Ajith Vs Vijay at the B.O.?

Kollywood is waiting with bated breaths to see whether 'Thala' Ajith Kumar and 'Ilaiya Thalapathy' Vijay would lock horns at the B.O., this year. Both the superstars, with millions of fans all over south India, are busy with their 49th films--Vijay with 'Vettaikkaran' directed by newcomer Babu Sivan and Ajith with 'Asal' by Saran.

After three consecutive flops--'Azhagiya Thamizh Magan', 'Kuruvi' and 'Villu'--Vijay is badly in need of a blockbuster to retain his superstar status. As for Ajith, his last film, 'Aegan', was an average hit.

The Vijay film is touted to be a racy action flick whereas the Ajith film will be a suspense story. Ajith plays two roles in the film--that of a cop and his lookalike who takes others for a ride. Vijay is happy that this time the load of expectations on his film is lighter. ....

New twist in actress Shruthi's divorce saga

South Indian film actress and politician Shruthi Friday said she will be marrying journalist turned film director Chandrachud alias Chakri after the court accepts her plea for divorce from director S. Mahendar whom she married early 1998.

Talking to IANS from the temple town of Tirupati, Shruthi said she had decided to marry Chandrachud only Thursday after seeking the blessings of Lord Venkateshwara in Tirumala. She had filed the papers for divorce from Mahendar in the family court four days ago

"I cannot act against my conscience. Since a few days, I have been closer to Chandrachud and both of us decided to marry. I know Chandrachud is already married, but he is also facing some marital discontent in his household. We would be marrying each other only after our plea for divorce is accepted," Shruthi said.

Chandrachud, who is presently directing a Kannada film "Janma", also told IANS that he is marrying the actress after she gets her divorce. He said that since the decision to marry was mutual, it should not warrant any criticism from any end.

"There is no point in continuing a relationship which has been continuously strained. I tried to save my marriage many times and resurrect the strained relationship. But unfortunately it did not work. I now think I prolonged a relationship which could not be sustained. I am happy to come out of the relationship with Mahendar and enter into a new relationship with Chandrachud," said Shruthi, who also has a child with Mahendar.

Shruthi's decision has not been taken kindly by some of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders who have been privately criticising her. She is now the chairperson of the Karnataka Women and Child welfare Board and had campaigned extensively for the party in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Mysore Lok Sabha constituencies in the recently-held parliamentary elections.

However, some BJP leaders say she has saved the party from a big embarrassment as she had announced her decision to divorce her husband Mahendar and marry Chandrachud four days after the conclusion of the two-phase polling in Karnataka.

Since the issue surfaced, Mahendar has remained elusive and his whereabouts are not known. Even his close confidants in the film industry and many friends in his native town of Kollegal say that the director has become inaccessible. He has also switched off his mobile phone. ....

'Kalla Kadhalan': A take on Ramayanam!

'Kalla Kadhalan', said to be a modern interpretation of Kamba Ramayanam, is directed by Ramya. The film stars Sibiraj in the lead. He plays the role of a playboy, a 'Kalla Kadhalan'. Vishal Hegde, a Kannada actor, plays the parallel lead.

Super model Priyanka Shah, who has won a number of prestigious competitions such as Miss India International and Channel V's 'Get Gorgeous' contest, makes her debut in films with 'Kalla Kadhalan'.

The daring movie is written by Ramya. Srikanth handles the camera and R.P. Patnaik scores the music. The film is being produced by Storm Pictures, the makers of 'Naan Aval Adhu'. ....

Rs 3 crore costume for Vikram-Shriya

One of the big budget films in 2009, ‘Kanthaswamy’ has Vikram and Shriya in the lead. Director Susi Ganesan says the film’s storyline demanded a big budget. “In fact, we have not splurged just for the sake of it. We have spent where it is really necessary. But costumes in the film will be a highlight,” says the director.

“Vikram, playing a superhero in the flick, wears clothes worth Rs 75 lakh alone, while Shriya, whose glamour and acting will be a highlight in the movie, wears clothes worth a whopping Rs 1.25 crore,” he explains, putting the movies budget at over Rs 30 crore. “We wanted to shoot in new locations and toured and shot for a month in Mexico. We spent Rs 8 crores for shooting there, while some scenes and a song, shot in Itlay, cost us Rs 2 crore. Apart from these, being a superhero action adventure, the film has a lot of special effects. These have itself cost us Rs 3 crores,” says the director.

‘Kanthaswamy’, produced by Kalaipuli S Thanu, has music by Devi Sri Prasad and is likely to be a June end release. ....

'Haasan is the only glamorous hero: Trisha

“Kamal Haasan is the only glamorous hero” says Trisha
On her birthday Trisha while speaking to the media said,” I can never forget the experience while working in Sarvam. Arrangements are being made to release this film on 15th of this month. The film was shot in beautiful locales. There are rumors that I am donning bikini dresses and have acted in kissing scenes. I don’t know who is spreading these rumors. You will know the truth if you see the film. There were also rumors that I have danced with Arya in semi clad dress in Goa beach for this film. I feel like laughing when I hear such kind of rumors. I don’t like partying. If you ask me if who is the attractive hero I would say Kamal Haasan is the most glamorous actor.

The other one is Hollywood hero George Clooney. I am fond of animals. I get wild if anyone tries to be cruel with animals. I had been to Australia for my last vacation. Sky Diving was a thrilling experience for me there. Even now I am proud of this. My family is important for me. In the same way my friends are also equally important for me. I am scared of cockroaches. I like eating lot of tasty foods. My greatest asset are my friends.” ....

Milind Soman returns to Kollywood

Bollywood hunk Milind Soman returns to Kollywood with 'Vithagan'. He plays a negative role in the Parthipan-Poorna starrer. He is the villain in Lingusamy's 'Paiyaa' also.

Parthipan, who writes and directs this film, plays a cop. Milind essays the role of an elusive don. Seventh Channel Narayanan is the producer. The film is touted to be a racy entertainer on the lines of 'Vettayadu Vilayadu', an earlier effort by the producer.

As the menacing villain in Goutham Menon's 'Pachakili Muthucharam', Milind had made a great impression in Kollywood a couple of years ago. ....

Madhavan has no time for Tamil cinema

2009 looks to be a good year for Madhavan, who seems to have his platter full with promising movies and is looking forward to the release of some projects with big names. The star recently signed with two young directors, Navdeep Singh and Aanand Rai of Bollywood, who have proved their mettle with the critically well-received movies ' Manorama Six Feet Under ' and ' Strangers '.

Talking about the projects has Madhavan excited. The actor asserts that his brush with Vikram Kumar, the director of ' Yaavarum Nalam ' (13B in Hindi), left him with an appreciation for concrete story lines. It is worthy to tell about his next release ' Naan Aval Adhu ' which is a thriller after his successful supernatural thriller ' Yaavarum Nalam '.

While these movies promise to keep Madhavan busy into next year, he's also eagerly awaiting the release of ' Teen Patti '. The heartthrob has been cast alongside the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Sir Ben Kingsley in ' Teen Patti '. Also releasing is another multi-starer, 'Three Idiots', directed by Rajkumar Hirani and co-starring Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Sharman Joshi. Madhavan's latest release 'Guru En Aalu' doing a fair job now is a remake of the Hindi blockbuster ' Yes Boss '. It seems like Bollywood is adding more boost to Madhavan's recent flicks down south. ....