U Me Aur Hum Movie Review

Banner: Devgan Entertainment Software Ltd.

Cast: Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Karan Khanna, Isha Sharwani, Sumeet Raghavan, Rituparna Sengupta, Sarika, Divya Dutta

Direction: Ajay Devgan

Production: Ajay Devgan

Music: Vishal Bharadwaj

U Me Aur Hum marks the directorial debut of Ajay Devgan who comes in this year with a bad start at the box office with movies such as ‘Halla Bol’ and ‘Sunday ‘not faring too well. Much seems to be riding on this film too as one sees the Kajol-Ajay, husband-wife pair after a very long time. Ajay Devgan who is more known for his action packed films be it a ‘Gangajal ‘or ‘Apharan’ explores the romance genre with his debut film. So what’s in store with U Me Aur Hum? Does the film truly live up to being a truly romantic film on soul mates?

The film takes off with Ajay (Ajay Devgan )a renowned psychiatrist on a cruise with a bunch of friends on a cruise with his friends -- Nikhil [Sumeet Raghavan] and Reena [Divya Dutta], who are unhappily married and are looking forward to a divorce, Vicky [Karan Khanna] and Natasha [Isha Sharwani], who are seeing each other and plan to get married once they can dance the salsa together. Ajay comes across Pia( Kajol) a bartender and takes a couple of drinks to admit his feelings.

Ajay works day and night to win over Pia by understanding her likes, learning Salsa etc. The two eventually get married and with every marriage, its share of problems too creep in the form of Alzheimer’s.

To start off with, U Me Aur Hum has its moment s of brilliance mostly in terms of cinematography and performances. U Me Aur Hum lacks majorly in its storytelling, though the basic concept of the film is a very good one, the loose screenplay and the slow build up of events really affects the film. The first half of the film fails to create that much hyped romantic impact and is all the more dragging with the silly jokes mostly from Karan Khanna and major portions of the film are wasted in cliché thoughts of impressing a girl by learning salsa etc.

Though a lot has been said about U, Me Aur Hum being inspired from Hollywood films such as ‘Notebook’ and ‘Iris’ , Ajay Devgan has done a great job of adapting it to Indian standards. But there is a little glitch here, Ajay fails to make the romance germinate within you.

The film indeed picks up during the 2nd half and is much better and relevant in comparison to the earlier portions. The screenplay team of Robin Bhatt, Sutanu Gupta and Akarsh Khurana fail to keep the viewer glued. The time duration of the film also hampers it quite a bit.

The true winner of the film is Aseem Bajaj’s cinematography. He excels in almost every scene and credit only goes to Ajay for his visual sense. The silhouettes, the close ups, the 2 shot compositions are just brilliant. Aseem Bajaj just tends to draw so much attention for his work and takes you on a complete scenic ride.

On the performance front without any doubt the film truly belongs to Kajol who proves it once again that she is one of India’s finest talents. More than the usual chirpy smile sequences and Naach-Gaana she expresses well in states of complete stillness and perplexities such as the observation of the lizard on the wall. Even the pregnant Kajol skipping to lose weight in a state of Alzeheimer’s really hits you. Ajay Devgan too does well but it’s very obvious that Ajay excels more in direction. The best from Ajay comes towards the climax of the film where he explodes in an attempt to remind an Alzheimer struck Kajol about his identity.

Divya Dutta and Sumeet Raghavan are impressive. Karan Khanna and Isha Sharwani are totally wasted. Karan Khanna annoys with his constant PJ’s. Sachin Khedekar is ok. Aditya Rajput and Hazel are hardly there.

The music of the film is not the finest around and tracks like ‘Saiyaan’ just interrupt with the flow of events. ‘Jee Lee’ and the title track leave an impact. On the whole, U Me Aur Hum gets a little dragging primarily in the first half and is a little loose on its screenplay. In any case the film is worth watching for its splendid Cinematography and Kajol’s first rate performance. Also looks like Ajay Devgan the director has arrived.

Verdict: Amazing cinematography and a versatile Kajol

Rating: 3 stars on 5

Kamal Haasan in 'Kuselan'!

Yes, it is true! We have heard about actor Prabhu essaying a very vital role in this superstar's film. Now there is one more 'mighty' addition to the star cast and Kamal Haasan too will be seen along with Rajinikanth in this multi-starrer film.

Reports also indicate that Kamal will be seen shaking a leg with the superstar apart from a scene where the two Kollywood supremos would be seen together.

'Ilamai Unjal Adigiradhu' was the last film that saw the coming together of these two super heroes, but that was many years back. Though many producers had requested the heroes to act together in some films, the idea never materialized. Both the heroes have there own style of acting and their fan following, and the distributors are very happy with this news hitting the stands.

'Kuselan' is the remake of the Malayalam chart buster film 'Katha Parayumbol' that starred Mammootty and Srinivasan in the lead roles. The Tamil remake would be a little different from the Malayalam original in the sense of the songs as well as some addition to the scenes.

Now, with the coming together of three stars in Kollywood i.e. Rajinikanth, Kamal as well as Prabhu, 'Kavithalaya' the production house for this film is going to popularize this rare event in a grand way.

When ‘Kuselan’ hits the theatres we can see the coming together of the superstar's as well as Kamal's fans. It would sure be a sight to behold!

Krazzy 4 Movie Review

Banner: Filmkraft Productions (I) Pvt Ltd

Cast: Arshad Warsi, Irrfan Khan, Dia Mirza, Rajpal Yadav, Suresh Menon, Rajat Kapoor, Zakir Hussain, Juhi Chawla,

Direction: Jaideep Sen

Production: Rakesh Roshan,Sunaina Roshan

After the court verdict on the settlement of the hassles regarding the music of the film, Krazzy 4 releases peacefully this week. The film under Rakesh Roshan’s Filmkraft India banner marks the debut of director Jaideep Sen. As the film relases across Ajay Devgan’s U Me Aur Hum, not many know that Jaideep has been an assistant director on two movies starring Ajay-‘Jaan’ and ‘Itihaas’.

So does the controversy on the music and the competition from Devgan’s film tamper the openings of the film? Does Jaideep live up to people’s expectations?

The movies talks about 4 so called crazy men at a rehab center.

Raja (Arshad Warsi)- Suffers from intermittent explosive disorder , hits out at the slightest provocation or even without.

Dr.Mukherjee (Irrfan Khan)-Suffers from obsessive compulsive personality disorder, a perfect doc, clean and orderly, loves to be the captain of the team. Gangadhar (Rajpal Yadav)- Suffers from Schizophrenia, lives in the past with his mates Ghandhiji , Nehru , Tilak and Patel. He is so busy fighting for swaraj that he’s lost his sanity.

Dabboo (Suresh Menon) – Refuses to speak and nobody knows why! Cute and adorable and is everyone’s pet. Their lives revolve around Dr.Sonali (Juhi Chawla) who loves the ‘mad’ bunch .She firmly believes that the only way to treat her patients is to treat them with your heart and not just your mind.

One fine morning, Dr.Sonali decides to take the boys out of the rehab centre to watch a cricket match and eventually she is kidnapped by some men. The series of events that follow reveal how this so called Krazzy bunch unveils the identity of the criminals and rescue their doctor.

Firstly, one should understand that Krazzy4 is a typical masala film and isn’t meant for the so called intellectuals. The film doesn’t offer something unique in its storytelling or so but the execution and series of events keep you glued. Jaideep Sen does well as a first time director. He may not be an ace at comedy but besides comedy he captures some very good moments that evoke patriotism like the Indian flag being pinned upside down in a building notice board being placed right by Rajpal etc.

The drawback exists in terms of Rakesh Roshan’s story and Ashwini Dhir’s screenplay. It gets bumpy through the journey. The film tracks off from the comic elements to the typical cliché terrorist angle with the cops being involved etc. Even the Dia Mirza sequences as the reporter was a bit overdone.

The dip in the screenplay is saved with the presence of SRK’s dance number. The song comes in as a face lift for the film and the audiences are set to go gaga.

The music of the film by Rakesh Roshan is impressive and visually appealing too. When you just think everything is over when the film ends in a ‘to be continued’ fashion, Hrithik’s version of the title track comes in a splendid manner. Cinematography and editing are ok.

On the performance graph, the 4 are equally impressive. Arshad explodes well in his hot tempered character. Watch out for the sequence where he goes to meet Dia Mirza’s dad. Irrfan makes you giggle with his constant ‘I’m the captain’ and other lines on cleanliness. Rajpal Yadav makes you burst out with constant references to Ghandhji and the freedom movement. In fact he moves you in a sequence where a child at a mall is singing the national anthem and he pauses in attention and reverence; observing him various people from the mall too stand in attention and honour the national anthem. The lines to follow are simply brilliant.

Suresh Menon the prankster and the so called jabber mouth of Indian television this time does well in complete muteness. It’s his body language and cuteness as the foodie that impresses.

Juhi Chawla does really well as the doctor expressing her love and care for the bunch. Dia Mirza lacks the essence of being a Tv reporter in spite of doing the same role before. Rajat Kapoor , Mukesh Rishi , Zaakir Hussain are ok. Makhrand Deshpande is hardly there.

Finally, Krazzy4 is not the finest or funniest film around but with the right mix of comedy and the visual treat in the form of King Khan , Hrithik Roshan and Rakhi Sawant the film is bound to do well at the box office. Also with some really comic scenes and fabulous heartwarming sequences particularly towards the end of the film, looks like the audiences are surely on the lookout for the sequel.

Verdict: Masala flick with moments of brilliant patriotism

Rating: 3 stars on 5

Nepali Movie Review

Banner: OST Films

Cast: Bharath, Meera Jasmine, Prem

Direction: VZ Durai

Production: Rama Saravanan

Music: Srikanth Deva

Much was expected from director V Z Durai in ‘Nepali’. Featuring Bharath in triple role, hype and hoopla surrounding the movie was high. However the movie fails to live up to all expectations as it provides a deja vu.

Though the theme and storyline may sound new, the execution is very familiar. A vigilante movie which Tamil audience got accustomed watching for the past several decades.

Durai has tried to weave three different stories together. Though it begins on a positive note, it stutters as it proceeds eventually reaching the climax after much gasping and panting.

The movie has enough doses of romance, action and bloodshed. Unfortunately Durai has missed out on blending them properly.

Bharath lends credibility to the role. A matured performance indeed. After a mass commercial hero in ‘Pazhani’, he has gone miles ahead to prove that he can play serious hero in the lines of one played by Suriya in ‘Ghajini’. Though Meera Jasmine looks a bit matured for the role, she gracefully performs the task. However the real scene stealer is ‘Kannamma’ fame Prem. As a tough cop Goutham he plays to the gallery and looks typically suited for the role.

The movie revolves around Karthik (Bharath), a software engineer. He comes across Priya (Meera Jasmine) in a hill station. After formal acquaintance, love blossoms between them.

As usual, the girl family protests their affair. Eventually the couple walk out of the house and get married. They face trouble in the form of a greedy and sexual maniac police officer. He lusts on Priya. When he tries to molest her, she gets killed. The blame falls on Karthik.

He kills the police officer and goes to jail, where he meets a Nepali social worker (Govind Namdeo), who voices for women harassed in workplace. Inspired by the Nepali, Karthik comes out of the prison to punish those who misbehave with women at workplace. He bumps off a computer engineer, a professor and a doctor dressed as a Nepali youth.

DCP Gautham (Prem) takes up the task of cracking the serial murders. Does he manage to pin down Karthik forms the crux?

The movie is filled with bloodshed, violence and gore in the second half.

The Nepali make-up sits well on Bharath though at places looks a mismatch.

Cinematographer Madhi has captured the mood really well. The lightings and background shades used by him are eye-catching and set the mood for each scene.

However the movie at many places reminds one of films like ‘Sigappu Rojakkal’, ‘Manmadhan’ and ‘Ghajini’.

Had Durai concentrated more on the slick narration in the second half, the ‘Nepali’ could have come out strong, healthy and trim.

Verdict: Enjoyable in parts

Rating: 2 ½ Stars on 5

Best wishes Anand on your Birthday

On your birthday,

I wish for you the fulfillment

of all your fondest dreams.

I hope that for every candle

on your cake

you get a wonderful surprise.

I wish for you that

whatever you want most in life,

it comes to you,

just the way you imagined it,

or better.

I hope you get as much pleasure

from our friendship as I do.

I wish we were good friends,

so I could have known you

from the beginning.

I look forward to

enjoying our friendship

for some of your birthdays.

I'm so glad you were born,

because you brighten my life

and fill it with joy.

Happy Birthday Anand..!

Happy birthday to you... May Allah shower blessings on you… Many More Happy Returns of the Day Anand...

With Love Haseem

Saif Ali Khan: "I know big offers will keep pouring in"

Post Race, Saif Ali Khan's career is racing ahead to the top. What's worthy of making headlines is the fact that Saif has just refused a lucrative, whopping Rs 30 crore deal offered to him by a leading corporate house.

Saif feels that it's important to focus on quality projects rather than sign deals where these is no bound script.

Sources add that Saif believes that he should stick to being true to his craft and have the actor's integrity to do good roles. And he knows that big offers will keep pouring in, but he should concentrate on good quality work.

So unlike other actors who announce their monetary deals to all and sundry, Saif prefers to focus on doing quality roles. No wonder, he boasts of a body of good work like Ek Haseena Thi, Dil Chahta Hai, Omkara, Being Cyrus, Parineeta, Salaam Namaste, Kal Ho Na Ho, Hum Tum, Parineeta and the recently released Race.

Some of Saif's future films are:

• TASHAN – YRF

• Kunal Kohli's film with YRF

• Farhan Akhtar's Voice From The Sky

• Karan Johar's next directed by Rensil Di Silva

• Under his own company - Illuminati Films

• Imtiaz Ali's next

• AGENT VINOD with Sriram Raghavan

Box office analysis

First weekend performance of latest release

After two good Fridays which gave two successful films in quick succession, RACE and ONE TWO THREE, it was a dull start to the weekend in spite of three films releasing on the same day - SHAURYA, KHUDA KE LIYE and BHRAM. As was pretty much on the cards even before the release of the three films, SHAURYA and KHUDA KE LIYE had their hopes hinging on word of mouth while the promotion of BHRAM was so poor that expecting a face saving footfall too was an unreasonable expectation.

This is exactly what happened as BHRAM hardly saw a decent release in spite of being a reasonably fine film while SHAURYA, the best of the lot, did start showing an improvement as shows progressed. However, it's performance over the week and the second weekend would eventually decide if this well made film with some brilliant act by Kay Kay Menon and Rahul Bose would help it sail through to the safety mark. On the other hand KHUDA KAY LIYE saw good reviews coming it's way but for a film belonging to this genre, an aggressive and a sustained stay at the multiplexes is very much required. However, with two major films releasing this weekend, that doesn't appear to be on the cards.

Last week's movies

ONE TWO THREE has turned out to be a box office success. After being panned by the critics once Show One of the film commenced, ONE TWO THREE managed to strike a chord with the audience, especially youth, who came in hordes to make the film a success. Result is that ONE TWO THREE, a medium budget film, has managed to collect close to 12 crores just from India in it's first week. While Mumbai has topped 2 crores, Delhi has crossed the 1 crore mark as well.

With 12 crores in it's kitty, ONE TWO THREE has now taken the fourth highest opening of the year. While the top of the list is dominated by the likes of RACE (35 crores) and JODHAA AKBAR (25 crores), #3 position is occupied by SUNDAY (14 crores). In a quarter dominated by flops, this multi starrer by a debutant director Ashwani Dheer has given Bollywood a reason to smile.

From the past

Now this is what you call instant money. What seemed to be milestone is the kind of money which movies today are capable of making in two weeks flat. 50 crores, the overall total for a film till a few months back, is what a big film is making in two weeks flat these days. OM SHANTI OM, DHOOM 2 and WELCOME have done this in the past. Now RACE too has followed suit as it has achieved the feat in a fortnight's time.

After cashing in 35 crores+ in the first week, the film has done well even in the second week with more than 15 crores coming in. This has made a RACE a 51 crores earner even as it continues to rake in moolah for third week succession. Mumbai was fantastic yet again with close to 2.5 crores being added to the total while Delhi topped 1.5 crores. Bangalore missed 1 crore by a few lakhs while both Ahmedabad and Hyderabad managed to cross 50 lakhs each.

A superb performance like this has made RACE the first suspense thriller ever to enjoy such a great time at the box office. While the above mentioned three biggies have been popcorn entertainers/family films, RACE is mainly an adult drama/thriller. Taking this factor into account, it is indeed quite some feat for this Abbas-Mustan directed flick which has 'raced' ahead of it's contemporaries!

The only other film which did good business apart from ONE TWO THREE and RACE in the week gone by was old war horse JODHAA AKBAR. Still dealing in crores, JODHAA AKBAR added another 1.25 crores in the week gone by after taking only 40% fall. Standing tall at 61 crores plus, JODHAA AKBAR is now looking at doing great business as it's DVDs arrive on 'master-of-cheap-prices' - Moser Baer.

TAARE ZAMEEN PAR too lived on for another week after seeing only 30% fall. With 15 lakhs more coming in, the film is now just 10 lakhs away from touching 61 crores.

In the future

All eyes are now set on next Friday's twin releases of KRAZZY 4 and U ME AUR HUM. Though both the films belong to distinct genres, it is turning out to be an intense battle of sorts since KRAZZY 4 as well as U ME AUR HUM have a lot riding on them.

With comedies doing well, especially over last few months, with hardly any film belonging to this genre failing at the box office, KRAZZY 4 is expected to open decently. On the other hand U ME AUR HUM does seem to have an edge since it brings with a different air to it, courtesy some of the best promos designed for a film in recent times.

U ME AUR HUM looks like a handy mix of drama, love, romance, tears and light hearted moments which would make family audience, especially ladies, warm up to the film. Music too is certainly going to play a major part in the film taking a good opening since Vishal Bhardwaj's tunes have been performing consistently well at the charts ever since the music hit the stands.

On the other hand KRAZZY 4 does have an Ace in the form of Hrithik's performance on the title song, something that should keep his fans interested in the film, especially since the promotional music video arrives towards the end credit rolls.

However, with an overall classy treatment which Ajay Devgan seems to have given to his directorial debut, it certainly is advantage U ME AUR HUM as of now!

Best wishes Mable on your Birthday

On your birthday,

I wish for you the fulfillment

of all your fondest dreams.

I hope that for every candle

on your cake

you get a wonderful surprise.

I wish for you that

whatever you want most in life,

it comes to you,

just the way you imagined it,

or better.

I hope you get as much pleasure

from our friendship as I do.

I wish we were good friends,

so I could have known you

from the beginning.

I look forward to

enjoying our friendship

for some of your birthdays.

I'm so glad you were born,

because you brighten my life

and fill it with joy.

Happy Birthday Mable..!

Happy birthday to you... May Allah shower blessings on you… Many More Happy Returns of the Day Mable...

With Love Haseem

Till now, Non stopping 'Race'

For the Saif Ali Khan starrer 'Race', from the day of release day to today, it has been a race to the top without any matching competitors.

The film directed by Abbas-Mustan has received good acceptance from the NRI crowd too.

With an 18th position in the US box office chart ratings; the film is on its steady climb to top in the coming days.

The bad performance of most of the films that released just before and after the release of 'Race' helped the film by not splitting the interest of the audience much.

It's not only the engaging story line of the film that attracted people to the theatre, but also the lack of good films that could give 'Race', a tough run.

Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif give life to the other main characters in this fast-moving film.

Reports indicate that 'Race' has already collected more than Rs.50 crores in just 10 days of its release.

But the future is not without its challenges for this now hot, favourite film.

With Rakesh Roshan's 'Krazzy 4' and Ajay Devgan's directorial venture 'U Me Aur Hum' getting ready for release, some competition is finally coming to bother 'Race' next week.

At the end of the day, it's quality that becomes the deciding factor to find out the numero uno film.

For the time being it's 'Race' leading the race, but what after two weeks?

Eros International's largest line-up ever in 2008

Eros International, the leading company in the Indian media and entertainment sector announces an unprecedented line-up of films for 2008 by an Indian studio. Following a highly successful 2007 with some of the biggest blockbusters including 'Namastey London', 'Partner', 'Heyy Babyy' and 'Om Shanti Om', Eros has further raised the stakes by releasing an unrivaled line-up of more than 35 releases this year including many groundbreaking Tamil films. The studio is set to dominate market with over 35 releases this year.

Eros is highly focused on its blockbuster releases this year which include the Eros International-Rose Movies co-production 'Drona', a never-before-seen visual treat for audiences to be released over the Indian Independence Day weekend. A real world meets fantasy action film, the visual effects filled 'Drona', directed by Goldie Behl stars Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Jaya Bachchan and KK Menon.

Eros will also this year release Sujoy Ghosh's 'Aladin', the evergreen Arabian nights story in an unprecedented Bollywood format. An Eros International production, 'Aladin' will set the standard and benchmark for visual effects in Indian cinema and 2008 will also see the release of another Eros production - 'Toonpur ka Super Hero', an animation film with live characters. Starring the husband-wife duo Ajay Devgan and Kajol once again, 'Toonpur...' is a story in which a reel-life hero accidentally lands in the world of cartoons and transforms into a real-life hero.

Other blockbusters slated for release this year include the much awaited and anticipated 'U, Me Aur Hum' marking the directorial debut of leading actor Ajay Devgan while teaming up with wife Kajol after a long hiatus; the Diwali weekend bonanza 'Yuvraj', a musical extravaganza for which showman Subhash Ghai dons the director's hat once again starring Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif and Eros International-Sajid Nadiadwala co-production 'Kambakht Ishq' directed by Saabir Khan with Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in the lead roles.

In addition, romantic comedy 'God Tussi Great Ho' starring Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan and Sohail Khan is slated for release this year. Packed with great music and comedy, it is expected to be another successful film of the year. Also scheduled to release is the Ganesh Acharya directed comedy 'Money Hai Toh Honey Hai' with Govinda, Aftab Shivdasani, Celina Jaitley and Hansika Motwani in the lead roles.

Eros will release Ravi Chopra's 'Bhootnath', the Amitabh Bachchan-Juhi Chawla starrer with a special appearance by Shah Rukh Khan internationally this year. Other films in the pipeline for release internationally by Eros in 2008 include the madcap comedy – Rakesh Roshan's 'Krazzy 4'. Directed by Jaideep Sen, the film stars Juhi Chawla, seen after a long gap in a comic avtaar along with leading character actors Irrfan Khan, Arshad Warsi, Rajpal Yadav and Suresh Menon as the gang of crazy four; and master story teller Ram Gopal Varma's 'Sarkar Raaj'. Starring the highly anticipated trio cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sarkar Raaj is the sequel to award winning 'Sarkar', which was based on the politician-underworld nexus in Mumbai. It is one of the much-awaited films this year with the ensemble of the Bachchan family adding an interesting dimension.

Other noteworthy releases during the year include 'Mehbooba', a romantic comedy by Afzal Khan starring Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan and Manisha Koirala, 'Haal-e-dil', a young love story directed by Anil Devgan starring newcomers – Producer Kumar Mangat's daughter Amita Pathak and actor Shekhar Suman's son Adhyayan Suman. Also in the pipeline are 'Had Bahedi' with Rishi Kapoor, 'The Great Indian Butterfly' by Sarthak Dasgupta which has earned rave reviews in the festival circuit, 'Pankh' an unusual story starring Bipasha Basu and Mahesh Manjrekar, 'Hijack' by Kunal Shivdasani and starring Shiney Ahuja and Esha Deol and 'Mr. White Mr. Black', a comic suspense thriller starring Suniel Shetty and Arshad Warsi.

Eros International has recently released 'Bombay to Bangkok', 'Sunday' and the critically acclaimed 'Black & White' directed by Subhash Ghai this year.

In the regional cinema space, leading integrated Tamil media & entertainment company Ayngaran International, an Eros International company, has at least 15 films lined up for release this year. Films by directors like Prabhu Deva, Raju Sundaram, Jhananthan, Vishnu Vardhan, Selva Raghavan and other leading filmmakers will be part of the Eros-Ayngaran bouquet.

The Eros International-Ayngaran slate includes 'Aegan' by Raju Sundaram starring south superstars Ajith and Nayanthara, a yet untitled project by dancing legend Prabhu Deva in the director's chair with Vijay and Nayantara in the leads, 'Peraanmai' by Jhananathan having Jeyam Ravi as the lead star, 'Sarvam' by Vishnu Vardhan and Arya along with Trisha in the lead roles, two untitled projects by Selva Raghavan and a host of other films.

The international line-up of Tamil films include 'Kuruvi' by Dharani starring Vijay and Trisha, Jeeva and Aneez' 'Dhaam Dhoom' with Jeyam Ravi and Kangana Ranaut in the lead, 'Varanam Ayiram' by Gautam Menon starring Surya with Sameera, 'Kanthaswamy' with Vikram and Shriya, the Surya and Tamanna starrer 'Ayan' and more.

With this unprecedented line-up, Eros International will again raise and set the bar for the Indian Media and Entertainment industry this year.

Nadigar Sangam goes into action mode

The emergency meeting of the South Indian Film Artistes Association will be held in Chennai on Tuesday.

The meeting to be presided over by Sarath Kumar will discuss among various issues the necessary action to be taken against several actors and actresses, who did not turn up for the protest organized by Nadigar Sangam last Friday.

According to sources in Nadigar Sangam, 'several of the artistes have given explanation letters for their absence. It would be discussed. Besides we are contemplating to discuss on the Karnataka filmdom's decision to ban release of Rajinikanth's films in future in the neighbouring State'.

It may be recalled that the Karnataka film industry has ridiculed Rajinikanth for taking part in the protest organized by Tamil film fraternity and issued orders to boycott screening his films in Karnataka in future.

Pyramid Saimira’s mega project

Pyramid Saimira International, the leading entertainment company, created a history of sorts in the Indian film industry by launching ten films simultaneously.

At a glittering function held at Lady Andal School, Chennai, these movies were launched with gala celebrations attended by glitterati of stars. N Narayanan, director, Pyramid Saimira, Swaminathanm, managing director of the company, Rama Narayanan, president, Tamil Film Producers Council, KRG, president, South India Film Chamber of Commerce, Sarath Kumar, president, South Indian Film Artistes Association, S A Chandrasekhar, president, Directors Association, Fefsi Vijayan, president, FEFSI were among those present on the occasion.

The ten projects include a movie to be produced on behalf of Motherland Pictures (directed by Krishna), Deivanai Movie Makers (directed by A Jayaprakash), Meenakshi Arts (directed by S P Rajkumar), Raj Films International (directed by Vishnu Shankaran), Vijaya Movies ('Dhaya' Senthil), Sri Nachiyar Amman Films (Azhagan Thamilmani), Malar Films (Rathnakumar), KRP productions (Manoj Kumar), B R R Art Enterprises (Radha Ravi) and Chinmaya Combines (Praveen Kanth).

Actor-director Cheran, actors Sathyaraj, Parthiban, Vijayakumar, Bharath, Jayam Ravi, Murali, Sibiraj, S J Suryah, Jeevan, Prasanna, M S Bhaskar were among those present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Swaminathan, said, 'Pyramid Saimira believes in scale and speed of execution. These 10 films will be produced through 10 experienced producers with highly structured methodology and inputs from PSPI making it a perfect marriage between creativity, structure and process. We will produce 24 Tamil films under this method of partnership with highly creative and experienced producers'.

'Dasavatharam': Frame by Frame

'Dasavatharam' promises to be a break through in Tamil filmmaking in many ways. Apart from Kamal Haasan’s awesome portrayal of ten different roles, there is much to rave about, including computer graphics and stunning stunts.

The movie has been a unique experience for the experienced director K.S. Ravikumar. “I have worked a great deal to put the entire film together”, says the director. “I used to watch my movies at least ten times before they hit the theatres. I have watched every frame (a one second shot comprises 24 frames) of this film almost a 1,000 times to bring in the harmony between the scenes”, he adds.

Ravikumar explains why such a meticulous attention is required: “If one frame has 3-4 characters then it would mean that I would have to shoot the background separately and the characters separately and ensure that everything comes together cohesively on screen. Apart from that, I have also monitored the dubbing of this movie very closely, something which I have not done for any of my films before.” So, Ravikumar would have watched the movie 1,000 times by the time the film hits the screens.

The unit had done a lot of research before executing the scene that happens during the 12th century. Ravikumar, Kamal, and other team members wanted to make it realistic and credible and hence the research became so important.

Going by these information one can be sure that the movie ‘Dasavatharam’ would be first of its kind in Tamil films in many respects.

Abhishek Bachchan: Home is where the heart is!

Well, he is all alone and far away from his home land. We are talking about Abhi baby who is flying from one country to the other, we mean literally, for his shoots these days, and the saddest thing for this home bird is that he is not finding time to get back even for a short breaker to India.

But then his doting family has come to his rescue. If reports circling B town are true then soon the Bachchan parivar will pack its bags and fly straight to meet their son who is right now shooting in Miami for K Jo's 'Dostana'.

Bachchan Jr. is really busy these days shooting for 'Drona' and 'Dilli 6' which will see him pairing with the latest entry Kapoor girl, Sonam Kapoor. In 'Dostana' that is being produced by Karan Johar and directed by Tarun Mansukhani Abhishek Bachchan will be seen sharing screen space with John Abraham and Priyanka Chopra. Karan Johar while speaking on this film to a media had vowed that this was a story way different from others.

So lets just wait and see if what K Jo has said comes true.