Kollywood grapevine is abuzz that Jamshad Arya aka Jammy will be seen with Ajith in the latter's forthcoming project with director Vishnuvardhan of 'Billa' fame and producer AM Ratnam.

Rumour mills are working overtime saying Arya will be seen in this multi-starrer with Ajith, it was earlier buzzed that the director's brother Krishna will be seen in this role!

Only last week it was said Amala Paul will be seen opposite Ajith but director Vishnuvardhan neither denied nor confirmed it. Dialogues are touted to be penned by Suba.

This yet-to-be-titled venture will be produced by AM Ratnam under the Sri Surya Movies banner and will go on floors by the end of February once Ajith wraps 'Billa 2' with Chakri Toleti.

Arya is currently busy with work on 'Irandam Ulagam' with Anushka and has committed bulk dates for this project. A lil' birdie tells us that although Arya listened to the script and loved his role and was excited about working with Ajith, he hasn't given his nod yet due to these prior commitments.

Superstar's much-awaited 'Kochadaiyaan' will go on floors on January 19, an auspicious day. The shooting will commence in the AVM Pillayar temple and scenes featuring the Superstar and his sister played by Sneha will be canned first.

The film is produced and directed by Rajini's daughter, Soundarya Ashwin and will have music by Isai Puyal AR Rahman. KS Ravikumar is also helping Soundarya with the direction.

A little birdie tells us that Aadhi who is eagerly awaiting his 'Aravaan' will also be seen in a pivotal role in this movie. However we can't be sure of this and an official announcement from the makers listing the cast and crew is expected shortly. Prithviraj and Lakshmi Manchu are also touted to play pivitol roles in this film.

Rajini will be seen in the titular role, as a king who is an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and one with long tresses.

'Kochadaiyaan' has got one more hero. Aadhi of 'Mirugam' and 'Eeram' fame, who is currently expecting the release of his magnum opus 'Aravaan', has been roped in to play an important role in the Superstar Rajinikanth starrer.

Confirming this, the film's director Soundarya Ashwin wrote on her microblogging page, "Met actor Aadhi today for a role in Kochadaiyaan. He's way taller in person than what he seems!- It is said that the actor would play a warrior in this period film.

Assisting Soundarya will be ace director KS Ravikumar, who has given two super hits ('Muthu' and 'Padayappa') in association with Superstar Rajinikanth, expectations are running high on 'Kochadaiyaan'. Music is by AR Rahman.

The latest buzz is that the movie would hit the floors on January 19, at Rajini's favourite Pillaiyar Temple at AVM Studios in Vadapalani. Sources have it that the pooja would be a simple affair, which would be attended by important members of the cast and crew.

The Catholic-Christian Secular Forum (CSF) has come down heavily on AR Rahman's song 'Hosanna...' in Gautham Vasudev Menon's 'Ek Deewana Tha' (Hindi version of Tamil hit 'Vinnaithandi Varuvaya') scheduled for release on February 17.

The CSF said it is extremely upset with the use of word Hosanna in the song. The Forum has taken up the issue with authorities concerned and wants the song to be withdrawn. It also plans to launch a public agitation if no action is taken against the song.

In a letter to Rahman, besides others concerned like Fox Star Studio and Sony Music, CSF has demanded an apology. According to CSF, the song has hurt not only Christian, but also Jewish religious sentiments, Hosanna being a prayer for both communities.

'Ek Deewana Tha' is a romantic entertainer written and directed by Gautham Menon, featuring Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson in the lead roles.

Amala Paul says she is bored of denying gossips which claim that she is in a relationship with someone or the other. Initially there were reports that the actress was in love with director Vijay and the latest grapevine is that she and Atharva are seeing each other.

"Director Vijay is a good friend of mine and there is nothing more than that. Likewise, only a professional relationship exists between me and Atharva, my Muppozhudum Un Karpanaigal co-star," says the 'Mynaa' girl, seeking to clear the air.

On the response to 'Vettai', her Pongal release, "I am happy to read reviews which credited me with good performance. I am indebted to director Lingusamy for giving me such a meaty role which offered me enough scope to perform."

Saying that she is missing Madhavan, Arya and Sameera Reddy a lot, Amala adds: "We became so close while shooting for Vettai. Sameera is extremely affectionate. Madhavan and Arya are friendly, co-operative and naughty as well."

The music composer's Hindi album 'Rockstar' bagged two awards in the music category at the 18th Annual Colors Screen Awards 2012.

Writing on his social networking page, the Oscar-Grammy winner expressed his gratitude to the jury and his fans for the award he won for his music in the Ranbir Kapoor starrer, directed by Imtiaz Ali of 'Jab We Met' fame.

"I am thrilled and humbled... Would like to thank the Screen Awards jury, my fans and the whole team of Rockstar - Imtiaz, the producers Ashtavinayak, Eros, Ranbir, Nargis (Fakhri), Irshad (Kamil), Mohit (Chauhan) and my lovely team... Above all, Almighty God for filling me up with music, still," Rahman wrote.

Rahman won the best music director, while Mohit Chauhan bagged the best playback singer male for 'Phir Se Ud Chala' and 'Sadda Haq'. Best female playback singer award was given to Shreya Goshal for 'Ooh la la' from 'The Dirty Picture'.

Reputed publication, The New York Times reviewed Lingusamy's latest offering 'Vettai' as 'Taking on Bad Guys in South India'.

The review by Rachel Saltz was crisp. She wrote, "Plenty of Hindi movies - Bollywood, that is - open in New York, but Tamil films remain a rare commodity in theaters. If "Vettai" brings to mind "Singham," a recent Hindi good-cop-cleans-up-bad-town movie, it's not surprising. "Singham" started life as a Tamil film whose success spurred regional remakes. She further adds, "The Tamil movie "Vettai" has a lot of story to tell. The director, N. Lingusamy, can't stop even when it's over (about 2 � hours): he sneaks a happily-ever-after epilogue over the end credits".

This review in a prestigious international publication will only add more value to the film overseas which has seen a good opening worldwide this Pongal. Meanwhile, grapevine is abuzz that the film will be remade in Hindi with Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, however there's no official confirmation on this front

It is no longer news that the 'Madrasapattinam' girl Amy Jackson will play second female lead in her mentor AL Vijay's forthcoming, 'Thaandavam'. Grapevine now has it that Amy will introduce her action avatar to audience through this film and perform some stunts!

The actress was quoted while speaking to a media house, "It's a complete different venture and I will get to show off my action skills in this movie. Vijay gave me my first break and it's so good to work with him again".

'Thaandavam' is reportedly a bilingual to be canned simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu and Amy will start shooting her portions come March. Anushka Shetty will be seen as Vikram's lady love and Jagapathi Babu will be seen as an antagonist in this action packed thriller.

Apparently to cash in the success of 'Kolaveri' and Dhanush's current pan Indian popularity the makers are reportedly toying with the idea of simultaneously releasing '3' as a Hindi dubbed version up North as well.

Although sources close to the unit have expressed this there's no official announcement on this yet but in all possibility the film will see a Hindi dub due to the 'Kolaveri' popularity up north and the popularity of Dhanush and Shruti Haasan and Anirudh's music which has been welcomed with open arms. It may be mentioned music has a pivotal role in this script.

The film marks the directorial debut of Aishwarya Dhanush and has Dhanush and Shruti Haasan as lead roles with Sunder Ramu of 'Mayakkam Enna' fame in an important role. The film is touted to see the lead pair as lovers in three stages of life.

You could have read in this space recently that director Vetrimaran was planning to hold a workshop for the lead actors of his forthcoming film 'Vada Chennai', before the movie hits the floors formally.

However, the latest is that the National Award winning filmmaker has postponed the workshop to a future date, due to some practical difficulties. "But Vetrimaaran is keen at conducting the workshop," sources say.

To be produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri under Cloud Nine Movies banner, 'Vada Chennai' has STR and Tollywood actor Rana Daggubati in lead roles. G V Prakash Kumar, a regular member of Vetrimaaran team, is expected to score the music.

Set in the backdrop of North Chennai, the film was once claimed by Vetrimaaran as his dream venture. "Vetrimaaran believes that the workshop would help him shoot the film in a short span," sources said.

The Supreme Court on Friday sought Tamil Nadu's response to a writ petition filed by producer and director of controversial movie 'Dam 999' Sohan Roy that challenged the ban imposed for six months on the film in the State.

A bench of Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly and Justice JS Khehar asked the State's additional advocate general Guru Krishna Kumar how the Tamil Nadu government could suspend the screening of the film after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has granted a certificate for the exhibition of the movie.

The State government had banned the film on the ground that it would pose law and order problems as it made apparent references to the Mullaiperiyar dam in Kerala's Idduki district which is the bone of contention between the two States.

The filmmaker had, however, denied the state's claim. The apex court had earlier on December 8 asked the state to give an opportunity of hearing to Roy before banning the film.

The Tamil Nadu government, after giving the petitioner a personal hearing, passed an order on December 16, 2011, extending the ban for six months.

It didn't take place though many expected that Bharathiraja would work with his good friend maestro Ilayaraja after a long time, for 'Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum'. The film went on floors with young gun G V Prakash Kumar as music composer.

But the Isaignani's younger brother Gangai Amaran is a vital part of the movie. The actor-director-composer has penned lyrics for songs in 'Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum'. "Vairamuthu and Gangai Amaran have taken care of all the numbers in the movie," sources say.

Interestingly, it was Gangai Amaran who penned lyrics for all the songs in Bharathiraja's 'En Uyir Thozhan', which hit the screens in 1990. The film which had Babu and Rama in lead roles dealt with the life of an innocent slum dweller.

"Gangai Amaran is happy to work with Bharathiraja again," sources say, recalling the deep friendship between Ilayaraja brothers and the director, which dates back to more than three decades. 'Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum' has Ameer, Iniya and Karthika in lead roles.

Shankar and Vikram weaved a magic on screen with 'Anniyan' more than five years back. Now the latest buzz is that the big budget director and the versatile actor might join forces again, for a fresh project soon.

"Both Vikram and Shankar always wanted to work together again. Now that Shankar's Nanban has hit the screens and Vikram is expected to complete his commitments by September, they are likely to join hands after that," sources say.

Vikram is currently shooting for 'Thaandavam' with director Vijay and 'Karikalan' helmed by L I Kannan. "Shooting for both the movies are on in full swing and they would get over one after one," sources in the know say. Vikram also has 'David' up North.

Meanwhile, Shankar is happy with the feedback evoked by 'Nanban' which hit the screens on Thursday. The Vijay-Jiiva-Srikanth starrer film witnessed grand opening and is showing all signs to be declared as the first hit of the year.

Don't get your ideas wild, we're only referring a south commercial the duo has signed.

The 'Thambi Vettothi Sundaram' actor, Karan, got lucky and shot with B-town's top notch actress Kareena Kapoor for a two-wheeler commercial where Kareena plays a sales girl who takes Karan on a test drive, after the fun ride Karan mocks at Kareena, "The scooter is good but your Tamil is bad!"

While enjoying the instant success of an automobile major's television commercial which featured him with Kareena Kapoor, Karan is all praise for the Bollywood actress, saying she had no ego hassles while shooting for the ad.

"We shot for the advertisement a month ago in Mumbai. Kareena was co-operative and extremely friendly. Since I knew Hindi well, I had no issues while interacting with her and other members of the team," Karan says.

Giving other details of the ad, the 'Kokki' and 'Karuppasami Kuthagaidharar' actor says, "It was directed by Pradeep Sarkar and the camerawork was by Natraj (who played the lead role in 'Milaga'). We shot for two full days for this 45-second commercial."

Karan is now looking forward for 'Sooran', being helmed by Balu Narayanan. "The shooting is over and the film would hit the screens next month," he says, adding that he is in talks with a couple of filmmakers for fresh projects.

'Nanban' that came with a clean 'U' and saw a big worldwide release just a couple of days back is the first film to be exempted from entertainment tax as per the new scheme by the AIADMK rule in TN.

The Tamil Nadu government has a 22 member panel with members from various fields within the film industry who recommend movies for this tax exemption, the key criteria being the film should have a 'U' certificate from the censor board and stick to Tamil culture.

'Nanban', a faithful remake of Bollywood blockbuster '3 Idiots' boasts off a huge star cast including Vijay, Jiiva, Srikanth, Ileana, Sathyaraj and Sathyan and has seen a big opening. And now that 'Nanban' is exempted from this 30% entertainment tax it is sure to increase the film's box-office collections!

Ajith's fans have waited with bated breath for the first look of the forthcoming magnum opus, 'Billa 2' and it has been unveiled today as a Pongal treat for fans. And boy oh boy, does Ajith look stunning!



The poster spells class and style with a tag line, 'Every man has a past, every don a history'. Well, we're waiting to watch history repeat itself on screen! Are you? Post your feedback on the first look in here...

The following article is by a user and is not IndiaGlitz's take towards anyone or anything. Written by Biju Peter


'Vettai' is produced by UTV along with Thirupathi brothers (Lingusamy and his brothers) and directed by Lingusamy who has given some racy action films in the past (Run, Sandakozhi, Bheema, Paiya). If 'Paiya' set a trend in Tamil films for intense stunts and action sequences, 'Vettai' is an extension and lives up to the hype to a large extent because of the slick packaging and presentation. To add to it, here we have two heroes - one who is a cop and another who is a rowdy.

The movie starts of showing the childhood of brothers Thirumoorthy and Gurumoorthy (Madhavan and Arya respectively). Thiru is very innocent and afraid of everything where as Guru is plain opposite - he supports his brother and bashes up anyone who beats him. Their father (a police inspector) who brings them up passes away just before a transfer to Thoothukudi district and the job falls in the hands of Thirumoorthy. The brothers shift base to Thoothukudi which leads to encounters with the Villain (Ashutosh Rana) and his gang. They decide to clean up the system - while Guru bashes all goondas in his brothers identity, Thiru takes the entire credit and survives as a police sub-inspector.

Meanwhile they also meet the heroines Vasanthi (Sameera Reddy) and Jayanthi (Amala Paul) who are sisters. A marriage proposal comes for Thiru from Vasanthi's house and they get married and simultaneously love blossoms between Guru and Jayanthi as well. Further turn of incidents result in Thiru getting bashed up by the goondas after they realize the mistaken identity. How Guru motivates Thiru to become a brave police and together they destroy the gang forms the rest of the film.

The rocking chemistry between Arya and Madhavan is one of the strengths of the film. They look charismatic and set the screen on fire in all departments be it action, comedy, romance. Madhavan looks little plump but it goes well with the character. Arya has a similar "vetti payan" character which he did in several films earlier. However, he excels in the action sequences and keeps the audience engaged with witty one-liners. He also has extended romantic scenes with Amala Paul. Both Sameera and Amala have been given some significance in the screenplay and they make good use of it. While Sameera has more of the dialogues, Amala Paul adds glamour to the proceedings. Ashutosh Rana does the villain role with ease and other supporting actors like Thambi Ramaiah, Nasar have done their part well.

Nirav Shah's cinematography is vibrant and captures the action sequences superbly. Yuvan's background score is racy and energizes the film. The director gives a rocking intro to both Madhavan and Arya with the "Dhum Dhum" song and an even more interesting number "Thaiya Thakka" for the sister's introduction which is choreographed superbly. "Paparappa" song is peppy. The songs are shot in typical Lingusamy style (Thanjavur streets, girls wearing "Dhavani" walking around et al) and hence look very similar to some of his earlier films like "Run" and "Sandakozhi".

When you make a film only for the masses it's very hard to get away from illogical sequences. "Vettai" too has its share of scenes like the train sequence just after the interval, Sameera not knowing what happened to her husband for 3 days, the scenes between the American Mapillai and Arya, etc. which could have been avoided or trimmed.

The story is wafer thin and can be similar to any twin brother stories basis mistaken identities. But, Lingusamy excels again with his taut screenplay, thrilling action sequences laced with comedy which can be enjoyed by all. The scene where the villain kidnaps Arya because of the mistaken identity is a typical example. The first half is crisp and races ahead while the second half drags a bit and could have been trimmed to make it even racier.

Overall, if you can forget logic and if you want to watch a typical commercial film with mass elements, then 'Vettai' will definitely exceed your expectations.

Just a couple of days back it was said that Bollywood diva Katrina Kaif was approached by the 'Kochadaiyaan' makers to play the female lead. The latest is that the matinee idol plays a King who is an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and Rajini will be seen in a different get up with long tresses.

'Kochadaiyaan' means a king with long hair and Rajini will be seen in a never-seen-before avatar in this film with really long hair.

While Katrina Kaif is reworking her dates to somehow fit in the film, it is said songs featuring Rajini wooing Katrina will spell class and grandeur. A love song between the duo is one of the highlights.

Rahman will be bringing 130 musicians from Germany to record the background score of the film and he has already tuned in most of the tracks for the film.

The first look of 'Kochadaiyaan' is expected by the end of January 2012.

What's Pongal in Tamil cinema without watching our very own rural specialists who have taken us to a journey to rural Tamil Nadu with their rustic films through the years?

Right from mid 70s Bhagyaraj has always entertained us, be it as an actor, a director or producer he has delivered several hits and is popularly known for his performance and direction in 'Mundhanai Mudichu'. Watch as he speaks to IndiaGlitz about his films, Pongal and a lot more.

Ace multi-faceted film personality, Manivannan is known for his acting and direction. He has acted with several top notch actors including Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan and has over 400 films to his credit as a performer. As a director, he has worked with Sathyaraj in about 25 films! He speaks to IG about Pongal through the years.

Ponvannan, a small and big screen celebrity is popular among one and all and is known for his supporting roles. Sachu, an actress and comedienne has been a part of Tamil cinema for nearly five decades now! Gangai Amaran who has contributed to cinema in several ways gets candid with IG as well.

Also speaking to you on Pongal through IG are Pushpavanan, Ramesh Khanna, Perarasu, Meena, S Ve Sekar, Viveka, Illavarasu, Seenu Ramasamy and Prabhu Solomon.

However, Nasar has a different take on Pongal and is reluctant in wishing and reasons himself out to audience through IndiaGlitz about this.

This Pongal take a journey to rural India with these rustic film specialists who have made Tamil cinema more meaningful with their contribution to K-town. IndiaGlitz wishes you all a Happy Pongal!

This Pongal Trisha will have her first release for the year. Her Telugu film 'Bodyguard', a remake of Vijay starrer 'Kaavalan', will hit the screens in Andhra Pradesh for Sankaranthi. "I am waiting to know the audience's response," says the actress.

With Venkatesh donning the lead role in 'Bodyguard', Trisha has played the character which was made memorable by Nayanthara in Malayalam, Asin in Tamil and Kareena Kapoor in Hindi. "I have given my best to the role," she says.

Trisha adds: "This is third time for me to share the screen space with Venkatesh, after Aadavari Maataluku Ardhale Verule and Namo Venkatesa. He is a comfortable co-star. Bodyguard will be one more memorable movie for us, I believe." At present, the 'Mankatha' actress is shooting for 'Samaran' opposite Vishal in Tamil and 'Dammu' opposite NTR Junior in Telugu. "The year 2011 was great to me in all ways. I hope the same for 2012 too," she add