Bharathiraja to team up with Ilayaraja for Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum

Director Bharathiraja recently turned 70 but still considers himself as a youth at heart. The veteran director recently stepped down as the president of Tamil Film Directors’ Association after getting elected to the post hardly a few weeks back. Citing his other commitments, he asked vice-presidents Cheran and Ameer to run the Association to suit the interests of producers and directors.

Known for his realistic village-based movies, many consider Bharathiraja as the pioneer in making films of this genre, a practice which he kick-started in the mid-seventies when he made ’16 Vayadhinilae’ starring Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and Sridevi. Maker of many memorable movies, Bharathiraja recently interacted with pressmen when he revealed details of his next directorial venture.

The director hasn’t made any movies since his ‘Bommalattam’ which rleased more than three years ago. He has now launched ‘Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum’ which would bring to the fore the amount of creativity that is still left in him. He is said to have completed the story and screenplay portions of the film and is presenting location suitable places for out-door shooting.

The film is likely to bring together Bharathiraja and ‘Maestro’ Ilayaraja together in a movie after many years. It might also witness the ‘Isaignani’ setting music to the lyrics of Vairamuthu. Ilaiyaraaaj had fallen out with both Bharathiraja and Vairamuthu long time back and this film might just witness the reunion of the three great men.

“This film would reveal a hitherto unseen dimension of myself as a film-maker. I’m sure the film would be spoken about with pride at least for the next three decades or so,”says Bharathiraja. Knowing his verve, you can’t disagree with him

Rajnikanth Exclusive Photos from Singapore

Rajni at Singapore

Superstar Rajinikanth returned to Chennai the 13th July, after staying away from the city and getting treated at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore for his kidney-related ailments.

Rajini’s exclusive Stills from Singapore for you.

Ajith’s Mankatha release in trouble due to Dhayanidhi Alagiri’s production

Reports emanating from Kollywood say that actor Ajith’s upcoming film ‘Mankatha’ is facing the problems vis-à-vis its theatrical release and that the problem is not dissimilar to the one which Vijay faced during the release of his ‘Kaavalan’ early this year.

The film, which is Ajith’s landmark 50th film and pits him opposite ‘action king’ Arjun for the first time, has raised high expectations among his fans and the movie-goers alike. The multi-starrer film has heroines such as Trisha, Lakshmi Rai, Anjali and Bollywood’s Kainaat Arora and has been directed by Venkat Prabhu. The problem is its producer Dayanidhi Azhagiri, son of Union Minister M.K. Azhagiri and the DMK strongman.

Though distributors and theatre-owners all over the State believe that the film would do well at the box-office, they are apprehensive about taking on a film produced by grandson of Kalaignar as they don’t want to invoke the wrath of Amma who is in the saddle at present. Ironically, the film’s Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Overseas distribution rights have been sold at a good rate but the Tamil Nadu distribution rights are yet to be sold!

Distributors and theatre-owners feel that it won’t be ‘proper’ if they release the film under the banner of Dayanidhi Azhagiri’s ‘Cloud Nine Movies’ and have reportedly asked Ajith to take on the responsibility of getting the movie from Azhagiri so that they would release the film without any fear or hesitation.

Ajith, on the other hand, maintains that he won’t be meetingCM Jayalalitha at this juncture as it would be construed that it was a ‘selfish’ meeting to iron out problems in releasing his film.

Genelia and John Abraham share steamy Titanic moments Still

After its Telugu remake Gharshana in 2004 with Venkateshand Asin and a Kannada remake 2003 block buster hitKaakha Kaakha now enters the Bollywood market with it’s Hindi remake. The Hindi version titled Force (2011) stars lead pair John Abraham and cuty-tuty Genelia D’Souza in main roles.

Genelia did shed her bubbly image recently, after her bold role as a warrior princess in Santhosh Sivans Urumidubbed Padhinaitham Nootrandu Uraivaal in Tamil, playing Prithvira’sj love interest. Now her role in Force does come as a ‘forced’ effort by Genelia to up her glamour quotient. The latest stills of the movie show Genelia andJohn sharing some intimate moments with one of the scenes sharing close resemblance to some steamy Titanic moments. Kaakha Kaakha was ‘THE’ movie for the hot Kollywood couple of Surya and Jyothika , as the duo fell in love during the shots of this runaway hit, later entering wedloc

Nanban Shooting in Hospital Still

Director Shankar is very keen on completingNanban as soon as possible since his super troupe of actors has other projects lined up already.The current schedule is supposed to be the final, although it is a very lengthy stay, reports on of our close sources present at the unit.

Well yesterday, we got lucky as we got a close glance at Vijay, Srikanth, Jiiva, and Ileana who were shooting for their respective scenes along with Nanbans crew at the Gosha Hospital located in Chennai, precisely Triplicane.

The superstars of Nanban are surely determined to give in their best and make their collaboration a success under the directorial hat of Shankar who is attempting a glorious remake of the Bollywood hit ‘3 Idiots’.

Ajiths Mankatha bloopers coming your way assures Venkat Prabhu

Well this one can come as a spoiler but guess Thala fans would be eager to know the same. We heard it through the grapevine that Thala Ajith’s upcoming mega budget offering does have its share of fun in the very climax. No silly, the climax will be “bigger and better than before”, we are talking about the rolling credits part.

Confirming our suspicions now director Venkat Prabhuhas spilled the beans as he revealed, “The end credits ofMankatha will be extraordinarily different from my previous movies!!! You guys can catch Thala’s bloopers for the very first time.”

Mankatha already has created much hype for the big star Kollywood offering with an endless list of celebrities hopping in to make Ajith ‘s landmark 50th offering a big hit.

Director Venkat Prabhu has always been credited with blowing in a fresh wind with all of his flicks. This “blooper addition to Mankatha” does come as a pleasant surprise to many.

Deiva Thirumagal II has baby Sarah in a matured role

Vikram’s extra ordinary performance and Director Vijay’s emotionally charged delivery have presented fans with a gem of a classic in Deiva Thirumagal. Apart from some memorable moments provided by Anuradha (Anushka), Shwetha (Amala Paul) and Vinodh (Santhanam) and the mentally challenged protagonist played by Chiyaan himself, 5 year oldNila’s performance (portrayed by baby Sarah) has secured a place in every cine goers heart.

Fresh from the success of the movie,now we hear that theDeiva Thirumagal production team of M. Chinthamani andRonnie Screwvala are already planning for a sequel to the much acclaimed, Vikram starrer Deiva Thirumagal. The sequel will be followed after baby Sara grows big and promises to be even better than the initial offering which still has good wishes pouring in from all corners. The actor also thanked his fans for the great response the movie has generated applauding Director Vijay and rest of the crew for their performances.]

I’ve not yet called it quits from films, says Nayantara

Though there are talks that Nayantara is going to settle in Singapore post marriage, she now has asserted that she hasn’t yet quit films. The actress, who is scheduled to marry Prabhudeva in a month or two, is widely expected to retire from films after her marriage to settle into matrimony. For the record, Nayantara is one of the most sought-after actresses in Tamil and Telugu and as and when she decides to do films, she would have produces and directors queueing up outside her residence to sign her up for their films.

The actress’ last film in Tamil was the highly enjoyable ‘Boss Engira Baskaran’ in which she starred oppositeAarya. She recently shot for the last days’ shoot of her upcoming Telugu film ‘Sri Raamarajyam’. It was widely reported by the Telugu press a week ago that Nayan bid ‘farewell’ to each and every member of the crew and the technicians after presenting them with a wrist-watch each as it was the ‘last day’s shooting of the last film in her career’.

Interestingly enough, Nayan had been steadfastly refusing any new Tamil film offers for the past few months, which gave rise to the speculation that she might quit films after her marriage to Prabhudeva. Setting the record straight, Nayan has said that “It was a fact that I broke down on the last day’s shooting of Sri Ramarajyam. It need not necessarily mean that I have quit films.

“Reports claiming that I have quit films are baseless. I cried on that day as I was so moved by the reaction of the co-stars and the crew members who poured flowers on me and bid me good-bye as we had worked as a team for a long time for the film. Factually speaking, all the four films I starred in the last year were super-duper hits in Tamil and Telugu. Why should I then think of quitting?” concludes Nayan.

Nuclear-boost: Uranium mine in Andhra could be among largest in world

Nuclear-boost: Uranium mine in Andhra could be among largest in world

India has been procuring uranium on various terms from countries like France and Kazakhstan but does not yet have a long-term supply contract.

RAWATBHATA (Rajasthan): India`s nuclear power aspirations just got a boost thanks to a lucky find. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has discovered that the upcoming uranium mine in Andhra Pradesh's Tumalapalli has close to 49,000 tonnes of uranium — three times the original estimate of the area`s deposits. In fact, there are indications that the total quantity could go up to 1.5 lakh tonnes, which would make it among the largest uranium mines in the world.

The quantity is sufficient for supporting a nuclear power plant of 8,000 MW capacity for 40 years. Production will start in six months. Srikumar Banerjee, secretray of DAE and chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, announced the discovery during the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the seventh and eighth units of the Rawatbhata atomic power project.

"It`s confirmed that the mine has 49,000 tonnes of ore, and there are indications that the total quantity could be three times of that amount. If that be the case, it will become the largest uranium mine in the world. The plant is ready, and will begin production by the end of this year," Banerjee said.

Now, India has two functioning uranium mines — both in Jharkhand. The total reserves are estimated to be in the range of 1,70,000 tonnes. The discovery of the Tumalapalli deposit has at one stroke boosted the availability of uranium, lowering the country`s dependence on foreign supplies.

India has been procuring uranium on various terms from countries like France and Kazakhstan but does not yet have a long-term supply contract.

India continues to fancy nuclear energy as a possible solution for its energy needs. Unlike some other countries which have been forced to temper their enthusiasm for nuclear energy post-Fukushima, the UPA government is persisting with its push for what is considered to be the cleanest source of energy.

The fact that Tumalapalli may have uranium reserves has been known for a while, but it took four years for the estimate to come to the present level from 15,000 tonnes in 2007. A 220-MW plant requires 45 tonnes of uranium per year, a 540-MW plant needs 80 tonnes and a 700-MW plant requires 100 tonnes per year.

Banerjee said that the fact that the usual acidic method of leaching would not have worked in Tumalapalli took some time for a full exploration of the reserves. "We developed the method of acidic leaching in the Jadugoda mines in Jharkhand. Subsequent exploration showed that reserves are spread across a 35-km radius," he said.

The countdown has started for the seventh and eighth units of the Rawatbhata power project, which is all set to have two indigenously built 700 MW capacity plants — the biggest in the country. The plants, being built at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore, are likely to be ready by 2016. As per the revised policy, 50% of the energy output will be for consumption in Rajasthan, and the rest will be given to the Northern Grid.

S K Jain, CMD of the Nuclear Power Corporation India Limited, announced plans of constructing 14 plants of 700 MW capacity each over the next few years

Nanban spotted at Koyambedu Water Tank

Bustling through its final shooting schedule the Nanban team was spotted on top of the Koyambedu Water Tankrecently. Director Shankar was seen animatedly pointing out to his crew members their roles and positions. The entire crew along with the director was in an upbeat mood as they caught upon a wonderful view of Chennai atop theKoyambedu water tank.

The scene is supposedly the one where the ‘3 idiots’ are busy spending valuable college time discussing about their lives and even involves the crucial bet scene. Vijay, Srikanth and Jeeva had a jolly good time at the sets pulling each others legs during the shoots that lasted over 3 days. A special Akila crane, about 200 feet tall was required to carry out the successful filming of the sequence, which makes it to the introductory section of the movie.

If Shankar and his Nanban team progress at this pace, the good news is expected soon.

Where does Rajini stay in Chennai?

Superstar Rajinikanth returned to Chennai last Wednesday after staying away from the city and getting treated at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore for his kidney-related problems. Prior to leaving for Singapore, the actor had brief stints at two leading hospitals in the city viz., Isabel Hospital in Mylapore and the SRMC Hospital at Porur.

It was said that Rajini’s Poes Garden residence is being renovated according the the recommendations of the ‘Vaasthu Shastra’. It was also said that Rajini would only return to the Poes Garden residence after all the renovation work is completed and would be staying at his sprawling farmhouse in Kelambakkam on the outskirts of the city till such time.

Reports say that Rajini is neither at Poes Garden nor atKelambakkam but has been staying at the Venus Colony residence of elder daughter Aishwarya. It is also said that on his return from Singapore, Rajini wanted to stay for some time at the Kelambakkam farmhouse. The farmhouse had been made ‘ready’ to host the superstar for a month or so and even the security at the farmhouse had been beefed up.

In order to remain close to his grandchildren Yatra andLinga and considering the fact that Kelambakkam is quite far from the city, Rajini is said to have decided to stay at the Venus Colony residence of Aishwarya at Alwarpet for the time being. It is also said that after resting completely for a couple of months, Rajini might start shooting for his ‘Rana’ by end-September or early October