Heroes waiting for Gowtham . .

Gautham Menon’s next project in Tamil is the hot topic for discussion in Kollywood as the director is very busy with 'Prem Katha' the Hindi remake of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya with Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson playing roles that were originally played by Silambarasan and Trisha.

The Director's next project has become a hot topic as 'Prem Katha' is expected to be wrapped soon and his Tamil venture is now in question with all due respect to his films from Minnale to Nadunisi Naigal.

It is said that Gautham now has a wonderful action-based script and is looking for a suitable hero to play the lead role and Kollywood’s youngest heroes Arya, Karthi and Jiiva are vying with each other to lap up this role to boost their careers to the next level.

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya ?

Director Gautham Menon is busy shooting the Hindi version of Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya. The shooting of this film has been progressing in various localities in Mumbai and team will travel down to Kerala shortly and begin the second schedule there from May 23rd onwards.

Once the shooting in Kerala is over, the director and his team will fly down to the United States to can some important portions there. Gautham, it is said, has modified the script of VTV to suit the Bollywood audience.

VTV was a smash hit in Tamil and starred Silambarasan and Trisha in the lead roles. Sources close to Gautham say that the Hindi version is shaping up well and will turn out to be a bigger success than the Tamil version.

Aasma in Hindi ?

Director Krish made Vedam in Telugu and the film was a huge success. STR saw it and was so impressed that it was remade in Tamil as 'Vaanam' with him in the lead. A few minor changes were made to suit the Tamil audience and the movie made a splash.

Now a leading Bollywood producer has expressed interest in making the movie in Hindi with a fresh cast. Krish will be the director for the third time and is thrilled with the reception to his film and says that its universal theme has helped it to transcend the language barrier.

The director is lapping up the appreciation coming his way and is finalizing the cast with some minor changes in the Hindi script to suit the Hindi audience.

Celebrations with speculations . .

Pleased with the reception that his latest outing Vaanam had got, Silambarasan had organized a success party for the cast and crew of Vaanam. The party took place at a popular hotel in Chennai a couple of days ago. Vaanam’s producer VTV Ganesh, distributor Dhayanidhi Alagiri, Anushka, Krish, Dharani and others were at this success bash.

Vaanam, the remake of Telugu flick Vedham, has turned out to be hit, according to Kollywood circles. This prompted STR to celebrate with his cast and crew.

Vaanam’s director Krish also has a special reason to celebrate as he is likely to go to Bollywood with this remake.

Magic Again ..

STR’s sensational film, Vaanam has delivered big time at the box - office and has been declared a hit. The Young Star is very pleased with its success but is not to rest on laurels as usual and is all set to begin work on his remake of Salman Khan’s blockbuster, Dabangg with Dharani at the helm.

The heroine of this flick is Richa Gangopadhyay who has already made it big in the Telugu Film industry having notched up hits with the likes of Venkatesh, Ravi Teja, and Rana Dagubatti. Others in the cast are Jithan Ramesh, Nizhalgal Ravi, and Revathy.

The Pooja will be held on may 9th at the Pillaiyar temple in AVM studios. Salman’s Khan’s brother, Arbaaz Khan, who produced the Hindi version will be present along with other luminaries from the Tamil industry to wish the team a good luck to recreate the same magic.

Time Freeze

It is well known that STR’s next film is Vettai Mannan which is being directed by Nelson. News is that STR is all set to justify the title by going an extra mile to make the action scenes in the film scintillating. A particular scene will be shot using three Time-Freeze cameras and seven Aree type cameras. The shooting is going to take place in Mexico and famous stunt choreographers and stunt technicians are going to be part of this action extravaganza.

The movie is going to be made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi and the plans are to rope in a heroine who is popular in all the three languages. Apart from STR the film also stars Jai. It has music by STR’s friend Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Spunky Vega

Model turned actress Vega first came into the limelight with her breakthrough performance in Saroja and Pasanga. The actress who is not scared to experiment has her next outing as an actress with Vaanam.

The spunky actress will play Lasya, a member of a rock music group originally played by Lekha Washington in the Telugu version.

Vega says her character is a challenging one and she is not worried about getting lost in the multi-starrer with the likes of Silambarasan, Bharath, Anushka, Prakash Raj, and Sonia Agarwal among others.

Though it is a small role, it is well fleshed out and will be remembered, she says. As far as her career is concerned, Vega is happy to take it slow and pick only good roles.

Crowd Puller . .

Young superstar Silambarasan-Bharath starrer ‘Vaanam’ was supposed to hit screens before a month, but was delayed due to unknown reasons. Now as everything gets ready, the producers are having problems in getting theatres.

Due to the grand success of KO, the theatre owners have refused to shift the film to small screens in their theaters. Apparently, This has troubled the producers on their ability of cashing during the 1st weekend and has caused a lot of confusion amongst fans if Vaanam would release as expected.

Yuvan Shankar Raja has already delivered best songs for the film with a list of hit numbers that has already become a chart buster.

Vaanam is a multi-starrer project with the film revolving around five parallel stories with STR, Bharath, Anushka Shetty, Prakash Raj, Sonia Agarwal and Jasmine Bhasin playing lead roles. The remake has Anushka reprising the same role from the original that turned out to be a crowd puller and the same is to be repeated yet again.

While everything go well as planned except for the availability of theaters Simbu has stated that the movie would release as planned making no exceptions.

Back off ! says 'STR'

Ko has opened to a great response from the audiences and Jiiva, the hero of this venture, is thrilled about it. Naturally, many have been wondering if STR regrets backing out from this project as it has turned out to be a super success. His fans took it one step further and have been actively airing their feelings on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. They have said that the role was not a suitable one for their hero as it is a political drama with too many other characters that takes attention away from the lead.

STR was upset that his fans have chosen to show their support by tearing down the efforts of the cast and crew of Ko. He has requested them not to say negative things about others in the industry as they all belong to the same fraternity and he has nothing but respect for all who are a part of the film industry.

STR made it clear that he had certain reason for opting out of Ko and does not want the issue blown out of proportion especially since its success augers well for the industry. That is very decent and sportive of him we must say.

Vaanam to hit screens .. .

Vaanam has been awarded with a U/A certificate with The Censor Board officials just muting some of the dialogues in the film. The movie is now slated to hit the screens on April 29th, 2011.

Vaanam has created a lot of expectations as this film is a remake of the Telugu hit flick Vedam and is Silambarasan’s first release after his astounding success of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya last year.

Vaanam is directed by Krish, who had also directed the Telugu version with Anushka playing the female lead in this film. Sonia Agarwal, Bharath, Vega, Jasmine and others also share the screen space in this film.

STR wanted Sonakshi

It is now confirmed that director Dharani will direct the Tamil remake of the Hindi film Dabangg. Silambarasan will essay the role done by Salman Khan in the original version. There was a talk earlier that STR wanted Sonakshi Sinha, who played the heroine in Dabangg, to essay the role in Tamil too. When he approached the actress, she brushed aside the offer as she had Kamal Haasan’s Visawaroopam to concentrate on.

But with Viswaroopam not commencing as planned due to the Visa hassles that the team is facing, Sonakshi is contemplating on offering her dates for this remake, sources say.

Meanwhile, Silambarasan is busy concentrating in Poda Podi and the team is in Spain filming some important sequences.

Skies to clear soon

After a roaring success of a series of blockbusters, Simbhu (aka STR) and Yuvan combo have joined hands together in Vaanam, now it has to be noted that this one has also turned out to be a massive hit. Especially, the song ‘Evan de Unna Pethan’ topping the charts everywhere.

Dayanidhi Alagiri of Cloud Nine Movies have bought the theatrical rights of this film and the latest buzz is that the film has been sent to censor board and the producers are planning to release the film by the end of this month.

The promos of Vaanam are already on full swing creating waves in and around the industry to be a real summer treat for Kollywood lovers in 2011. The speculations are high as the crew includes Anushka, Prakash Raj, Bharat, Vega, Sneha Ullal and Sonia Agarwal whose is on board after a long gap.

This remake of the Telugu blockbuster 'Vedam' is directed by debutante director 'Krish' with changes on the script to suit the Tamil audience…

VTV Hindi Remake to hit floors soon

‘Vinnaithandi Vaaruvaaya’ was a smashing hit in Tamil. The film was directed by Gautham Menon with Simbu and Trisha in the lead. Now the National Award winning director is all set to make another hit with the Hindi version of VTV. The film will get on the floors on April 4, say reports. Right from his first film ‘Minnale,’ Gautham has been receiving offers from producers for Hindi remakes of almost all his films.

All the speculation surrounding the remake of Vinnaithanndi Varuvaaya in Hindi can be put to rest as it has been confirmed that the shooting will commence on April 4th. Prateik Babbar, son of Smita Patel and Raj Babbar, is to play the role played to perfection by Silambarasan in Tamil. Amy Jackson of Madrasapattinam fame will play Trisha’s role.

The project was delayed as Prateik was caught up with commitments to his Hindi film, Dhobi Ghat produced by Aamir Khan. But his dates are available now and he is also eager to begin shooting for VTV. Amy Jackson has spent the interim taking diction lessons in Hindi so that language will not be a barrier. AR Rahman has been roped in to do the music. The stage is all set for an encore of the phenomenal success of VTV.

So we can expect some great fireworks on screen with splendid music and great locations, yet again for the Hindi VTV.

Vaanam to hit screens on April 29

It seems Vaanam producer VTV Ganesh and distributors Cloud 9 have firmed up their release date on April 29.

Vaanam is written and directed by Krish and is a remake of his 2010 Telugu film Vedam.

Vaanam is a multi-starrer and has an ensemble cast, including Silambarasan, Bharath, Anushka ,Sonia Aggarwal, Prakash Raj and Saranya.

The music of the film is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, while cinematography and editing are handled by Nirav Shah and Antony respectively.

The film is going to be STR's 2011 big summer release. Remember, his last release was in February 2010, Gautham Menon's super hit Vinnayithandi Varuvaaya.

If Vaanam hits the bulls eye STR's box-office ratings will go up.

Movie leaves Simbu in tears

Silambarasan was invited for a special screening of Pillaiyar Theru Kadaisi Veedu. The film has Jiiva’s brother Ramesh in the lead. Having gone through a low phase after films like Jithan and Jerry, the actor has put his heart and soul into the character resulting in a good performance.

On seeing the film, STR was moved to tears due to the pathos portrayed in the film. His tears were the biggest compliment Ramesh could have received. Later, he commended Ramesh for his powerful portrayal and was lavish in his praise both for the aspiring actor as well as the director, Thirumalai Kishore. STR said it was without doubt one of the most touching films he has ever seen and he heartily wished the cast and crew all success.

The Hunt Begins ..

STR's trilingual film 'Vettai Mannan' thats is to be made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi is written and directed by debutant Nelson. The movie is touted to be an action thriller - one of its kind, on par to the James Bond Franchisee.

Silambarasan's long time friend Actor Jai has agreed to appear in a significant role, while the film produced by NIC Arts of S.S. Chakravarthy would feature scores and soundtrack composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

The guessing game is on as to who would play Silambarasan's ladylove in this film as its been mentioned that there will be a different fresh face for the lead role with a different actress in each language of the film. When queried about his heroine, Silambarasan says, ' Negotiations are in the final stage with a top Bollywood actress to play the heroine's role'.

The film would have Goundamani and Santhanam providing the comic relief and the director who canned few shots with Actor Jai and STR yesterday is promising its release in 2011.

Ileana or Anushka: Who is hot?

News of Silambarasan aka STR playing Salman Khan’s Dabangg role in the Tamil remake has been circulating for some time now.

What is currently hot in tinsel town is the buzz that the movie will be directed by Dharani, who has been missing in action in Kollywood for quite some time now. Sources close to the actor say that Simbu is holding talks with Dharani and matters have almost reached the signing stage. Since Dharani’s Tollywood film with Ram Charan has been put on hold, the filmmaker will be using those dates for Simbu’s flick.

Reportedly, after Sonam Kapoor was unable to dole out dates, it is said Dharani is keen on bringing either Anushka or Ileana on board, opposite STR.

Though there were initial apprehensions about repeating Anushka after Vaanam, the director’s contention is that the Vedam star is not paired with STR in Vaanam. Moreover, Simbu has one more film, Poda Podi, due to release after Vaanam.

A little birdie tells us that Ileana is also being considered for the role made memorable by Sonakshi Sinha in Bollywood.

Anushka loved working in "Vaanam"

'Vaanam', the remake of my Tollywood flick, is the best film I ever did in my career. I can proudly show this to my grandchildren. Thanks to my director Krish,” said an excited Anushka at the audio launch of the movie in the city.

The multi-starrer has young superstar Simbu playing the lead, with Anushka Shetty and Bharath. Prakash Raj, Soniya Aggarwal, Vega, Jasmine and Saranya playing important characters.

Produced by Ganesh and released through Dhayanidhi Alagiri’s Cloud Nine banner, the music has been composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Speaking on the occasion, Simbu, who had a major hand in the remake, said, “I was deeply inspired by the script when I watched Vedam at Casino in the city. I immediately told Ganesh that we must make it in Tamil. It was Anushka who recommended Krish for the Tamil remake. What I liked best about Krish was that he did not make any tall claims but modestly said that he wanted to erase the flaws of the original.”

S.T.R. was quick to add, “It is not easy to do a remake. One should get the right feel and changes have to be made to suit the Tamil culture.”

Recalling his friendship with Simbu when he was launched as a hero almost a decade ago in 'Kadhal Azhivadhillai', Yuvan reminisced, “We met when Simbu was doing Kadhal… and became thick friends. I was also just a beginner. He used to ask me if I would compose for him one day when he became a big star. Today it has come true! Looking back, it has been an amazing journey.”

Kajal Aggarwal not playing the female lead

There were reports that reigning Tamil-Telugu actress Kajal Aggarwal is likely to be the lead lady in actor Simbu's Tamil remake of Salman Khan's super hit 'Dabangg'. But the makers of the Tamil version made it clear that Kajal Aggarwal will not be part of the film.

Apparently, they are looking for a top heroine from Bollywood and efforts are on to make Sonam Kapoor sign on the dotted line. Notably, the original heroine Sonakshi Sinha refused the role in Tamil remake.

There were also stories that Katrina Kaif might do the film, since she has already worked in some South Indian films. 'Dabangg' is being remade in Telugu as well with Pawan Kalyan in the lead.

Simbu to be cast in Dabangg remake

'Dabangg' is setting new records not only in Bollywood, but also in Tamil and Telugu. With 'Dabangg' opening to an overwhelming response, the enthusiasm to acquire the Tamil and Telugu remake rights has increased overnight. Kollywood producers Mohan Apparao and T. Ramesh have recently purchased the remake rights of 'Dabangg' for a whopping amount, the highest ever paid for a remake.

Now the latest buzz is that Simbu will play the role of Chulbul Pandey (originally played perfectly by Salman Khan) in the Tamil version. The shooting is expected to begin soon after finalizing the director and heroine.