This week in Tamil Cinema

This week in Tamil Cinema has been very active. Interesting news abounds.

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Kireedam, an Ajith starrer, is releasing today. Ajith's previous movie, Aazhwar, sunk like a rock. Trisha, whose previous movie with Ajith - Ji - was barely pecked by the Tamizh audience, is the heroine of Kireedam. Raj Kiran, who has grown to be the Tamizh Big-B in choosing dignified roles that suit his stature, plays the role of a doting father to Ajith. I've developed a soft corner for Thala since it appears to me that he has stopped taking himself too seriously. The preposterous role in Citizen, where he thought he could get away with portraying an annoying stentorian village bum, just cannot be accepted. But from then on, he has been toning down his mannerisms and polishing his histrionics. Now he acts reasonably and looks pleasant. I hope he gets a break through Kireedam and we see more movies of his movies such as Vaali and Aasai.

Balaji's thoughts at this impending release is here.

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Shreya, who is rumoured to have demanded a whopping 65 lakhs for Dasaavatharam after being carried away by Sivaji's success, is starring opposite Thala in his next movie. I think today's heroines realise that their stint in movies will be rather short compared to that of the men in the industry and feel that they might as well make hay while the sun shines and demand unreasonable salaries. While it is fair that the market dynamics offer high salaries that they deserve today, misestimating their worth can cost them their career. I hope Shreya realises this.

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Eccentricity is hereditary. Living proof is Simbu, son of T. Rajendar. Kettavan starring the former, it seems, is about his relationship with Nayantara which failed.

I feel that both the dad and the son are very talented, but that the talent is eclipsed by their eccentricity. The schizophrenic feel they have - sometimes displaying flashes of brilliance, sometimes making a complete buffoon of themselves - is what attracts me to their movies.

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Saving the best for the last, here is more news about Dasaavatharam from randramble. The news item he links to does not come as a surprise knowing Kamal, but is very pleasant in that we learn Kamal is still his diligent hard-working self. His conviction in portraying scenes as close to reality as possible is one of the main reasons for his success in the industry. 'Ethaartham' (meaning real and natural) is one of his main themes in anything he does. So much so that I actually thought for a second that the the above was really GWB, one of the characters he plays in Dasaavatharam.

Black plays White

No it's not Chess!

It came as news to me that Captain Vijayakanth is known as 'karuppu' MGR. It came as a bigger news that the 'fighter' producers think it is humanly possible to amass enough white paint to convert the 'karuppu' MGR to play the real MGR. May be they plan to shoot the movie and then play the negative of the reel in the theatres. Otherwise, no matter how much make-up is used, no matter how hard one squints, it's going to be hard to accept Captain as Vaathiyaar.

Tamil Cinema Gossip

In my opinion, MusicIndiaOnline-Tamil's Hot Off the Press is an example of a perfect web replacement of the gossip magazines such as Cinema Express. Though I can read Cinema Express online, the pleasure I derive from reading gossips in English with added 'masala' is unmatched. Here is one perfect example of such a gossip.

...we hear that he (P Vasu) is all set for a bigger project — to direct Kamal Haasan no less, after the ‘Ulaga Nayagan’ finishes Dasavatharam.
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When asked, Vasu laughed off all speculation saying “No comments”. In simple English that means he is still writing out the story.

No comments. No, I'm not still writing out a story. How come, given the above? Because, I don't use simple English.

It was also very interesting to read that the MIO crew consider P. Vasu's working with Kamal a bigger venture than his Chandramukhi project. I mean, each of their articles is a chockfull of titbits that make it unusually interesting and sometimes controversial.

And it's of course great news that Kamal is going to be working with P. Vasu on an 'entertainer'. And right now I'm eagerly waiting for Dasaavatharam, in which Kamal plays 10 different roles, to release. Currently the release is slated for DeepavaLi and I hope this venture does not get delayed as is typical of Kamal movies.