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KollywoodThe movie was scheduled to release on March 27 but was postponed due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Megha Kaveri The Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association has strongly condemned the plans to release Jyotika’s Pon Magal Vandhal directly on digital streaming platform Amazon Prime. The movie, directed by JJ Fredrick, was supposed to hit the screens on March 27, but had to be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, several reports suggested that 2D Entertainment, the producers of the film, are planning for a direct digital release in May due to the uncertainty around the reopening of theatres. Reports also stated that the rights pertaining to Pon Magal Vandhal have already been sold to the streaming platform Amazon Prime for Rs 9 crore. Condemning this reported move by 2D Entertainment, which is owned by actor Suriya, the General Secretary of Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association, Panneerselvam, has released a video in which...

TollywoodThe film is expected to release on August 30.Digital NativeKaappaan is easily one of the most expected films of the year as it has the Tamil star Suriya and the Malayalam superstar Mohanlal in the star cast. Interestingly, this is the first time that they are sharing screen space. With the film gearing up for release on August 30, the Telugu version's title and first look were released on Friday. The Telugu version has been titled Bandobast and the first look and title were released by director SS Rajamouli. Rajamouli took to Twitter and said,"Happy to release the First Look of @Suriya_offl & @Mohanlal sir’s #Bandobast. Best wishes to @anavenkat & his entire team..:) @LycaProductions @arya_offl @Jharrisjayaraj @bomanirani @sayyeshaa The project, which was wrapped up recently, also stars husband-and-wife duo Arya and Sayyeshaa along with Bollywood actor Boman Irani, Prem, Cirag Jani, Mayilsami and Samuthirakani in pivotal roles.

KollywoodLast seen on screen in a cameo in Savitri biopic 'Mahanati', it is rumoured that Mohan Babu plays the antagonist in 'Soorarai Pottru'.Digital NativeTelugu veteran actor Mohan Babu is the latest addition to the cast of upcoming Suriya starrer Tamil action drama Soorarai Pottru, a film based on the life of Captain Gr Gopinath – founder of the budget airline Air Deccan. The makers made the announcement via a statement on Thursday and added that Mohan Babu will join the sets on Friday in Chandigarh. Last seen on screen in a cameo in Savitri biopic Mahanati, it is rumoured that Mohan Babu plays the antagonist in Soorarai Pottru. The team is currently filming some action sequences under the supervision of international stunt choreographer Greg Powell, who is known for his work in films such as Skyfall and Bourne Ultimatum. The film also stars Aparna Balamurali, last...

Kollywood The first look poster has the actor in a typical shirt and dhoti outfit against the background of a gigantic aeroplane.Digital NativeActor Suriya who awaits the release of Selvaraghavan's Ngk is teaming up with Irudhi Suttru fame Director Sudha Kongara. The project had an official launch ceremony last Sunday The film's first look and the title were released on Saturday. Titled Soorarai Pottru, the first look poster has the actor in a typical shirt and dhoti outfit against the background of a gigantic aeroplane. In love with what’s happening here on the sets ...!Here is the #TitleLook of #SooraraiPottru #சூரரைப்போற்று#DirSudhaKongara@gvprakash @nikethbommi @Aparnabala2@editorsuriya@jacki_art@rajsekarpandian @2D_ENTPVTLTD@guneetm pic.twitter.com/fG8zMuith7 — Suriya Sivakumar (@Suriya_offl) April 13, 2019 Co-produced by Guneet Monga in association with 2D Entertainment, the regular shooting commenced recently. In her latest interview to The Hindu,...

KollywoodThe regular shooting of the project, which will be co-produced by Guneet Monga in association with 2D Entertainment, commenced from Monday in Chennai. Digital NativeDigital NativeActor Suriya, who has recently completed shooting for Selvaraghavan’s Ngk and is on the verge of wrapping up Kv Anand’s Kaappaan, has joined hands with director Sudha Kongara for his next project, currently dubbed as Suriya 38. On Sunday, the film had its official launch ceremony which saw the cast and crew participate. The launch event was attended by Karthi, Jyothika and actor Sivakumar. The film also stars Aparna Balamurali, last seen in Rajiv Menon’s Sarvam Thaala Mayam, as the female lead and she’s thrilled to be part of the project. Aparna took to Twitter and wrote: “Delighted, gratified and in short of words here! Here is announcing my next with utmost happiness and a feeling of for-most triumph. Couldn’t ask for anything better.

KollywoodThe director told a media outlet in an interview that he has not approached anyone for a movie.Digital NativeDigital NativeRajiv Menon’s last directorial Sarvam Thaala Mayam received accolades despite not performing well at the box office. The film also marked the debut of Rajiv Menon as a music director with the director composing the tunes for one of the songs in the album. Following the positive reviews for Sarvam Thaala Mayam, it was reported that Rajiv Menon will direct Jayam Ravi next. However, it now appears that the reports are not true. In an interview to Silverscreen, Rajiv Menon said, “It is true that Jayam Ravi had liked my previous film (Sarvam Thaala Mayam). But I have not approached anyone for a movie. In fact, I am only in the scripting stage of my next project.” With this, Rajiv Menon put to rest the rumours about working with Jayam Ravi.

TollywoodDD will be making her debut in 'Romantic' along with Puri Akash.Digital NativeDirector Puri Jagannadh’s son Puri Akash is currently busy with the Telugu flick Romantic. A schedule of this film was wrapped up in Goa recently and we hear that popular television host Dd aka Divyadarshini is playing an important role in it. She has acted in a few Tamil films such as Power Paandi, Saroja and Nala Damayanthi so far and is also a part of Gautham Menon’s upcoming film Dhruva Natchathiram. With Romantic, Dd will be making her acting debut in the Telugu film industry. Before hogging the limelight as a popular TV host, Dd starred in films. Dd made her acting debut as a child actor in the Malayalam film Shubhayathra in 1990. She has regularly been a host for shows on Vijay TV and in 2014, began hosting ‘Koffee with Dd’, her own show.

Film CommentaryWhile the plot appears to talk about an anti-caste intervention in Carnatic music, in reality, the movie only reinforces various brahmanical myths, prejudices and narratives.Rajesh RajamaniSarvam Thaala Mayam, written and directed by Rajiv Menon, is the story of a dalit youngster Peter Johnson, who aspires to learn playing the percussion instrument mridangam and enter the gates of the Carnatic music world hitherto dominated by brahmins. While the plot appears to talk about an important anti-caste intervention, in reality, the movie only reinforces various brahmanical myths, prejudices and narratives. When one analyses the movie and tries to understand its politics, Sarvam Thaala Mayam reveals itself as brahmanical propaganda that is cloaked in an anti-caste gown. Because the movie is centred around thaala or thalam, it might be a reasonable idea to use the elements of thaala to analyse it. Thaala Dasa Pranas refer to the ten elements of musical...

KollywoodThe film also stars Nayanthara as the leading lady, making it her second collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan after last year's 'Velaikkaran'.Digital NativeActor Sivakarthikeyan, who rose to fame with blockbusters such as Ethir Neechal, Rajini Murugan and Remo and was last seen in Seemaraja, next joins hands with director Rajesh for his yet-untitled project. The film was officially launched with a customary pooja last May in Chennai. The film also stars Nayanthara as the leading lady, making it her second collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan after last year's Velaikkaran. The project, which is currently dubbed as Sk 13, is said to be titled Mr. Local, according to a Times of India report. According to a source quoted by Toi, “Rajesh felt Mr. Local will be an apt title for this subject. He doesn’t want to divulge too much about the roles. But the title, he feels, will give a glimpse into his lead character.

KollywoodStarring Gv Prakash Kumar in the role of Peter Johnson, the film has music by Ar Rahman. Tnm StaffThe teaser of Director Rajiv Menon’s upcoming film, Sarvam Thaala Mayam, was released on Friday. This is his third film after Minsara Kanavu and Kandukondein Kandukondein that came out 18 years ago. Starring Gv Prakash Kumar in the role of Peter Johnson, the film has music by Ar Rahman. The teaser gives us a fair idea of Peter’s love for music, and rhythm in particular. It was earlier reported that Gv Prakash had taken drums lessons for his role in this film. This film will be the first time Oscar winning music director Ar Rahman will be teaming up with his nephew Gv Prakash. Sarvam Thaala Mayam is a musical drama that has been written and directed by Rajiv Menon. The film stars Aparna Balamurali of Maheshinte Prathikaaram fame. Actors Nedumudi Venu,...

KollywoodAR Rahman shared the track list of the film for which he has composed four songs, while Rajiv Menon and Tyagaraja have composed one song each.Digital NativeWhen the Oscar-winning music director Ar Rahman had shared the track list of Sarvam Thaala Mayam, it came as a surprise for many that the ‘Varalama’ song in the album was composed by director Rajiv Menon. Known for making films such as Minsara Kanavu and Kandukodein Kandukondein, this is the first time the director has composed music for a film. ‘Varalaama’ is sung by Sriram Parthasarathy and penned by Madhan Karky. Sarvam Thaala Mayam is a musical drama that has been written and directed by Rajiv Menon. The film has actors Gv Prakash Kumar and Aparna Balamurali in the lead with Nedumudi Venu, Vineeth, Santha Dhananjayan and Kumaravel playing supporting roles. Out of the six songs in the album, four are composed by...

BooksTNM catches up with Krishna Trilok, the man behind Ar Rahman’s official biography. Prathibha Parameswaran rahman_biography_03_650.jpgYoung and upcoming writer Krishna Trilok will pen the first official biography on the Chennai-based musical maestro Ar Rahman. The 24-year-old writer, who had previously come out with a fantasy novel- Sharikrida, has been working on the book tentatively titled ‘Ar Rahman: The man in the music’ that will hit the stores early next year. Krishna is the son of renowned ad filmmakers Sharada and Trilok Nair, who had earlier collaborated with Rahman for several popular commercials and also introduced him to Mani Ratnam. The Rahman biography will explore the lesser known facets of the award-winning composer’s personality, his daily life and views on relevant issues. While Rahman has been busy composing music for films like Rajeev Menon’s Sarvam Thaala Mayam starring Gv Prakash, Shankar’s 2.0 with Rajinikanth and Majid Majidi’s Beyond The Clouds, he has also been recently exploring newer territories. He’s turned writer and producer for the musical 99 Songs and has also ventured into direction with a virtual reality film, Le Musk. What prompted you to work on this biography? Two other biographies have already been written on Rahman-Nasreen Munni Kabir’s ‘The Spirit Of Music’ and Kamini Mathai’s ‘Ar Rahman-The Musical Storm.’ What fresher insights do you hope to provide for his fans and music lovers? The earlier books written on him were either compilations of brief conversations with Rahman or collections of journalistic pieces, with the authors spending very little time with the person himself- if at all. Both the books chronicled the sides his life and career that many people were, up an extent, already aware of. With this biography, I have strived to get to the heart of the person behind the music, awards and films. He’s a man whose personality has not been explored—someone who’s very humorous, great and a gentle human being. It’s of course impossible to write about him without talking about his music and other works, but the aim has been to bring his personality to the fore. The book will feature some nice anecdotes from all the people that he’s worked with in his earlier years—Bharat Bala, Mani Ratnam, Sharda and Trilok Nair, who introduced him, Vijay Modi—who ran Audio Vision where he recorded his earlier jingles, Rajeev Menon, Rahman’s sisters Raihana and Fathima, Jyoti Nair Belliappa from Km Music conservatory, a few film directors, R Samidurai, his man Friday right from the 70s, his audio engineers, his business manager-Karan Grover and Vijay Iyer, his personal manager. They have all shared some interesting stories, like what he thought of Mani Ratnam and Tamil films before becoming part of the industry. Krishna Trilok There’s a lot of information on him out there, how do you think a biography will be relevant at this point? He’s pioneered the evolution of film music in India in a lot of ways. He introduced a lot of musicians to the technology and equipment they use in India today. He made film music composing lucrative for many upcoming music directors and with the help of his strong legal team pushed for procuring copyrights for his songs. I think he should be given his due. Right now, he’s becoming a lot more than just a musician and composer. He’s branching out into production and writing with 99 Songs, he’s directing a virtual reality film- Le Musk and he’s also come out with a concert film—One Heart. He’s becoming wider in his scope of activities. He has got the Km Music Conservatory going and he’s also set up a shooting floor and visual effects facility-ym Studios in Red Hills. From being an instrument player during recording sessions to composing jingles; to scoring music in Tamil and Hindi films; to going to Hollywood- he’s always been evolving. I wanted to write a book focusing on the turning points in his life. Your parents were some of the first people to discover his talent and introduced him to Mani Ratnam too. What have your interactions with Rahman been like before the idea of the book came about? What inspired you to write about him? It was a sudden plan. I’ve grown up with his music and I love his work. He was the only Indian artist from the film industry, who seemed intent to make a global impact. He has revolutionised his stage performances- moving from singers just standing with pieces of paper and mikes on stage, he’s brought in dancers and lights and made it a spectacle. He’s incredibly ambitious but also very humble and grounded—I find his persona very paradoxical. There’s a lot of information available on his work, but very little about the man himself and that was definitely intriguing. He’s never lost touch with anyone whom he knew earlier or been friends with. My parents would often talk about him and I would just be a disinterested listener because I never imagined myself becoming a writer one day and drawing on all this information. He would visit us once in a while or my parents would attend his closed-group Qawwali concerts that he conducted along with members from his music school. Unless I went with my parents, he couldn’t have recognised me earlier. There was an element of familiarity and it wasn’t like I met him for the first time when I approached him for the book, but I got to know him a bit during the course of writing this book. Poster of Le Musk, a virtual reality film directed by Rahman How did he react to the idea of a biography? What are the facets of his life and music that the book will be touching upon? He was very enthused by the idea of the book. I got a sense that he wanted someone other than a journalist or someone who would fit into the regular profile of biographer to interview him. He had glimpsed through my first book and he was on board. There’s a lot more to him than being a spiritual person or a composer who works late nights and wins a lot of awards-that’s often been written about. For example, his wife spoke to me about the kind of relationship that they share. He’s an extremely loving husband and father. She told me, “It’s a gift to have a husband like him.” It’s common knowledge that he does a lot of charity work. But you know, he remembers everybody who’s been connected with him in the past and calls them whenever an opportunity arises that could help them in anyway. He has a fantastic sense of humour and his one-liners and on the spot jokes are amazing. He loves technology and his mind is like sponge that can absorb any amount of information. He had to drop out of school early on, but he’s got that childlike curiosity to learn about stuff even other than music. '99 songs', a musical has been co-written and produced by Rahman How have you been finding the time to converse with him amidst his busy schedules and tours? Whenever he’s in the country, even if he’s in Mumbai, I would spend about a week with him following him around from morning to evening. So sometimes we have conversations while travelling in the car or I’d have meals with him in his house with others there. I think that most of the questions that could possibly be posed to him have already been asked and you can find almost anything about him on the internet. I wanted to observe him while he worked, interacted with others, his quirks and habits, the food he liked and his routine. I did that in Mumbai and Chennai. I have spoken to a lot of people connected with him over the years. Besides merely recounting the information gathered, I have tried to interpret them and put it in a larger context. Lot of people say that he arrived in the music scene with Roja in 1992. But we also need to see it in the context of the huge shift that the entertainment industry in India was going through post-liberalisation when western influences were setting in, cassettes were in vogue and the reach was more. His evolution as a composer is also in sync with the evolution of technology and the social sentiment at the time. In 2008, the global socio-political setting seemed just ideal for Rahman to win the Academy Award too. Were you allowed to observe him while he’s at work? He doesn’t let anyone in while he’s actually composing. Nobody is allowed to disturb him—it’s like prayer for him. But he comes back and is willing to share what went on and talk about it. He allowed me in during recording sessions though. He’s very chilled out and jovial for the most part but obviously if you mess up too much he’s going to get angry—just like any other human being. He cracks jokes to put new singers at ease. I think at heart, he’s still that boy who’s jamming with his band. There’s a lot of love and light-heartedness, but also a lot of passion. He always makes his singers feel like they’re part of a team; there’s absolutely no attitude. Was it hard to get him to open up? He was shier earlier on, but now he’s pretty talkative. He would not just answer my questions, but would touch upon various other things and I would often go back with more information than I had hoped to gather. The whole experience was just like two people chatting, so getting information was quite easy. Krishna Trilok’s biography on Rahman is nearing completion and is expected to hit the shelves in early 2018. Enanble Notification: NoTNM Marquee: No...