Bharadwaj Rangan’s interview with Gautham
December 21, 2006 at 9:53 am | In Interviews, kollywood, movies | Leave a CommentBharadwaj Rangan has written about a long, very interesting interview with Gautham, the director of Minnale, Kaakka Kaakka and Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu. Rangan always lets the person do the talking, with only a few comments here and there. So we get almost a monologue by the person instead of the usual, restrictive Q & A format. That’s the way he has done it with Gautham too and it has led the director to open up about a lot of things.
Some interesting tidbits from the interview…
Gautham Menon had to drop the Menon from his name since the Minnale producer said that there was something against Malayalis in the Tamil film industry!
He talks a lot about his next film Pachaikkili Muthucharam, with Sarathkumar (who is cast against type) and Jo. He calls it an adaptation of Derailed but the book and not the movie(hope the book was good then since the movie sucked!). He did want to do it with Kamal first but approached Sarath after Kamal said no. He explains the very poetic title as pearls falling off and scattering being similar to what happens in life when someone comes in and scatters the lives of a happy family. He calls it a “Balu Mahendra-meets-Quentin Tarantino kind of film.”
He apparently labelled at least one leading actor as “stupid” and said another star’s films are “idiotic.” Wish Rangan could tell me who those actors are 
He worked as an assistant director to Rajiv Menon in Minsaara Kanavu.
His original script for Minnale was very different and was about 2 friends falling for the same girl. He now calls the film juvenile and cliched!
He approached Maddy, Ajith and Vikram for the lead role in Kaakka Kaakka. Turns out it was Jo who recommended Surya to Gautham. He is interested in making a trilogy of cop films and says he may make a third film with Vikram in the future.
Kamal is probably the most experimental among our heroes today. But Gautham says he had to make concessions for Kamal too in Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu. He wasn’t even there when they shot the sequences for Uyirile… and Neruppe…!
He says his appearance in his films so far was because of circumstances and that he may not make it a trend.
He gives a broad outline of Vaaranam Aayiram, his next film with Surya. Looks like it might be a message-oriented film with patriotic shades.
Rajnikant fight scene in hit French film
December 21, 2006 at 9:42 am | In movies | Leave a CommentA film that its makers say is fast becoming one of the year’s box office successes in France has an unlikely Indian connection – a 100-second fight sequence from one of Tamil superstar Rajnikant’s blockbuster hits.
In the romantic comedy Prete-Moi Ta Main (I Do) lead actress Charlotte Gainsbourg is shown watching the Indian star in action on her television, said Etienne Dubaille, an official at Alain Chabat’s production house.
“Rajnikant’s face and trademark action style are clearly visible in the footage. As part of the dialogue, Gainsbourg says she’s watching the cult Indian film Muthu,” Dubaille said.
Prete-Moi Ta Main has had one of the best openings of the year in France and has grossed more than $22 million since its release on November 1, Dubaille said.
Indian journalist Faizal Khan, who watched the film during a visit to Paris last month, said he was surprised to see Rajnikant’s face “popping up” in the film.
“The footage shown on the television set comes at a crucial moment in the movie,” he said.
Producer Chabat, known worldwide for his 2002 hit Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, had been on the lookout for a Chinese kung-fu sequence when he chanced upon two Tamil films Anniyan and Muthu.
Chabat felt the fight sequence in Rajnikant’s 1995 film was exactly what he wanted and got permission to use the footage from Kavithalayaa Productions, the Chennai-based producers of Muthu.
This is not the first time Muthu has garnered interest abroad. In 1998 it was released as Oduru Maharaja (Dancing Maharaja) in Japan and gained Rajnikant a cult following there.
Rajnikant turned 57 on December 12 and is gearing up for the release of his latest Tamil film Sivaji early next year.
Billa – Remaking of old classics started in Kollywood too
December 21, 2006 at 9:27 am | In kollywood, movies | 2 CommentsThe trend of remaking old classics has finally started in Tamil cinema too. It now seems official that Ajith will be starring in the remake of Rajni’s Billa (which, btw, was a remake of Amitabh Bachan’s Don, which, incidentally, was recently remade into a new Don starring Shah Rukh Khan. Whew! So, in Visu style, the new Billa is going to be a remake of a remake, which was a remake of a film that was recently remade!). The producer has bought the rights of the original and Rajni too has given the go-ahead to Ajith (and shared his thoughts on the remake).
I just watched Shah Rukh Khan’s Don and though I haven’t seen the original Don with Amitabh Bachan, I have seen Billa and so could make some comparisons. Like most Hindi films these days, Don is slick and stylish. It maintains a fast pace though it feels choppy at times as it shifts between different tracks. The action sequences are well-executed(though I did notice lifts from several Hollywood flicks) and green being the predominant color gives the film a cool, sophisticated look. On the story side, the updates are done well considering the times and the technology advances. So the red diary becomes a CD, the circus performer is now a computer expert, etc. Some new characters and twists are introduced and though they make the screenplay complicated and a tad confusing, they do make the movie unpredictable – and so interesting – even for those who have seen the original.
Apart from Ajith, the other key persons currently attached to the ‘Billa 2007’ project are director Vishnuvardhan, the director of Pattiyal and Arindhum Ariyaamalum, and music director Yuvan Shankar Raja. These choices do make me have high hopes about the project. Ajith can definitely play the cool, suave and ruthless Billa well. And the effeminate behavior he exhibited so well in Varalaaru, if toned down, can help him in the role of the paan-chewing, roadside dancer. Pattiyal has convinced me that Vishnuvardhan is one of the more stylistic directors around and he is capable of providing the stylish look that a remake will require, to differentiate it sufficiently from the original. And Yuvan’s thumping, high-energy score for Pattiyal proved that he can provide the perfect score for Vishnuvardhan’s stylish filmmaking.
Now, I’m curious about the rest of the cast. I think the heroine role will be the toughest to cast. The heroine here is the strong and silent type and needs to kick(or atleast, seem as though she is capable of kicking) some butt. I’m not sure any of our 3 leading heroines (Trisha, Asin and Nayan) can carry it off. I can’t imagine any of them being convincing executing martial arts moves or riding a bike. So maybe Ileana? But Nayan would be perfect for the Helen/Kareena role – a special appearance where she gets a nice seductive dance number. Just depends on whether she’d agree to do another item number. If egos don’t get in the way, Maddy might be a good choice for the ‘Thengai’ Srinivasan/Arjun Rampal role. But considering Prabhu’s recent choice of roles, he might be in the running too. I’m just hope that none of our usual, overacting supporting actors like Karan or Sriman get cast in the key role! Prakashraj is an automatic choice for the K.Balaji/Boman Irani cop role. He is one of the few supporting characters who can pull off a policeman role convincingly. And Pooja might be a good choice for the Isha Koppikar role.
Since the movie’s gonna start rolling in March 2007, thala will probably be singing My Name is Billa… for Diwali ‘07. Should be interesting…
Sharad Pawar on verge for cricket’s top job “ICC President”
December 21, 2006 at 5:55 am | In News, Sports | Leave a CommentAsian cricketing nations have nominated Board of Control for Cricket in India President Sharad Pawar as their choice for International Cricket Council’s to succeed Percy Sonn as its next president.
“Yes, it has been decided that Mr Pawar will be the candidate to take over as the new ICC president once Percy Sonn’s two-year term is over. Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are in favour of Mr Pawar and we hope to elicit the support of the West Indies too,” BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said from Rajkot.
“We have to move fast as the nomination needs to be sent to the ICC by January 1, 2007 and A C Muthiah (former BCCI chief) is the head of the ICC’s nomination committee,” informed Shah, adding the issue would be discussed at the board’s working committee meeting in Mumbai on Saturday.
Voting on the nominations will take place at the ICC’s annual meeting in London in July, 2007.
The move to nominate the Union Agriculture Minister to the top administrative post of the ICC was taken when he hosted a dinner for the representatives of the four World Cup co-hosts at his residence in Delhi on December 11 to finalise plans for the mega event.
According to sources, the support from ICC’s associate members would also be crucial for Pawar.
Pawar, who was also made the chairman of the 2011 World Cup organising committee at the Delhi meeting, would be the second Indian to hold the top job if he succeeds in his endeavour.
In fact, he is bidding to follow the footsteps of the man whose candidate he had defeated to take over BCCI’s helm in 2005, Jagmohan Dalmiya, with a small difference.
Dalmiya got elevated to the top ICC post midway through serving as the secretary of the BCCI before he returned to his home ground and unseated Muthiah and became the Indian Board’s chief.
Pawar, on the other hand, is already the BCCI President and is aiming to take over the reins of the ICC after his stint at the top of the Indian Board’s administrative set-up comes to an end.
David Morgan, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman, is believed to be the first in running for the ICC’s top job. He has been nominated by South Africa and is the leading candidate outside of the Asian bloc.
Google Steps Into PayPal’s Territory too
December 21, 2006 at 5:45 am | In News, Tech | Leave a CommentSteven Grossberg, who sells video games online from his home in Wellington, Fla., recently sent an enticing offer to 20,000 customers: $10 off any purchase over $30 using a new payment service, Google Checkout.
Traffic on his site more than tripled, and best of all, he said, Google picked up the tab for the promotion.
“I think it’s fantastic,” he said. “I’m selling the product. Google is getting tons of customers to sign up for Checkout. Customers are happy because they are getting a monster deal.”
And Google is not charging merchants any processing fees through the end of 2007.
As a result, getting customers to use Checkout will increase profits, Mr. Grossberg said.
So starting next year, he plans to take some of the money he spends to list items on eBay and try a new marketing strategy: placing ads alongside Google’s search results.
That is exactly what Google wants to hear.
When Google introduced Checkout in June, it was seen as a formidable rival to PayPal, eBay’s online payment service. And with Google aggressively promoting Checkout during the holiday season and beyond, its use with some merchants has already surpassed PayPal’s.
VeriSign to enable superior download movies online : Axiom TV
December 21, 2006 at 5:40 am | In News, Tech | Leave a CommentVeriSign Inc., best known for managing e-commerce security and Internet addresses, said it will start distributing family-friendly movies early next year.
The movie download service will be run by AxiomTV, a subsidiary of Axiom Entertainment Inc., based in Rochester, Mich.
Axiom is developing an Internet TV channel that will run kid-themed, parent-approved movies and shows. It will deploy technology called “Mother” to block pornography, violence and foul language.
A test version will launch Jan. 8, with general availability scheduled for Feb. 1. Subscribers would buy and install some cables and other simple hardware to watch movies on their television.
AxiomTV claims to be the first Internet movie service focused on family-friendly entertainment.
CinemaNow Inc., Movielink LLC, Amazon.com Inc.’s Unbox, Time Warner Inc.’s AOL Video are among the online movie services with a wider selection.
VeriSign will be distributing AxiomTV movies through its Intelligent Content Delivery Network, which uses a peer-to-peer system to save costs and improve speeds. With peer to peer, a movie file might come from a neighbor’s hard drive when available rather than from a distant server.
Mountain View-based VeriSign operates the key databases that help computers find Web sites ending in “.com” and “.net” as well as the machines containing the master list of all of the Internet’s suffixes, such as “.fr” for France. It also sells digital security certificates to help consumers know when an e-commerce transaction is encrypted.
Bloggers must disclose sponsored posts
December 21, 2006 at 5:35 am | In News, Tech | Leave a CommentA company that helps advertisers connect with bloggers willing to write about their products for payment will now require disclosures amid criticism and a regulatory threat.
Before this week, advertisers were barred by PayPerPost Inc. from telling bloggers they can’t disclose the sponsorship, but bloggers were able to decide on their own whether or not to do so. Under the new policy, bloggers must disclose that they are accepting payment, either in the write-up or in a general disclosure policy on the blogger’s Web journal.
“Ever since we launched, there’s been a lot of controversy about disclosure,” said Ted Murphy, PayPerPost’s chief executive.
Besides other bloggers questioning the ethics of receiving payments without disclosure, the Federal Trade Commission said in a Dec. 7 staff opinion that failure to disclose could, in some cases, violate consumer-protection laws on deception. The FTC did not single out PayPerPost or say whether it would launch any investigation.
David Sifry, founder of the blog search site Technorati, praised PayPerPost’s move.
“Overall, this is an encouraging and long-awaited change,” he said. “I think that people have learned that without trust, all posts become suspect. … By encouraging honesty and transparency in sponsored posts, PayPerPost adds (some) clarity to the waters they muddied when they launched six months ago.”
PayPerPost lets advertisers tell bloggers about word-of-mouth marketing opportunities such as a new gadget or shoe. Advertisers set a price of $5 or more per post, and willing bloggers respond. The better the price, the more quickly spots fill up. The Orlando, Fla., company brokers the payments.
Bloggers are free to trash products or write neutral reviews, but advertisers can specify whether they pay only for positive write-ups.
Advertisers include News Corp.’s Speed Channel and OfficeMax Inc., Murphy said.
PayPerPost may lose some advertisers with its new policy but believes the transparency will be better in the long term, Murphy said.
“Your bigger advertisers, clients that we really want to go after, the Fortune 500, the Fortune 1000, we saw they were requiring disclosure anyway,” he said.
Silly Inventions in Technology in 2006
December 21, 2006 at 4:57 am | In Science, Tech | Leave a CommentI read this article and found to be interesting. At one side technology is used to create the useful gadgets like ‘You Tube’,'Smart Phones’,'Video ipods’ and at the otherside,Around the world, scientists and product designers beavered away in high-security laboratories, investing time, money and effort to create some really silly gadgets.
Here goes the list of top 10 among them.
Be warned! This list may get you chuckling, frightened or just scratching you head in bafflement.
>> 1. Gupi, The Robot Guinea Pig: The Guinea Pig promises to be the ultimate pet. Small and furry, Gupi is festooned with all sorts of electronic wizardry to make him a truly interactive virtual pet. He has sensors in his eyes, so he can shuffle about the house without bumping into things, and in his legs, so he won’t go and fall off steps or the table — and he’s so smart he can even find his way in and out of a maze! If you mistreat or ignore him, he hides and if you pet him, he frolics. It also has a ‘magic carrot’ and makes 30 different sounds.
>> 2. The BeerBelly: BeerBelly is a false frontage that is particularly useful if you like a drink on the go. Just strap on your BeerBelly and you can drink what you want, when and where you want to. It’s made up of an insulated neoprene ’sling’ and a polyurethane ‘bladder’ with a tube for dispensing.
>> 3. Solar-powered Insect Theatre: The Solar Insect Theatre is a neat little insect habitat. During the day, its solar-charged batteries get their charge, by night it uses the power to light up in a fashion appealing to moths and butterflies. This eco-gadget isn’t that silly, actually. It stores power in the day, then lights up at night to attract moths and butterflies for you to watch.
>> 4. LumiGram Fiber Optic Clothing: This is an integration of fibre optics into fabrics to create a whole catalogue of wearable goods from handbags to hair. It’s hyped as a new advancement in fashion. Others called it party clothing for a shimmery effect.
>> 5. Froot Loop Cereal Bowl Light: The Cereal Bowl Light is one of the odder and more entertaining uses of sensor tech. Put in the spoon and it lights up, no fooling. The perfect gift for the lovely nitwit in your life. And, mind you, they are made with real fruit loops.
>> 6. USB Pole Dancer: Tory MP Anne Widdecombe called it ‘cheap and tawdry’ and ‘demeaning to women’. But for the man who likes his desk to have a classy vibe, this piece can be a good choice. She’s an eight-inch bikini-clad blonde, who dances on a lit-up podium.
>> 7. Geek-a-cycle: This is where exercise met Internet browsing. It’s a reclining exercise bike hooked up to a computer desk, ensuring that you can spend four hours a night updating your MySpace page and have calves of steel.
>> 8. Fatman Referee Suit: It’s one of the funniest football gadgets ever seen. This fat referee suit inflates in minutes and comes complete with a belt clip and fan! Meant for ‘funny-men’ at football parties, this gives the kind of hot air a referee probably had never before.
>> 9. Crazy Frog Karaoke Mic: Somewhere in a company boardroom, someone actually had the idea of teaching the kids to sing Crazy Frog songs better. The karaoke mic from Nikko Toys is actually designed to make youngsters learn and perform a number of the Crazy Frog’s ‘hits’ and to make things worse, it’s portable.
>> 10. Spray-on Condom: This specially-adapted aerosol can will provide you with a condom in a choice of strengths and colours in just five seconds – and one tailor-made for you. And, to boot, it’s actually hitting the stalls in 2008.
Slash in Cinema Ticket Rates
December 21, 2006 at 4:13 am | In News, movies | 2 CommentsToday as usual i got up in morning and started to go through news paper . As expected the main topic was related to Jessica lal case and below that wat i saw ??? Unable to believe …
I saw the heading “Heavy cut in cinema admission rates”. Can’t believe myself. Rubbed my eyes twice to see it clearly. Then started to wonder is this not a dream(I pinched myself) to verify. Yeah it was not a dream but in reality. Tamil Nadu government has taken steps to reduce the admission rates in Cinema halls ….
This step will make the middle class and low class people happier since wat once they dreamt of can be turned into reality. This will also bring down the pirated movies. Usaually since the middle and low class people can’t afford to such a high cost to see a movie they watch the pirated movies. But now due to reduction in prices they can afford to see in cinema.
Admission rates for premium seating during the first two weeks of much awaited movies in the city had headed skyward — from around Rs.60 to Rs.150 and more — after the earlier overnment relaxed the rules on admission rates. The DMK Government has cancelled this following representations from various quarters, says a release.
Now, the highest ticket fare in air-conditioned cinemas in corporation areas will be Rs.
50. The cheapest tickets will be priced at Rs. 10. For non air-conditioned halls, the
highest entrance fee per seat will be Rs. 30 while the cheapest will come at Rs. 7.
This is a surprise gift for the people in Tamil Nadu for the New Year. Lets see how successfully its implemented. Will it be Success???
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