Cinema, Karam, Kapi

Rajini fans worldwide have been looking forward to the release of the much awaited Kabali. After having worked with MS Viswanathan, Illayaraja, Deva and AR Rahman for the past 40 years, Superstar has chosen to work with a guy whose is as young as his own daughter. Rajinikanth's success is partially attributed to his Music Directors as most of his films have atleast 2-3 hit songs which remain etched in memory. After working for over 25 years with Illayaraja, Rajini gave an opportunity to a young lad in 1994 for his Muthu. The lad was just 5 films old then and was recommended to Rajini by one of his favourite directors Mani Ratnam whom Rajini holds in high respect. That lad, who later won the first ever Oscar for India went to create music for the next 15 years for Rajini (except Chandramukhi which was by Vidyasagar). AR Rahman and Rajini have a deep bonding. ARR likes to create mass tunes which are a class apart that suits Rajinikanth's image. Especially over the past 10-12 ye

I have been a self confessed fan of Director Shankar for many years now. My first tryst with his direction dates back to Gentleman when I was still in school and had limited understanding of the art that is cinema. But he was one of those Directors, I thought then, who has a bright future since he had tread on a sensitive subject in that film with elan. I have enjoyed all of his movies thereafter. In each outing of his, he brought out a different panorama of film making - something that the commercial directors have always refrained from. His heroes were larger than life, be it the "One day CM" in Mudalvan or the "Bribery conscious old man" in Indian. Ofcourse, and naturally my most liked movies of his are Sivaji and Enthiran, which feature my personal matinee idol, the Superstar of Indian Cinema, Rajinikanth. After watching Sivaji, I felt that for a change, Shankar has made a film for someone else - for Rajini fans in this case. After a successful run, his

Madras I There are two things that are making the news these days in the city, probably three. Madras, as the city has been known historically (and I choose to spell the city's name that way most often) is also the name of a recently released movie. Featuring Karthi, btoher of veteran actor Suriya, Karthi has been quite experimental with Tamil Cinema ever since his first release 5 years ago with Paruthi Veeran. He has played a village lad, unemployed Chennai youth, and many a time a happy go lucky guy. His box office records have been topsy turvy, where he has the most returns when least expected. Back to Madras, the film is shot in North Madras, which has been largely neglected in Kollywood for a long time. Except for a one-off gana song or a kuthu song, nothing has captured the imagination of this part of the city, which was also the original settlement along the sea shore. I have had the privilege of travelling to North Madras twice or more every week to work where my prev

Big news coming our way... Kochadaiiyaan featuring Superstar Rajinikanth and Deepika Padukone, which is created using Motion Capture Technology for the first time in the history of Indian Cinema, is expected to be telecast on Jaya TV coming Deepawali. The film was directed by Soundarya Rajnikanth Ashwin, the younger daughter of Superstar and the Direction was overseen by ace Director KS Ravikumar. The film created a huge buzz with the kind of technology it had used but hardcore Thalaivar fans were a tad disappointed since they couldn't see their matinee idol in flesh and blood. All the seven songs, composed by Oscar Winner Isaipuyal AR Rahman were chartbusters and still remain favourites among music afficianados which was release at a Sathyam Cinemas in which Shah Rukh Khan was the Chief Guest. The film had a huge star cast including Nasser, Jackie Shroff among others and had a special role of actor Late "Nagesh", mimicked and performed by a comedian. It is expe

The much awaited first look of Lingaa feat Superstar Rajinikanth was released on the auspicious occasion of Ganesha Chathurthi on Friday, 29 Aug. 2014. Here is how the movie poster looks like. The film is directed by KS Ravikumar who has earlier worked with Thalaivar in films like Muthu and Padayappa during late 1990s. This film is expected to be a mass commercial entertainer coming from the successful duo of KSR - Superstar and would release simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu and may be dubbed in other languages such as Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada. The film would have two heroines, Sonakshi Sinha and Anushka. A Rajini film featuring two heroines releases after 20 years precisely - the last one was in 1994, a commercial entertainer by the name Veera. While there is no confirmation on the release date, it is highly speculated that the movie may be up in the screens on 12-12-14, which happens to be Thalaivar's 62nd Birthday! Once again, AR Rahman composes music for Ling

Change is the only constant. We have heard this before in our lives, from parents to elders to mentors to well wishers. But to convey it to the general public through a mass medium such as music and cinema is not only innovative but also a great attempt to get the point to the world at large. And this was very well done in the song "Maatram Ondrudaan" from the film Kochadaiiyaan. Penned by lyricist Vairamuthu, composed by  and sung by Haricharan, Superstar Rajinikanth has immortalized the number in the film. In fact, he has also read out a few lines which makes the song one of its kind ever. Positioned as a philosophical poem uttered by the warrior commander of the King's mighty army, the song can be related to our daily lives as well. Click on the picture to see the video. Summary; "Change is the only Constant". In the form of Kochadaiiyaan, Superstar Rajinikanth advises youngsters to be ready to face change. Here is a summary; Kochadaiiyaan asks y