Sridevi starrer English Vinglish to be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu
It seems that our B-town filmmakers are no longer ignoring the market and audience down South. So while Ra.One will be released simultaneously in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions this Diwali, yet another film, R.Balki’s English Vinglish too will be released in Tamil and Telugu versions apart from Hindi.
English Vinglish is Sridevi’s much awaited comeback film directed by Gauri Shinde (R.Balki’s wife). Shooting of the film is on in full swing. Since Sridevi is hugely popular down South, the makers have decided to release the film in Tamil and Telugu as well. Sridevi would be dubbing her own lines in Tamil and Telugu.
Singham sold for Rs. 12 crores in the Mumbai territory
Rohit Shetty’s remake of the Tamil super-hit Singham starring Ajay Devgn in the lead role as a cop has been generating tremendous buzz ever since it was announced. The film, produced by Reliance Entertainment, has now been sold to Raksha Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. for a handsome sum of Rs. 12 crore and that too only in the Mumbai territory.
This is certainly a big triumph for Ajay Devgn who seems to be having a dream run since last year with many hits at the Box Office. Singham is currently being shot in Goa and also stars debutant Kajal Aggarwal and Prakash Raj in prominent roles. The film is scheduled to release on July 22.
‘Munni’ Malaika shoots Zandu Balm commercial with Suriya and NTR Junior
Malaika Arora Khan made the whole nation swoon to her beats with ‘Munni Badnaam‘ earlier this year, so much so that it even boosted the sales of Zandu Balm. The actress in fact was even roped in by the makers of Zandu Balm for a special promotional campaign.
Malaika recently shot for the Zandu Balm commercial in 3 different languages namely Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. While the Hindi commercial features only Malaika, in the Tamil one, she would be seen alongside South superstar Suriya and in the Telugu one alongside NTR Junior.
Apparently, all the three commercials have been shot atop a train a-la ‘Chaiyyan Chaiyyan’ and have been choreographed by Prabhudeva.
Ramu pitched Vivek against Abhishek?
Everyone is wondering why Ram Gopal Varma suddenly decided to move forward his Rakht Charitra (RC) sequel from November 19 to December 3 after making a noise about taking on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish.
The official explanation is, RC2 was not ready on time. That according to a source is pure hogwash.
The real reason why Ramu, the master of marketing manipulations has chosen December 3 is so that he could pitch his Vivek Oberoi starrer against Abhishek Bachchan’s prestigious historical release Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey.
Says the well-informed source, “Ramu likes to create an extra buzz around his films. When Phoonk 2 was released with Chance Pe Dance, Ramu tried to pitch the crow in his horror film against Shahid. Abhishek and Vivek are seen to be at loggerheads. Ramu intends to play up their rivalry. Although both actors have worked repeatedly with Ramu the filmmaker is not averse to deliberately pitching them against one another.”
Ramu feigns ignorance about his marketing maneuver. “The reason Rakht Charitra 2 was delayed is because the post-production took longer than we thought it would. I didn’t even know our film was coming on the same day as Abhishek’s. Not just that, both are based on true stories. Vivek and Abhishek play real- life characters in the two films. Having said that, let me also add that a lot of our marketing focus for RC2 would be on the Tamil superstar Suriya whom I regard as next only Rajnikanth in popularity. Since he’s making his Hindi debut, we’re trying to figure out ways to bring him in front of the Hindi audiences.”
This, according to the source, is exactly why Ramu has chosen to peg his sequel on the old Abhishek-Vivek rivalry. Says the source, “After the rejection of Rakht Charitra in the Northern belt, Ramu can’t take a risk with the sequel. Suriya may be a superstar in the South. In Hindi, even Rajnikanth doesn’t have a market. RC2 has no songs and items to promote. At most, Suriya can do some interviews before its release. He can’t create an excitement around the film.”
Protests Ramu, “We are not insecure about Suriya’s acceptance in Hindi, neither is he. We’ve a fusion-version of Rakht Charitra parts 1 & 2, in Tamil Nadu that we’ll release on December 3. As for the Hindi release, the film will work not because of the actors but the theme.”
In 2 States, Saif will play Punjabi boy who marries his Tamilian girlfriend
Saif Ali Khan is all set to play his first biographical character in Siddharth Anand’s 2 States. The role of the Punjabi ‘boy’ Krish who will marry
his Tamilian sweetheart Ananya but only with the consent of the two sets of parents is essentially the story of Bhagat’s own courtship and marriage in real
life.
Saif is expected to spend time with Chetan Bhagat to understand his character and get into Krish’s mind. In real life too, Saif is all set to get into a
cross-cultural marriage. 2 States is quite a learning curve for the Nawab.
Bhagat would like to exercise a more close vigil over the casting of the protagonists than he did in his novel’s other movie adaptations like Hello
(One Night At The Call Centre) and 3 Idiots (5 Point Someone). In both these cases Bhagat had no say. And he liked it that way.
But in 2 States, the personal element is extremely pronounced. For better or for worse Saif Ali Khan came to the storyboard from the outset as part of
the project.
And Bhagat is okay with that. Says India’s best-selling author, “It is not important for Krish to be played by a Punjabi or Ananya to be played by a
Tamilian. I’m aware Saif is not a Punjabi. To me that serves the story’s purpose even better. The whole idea of 2 States is to convey a pan-India
appeal. The novel is about an inter-state union. What better way to show this than to have a non-Punjabi actor playing my Punjabi protagonist?”
However, if Saif thinks he can just walk into the role of the Punjabi guy and claim it to be his own, as he did in Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal, then he
has another thought coming. Chetan Bhagat would like the Punjabi protagonist’s projection in 2 States to be freed of stereotypes and external
trappings.
Says Bhagat, “We’re always shown Punjabis and Tamils in a culture-specific light. I wouldn’t want my protagonists to be portrayed with regional
eccentricities.”
In brief, Saif has a lot of preparation to do this time. Unlike the Sardarji in Love Aaj Kal, the Punjabi boy in 2 States would have to be
played as a product of a pan-Indian sensibility. This is not to say he can play it Saif. It would require a personality transformation far more subtle than
Saif’s Langda Tyagi in Omkara with very little physical prop.
Director Siddharth Anand who is the star’s old friend is looking at a large stretch of preparation-time for his hero which Saif would be able to give only
after he completes his home production Agent Vinod.
Chetan Bhagat admits 2 States is his most personal novel to date and the screen adaptation most precious to him. “Like Krish in my novel I fell in love with
a Tamil girl and we decided to marry only with the parent’s consent. In the film Ek Duuje Ke Liye when the Tamil boy decides to marry the Punjabi girl their
parents slap and beat up their respective offsprings. Aaj ke din kaun bachche maar khayenge? So you could say 2 States is like Ek Duuje Ke
Liye meeting Diwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge.”
Rohit Shetty to make comedy film with Ajay Devgn and Abhishek Bachchan
The verdict is out. Rohit Shetty’s laugh-a-thon Golmaal 3 has emerged as the clear winner at the Box Office this Diwali. While the filmmaker is but
obviously elated with his latest success, he is not one of those who believe in resting on past laurels. Rohit is already busy planning his next two films.
While his immediate next as reported earlier would be the remake of the Tamil film Singam and would star Ajay Devgn in the lead, Rohit is also
planning a comedy with Ajay Devgn and Abhishek Bachchan. Interestingly, the duo starred in Rohit’s directorial debut Zameen.
Confirming this news Rohit says, “Yes I am planning a comedy with Ajay and Abhishek. I have narrated the idea to them and am waiting to see how the dates can
be worked out. The comedy flick would be produced by Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd.”
However, Rohit maintains that the immediate next project that he would be working on would be the remake of Singam. “The comedy film will start only
by mid next year. I would first be doing the Singam remake with Ajay. That is an action film and is being produced by Reliance Big Pictures. We start
shooting in Feb. 2011 and I plan to wrap the film in two months. We are aiming at a June release.”
With these two films, Rohit Shetty surely has his plate full for next year.
Rohit Shetty to remake Tamil film Singam with Ajay Devgn
After directing successful comedies like the Golmaal series and All The Best, Rohit Shetty will change tracks for his next venture and return to the action genre. Rohit’s next after Golmaal 3 is an action packed film which is a remake of the 2010 Tamil smash-hit film Singam.
While the Tamil film starred Surya in the lead role, the Hindi remake will star Rohit’s best friend Ajay Devgn. The film is being produced by Reliance Big Pictures which had also co-produced the Tamil version.
Confirming the same, Rohit said, “Yes my next film is the remake of Singam and stars Ajay Devgn. Right now, I am too busy with the release of Golmaal 3 and have not finalised on the actress and other cast members.”
Considering Rohit’s debut film as a director was an action film Zameen, it will be interesting to see how Rohit tackles this genre after a hiatus.
After Robot The Rajni, it’s Surya The Ghajini
The process to launch the superstar from Tamil films has begun. Ramgopal Varma is going all out to launch the second installment of RAKHT CHARITRA. The second installment holds a lot of significance since it stars superstar Surya in the lead. In fact, RGV has thought of a novel strategy to announce the arrival of Surya in Bollywood. Massive hoardings are coming up at strategic points in Andheri and Juhu with focus on Surya alone. However, it’s the caption that catches your attention: ‘After Robot The Rajni, it’s Surya The Ghajini’.
It may be recalled that Surya had enacted the main lead in the Tamil version of GHAJINI, which was remade in Hindi with Aamir Khan. In the coming 21 days, the promotions of RAKHT CHARITRA 2 are only going to go bigger and better.
Owing to Suriya’s popularity, Tamil Rakta Charitra to release in single part
Click above for more movie stills
Vivek Oberoi would be a part of the history with him being the first mainstream hero ever to have a two-part release of his film. Rakht Charitra would be arriving in its first part this Friday while the second part would come exactly a month later. However, this is for the Hindi and the Telugu version. When it comes to the Tamil version, which is expected to be spearheaded entirely by Suriya due to his immense popularity down South, Rakht Charitra would release in a single, albeit a longer version.
Confirms Ramu, “In the Hindi version, Vivek (Oberoi) features in both the parts of the film though Suriya is only introduced in the first part while he becomes far more prominent in the second version. Hence, it was a given that the Hindi version of the film would release in both the parts. Telugu version too made sense to come in two distinct parts since the audience out there in Andhra Pradesh and adjoining regions are pretty much aware about the core story and the exploits of Paritala Ravi (played by Vivek) and Suryanarayan Reddy (Suriya). Hence, for them it’s the story that would matter most, more than the actors playing the part.”
However, what tilted the balance in favour of a single part release of the Tamil version of Rakht Charitra was the bigger presence of Suriya in it. It was apparent that since Vivek comes primarily from the B-town, the audience may have gone a little restless to see only him in the first part of the film and then wait for their local hero Suriya to arrive only in the second part.
“Not that you would see only Suriya in the single part Tamil version”, reassures Ramu, “Vivek is an integral part of the film and while he anyways had an equal role to play along with Suriya in the second part, there are scenes of his from the first part that have been integrated with the second part here. So now we will have a full length feature film with both the actors.”
While both parts of the Hindi and Telugu versions would be a little over two hours each, the Tamil version is expected to be released with a three hours running length. Moreover, the editing of each of the three versions – whether Hindi, Telugu or Tamil, would differ as well so as to bring to fore the local flavour of the territories. This means that the trilingual features all the actors enacting their scenes little differently in each of the versions.
“I spoke in all the three languages – Tamil, Telugu as well as Hindi – but enacted the scenes differently”, says Suriya who is not quite looking at Rakht Charitra as his big Bollywood launch but is instead treating it as just another exciting film of his, “Yes, I know that in Tamil, the film is coming in only one part.”
Though he stays on to be quite modest about his popularity in South being the sole reason for the decision being made, he humbly attributes the decision making to his director Ram Gopal Varma.
“Since the first part doesn’t feature me for most of its duration, Ramu felt it would make sense to wait for some time and then club both parts together”, says Suriya, “Ramu feels that the film would find more patronage in Tamil version if crowds come in because of me.”
Sri Lanka accidental blast kills 25: military
September 18, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
COLOMBO: Three trucks carrying explosives blew up inside a police compound in eastern Sri Lanka on Friday, killing at least 25 people in what the military called an accident.
The blast occurred in Karayinadaru, about 50 km from the eastern port of Batticaloa and in an ethnically mixed area controlled by the Tamil Tiger separatists until 2007.
“The final death toll figure is 25 including 16 police officers and nine civilians including two Chinese nationals,” military spokesman Major-General Ubaya Medawela said.
Earlier, he had given a death toll of 60 killed, saying most were police officers. He did not elaborate on why the death toll had been reduced by more than half.
At least 52 were wounded, with three dying in hospital, P. Murugananda, director at Batticaloa General Hospital, told Reuters by telephone.
Two Chinese employees of a Chinese
