Review:Sathum Podaathay

Movie: Sathum Podaathay
Director: Vasanth
Producer: Kaivallya
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cast: Pritviraj, Padmapriya, Nitin Satya, Raghavan

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(courtasy:Moviebuzz)
Vasanth has once again proved that he is a director with a difference with Sathum Podaathay a thriller mixed with some soft romance and peppy music. Padmapriya, the pivot around which the film revolves has given a riveting performance and is the pick of the film.
In these hard days when only larger than life heroes in outdated mass masalas work at the box-office, Vasanth has been bold to experiment with a subject that is daring. One of the major highlights of the film is the songs and background score of Yuvan Shankar Raja.
The story revolves around Bhanu (Padmapriya) who gets married to Ratnavel (Nitin Satya) a guy who works in railways as he is a sportsman. But soon the relationship turns sour, when the couple realize after a gynecologist ( Suhasini in a cameo) tells them that Ratnavel is impotent. In spite family pressures to get a mutual divorce, the old fashioned Bhanu decides to go ahead with the marriage by adopting a child.
But with the arrival of the baby, Ratnavel becomes more insecure and tells her that the child reminds him about his weakness! And all hell breaks lose when Bhanu realizes that her husband was an alcoholic who knew about his impotency and had betrayed her. She walks out on him. Bhanu meets Ravichandran (Pritviraj) a happy-go-lucky guy who proposes to her. But Ratnavel who had vowed to make life miserable for Bhanu returns. What next? You have to watch the film.
Songs like Azhagu Kutty Chellam…. and Pesugiren, Pesugiren… is class apart but their placement could have been better and they slow down the narration. The three hit numbers are slotted in the first half, and two of them end up with the same Bekal fort in the background! H.Sridhar’s audiography and Yuvan's background score needs special mention as for nearly 20 minutes towards the climax, there are no dialogues which give the thriller the necessary eerie feel.
On the down side, there is nothing new in the plot of the film, as a lot of similar stories of women married tormented by an obsessive psyche characters ending up battered, bruised and kidnapped have appeared earlier ( Darr, Anjaane, Chellamay, Sleeping with the Enemy among others). The character of Ratnavel could have been better etched out as we do not feel sympathy or empathy to his anguish and actions. But what works largely for the film are the performances of lead actors especially Padmapriya, Nitin Satya who is promising and Pritviraj.

Verdict: Thriller

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1.Pollathavan audio launch

On Friday (Sep 14), the audio launch of the Dhanush- Divya (Kuthu Ramya’s new name in Tamil) starrer Pollathavan took place at Green Park, in Chennai.
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2.Pollathavan audio launch

The film is produced by ‘Five Star’Kathiresan and directed by debutant Vetrimaran. Dhanush who was spotted in a casual jeans and shirt was extremely friendly to the guests and personally seen receiving the guests.
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3.Pollathavan audio launch

G.V Prakash the 20-year old music director of the film told the gathering that it is his fifth film, and he is sure the music of the film like his earlier Kireedam will rock .
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4.Pollathavan audio launch

Balu Mahendra praised the young director whom he says is a good organizer, necessary to give the perfect touch to a film. Dhanush also had good words about Vetri, with whom he had discussed many stories before zeroing in on Polladhavan.
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5.Pollathavan audio launch

Dhanush and dad Kastoori Raja greet each other!
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6.Pollathavan audio launch

Jayam Ravi, Vishal and G.V.Prakash .
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7.Pollathavan audio launch

The chief guest at the evening was Balu Mahendra, whose one- time assistant was director Vetri. Seen in pic are Balu and Dhanush who had done Athu Oru Kana Kalam earlier.
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8.Pollathavan audio launch

The guest list who came to wish Dhanush and the Polladhavan team all the best were ‘Jayam’Ravi, Vishal, Dhanush’s father Kastooriraja, ‘Abhirami’ Ramanathan, ‘London’ Karunamoorthy and few others from the industry.
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1.Mamta croons in Kaalai

After Loosu Pennea… that chartbuster, actor Simbu has written the lyrics of the songs for his forthcoming film Kaalai. And the big news is that Mamta Mohandas the svelte actress has crooned for a song which is composed by music director G.V.Prakash.
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2.Mamta croons in Kaalai

Says Simbu: “Since Vaali sir was not feeling well, I took over and wrote the song”. It is a rap song sung by G.V.Prakash himself and in the female version, when they wanted a new voice, Simbu suggested Mamta’s name. And recently Mamta had bagged the Filmfare award for Best female playback singer for her number in the Telugu film Rakhee.
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3.Mamta croons in Kaalai

The song recorded for Kaalai is -- Kalla kaala kaala adangada kalla, mela mella mella yenkadhal un mella…. will be picturised on Simbu and Vedika in Venice & Rome in October. The film is slated for a Diwali release.
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A grand premiere!

The red carpet premiere of Vasanth's Sathum Podaathay was a star-studded affair. The film starring Prithviraj, Padmapriya and Nitin Sathya had its world premiered at Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai.
Director Vasanth and producers Shanker and Senthil Kumar was there to welcome all the guests. Poornima Bhagyaraj with Saranya and Shanthanu, Suhasini, Yuvan, Karthik, S.Ve. Shekar with son Ashwin Shekar, Simbu and Sandhya attended the premiere. Pritviraj who was away in Bali, shooting for Prakash Raj’s Vellithirai had asked his mom Mallika Sukumaran to watch the film and give him reports.
Said Mallika the proud mother: “I am proud to be a part of this premiere and is so happy by the way people of Tamilnadu has accepted my son. Pritvi is a loving son and is intelligent to choose the subjects of his films with care. I give him all the moral support that he needs”.
The Chennai 600028 team was present to support their co-star Nitin Sathya. Heroine Padmapriya was conspicuous by her absence. ....

`Thavam` audio launched!

'Action King’ Arjun and his production house `Sree Raam` films launched the audio of their new film Thavam. The unique aspect is that Arjun is not acting in the film! He is just the producer, which has Arun Vijay, son of character actor Vijayakumar in the lead role along with Vedika and new girls Arpita and Vandana. Vadivel provides comedy.
Thavam has music by Arjun’s favourite D.Imman, and three songs were shown along with the trailer to the select audiences at a function held at Taj Ballroom in Chennai on Thursday evening. The film is directed by Sakthi Parameswar.
It was a star studded evening with the top guns in the industry participating. Nadigar Sangam chief Sarath Kumar, Producers' Council President Rama Narayanan, veteran directors like K. Balachander, Bharathiraja, director P. Vasu along with his son Sakthi, K.S. Ravikumar, young heroes-Simbu, Sibiraj, Jeyam Ravi, Prashanth, Shaam, Jeevan and Sandhya were some of the celebrity guests at the evening.
Everybody praised Arjun for his magnanimous decision to produce a film with another hero. All at the function also hoped that Arun Vijay will have a hit, as he is a talented guy who can dance and fight with élan, but lady luck has been eluding him.
Arun Vijay was moved to tears, by the groundswell of sympathy and support for him within the fraternity. Arjun who saw the first copy of Thavam was so impressed with it and said that he is sure to hold the 100 days function of the film in the future! ....

Genelia drops out!

Genelia who was supposed to be one of the heroines in Gautham Menon’s ambitious film Vaaranam Aayiram with Surya in the lead has now backed out of the project.
The top heroine of Telugu cinema was all excited to be a part of this film but after the dates went haywire and shooting got postponed she decided to walk out of the project.
Remember that Vaaranam Aayiram was touted to be one the hottest projects in Tamil but now Surya is busy completing his Hari directed Vel and Gautham is shooting his quickie with Trisha in the lead!
The latest news is that Vaaranam Aayiram will resume its next schedule in US by end of September. Gautham and his unit will be flying off to California on 29th and shoot for over a month at the University of California, Berkeley Campus and a Danish village in the outskirts of the town.
Meanwhile Gautham has also started a big hunt for a heroine to accompany the team to US, as of now only Kuthu Ramya is confirmed. There are supposed to be three heroines in the film and the buzz is that Genelia decided to walk out after Gautham refused to pay the fat salary that she is demanding and getting in Telugu. ....

'Sila Nerangalil' audio launched!

The audio launch of Silanerangalil, starring Vincent Asokan and Navya Nair and directed by Jayaraj was held in camera.
Kamal Hassan released the audio, which has music by Sreekanth Deva. The film a romantic thriller is said to have shaped out well.
Silanerangalil is the debut film of Vincent Asokan as a hero. Vincent, all these days was playing the bad man in a lot of potboilers. Jayaraj, the noted Malayalam director is making his debut in Tamil with the film. ....

Simbu on small screen

Superstars in Bollywood like Shah Rukh Khan is increasingly using television and Internet as a medium to promote themselves and their films. But down south, stars are reluctant to appear on television shows fearing their popularity would be affected. They think that only a few old timers and out-of-work stars turn to the small screen.
This has been proved right as actresses like Radhika, Kushboo, Roja, Ramya Krishnan, Sukanya and more recently Meena, Sangeeta and others are the ruling queens on television. Even actors who are out-of-work like Prashanth were seen as judges on reality shows.
But our “little superstar” Silambarasan taking a leaf out of King Khan decided to be one of the judges in the popular dance show "Jodi No:1” on Vijay TV in spite of his busy shooting schedules. Along with actress Sangeeta and famous choreographer Sundaram Master, Simbu who is a very good dancer, enthralled the participants and viewers on the finer points of dancing.
Says Simbu: “I was a big fan of “Jodi No: 1” right from the beginning. And when they called me to be a judge, I agreed immediately and that too without taking any remuneration. Vijay TV agreed to adjust the shoot according to my convenience as I am doing two films now. I am enjoying it thoroughly as there is lot of people interaction and reach among the public”. ....

ATM: Story wrangle settled!

Vijay's Azhagiya Tamizh Mahan, dispute over the story rights has been sorted out. Mohammed Farooq, had claimed that Producer 'Swargachitra' Appachan had cheated him of the story rights, and he had approached the Madras High Court.
According to Farooq, Appachan refused to abide by the Tamil Film Producers Council's settlement agreement where by he was to get Rs 6 lakhs for his story rights. The producer paid him Rs 1 Lakh and refused to pay the remaining amount.
When the matter came up for hearing, Appachan's lawyer agreed to pay the remaining amount. So the ATM story wrangle has been settled out of court, and now there are no legal hurdles in the release of the film. ....

Sathum Podaathay- A big premiere!

Vasanth’s ambitious film Sathum Podaathay is having its world premiere tonight at the Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai. Producers C.Shanker and R.S.Senthil Kumar of Kaivallya Entertainment is personally supervising the guest list and is gung-ho about their first film.
Normally Vasanth films carry certain amount of curiosity and this time the hype is more as the trailers and stills suggest that it is a thriller. The film is releasing worldwide with over 100 prints and the advance booking for it in US is encouraging. Top film personalities including the cast and crew of the film are expected to attend the premiere today evening.
Soundarya Rajnikanth `Ocher Studios` have done the graphics and animation for the film which carries excellent pre-release reports. ....

Vivek in `Kuruvi`!

Vivek is going to do a comedy role along with Vijay in Dharani directed Kuruvi.
The last film in which Dharani and Vivek came together was Dhool, where the comedy track was very funny.
Vivek and Vijay have great comic timing, and one of the highlights of Kuruviis going to be the duos comedy scenes with Trisha.
Now comedy is an essential part of a Vijay film, as proved by the success of Pokkiri, where he was paired with Vadivel. ....

Love birds!

Is there something brewing between our handsome hunk Arya and Nila, the hot and happening Maruthamalai heroine?
A little bird informs us that they became close during a star night in Singapore, a few months back. They vibe very well and have a lot in common. Since the Singapore trip the cool cat from Chennai, has been regularly sending SMS jokes and speaking on a daily basis with the Toofan from Delhi.
Arya is now virtually Nila’s mentor and guru in Kollywood, though they have never done a film together! Recently when his mobile was not reachable, as he was shooting in the interiors of Theni, Nila who was shooting for a film in Chennai was found to be gloomy!
Nila is currently doing a Telugu project for producer MS.Raju with Vinay (Unnale Unanale ) as hero. However, the love birds are planning to do a film together next year. ....

1.Sathum Podaathay

Adnan Sami and Yuvan number O Intha Kadhal… in western style is peppy and energetic. The rhythm is simple with lyrics describing the sweet pain of love. Pritviraj has never danced so impressively and the song is shot with six dancers in the background and all of them are in whites blends well with the backdrop of Bekal Fort near Kasargod in Kerala.
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2.Sathum Podaathay

Azhagu kutti chellam, is the hero introduction song. Pritviraj looks handsome and dashing. It is a very pleasant song full of energy as Pritvi has a jolly good time with 100 kids from newborn to 5 years. Shankar Mahadevan`s voice suits Pritvi as he sings for 100 kids, who have 100 different innocent smiles.
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3.Sathum Podaathay

Padmapriya has never been photographed, or looked as good on screen as in this particular song, which is the pick of the album. In the film the song is a part of crucial story movement, and will not be shown on television immediately. Vasanth does not want any details of the song to be written before release. Watch out for debutant fashion designer Mohammad Riaz who has given Padmapriya a new chic look.
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4.Sathum Podaathay

However the surprise song in the album is Kadhal Periyatha… rendered by Sudha Raghunathan. The lyrics of Na.Muthukumar is meaningful, sentimental and totally different from his usual style. Watch out for debutant choreographer Vishnu Deva. Hats off Vasanth!
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5.Sathum Podaathay

Remember that Vasanth and Yuvan Shankar Raja combo was a rage with their `Poovellam Kettupar`, eight years back. Now they are back with `Sathum Podaathay`, The film releases worldwide on September 14.
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Chennai Box-Office(Sep7-9)

This week, there is a new number one and that too a Tamil film, Maruthamalai. The Arjun-Vadivel starrer has taken a solid 90 percent opening in six Chennai screens. All movies collections were badly hit on Saturday, due to the India-England decider, Nat West ODI at Lords.
Sivaji is at the number two position, Chak De has fallen to the third position. At number four is Ammuvagiya Naan, which has also dropped and is in the fourth position, while the new comedy film Dhamaal is in the fifth place, all other new Tamil releases are just not collecting!! ....

Rajni in Tirupati

Rajnikanth is one Dravidian actor who makes no bones about the fact that he is a believer in God.
As Sivaji is nearing 100 days, Rajni went back to pay his respects to Lord Venketeswara of Tirupati. He last visited the famous temple, three days before the release of Sivaji on June 12 and prayed hard for its success.
Now this time it was a ‘Thanks giving’ visit, and he prayed in peace with no television journalists asking for bytes. He was given the special VIP darsan. It is said that Rajni dropped his offering to the lord in Srivari hundi wrapped in a piece of white cloth.
He and his entourage saw to it that other pilgrims were not disturbed, and after spending 20 minutes in the temple they left for Chennai. ....

Shriya - Woman on top!

Shriya is on a roll! From relative obscurity after doing more than a dozen films in Telugu, she has risen to the top slot in Tamil cinema through one film- Rajnikanth's Sivaji. Just being paired with Rajnikanth has given her high voltage screen coverage and resurrected her sagging career.
The kind of coverage and reach that `Sivaji` gave her, has made her some kind of demi-goddess in Tamilnadu. After being washed away by Mazhai, Shriya made a fantastic come back and took over the number one heroine slot from Asin and Trisha.
Overnight she became a rage and signed two big films- Azhagiya Tamizh Mahan and Kandasamy with top heroes Vijay and Vikram. And producers were willing to pay her a bomb, twice what they were paying other heroines.
Shriya was truly on velvet and threw her weight around and also became far too demanding, according to Kollywood sources. The grapevine has it that she did not want the south Indian designers like Nalini Sriram or Anu to do her costumes, and instead demanded for Manish Malhotra (who did her Sivaji costumes) or a Neeta Lulla! But Tamil producers put their foot down, which caused a lot of heartburn.
And her heroes were also feeling the heat, when she almost signed to do an item number in a top comedian's film where he is in the hero's role! A top hero who was to do a film with her to be directed by a choreographer immediately told his London based producer to remove her from the project.
But soon, better sense prevailed and the latest news is that Shriya refused to do this item number in the comedian's film for which she was offered a mind boggling amount! ....

Sneha swoons!

Sneha who is very busy doing films in three south Indian languages- Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam swooned on the sets of a Telugu film in Hyderabad. She was so tired and on a liquid diet she fainted on the sets of Union Minister and veteran director Dasari Narayana Rao's son's launch film!
A doctor was called on the sets, who said it was due to fatigue and her hectic running around from set to set. She has been advised to stop going on liquid diet and also to take nutritious diet.
However the grapevine in Andhra is abuzz with stories that Sneha was feeling a bit low, that her one time boy friend Srikanth was tying the knot on that particular day at a Chennai five star hotel. Sneha was a notable absentee at the star spangled wedding reception! ....

Maruthamalai - Super Opening!

'Oscar' Ravichandran, is all smiles as his Arjun-Vadivel mass masala Maruthamalai has taken a super opening across A,B & C centers in Tamilnadu. The film which opened with a record 155 prints (for an Arjun film) has done an astonishing 92 percent on release day (Friday, Sep 7)!
Says 'Oscar' Ravichandran: "It is a super smash hit across the state and even in Kerala. I would say it is the best ever Arjun opening in recent times. Believe me the elite audiences at Sathyam and Inox in Chennai city are enjoying it as much as the audiences in Madurai and Salem areas, the traditional supporters of mass masala movies!"
On day two of its release, Maruthamalai had a marginal fall, as there was the Nat west trophy India-England cup decider match at Lords, which meant noon, matinee and evening shows were likely to be hit. But the moment Sachin Tendulkar was given out unfairly by the Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar (around 5 pm) and it was clear that India was losing, people switched off their TV and rushed to theatres. NSC and city reported 90 to 100 percent for Saturday evening and night shows!
'Action King' Arjun piggy back riding on Vadivel's comedy has made yet another comeback. Next week the Telugu dubbed version of Maruthamalai will hit the screens in Andhra. ....

Sarath back as chief!

The Sunday emergency meet of Nadigar Sangam to discuss the resignation of its President Sarath Kumar, ended up with its executive committee members requesting the actor to continue till his term is over.
Later, after withdrawing his resignation letter Sarath told the press: "Since it was a unanimous decision, I respect their feelings and would continue as president of Nadigar Sangam for rest of my tenure of two years."
Sarath is expected to run his newly formed political party, at the same time control Nadigar Sangam from where he draws his clout. In short the best of both worlds. ....

Happy Birthday Ravi!

Jayam Ravi is the kind of guy you wish all movie stars were like. Unassuming and friendly, this young man also works hard to highlight the sweetness that is associated with him. Today the actor celebrates his birthday and we at kolly.blogspot.com wish him all the best for a bright future.
Ravi is at the moment doing Dhaam Dhoom directed by late Jeeva. Harris Jayraj has composed tunes for the film which is being picturised by Aneez, Jeeva’s wife. The film has been taken over by Ayngaran International and is slated as a Diwali release.
Meanwhile Ravi is also shooting for his brother M.Raja’s Santhosh Subramaniam a remake of the Telugu super hit Bommarillu, that is almost 30 percent complete. Remember that Raja and Ravi have never failed and are one of the biggest winning combos in Tamil cinema. ....