Cinema, Karam, Kapi

The Tamil month of Aadi (Aashada in Sanskrit / Hindi / Kannada, etc.) began on the 16 th  July 2020. Generally considered inauspicious, the traditional texts do not consider these months unholy, rather advises believers to focus on pujas, rituals and offering to forefathers, fellow humans and to deities in temples. It is more of a practice in Tamil Nadu not to release Films during this period, no matter what’s the caste or belief system of the lead Actors & Directors, as the Producer has the final say in this matter.  Starting from mid-August onwards, Tamil Cinema usually witnesses a dozen big releases of top stars as well as the usual 3-4 small budget film releases every week. However, during the Aadi month, even film pujas, music release functions, Award functions, etc. – nothing is conducted. Or so we thought all along.  Aadi month 2020 saw a surprise from one of the most celebrated duos – Anirudh and Sivakarthikeyan when they released a surprise video song of

I have been a fan of Mani Ratnam movie for over 30 years, I must confess. This is not the first time Mani is handling a multi-starrer. Exactly 30 years back, his much acclaimed Agni Natchathiram released which had two young heroes Karthik & Prabhu in the lead with a fantastic role by Vijaya Kumar. In 1991, he pulled off Thalapathi featuring Superstar Rajinikanth & Mammooty. In 2004, we saw Ayutha Exhuthu with Surya, Madhavan and Siddharth in the leads. From controversial political overtones in films like Mumbai, Dil Se and Guru to extreme romance-led subjects like Alaipayuthe, Raavan, OKK and most recently Katru Veliyidai, he has tried his hands on every genre perhaps. Having produced most of his films by himself, he never had the need to worry about critical acclaim or Box-Office collections. Add to that, he has to his credit portraying young heroes in their early career as strong protagonists - Prashanth, Arvindawamy, Madhavan, Shah Rukh Khan all the way up to Dulqeer Salma