Speechless !

Shreya Reddy has said that she was left speechless after watching the special screening of Avan Ivan.

The former actress, who is married to producer Vikram Krishna and sister-in-law to Vishal, has said that she never expected such a performance from Vishal.

Shreya said that director Bala was instrumental in extracting such a performance from him. She was also full of praises for Arya and GM Kumar.

Shreya said that Avan Ivan is a simple story but director Bala has made it in such way that it has become exceptional.

Avan Ivan stars Arya, Vishal, Madhu Shalini and Janani Iyer in lead roles. The film is expected to hit the screens shortly.

Avan & Ivan are ready

Avan Ivan, A Film by Director Bala with Arya, Vishal, Madhu Shalini and Janani Iyer in the lead roles has the musical score by Yuvan Shankar Raja that is already sensational and is making news about the film.

It is to be noted that this is the first time the Director has completed his project within a short span of time as most of his previous films were shot for a span of atleast 2years.

Plans about releasing the film is getting close and the producers are planning to get over with it soon planning to release the film as soon as possible. According to the sources, reports are that the film will be hitting screens during the third or last week of May.

Submerged !

Janani Iyer, model-turned-actress will make her debut with Bala’s Avan Ivan. After the news that she had signed on for this project, Janani seemed to have gone in hiding. Recently, she was seen at the audio launch of Avan Ivan, looking absolutely gorgeous in a red and black sari.

Quizzed about her disappearance from the scene, she said that she had only been following her director’s strict instructions. Bala wanted his heroine to be the surprise package in the film and retain her USP as a fresh face, so he had asked her to stay away from the media blitz.

Janani Iyer added that she had submerged herself in the character completely and took a complete break from modeling and did not sign any more films. But now that the shooting is completed, she says she is happy with her work and is eager to do more films.

Speedy Gonzales

Producers are always delighted when directors finish their projects quickly and that is exactly what the producers of Vishal and Sameera Reddy’s untitled film are happy about.

Director Prabhudeva seems to be quick as a wink in finishing the project. Recently, he wanted to shoot an item song with Sophie Choudary and Vishal in Europe but he was denied visa. Not wanting to waste time, he came up with an idea of making a brilliant setting in Binny mills and completed that shoot.

It is said that he has shot almost 90% of the movie already in areas near Hyderabad.

The director wants to get over with his commitments by June so that he can marry Nayanthara in July without having to bother about other commitments.

We sincerely hope all this hurry doesn’t affect the quality of the movie.

New Kollywood hottie..!!

Those who see Madhushalini for the first time, will definitely take a second look at her. First, for her good looks and second, because she resembles a few other actresses in tinsel town.

"A lot of people have told me that I look like Heera because of my high cheekbones. Earlier, when I used to be skinny, people used to mistake me for Sonali Bendre. I don't know when people will identify me as Madhushalini," giggles the chirpy lady from the City of Pearls.

And what's keeping this Telugu ammayi on top of the world now is the fact that she is dubbing for Avan Ivan. "I have picked up Tamil and have put my newly-learnt skill to good use in the film. I play a college student who happens to be Arya's love interest. And let me tell you, though my look in the film can be classified as simple, it isn't deglamourised," clarifies the actress.

Madhushalini is extremely delighted at having grabbed this film, that too, so early in her career. "I have always aspired to work with Bala sir and when I got the offer, it was nothing short of a dream come true. Initially, I didn't know when my part would come as I had to wait for quite a while before my portions were shot. It was a long wait but it was definitely worth it."

Having been part of the Avan Ivan camp for almost a year now, Madhu adds that she was extremely comfortable throughout the shoot. But isn't director Bala a tough taskmaster, we ask, and she shrugs off nonchalantly. "In fact, he is quite a prankster. He was the one who was pulling off the maximum pranks on the sets, to the extent, that I was left in tears. Only when his assistant convinced me that it was just a prank did I realise that he was pulling my leg. Nevertheless, he is a serious filmmaker who is very sure of what he wants."

Though Madhushalini had to share screen space with Janani Iyer in the film, she has absolutely no qualms about it. "She was quite helpful throughout the shoot. She is a Tamil girl and helped me with my lines during the shoot. She was very co-operative on the sets and we had a great time together. As for Arya, he has prior experience of working with Bala sir in Naan Kadavul and hence, we would call him 'senior' on the sets. Since Bala sir's films are always out-of-the-box, we had to put in a lot of effort for this movie. And trust me, the boys — Vishal and Arya — had to push the envelope for their respective characters."

Now that the actress has done a film with the veteran director, she is in no hurry to sign new films. "I do not want to do a film for the heck of it. I want to experiment and do characters that will stand out," concludes the actress.

Meet Squint eyed Vishal

The tall, dark and handsome hero has stretched to the toughest possible limits for his upcoming Bala flick ‘Avan Ivan.’ Sharing screen space with long-time friend Arya, Vishal seems to have bagged the role of his life with Bala’s new offing ‘Avan Ivan’. The actor who has completely altered his looks for the film is quite happy with his hard work for the film because of the results it has reaped.

The actor recently found time to share his mind on his upcoming flick ‘Avan Ivan’.

Vishal plays Walter Vanagamudi, who is basically a thief and travels doing stage shows in villages along with his half-brother played by Arya. Vishal’s avatar in the film has an almost tonsured head, eyes sans eyelashes and a squint. Vishal reveals that the first response that Bala had on seeing him were tears of joy in his eyes!

Refuting to rumors suggesting Vishal’s role as a Thirunangai (eunuch), the actor clarifies that he does not appear as a eunuch and was surprised seeing such stories doing the rounds. Vishal has revealed that unlike the other Bala films which are too serious with not much scope for comedy ‘Avan Ivan’ will be a surprise for the audience. The actor has also revealed that the final twenty minutes of the film will bear the Bala stamp.

Bala's Avan Ivan

At a time when actors in Tamil cinema consider it is unsafe to do multi-starrers, Arya and Vishal has chosen to do otherwise. They have come together for Avan Ivan and even after the shooting is completed, they remain good friends.

Says Arya, ' what's wrong in doing a multi-starrer? My comfort level with Bala is good and we enjoyed working in the project. Bala guided both of us well.'

Echoing the same, Vishal says, ' we are friendly and did what Bala told us to do'.

Interestingly after Pithamagan which brought Vikram and Suriya together comes Avan Ivan with Arya and Vishal in the cast. Expectations are running high for the movie that would hit the screens next month

Magic to be recreated

After Naan Kadavul, Arya joins hands with maverick filmmaker Bala again to repeat the same magic. But this time they are joined by young and bubbly Vishal. The trio teams up for Avan Ivan.

Naan Kadavul, a 2009 film co-written and directed by Bala, is based on the Tamil novel Yezhaam Ulagam by Jayamohan who also penned the dialogues for the film. The movie had music by Ilaiyaraja. The film, which was in the making for over three years, was finally released on 6 February 2009 and it received rave reviews and critical acclaims, winning two National Film Awards, including the Best Director Award for Bala, and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. he film grossed over $10 million at the box office in the first 6 weeks.

Now come Avan Ivan. It's Bala's first attempt at comedy, written and directed by himself. The film will star Arya, Vishal Krishna, Janani Iyer, and Madhu Shalini in the lead roles. The film, produced by Kalpathi S. Agoram's AGS Entertainment, features music by Yuvan Shankar Raja, cinematography by Arthur A Wilson and editing by A Sreekar Prasad.

Says Vishal, "Sporting a squint and acting is no easy task. It was a tough ask and I had to really stretch to play that role to perfection. Luckily for me, Arya, who is a good friend, was with me in this project. Hadn't Arya been with me, I would have felt the pressure more."

Vishal adds that their friendship has helped the final output. "When the comfort levels of the lead actors is good, it reflects on screen. That is what has happened in the case of Avan Ivan," says Vishal.

It would be a double Nan Kadavul, say those involved in making of the movie.