Kavalan Movie Preview

‘Kavalan’ is the forthcoming movie of Vijay which has a lot of things at stake. It is the 51st film of Vijay. After a fairly long poor run at the box office Vijay is expecting a lot out of this film. The heroine Asin is also praying for acceptance after her escapades in Sri Lanka has not gone down well with the Tamil community across the world.

‘Kavalan’ is the remake of the Malayalam film ‘Bodyguard’ and has nothing to do with the Kevin Costner film. The film was announced first with the title ‘Kaaval Karan’ and when Sathya Movies, the producer of the MGR super hit objected the title was changed to ‘Kaaval Kadhal’. But the changed title was not liked by Vijay fans and finally the film got the name ‘Kavalan’.

The film is about the strange fascination of a guy who worships anyone with a trace of heroism. He one comes across a reformed liquor mogul and now leading businessman and finds him to be his hero. He then joins him as the bodyguard to protect his beautiful daughter.

The body guard and the beautiful daughter fall in love without knowing to each other and later separate without wanting to. What happened to their love and after is the story. The first half is expected to be a hilarious entertainer while the story tales a serious turn in the second half and the climax will be a shocker.

In the original version the lead characters were played by Dileep, Nayantara, Mithra Kurian and Thiyagarajan. In Tamil the roles are played by Vijay, Asin, Mithra Kurian and Raj Kiran. Vadivelu is for comedy and Roja returns playing the wife of Raj Kiran. In fact Asin was first approached even for the Malayalam film. As she was busy with her Bollywood assignment Nayantara stepped in.

Livingston. MS Baskar, Delhi Ganesh, Nizhalgal Ravi are also in the cast. Music director is Vidyasagar and the film has six songs. Cinematography N K Ekambaram and Editing is by Gowri Shankar. The film is being made at a cost or Rs. 38 crores according to sources.

The Malayalam original was released in January this year and the Tamil version was up and going from April onwards. The first schedule happened in Kumbakonam. The whole movie was shot in places like Karaikudi, Kumbakonam and Vellore. Overseas shootings were done in Malaysia, Bangkok and Europe. This will be the second film in the combination of Siddique and Vijay. The first one was the ‘Friends’. Vijay and Asin come together after ‘Sivakasi’ and ‘Pokkiri’. All these combination films have been block busters and so the hype is already there.

But the film was in news for most times for reasons which were not production related. First then were precarious confusions over title. Then a controversy broke over the Tamil remake rights of the Malayalam film.

One Johnny Sagarikaa, a producer who had earlier obtained the remake rights of ‘Bodyguard’ in Tamil and other languages, reportedly mortgaged the remake rights to Gokulam Chit Funds for a financial loan. After knowing the Siddique is remaking his film in Tamil Johnny approached the Nadigar Sangam and the case in with them.

Then during the shooting in Karaikudi, Asin reportedly fainted allegedly due to a strange gas leak inside her caravan. Later they said it was due to a fault in the air-conditioner.

But the biggest controversy that is even threatening the release and then survival of the film was that Asin’s visit to Sri Lanka. When all the industry associations like TFPC, FEFSI, Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners and Distributors associations and SIFCC had requested the Indian film industry to boycott Sri Lanka for business as the country is standing trial for genocide of Tamils and human rights violations. But Asin went ahead and shot for her Hindi film with Salman Khan. She said she is under the contract of the producer and she has no power in deciding shooting locations.

Had she quietly done the shooting and come back things wouldn’t have gone this bad. Asin stayed back in Sri Lanka even after the shooting and travelled to places which were devastated by war, and banned for most of the world media and NGOs in with President Mahinda Rajapaksha’s wife Shiranthi and behaved like a government sponsored ambassador. This has angered the SIFCC and they have called for a ban of ‘Kavalan’ and subsequently on Asin.

Another recent development is that the producer-director Shakthi Chidambaram has acquired the film. When the distributors of Vijay’s earlier films have refused to back up ‘Kavalan’ and are demanding hefty compensation from Vijay saying his recent movies has put them in debt trap, the move of Shakthi Chidambaram is being considered a bold act by many. ‘Kavalan’ is produced by C Ramesh Babu under the banner of Eka Veera Creations.

‘Kavalan’ is all set to redefine the fate of almost all the people related to it. When the film releases in December many provoking questions would have found answers.

Banner: Eka Veera Creations
Cast: Vijay, Asin, Raj Kiran, Roja, Vadivelu
Direction: Siddique
Production: C Ramesh Babu
Music: Vidyasagar

INIDHU INIDHU MOVIE PREVIEW

Sekhar Kammula is one of the gifted directors of our times and most of his movies have gone on to become super hits. Inidhu Inidhu is a remake of his 2007 blockbuster hit Happy Days which was shot with lesser known debutant actors and in a shoe string budget. The movie went on to rake in money and rewrite box office history of Telugu films reiterating Kammula’s stature.

Inidhu Inidhu, produced by Prakash Raj’s Duet Movies, is a feel-good flick that revolves around the lives of a group of college friends. K V Guhan wields the baton and tries to replicate the directorial prowess of Kammula in Inidhu Inidhu. This is Guhan’s first movie as a director, who had earlier associated with Prakash Raj as a cinematographer in his Mozhi. So impressed was Prakash with his work, he invited Guhan to direct Inidhu Inidhu, for which he seemed to have obliged.

The way Prakash Raj acquired the Tamil rights of
Inidhu Inidhu

Happy Days is interesting as well. After getting besotted by the songs of the then-unreleased Happy Days played by his driver in his car, Prakash inquired about the movie. During his next trip to Hyderabad, he met with the producers, saw the movie and struck a deal and later acquired the Tamil rights even before it was released in Telugu. After the movie became a runaway success, Prakash was approached many times by Tamil producers asking for the rights and willing to pay astronomical sums. Prakash never parted with the rights and here we have Inidhu Inidhu.

According to the scope of the movie, it’s supposed to have been shot almost entirely in a college. Kammula shot Happy Days in his own college (Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology). However, the college location Guhan selected for Inidhu Inidhu is as yet unknown.

Mickey G Meyer, who scored music for Happy Days is retained for the Tamil version too. His famously popular numbers should give the movie the required push.

Happy Days also starred Tamannah but sadly Prakash seems to have done away with her and opted for a debutant instead. The movie was also earlier dubbed and released in Kerala owing to the huge popularity Telugu films enjoy in Mallu land on par with Tamil movies.

The movie rides so much on all these positive aspects and the fact that it comes from the Prakash Raj’s Duet Movies stable, known for producing sensible movies scales up the expectation levels. It’s also widely expected that Prakash will get his business right this time too.

Starring: Adith Narayan, Vimal Saran, Reshmi, Bennas, Sonia, Gia Umar.
Direction: K.V. Guhan
Music: Mickey. J. Meyer
Production: Prakash Raj

Velayudham Movie Preview

Remakes have always been safe bets for Vijay and director M Raja. With the former having a track record of films like ‘Kadhalukku Mariyadhai’, ‘Ninaithen Vandhai’, ‘Priyamanavale’ and ‘Pokkiri’, the latter has carved a niche for himself doing remakes from ‘Jayam’ to ‘Santosh Subramaniam’.
And now, both have come together for ‘Velayudham’, which too is said to be a remake of a Telugu hit, titled ‘Aazad’. Produced by Aascar V Ravichandran, the film that was launched amidst much fanfare has two heroines- Genelia and Hansika Motwani.
Says Raja, “This is my first film with a big actor like Vijay. He suits to the role well. The movie is about an ordinary youngster who transforms as a catalyst to reform the society. I am hopeful ‘Velayudham’ will work big time with the audience.”
“Vijay plays an enterprising youngster while Genelia is doing the role of a journalist,” the director says and adds: “Hansika Motwani and Saranya Mohan are also doing crucial characters. Comedy will be taken care of by Santhanam and Sathyan.”
The plot is interesting. Genelia reports that a superhero is saving the city and circumstances lead Vijay to accidentally save the city from the impostors, making him the accidental superhero!
Vijay’s costumes in the movie seem to be inspired from a popular game title. Though nothing is known how long he’d be wearing the costumes, the first look given by the makers suggest Vijay’s up to something big!
Saying Priyan’s cinematography will be a highlight and Vijay Antony has come out with catchy songs, Raja continues: “On the whole, ‘Velayudham’ will be a wholesome treat to not just Vijay fans, but for every movie-goer.”
On his part, Vijay says, “Working for a big banner like Aascar gives me immense proud. Raja is known for his knack to deliver blockbusters without a break. ‘Velayudham’ is a nice story. Hopefully our combination should rock.”
Cast: Vijay, Genelia, Hansika Motwani, Saranya MohanDirection: ‘Jayam’ RajaProduction: Aascar RavichandranMusic: Vijay Antony

Kacheri Aarambam Preview

Starring: Jiiva, Poonam Bajwa, JD Chakravarthy, Vadivelu.Direction: ThiraivannaMusic: D Imman Production: Super Good Films
The ‘commercial’ never goes out of vogue and Kacheri Aarambam is out to prove that. Jiiva is coming out with yet another no-holds-barred entertainer, the kind he took up since 2008, starting with Thenavattu and followed up with SMS in 2009. We don’t know if he has left the hard-hitting offbeat genre behind him, but let us not discuss that now; let’s enjoy the ‘Kacheri ’ that is on offer. R.B. Choudhary and Super Good Films are names associated with neat and clean family entertainers. But, this time, a different route has been chosen in the form of Kacheri Aarambam. It will be a departure of sorts for the production house from familiar territory. Starring Jiiva and Poonam Bajwa (coming together after Thenavattu), the movie is, as the trailers would have suggested already, an unapologetic entertainer with all commercial ingredients. There is going to be loads of fun on screen. And, that is as much as the director Thiraivanna was willing to reveal. J.D. Chakravarthy, the understated and stone-faced

villain from Sarvvam, will be playing the lead antagonist in the movie. This time, he won’t be calm, quiet and menacing; he will be outspoken, loud and impulsive, like a true Kollywood commercial villain. It will be interesting to see how this kind of a role suits him. Comedy is going to be one major ingredient of this Kacheri . And, a new comic pairing is being tried on screen this time. Jiiva has proved his eye and timing for comedy with artistes like Vivek, Santhanam and Ganja Karuppu, but his sternest test might be this one, a pairing with Vadivelu. The combination has reportedly worked extremely well and is sure to bring the house down. Vadivelu is said to have taken special efforts to ensure that the comic scenes are topnotch. The prediction is that the Vadivelu-Jiiva combination might gain as much mileage as the famous Vadivelu-Parthiban combo. Let’s see. Music for Kacheri has been composed by D Imman and the focus seems to be undeniably on fun and energy. Technically too there are things to watch out for in Kacheri . One song has been shot with the ‘1000 frames’ technique which will consist of 1000 individual frames in one second. This technology is supposed to increase clarity, resolution and capture even the slightest movements. This technology has never been used before in Indian cinema and it sure will be interesting to watch the results. Let’s hope that this Kacheri rocks. Let the concert begin.
Tags : Kacheri Aarambam, Jiiva, Poonam Bajwa, Vadivelu, D Imman, J.D. Chakravarthy

Singam – Tamil Movie Preview

Banner: Big Pictures, Studio Green

Productions, Sun Pictures
Production: G.E. Gnyanavel Rajan

Release: Sun Pictures

Direction: HariStar-casts: Surya, Anushka, Prakash Raj, Vivek and others

Music: Devi Sri Prasad

The duo combo Hari-Surya has already churned out some successful films ‘Aaru’ and ‘Vel’. Now, they are back in showbiz with yet another action-packed commercial entertainer titled ‘Singam’. Followed by his overpowering performance in ‘Kaaka Kaaka’, Surya performs the role of a cop with Anushka starring opposite him in female lead.
Here, we a hint for you to take a look over visuals. Almost all the frames have been slanted towards the side of Anushka to project Surya taller than her. According to the sources in shooting spots, Surya would actually wear high heels prior to Anushka’s arrival so as to look naturally taller.
Apart from Prakash Raj and Vivek, actors Manorama, Radha Ravi, Nasser, Sumithra, Janaki Subash, Yuvarani, Delhi Kumar, Nizhalgal Ravi, Adhitya, Ajay Rathnam, Besant Ravi, Crane Manohar, Bose Venkat, Nanda Saravanan, Manobala, Paandu, Thyagu and others have performed prominent roles.
This is a very special film for Surya as it’s his 25th flick in career and is produced by his uncle Gnyanavel Rajan. It’s worth mentioning that it’s Hari’s 10th film with almost all his films happening to be a success in box office.
But it’s really makes us wonder how come Devi Sri Prasad has been roped for scoring music. He has been loosing out more offers in Tamil and Telugu film industry due to his inconsistency to deliver good music. V.T. Vijayan handles editing with Priyan cranking the camera and K. Kathir is the art director.
The film’s shooting commenced in Chennai and had the following schedules in Nellai, Kuttralam, Thenkasi, Amba Samuthiram, Tuticorin, Thiruchendur, Karaikudi and other surrounding places. Apart from these locales, couple of songs choreographed by Brindha was shot in Dubai.
The film’s audio is reported to be launched by this month and film will hit screens by April. It’s confirmed news that Sun Pictures has acquired the rights over ‘Singam’, which is a good news for the entire team and especially producers.
Expectations: Ready to roar in theatres

Sura – Tamil Movie Preview

Star-casts: Vijay, Thamannah, Dev Gill, Sriman, Yuvarani and others

Banner: Sun Pictures

Production: Sangali Murugan, Kalanidhi Maaran

Direction: S.P. Rajkumar

Music: Mani Sharma
Though it has been rumored that the film Sura which has Vijay in the lead is the remake of the Malayalam film Chotta Mumbai, the fact is that director S P Rajkumar has taken only one portion for the inspiration touch. Thamanna dons the role of a bubbly college girl and is the love interest of Vijay. It is guaranteed that Vijay will be rocking in the dance sequences. There are racy stunt scenes where Vijay fights with four villains which will bring you to the edge of your seat. The Telugu Magadheera villain poses a big challenge for Vijay in Sura. There are strong dialogues in this film which might provoke the politicians. Because of this these dialogues are being reshot. There will be no dearth for sensations.
OK. Now what is the story of Sura. Vijay like the MGR in Padagotti gets friendly with fishermen folks and begins his game. He is like a God to the fishing hamlets. He is fondly called Sura. When all are happy comes a silent tsunami in the form of smuggler big wig like Velu Naiker in Nayagan. He plans to curb the fishing hamlet lands in order to run his business smoothly. He tries to cheat the poor fishermen folk by saying that a big factory is going to come up in that area and promises to give lands in compensation. The news goes to Sura that these poor fishermen have been cheated. Now Vijay starts the hunting and the fisherman gets their justice, peace and happiness.
Since most of the story is happening in the sea, the shooting of the film took place in Pondicherry, Kerala and Thoothukudi. Nan Pura Illaada Sura ( I am not a dove but I am a shark) is the punch dialogue of Vijay in this film. Most of the stunt scenes have been shot in mid sea and in spite of his sea sickness, Vijay has excelled in the stunts scenes. As usual Vaali has penned the lyrics for the opening song and Kabilan has written a lyric which depicts Vijay’s personality and his ideals.
On the whole this film will be definitely a commercial entertainer.
Expectations: Commercial Entertainer