The hot chick of Kollywood and Tollywood has decided to go plain, sans any glamour, for her upcoming Malayalam flick, Bodyguard.
The glam girl has opted for a traditional Mallu look for the movie. She plays the role of Ammu, a college-going girl. Dileep dons the hero role for the movie directed by Siddique.
The film is being shot in Palakkad, Kottayam and a few other places. This is Nayan's comeback Malayalam movie after a break of four years.
The Chennai International Screenwriting Workshop, the first of its kind in South India, hosted by Raajkamal Films International in association with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, will kick off with a brief inaugural session on May 28.
The workshop will culminate with a two-day seminar with some of the best screenwriters and filmmakers from around the world.
French writer Jean Claude Carriere, Olivier Lorelle (whose film Indigenes was nominated to the Oscars 2006) and Shekhar Kapur, will share their thoughts with the likes of K. Balachander, Balu Mahendra, Gulzar, Gollapudi Maruthi Rao, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Vishal Bharadwaj, Rituparno Ghosh, Shyamaprasad and Sriram Raghavan at the seminar between June 2 and June 3, 2009.
"I envy the 250 delegates who will get to be there at the ICSR auditorium at IIT to listen to the masters and attend the screenwriting workshop to be conducted by Anjum Rajabali, Atul Tiwari and K.Hariharan," says Kamal Haasan.
Kamal Haasan is dedicating the seminar to his dear old friend Ananthu, who first introduced him to world cinema.
"Ananthu was the one who got me into writing. Suchitra Film Society would screen films from around the world. Every time films came for festivals, we would hijack the films and watch them," he recalls. "Once I could afford it, I went to the US and spent some time with (John) Truby. He was like my coach. He introduced me to all the tools I needed. Thevar Magan was the first film here to be written with Movie Magic, a screenwriting software."
Later in the nineties, he met Luis Bunuel's regular hand Jean Claude Carriere, who went on to become the co-writer for Maruthanayagam. "He then introduced me to Abbas Kiarostami and that was the first time we spoke of mentoring writers and filmmakers. Because not all storytellers make for good screenwriters. Even if Shakespeare was around today, he would have to learn screenwriting. Not to say screenwriting is greater than Shakespeare. It's just that the rules of the game have changed. It took me nearly twenty years to learn what is today taught in film schools. These 250 students we have selected will need just a week to take their first baby step towards writing."
The speakers all belong to different schools of cinema. "All the people I have called are people I have learned from even if they are younger than me. Some of them are people I consider mentors. Mr. Balachander has written and produced 100 different films, Mr. Balu Mahendra and I wish Mani Ratnam could've come too but he has a film to complete."
The workshop is only for selected delegates and the seminar is only by invitation.
The "crazy" brand of humour is all set to hit Tamil screens again. This time, with Karthik Kumar in the lead though! (You last saw him in Dhanush's flick,
Yaaradi nee mohini).
Crazy Mohan has penned the script and screenplay of the film
Kola Kolaya Mundirikka which is being directed by Madhumita. She made her directorial debut in
Vallamai Tharayo.
Kola Kola... cast Karthik and Shika in the lead, with Jayaram, Anandaraj, Vasu, Vikram,M S Bhaskar, Delhi Ganesh and others.
The film was launched recently by Ace director of yesteryears, K. Balachander. Crazy Mohan is confident that he would make people laugh 500 times in two hours through the film.
No more pirated CDs of even the latest flicks. Thanks to Moserbaer. The company has managed to get the DVD publishing rights of even all latest flicks including Subramaniapuram, Anjathey, Sachin, Mayavi and Abhishek Bachchan-starrer Delhi 6.
The company is reportedly wooing all film producers saying that if they could bring out the original DVDs well in advance, it can be beneficial both to the producers and consumers alike. Also, it hopes that this effort can put a tab on the thriving pirated CD market.
In the recent times, the Moserbaer has also managed to release a few popular language films with English sub-titles so that they could reach a global audience.
Oscar winning music composer A.R. Rahman will soon have a doctorate degree added to his title. Courtesy: Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
The doctorate will be conferred on him at the ensuing 59th annual convocation function of the varsity to be held on June 7.
This honarary degree is being given to Rahman appreciating the double Oscars that he won for Danny Boyle's film,
Slumdog MillionaireApart from Rahman, Gopichand Narang, former president of Sahitya Academy, would also be conferred an honorary doctorate.
Thambi Vettothi Sundaram, story is based on the real life incidents that took place in Kanyakumari, ten years ago, is the latest film to be produced by J. Sentilkumar on behalf of TJS 24 Frames.
"There are two heroes in this film. Karan and Story! We have presented the storyline without distorting the authenticity. Each and every frame will demonstrate reality," says Director V.C. Vadivudayan, a student of Veteran Malayalam director Shaaji Kailash.
The story is about a young man who is possessed by an evil spirit. But what drives him to break the spell of curse forms the crux of the film.
The cast includes Karan, Anjali, Saravanan, Kanja Karuppu, Vennira Aadai Moorthy and others. Cameraman Anjaneyalu, Editor Suresh Ars, Stunt Master Kanal Kannal have also teamed up together.First shooting session took place at Kanyakumari - Kerala border for 35 days.
Vairamuthu and Vidhyasagar have joined hands to create a celebratory and soothing musical treat.
Adman Prakash Verma is the cyonsure of all eyes in the advertising world. For his recent creation, the Vodafone Zoozoos, have caught the fancy of one and all. The alien-like characters with bulbous heads and stick-like hands and legs were the original idea of creative director Rajiv Rao of Nirvana Films.
While Prakash sketched the chracters, Rajiv got the scrips ready for about 30 films based on Vodafone's various value-added services.
The film shot with real people, made to look like animated characters, was a challenge in itself. The team opted for a special material for body suit to show no creases and the entire project was shot in Cape Town, South Africa.
The interesting tidbit about the ad film maker is that he had already made his mark in the tinsel town already as a director with his films Moonamthoral and Freaky Chakra.
The ad maker is reportedly toying the idea of getting into feature films again. Will Zoozoos enter Kollywood soon?
