Category — Crew

Folks, it cannot get any better than this. Latest buzz in the filmi circles is that, none other than Kamalhassan will feature in Robot. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, sources close to Shankar’s camp said that Kamal was approached to lend his voice for Jeeno, the robotic puppy that is playing a pivotal role in the movie. Kamal enthusiastically agreed to play this role. He reportedly even went for a voice test that happened in Ramoji Rao Film City in Hyderabad last month, where he tried different modulations of his voice. Both Kamal and Shankar were quite happy with the results, we hear.

There is a trend in hollywood to use superstars’ voice for animated movies. Such movies turned out to be huge blockbusters. To name a few, Shrek, The Bee Movie, Finding Nemo, Shark Tale are such movies. Super stars such as Jerry Seinfeld, Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro who lent their voices added life to the movie, so to speak. Shankar is introducing another hollywood phenomenon to Indian cinema. Hats off to him!

Jeeno the robotic dog, was an important character in Sujatha’s original ‘En Iniya Iyanthiraa’, a novel on which the Robot movie is based. This character reached such a cult status, that Sujatha named the sequel after the dog ‘Meedum Jeeno’. This character captured the readers’ imagination in that legendary novel. We have to wait and see if Shankar can recreate that magic in silver screen.

There is no better person to lend the voice for Jeeno than Kamal. I remember a hilarious scene in Punnagai Mannan where Kamal playing the role of Chaplin Chellappa, tries hard to pacify a crying child. He would mimic different animals like a dog, a rooster and a monkey, to make that kid smile. He amazed with me with the perfection that he brought to the not-so-important scene of the movie. Lets see if he can use his animal instincts to add depth to Jeeno’s character in Robot. Cant’ wait to see!!!

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Robot movie commenced this week with a photo shoot scheduled in a hugely erected set in AVM studios by Cabu Syril. Sources said that make up tests are being taken with the Super Star trying various hairstyles. At this time only Rajini is participating in the shoot. Next schedule of the photo shoot is tentatively organized in May during which Aishwariya Rai is expected to participate.

In other news Thiru replaces Nirav Shah as the cameraman. Thiru is quite a busy bee these days.  Hindi movie Bhool Bhulaiya (Chandramukhi in Tamil) is one of his big recent hits.

Veteran writer Sujatha passed away today in Chennai after a brief illness. He was 73 and survived by his wife and two sons.

Sujatha whose real name was S.Rangarajan has written hundreds of novels, short stories and stage plays. His novels in 70s and 80s were huge sensational hits. He was also a successful screenplay writer.

He carved a niche for himself by writing science fiction novels which is a rarity in Tamil. Many speculate that Robot movie was inspired by his super hit novel ‘En Iyiya Iyanthiraa’.

May his soul rest in peace.

Vadivelu has been signed up to do the comedy part in Kuselan. Vivek was supposed to have done the role, but now as per official sources, the role goes to Vadivelu. The official reason given is that Vivek is having scheduling conflicts due to his commitments to other movies.

This reason is really funny.  In the last three years, Vivek was seen in only a handful of movies. Even though his comedy track in Sivaji was a super duper hit, that did not seem to help his career in any way. In such circumstances, it is absurd to think that Vivek chose not to act in Kuselan due to time constraints. There’s got to be some other reason. Did he upset the super star by impersonating him in his latest movies?

Both Vadivelu and Vivek are very talented, although their comedy styles are  distinct. While slapstick is Vadivelu’s forte, Vivek is a king of satire. As for as Kuselan is concerned, as we mentioned here before, we think Vadivelu would suit the the movie better than Vivek.  Can Vadivelu repeat the magic of Chandramukhi? Lets wait and watch.

It was sort of a surprise for many. G.V.Prakash has been chosen to do the music for Kuselan. Many expected Vidyasagar to be roped in, because his songs were a big plus for the team’s last collaboration Chandramukhi. He has been consistently giving quality music which turn out to be moderate hits. It was briefly rumored that Deva would do the score although it later turn out to be just rumors. Finally the hot and happening G.V.Prakash’s name has been announced and in fact Vasu and Prakash have been busy shortlisting situations and tunes for the movie.

We predict a big future for G.V.Prakash. He is no one movie wonder. Movie after movie he is proving that he has what it takes. Sure he is no Ilayaraja or A.R.Rehman, but he works very hard to stand out in the crowd. One of his recently releases I personally liked was Polladhavan. Be it a quiet melody “Minnalgal Koothadum” or the rap remix of “Engeyum Eppothum” or the unavoidable kuthu song “Padichu Parthen” or foot tapping number “Alibaba Thangam”, G.V.Prakash has shown an excellent variety while being trendy.

We wish him good luck for his future and a special one for Kuselan.

Two days ago an internet magazine claimed that Aishwariya walked out of Robot since she is planning to have a baby by the year end. This created a minor flutter among many. When we probed the matter further we came to know that there is no basis for this rumor. However we waited for the dust to settle down and some kind of official announcement on this matter.

Speaking with reporters yesterday Ash said that it is only a rumor and that she and Abhishek are not planning to have kids at least for the next three years and their main focus until then would be their respective careers. She further said that she read the Robot script and she is extremely excited to be part of it. Speaking about Rajini, she said she has always been looking forward to act with Rajini and it has materialized after a long time.

Who would be crazy enough to walk away from six crores, huh?

News sources confirmed that Vivek has been roped in for Kuselan. This news comes in as a surprise for many including us. We were hoping that this movie will repeat the unforgettable moments of Rajini-Vadivelu combo from their earlier venture Chandramukhi. Moreover Kuselan is a movie with a rural background; so we thought Vadivelu would make a better companion than Vivek. However it comes as a surprise that Vivek is indeed the chosen one.

Why Vivek was chosen? There are atleast two versions of the story doing the rounds. The first one is the box office disaster that Vadivelu’s Indiralogathil… is going through. In the other version of the story, Rajini seems to be more than impressed with Vivek’s contribution to Sivaji’s success. So he felt Vivek would bring in more value to Kuselan than Vadivelu.

Vivek was fantastic in Sivaji. We are sure he would bring the same magic to Kuselan as well. Congratulations Vivek!

After going back and forth between Simran and Tabu, Kuselan team has finally zeroed in on Meena to pair with Pasupathy in Kuselan. Meena is the one who did the original in Malayalam.

Expressing satisfaction over the decision, director P.Vasu said that he was impressed with Meena’s portrayal of a middle-aged mother in Katha Parayumbol and he is glad that she agreed to play the same role in Tamil too.

Talking to press yesterday, Ash confirmed that she has been offered the role and she is excited to be part of the project.

“Yes, I have been offered the role and I’m very excited about it,” opined the 50 Kg Taj Mahal, “Working on the schedule has begun and they are trying to make it happen.” Curious reporters questioned her why it took so long to be paired opposite Rajini despite repeated attempts. Blaming it on her tight schedule, Ash said both Shankar and Rajini were great entertainers, independently of each other. If they are coming together once again, and there is no way she is going to miss the opportunity this time, she said.

When questioned about the limited role heroines get to play in Rajini’s movies (come on guys, take a break, how long are you going to ask the same type of questions?), She said Rajini is so super fascinating in his movies everyone else in his movies gets sidelined. However there is no deliberate attempt by the director or the actor to reduce the importance of any actors/actresses, she said.

The latest news on Kuselan is that Nayanatara might pair with Rajini in Kuselan. We reported in this website that Nayan is likely to play a role in Robot too.

In the original malayalam movie, Mamooty had a very short yet a powerful role but without a herione. It appears P.Vasu is making several changes to the script to suit Rajini’s fans. Who would want to watch a Rajini movie without a heroine?

Meanwhile industry sources revealed that Kuselan will hit floors on February 15th. Official announcements are expected sooner than that. We will keep you posted.