Tamannaah is currently the hottest heroine in Kollywood and Tollywood, where she is doing six films. She has the right mix of glamour and the girl-next-door image, which is her trump card.

In Balaji Sakthivel’s critically acclaimed Kaloori, she proved that she is an actress of substance and more important won over the lady audiences. At the same time she did a glamorous ad for ‘Sun Direct’ DTH, which made her hot with the youth.

Now she has three films coming up for release- Ayyan with Surya, Padikkathavan with Dhanush and Anandathandavam with new boy Siddharth. Tamannaah says all the three roles are totally different.

At the moment Tamannaah is so busy that she has no dates to spare till the end of the year as she is full up with her Tamil and Telugu commitments.

Meanwhile the buzz in tinsel town is that she is going to sign a very big film with a superstar by the end of the year.

Last week, a film titled Munnar was launched and this week it’s the turn of another holiday spot that’s the title of a film! Kodaikanal is the name of the movie with new faces, produced by Shri Swarnalakshmi Movies and directed by K Bose.

The audio launch of this movie was special due to the presence of Kamal Hassan at the Vani Mahal auditorium.

The movie has music by Deva and stars new faces Poorna (from Kerala ), dubbing artist Sekar and Thilak. Ganteeban, a new find from Malaysia (he has acted in films there though) plays the villain.

The function was attended by Rama Narayan, DGP Vaikunth, Anbalaya Prabhakar and Bharati Raja amongst others. The audio was released by Kamal and received by Bharathy Raja.

The veteran director recalled stories from the 40 year friendship with director Bose and told the audience how consummate a writer he actually was. He heaped great praise on Kamal, lauding him as the next Tamizhan after Sivaji to do the film industry proud.

Kamal himself gave a simple speech and said that no film can be branded big or small before its release. It’s the success of a film that decides how big or small it really is. He recalled the days he had spent with Bharati Raja in the making of 16 Vayadinile and wished success to the young actors on the dais.

For the makers of the movie, it was a very proud moment indeed to have Kamal for the event a moment that they would always cherish.

Normally, when a heroine wins a National Award, commercial directors and top heroes prefer to stay away from casting them. But Priyamani, seems to be an exceptional case as she has become the most sought after actress in Kollywood.

Top director Shankar who is on a world tour location hunting for Robot, sent her a telegram congratulating her and also expressing a desire to meet up. This led to rumours in tinsel town that she may be a part of Shankar’s next film with Rajinikanth.

Now she is doing a serious role as an actress of yester year in Malayalam director Ranjith’s Thirakatha with Pritviraj in the lead. Priya is happy that life has taken a turn for the better and she wants to balance off-beat and commercial masala movies.

Last week Priya has signed a new Tamil film with upcoming action hero Bharath titled Aarumugham. The film is directed by Rajinikanth’s one-time favourite director Suresh Krishna, and is expected to be another action entertainer.

Mahadevan Ganesh and Usha Venkatramani’s ‘GV Films Ltd’ held a press meet, to talk about the launch of their latest film titled TN O7 AL 4777. Speaking about the film, producer A. Venkataramani gave the details about the project. Present on the dais were the actors and some technicians of the film like Pasupathy, Ajmal, Meenakshi, Sound Engineer Lakshminarayan, music director Vijay Antony and director Lakshmikantan (former assistant to the late Jeeva).

The film is a remake of that Hindi film Taxi 9211 which had Nana Patekar and John Abraham in the lead. Meenakshi dons the role played by Sameera Reddy while Pasupathy takes on Nana’s role. Ajmal said he was quite confident of doing justice to John’s role in this remake.

Lakshmikanthan disclosed that there were four songs in the remake and that the film had all elements of thrill, suspense and excitement as in a commercial venture. Vijay Antony scores the music and Venkatramani disclosed that he was happy to have Vijay in his project since he was a talented music director.

The film stars Simran as Pasupathy’s wife. The story is about two characters who meet by accident, hate each other but are forced to travel together. But at the end of the day when fate intervenes, they both get to understand the each other’s problems.

Pasupathy said he was happy to do the role played to perfection by Nana. He said: “When I saw the Hindi version I had wondered if anyone would make it in Tamil and whether I would get that role. Luckily it has happened”.

Meenakshi has gone for a total image make over and is playing a more glamourous role this time. Talking about the title, Venkatramani revealed, “We are great fans of MGR and our car number plate bears the same 4777 digits. MGR is symbolic of success and we want success for our film too. So as fans of his, we kept this number in the title of the movie.” RP Gurudev handles the camera.

Silambarasan will complete all work on Silambattam by June end and start his new film for Gemini Film Circuit.

The film titled Poda Podi will be directed by Vignesh Siva, Simbu’s school buddy and the buzz is that actor Sarathkumar’s daughter Varalakshmi will make her debut as heroine in the film.

Poda Podi will be shot in one schedule for 90 days in Toronto and it will be a feel-good musical love story which will showcase Simbu in a new look.

Recently Simbu was in Toronto where he met the Mayor (see pic) and got special permission to shoot the entire film there.

Varalakshmi is a trained Ballet and Salsa dancer and industry buzz is that she was so apt for the role of a dancer, born and brought up in Toronto that the makers have convinced her to do the role.

Simbu will have a new-look with short gelled hair and for a change he will not be dancing fighting or mouthing punchlines in the film.

Music will be scored by Dharan and camera will be handled by Nirav Shah. The producers are also planning to have the muhurat of the film in Toronto to make it different.

Kalaignar TV, the popular Chennai based Tamil satellite channel is all set to expand its footprints in UK, Europe and Gulf countries.

It has tied up with the London based Ayngaran International UK Ltd, to show its programmes in UK, Europe and Gulf countries.

All Kalaignar TV programmes will be uplinked by Ayngaran from these countries, same day same time when the programme is shown in India.

For Kalaignar it is a win-win situation as Ayngaran is the market leader in Tamil film distribution in these areas and they will be able to market the channel better in terms of ads and viewership.

Ayngaran International will be uplinking all programmes in these countries from the Indian feed provided by the Chennai based channel.

For the people of Tamil origin in these areas, it will be a welcome relief as they will be able to watch the latest Tamil serials, game shows, news updates and films.

Kajal Agarwal is the fastest rising actress in south. Recently she was in news when she replaced Tamannaah as heroine opposite the hot and happening Allu Arjun in Tollywood. Kajal’s first Tamil film Pazhani was also a hit.

And Kajal celebrated her birthday in Chennai at AVM studio on location of her new film Saran’s Modhi Vilayadu, with media and friends. And celebrating birthday with press photographers and videographers has become a fashion in Kollywood after Namitha won over her media friends with whom she celebrated her birthday last month.

Kajal too, following Namitha’s footsteps, cut the cake and tried to woo the pressmen by patiently putting a piece of the cake into their mouth. After all, who wouldn’t like to be fed by a gorgeous actress?

Tamannaah has denied media reports that she has signed Thambi Ramiah’s new film (Oru Koodai Mutham 100 Rupai?).

Speaking toSify.com from Mumbai, the actress said: “I have not even been approached by anyone for this film. I just can’t figure out who is spreading such false reports in the media.”

Tamannaah who has just completed a long schedule of her Telugu film Konchem Ishtamga Konchem Kashtamga (KIKK) with Siddharth and Dhanush’s Padikkathavan in Hyderabad is now back home in Mumbai, taking a break.

She says: “How can I do more than four films at a time? In fact I had to politely refuse the Allu Arjun film in Telugu for which I had signed early this year as my dates could not be adjusted. Luckily for me, the producer understood my problems and we have agreed to work together sometime next year”.

Tamannah is also a part of Surya’s Ayan and Gandhi Krishna’s Ananda Thandavam in Tamil.

Dasavatharam was released in USA with a big bang of 42 prints. This was unprecedented in US movie history for south Indian films. With print sharing facility, the film was screened in 50 cities across the country.

Says Jayavel Murugan: “I am happy to be associated with this once-in-a-lifetime project called Dasavatharam and would like to thank Aascar films and Padmashree Kamal Hassan for giving me this opportunity. The film has approximately grossed $ 500,000 in its first three days.”

Murugan made it clear that the movie has “surpassed all box office collection records of any south Indian movie released in US history”.

The advance bookings for second week screening in all cities are brisk and though the film was panned by critics, it looks like people are interested to see the 10 roles that Kamal Hassan has done in the film.

UK Box office

Dasavatharam has debuted at No. 12 in the UK box-office for the week June 13 to 15. In its opening weekend, the film has collected £ 1,26,747 [approx. Rs. 1.07 crores] from 19 screens. The film is an average grosser. Remember Sivaji debuted at No.8 in UK top ten?

Ilayathalapathy Vijay plans to celebrate his 35th birthday in style on Sunday, June 22.

After visiting his favourite orphanages and also donating materials to the poor and needy, he will be officially launching his fan flag.

Vijay becomes the fourth Tamil actor in recent times after Rajinikanth, Vijaykanth and Sarath Kumar to have his own flag for his fan club- Akhila India Vijay Rasigar Narpani Mandiram (AIVRNM).

If Rajini’s flag had light blue, white and red with the superstar’s image imprinted in a star in it, Vijay’s is also said to be similar with his face embossed on it. It also clearly proves that the star nurses political ambitions.

The big bash is taking place at the University of Madras, Centenary Hall at 4.30 PM and entry is by invitation only. Vijay after unveiling his party flag, will announce other welfare activities that his fan club will undertake.

The unit of Villu is in Chalakudy in Kerala.

The buzz is that director Prabhudeva is shooting Nayanthara’s introduction scene under the famous Athirapally waterfall.

This is a favourite location of film makers and is located at the entrance to Sholayar ranges.

Villu is progressing at jet speed as the unit has completed the shoot in three locations- Palani, Pollachi and Karaikudi in the last 20 days.

Prabhudeva is a fantastic visualizer and is taking a lot of care to see that every frame is perfect.

Ravi Varman is in charge of the camera, with music by Devi Sri Prasad. After the completion of the present schedule nearly 40 percent of the film will be over.

In July the unit will be going for a long schedule abroad to complete the rest of the film.

fter all the hype and hoopla surrounding Dasavatharam, Kamal Hassan has quietly started work on his next film Marmayogi.

The ‘pooja’ of the film will be held in Mumbai on Sunday, July 13, 2008, exactly a month after the release of Dasavatharam!

What’s special about Marmayogi ?

1. The film is being produced and directed by Kamal on first copy basis.

2. It will be the costliest Kamal film ever (figures tossed around are Rs 100 crore +?) made and likely to be funded and distributed by Pyramid Saimira.

3 The Tamil film is being made for an international audience and will also have versions in Hindi, Telugu and English.

4 As of now Hema Malini is the only actor signed for the film. Kamal is trying to get Kajol or some other Bollywood star to play his heroine in the film.

5. For the first time in South Indian films, Kamal is said to be using a Red One camera, the new craze among the cinematographers. As per available details on the internet- “Red One camera, is capable of recording at resolutions up to 4096 horizontal by 2304 pixels directly to flash or hard disk based digital storage”.

Much before getting settled with the extreme success of Dasavatharam, KS Ravikumar has commenced his next directorial project titled ‘Jakkubhai’. Remember, this was the same project that was supposed to feature Superstar Rajnikanth in lead role. Well, this film took off with a simple launch at the office of Radaan Media Networks with no press invitees. It was just the team members and but the other sources wondered why Surya was present there. But then, we got to know that Suriya plays an important role in this film.

Sarath Kumar performs dual roles pairing up with Kamalini Mukherji and Shriya Charan. Shooting will take off by next week and major portion of the film is slated to carried in foreign countries. None of the other cast and crew for the film has been revealed and soon will be done.

The popularity of Pritviraj in Tamilnadu has resulted in the actor’s Malayalam films being dubbed into Tamil.

His Malayalam flop film Veeralipattu where Padmapriya is his heroine has now been dubbed into Tamil as Nagercovil.

Kukku Surendran’s Veeralipattu was a realistic, off-beat family tearjerker with a nice message.

And the person who has brought the dubbing rights of the film has issued a press statement that Pritvi and Priya are now shooting in Nagercovil for the film!

It is a smart move as he can market it like a real Tamil film and also get the benefit of not paying entertainment tax, as he will claim it is a straight film!

It also proves that Pritvi has a market in Tamil after doing half a dozen films in Kollywood.