guys must have worked so hard for this. I haven't watched the movie yet, but as far as the feedbacks from those who watched the movie is concerned, it is just another Rajini flick with so much money in the back up.
Even in Kerala, the theatres are houseful for almost all the shows, but that is slowly decreasing according to a friend who watched the movie yesterday. I think it will be interesting to see how Tamil movies are received in Kerala. The main reason for the popularity of Tamil movies in Kerala is the Tamil immigrant population here. As I could see, Malayalees see Rajini movies as a time killer, or as a funny entertainer. Keralites usually make fun of the gestures of Rajini that is commonly referred as "style". Perhaps the only time that Malayalees took Rajini seriously might have been for Baasha or Dalapathi. Most of the people liked those two films. But things are different when it comes to Kamal Hassan, Mani Ratnam etc. Keralites see them both in high regard. I think Malayalees also like occassional down-to-earth Tamil movies like Chinna Thampi, Autograph or even Shankar's Boys was a hit here. Movies like Ghajini, Annyan and Pokkiri were big success here.
What might frighten our superstars like Mammooty and Mohan Lal is the increasing popularity of Tamil and Hindi cinema among the youth.

Kamal Hasan As George Bush

Kamal Hasan is constantly looking for something new and challenging.
The latest on superactor Kamal Haasan is that he will play the role of US President George W Bush in his forthcoming Tamil film ‘Dasavataram’.
The four-time National Film Award winning actor has been studying Bush’s speech, gait and mannerisms with the help of compact discs and computer graphics for two weeks.
And that is not all, he will play nine more roles in the….

Know more...

The latest buzz that is doing rounds in the Tamil industry is that Shriya will be roped in for Kamal Haasan’s next film, which will be directed by P Vasu.

Superstar As Sultan

Even as ‘Sivaji’ continues to rock cinema halls across the globe, the Tamil film industry has already started discussing Superstar Rajnikant’s next - his daughter Soundarya-directed animation film ‘Sultan’. The film teaser was shown alongside the screening of ‘Sivaji’ in some theatres.

The buzz is that Rajnikant is currently off to The Netherlands for the pre-production work for the movie, and is likely to follow it up with a month’s stay in the U.S. He left on Thursday night but not before he watched an exclusive preview of director P. Vasu’s son Shakti’s debut film ‘Thottal Poo Malarum’ at the AVM preview theatre on Wednesday.

The Superstar has reportedly commended Shakti’s performance in the film, adding that he would be a good competition to the current crop of young actors.