Chennai Box-Office & Cine Express

JUNE04 --- Asin knows Tamil

Asin, on a visit to the city recently, took everyone by surprise when she announced that she can read Tamil! “N e e n g a A z h a g a Irukeenge... that’s very sweet,” she said, reading out a message written to her. The endearing lass continued to warm up to the audience and refused to be drawn into controversy when asked to compare Suriya and Aamir Khan, her co-stars in the Tamil and Hindi version of Ghajini. Coming up with a polished and diplomatic reply, she said, “They have more similarities than differences. Their obsession with work is great. Both of them want to make sure that things come out perfect on-screen.” Looks like working with these two talented stars has had an effect on the actress too! We’re sure she’s ready to take the next big step (The 19th Step at that!) in cinema.

JUNE03 --- Thala Ajith's Asal Special Article

The latest about Ajith’s Asal is that it has been delayed due to various technical reasons. The makers of the film wanted to shoot it in never-seen-before locations, like Scotland, Italy and Turkey. However, the update is that the tried-and-trusted locations of Malaysia will be most likely chosen for the film. The villain, who plays a pivotal role, has also been firmed up! It’s going to be Rajiv Krishna, the man who made a mark in S J Suryah’s Newtonin Moondram Vidhi. Meanwhile, Mamta Mohandas — who was being considered to play heroine — has walked out of the project after coming to know that she has to play second fiddle to Sameera Reddy. Nothing really to worry about for the filmmakers, as there are many girls willing to act in a Ajith film, even as a second heroine! And, the best news coming the way of Ajith and director Saran is that the actor — who plays a character with slightly negative shades — has the freedom to “light up” on screen. In the film’s promotional stills, Ajith is shown with a Cuban ciga,which he can now light up due to the directives of the new health minister!

JUNE03 --- As stars turn singers in Kollywood

The new craze in Kollywood is stars turning to crooning and making a song and dance about it! Vikram is the sole male voice in Kanthaswamy, and the album has sold over one lakh copies in a week’s time! Simbu has a career option in his hands. After delivering a few hit numbers in recent films, the actor is much in demand among music directors, who are queuing up to get him to sing in their albums. They say he has a different voice which is a hit among the youth. The best example is the song, Where is the party… from Silambattam which became a chartbuster. Recently, Simbu crooned six songs for various music directors like Yuvan Shankar Raja, Dhina, Srikanth Deva, Dharan and Sabesh Murali. The buzz is that Simbu may also croon for Ajit’s new film Asal under Bhardwaj’s baton.There is nothing new in actors turning to singers as it has been happening for a very long time, and Kamal Haasan and Vijay, among the current crop, have been doing it on a regular basis. What’s new is that, stars are now singing for other heroes as well. Dhanush and his wife Aishwarya have sung a song for Selvaraghavan’s Aayirathil Oruvan, which has been

picturised on Karthi and Reema Sen. Last week, Vivekh lent his voice for a song in his film Ithanai Naalai Enge Irunthal. Says Vivekh, “It is a nice peppy number that I’ve sung with Rita, and it is sure to become popular.” A very pleased Vikram says, “Initially, I was very reluctant to sing for Kanthaswamy, but director Susi Ganeshan and music director Devi Sri Prasad convinced me to have a go at it. I sang not only for the Tamil version of the film but also for its Telugu version, Mallanna. The songs from the film have already become chartbusters, and after the film’s release, we expect them to do even better, thanks to the catchy picturisation.” Meanwhile, established singers are feeling the heat, as stars turning singers is bad news for them and eats into their business. Says an established singer, “It may sound like a case of sour grapes, but I’m yet to come across a singerturned-star, who understands the nuances of singing. It is alright at the moment as cacophony rules Tamil film music. I would say it is only a passing trend good music has to have a trained voice to back it up.” Now, the latest we hear is that Devi Sri Prasad, the music director of Singam, is trying to persuade Suriya to sing the introductory song in the film!

JUNE01 --- Dhanush A Rewind

Dhanush son of a noted director kasthuri raja had one of the best ever debuts in tamil cine industry as his first 3 movies were huge hits. His second movie Kadhal Kondean Directed by Selvaraghavan where he played the role of a poor college boy turning into a mentally disturbed person in the end impressed everyone. The name Vinodh deserves no better explanation as Dhanush lived as the character Vinodh throughout the movie. After Kadhal Kondean dhanush then stepped into full fledged commercial cinema. Thiruda Thirudi his 3rd movie having the title track "Manmatha Rasa" which made the entire south dance to his tune. Then he had quite a dissapointing show in the box office with movies not doing well as one would expect to do so as they lacked the content,screenplay etc.Dhanush out of no where delivered a Masterpiece by the name Pudhupetai directed by Selvaraghavan.Though the movie dint have a decent run at the box office , it entirely changed dhanush's image. Before pudhupetai one never would have dreamt that dhanush would perform such a kind of role of a Gangster with ease. Dhanush showed that He wasnt going anywhere and is sure to Stay in Tamil Cinema for a long time to come.Followed by the Masterpiece it was then the MasterStroke , The Word Success became a part of Dhanush's Name . Be it Thiruvilayadal Arambam, Pollathavan, Yaradi nee mohini , Padikathavanthe movie name's mite differ but each of the movie ended up in success. Though he was criticised for repeating the same roles of young ignorant boy , Dhanush knew that he was doing the role which suited the best and which would impress the audience easily.He married Aishwarya Daughter of Super Star Rajinikanth and has a son by the name Yatra.He had his own style and charisma and never followed the footsteps of any senior actors and that made him a highly successful man as far as the Cine Industry is Concerned.

His upcoming movies are Aadukalam With Vetrimaran who teamed with him for pollathavan , Idhu malai nerathu mayakkam where he does a cameo and Kutty remake of telugu super hit arya along with Shriya Saran..

As a fan i wish Dhanush the Very best in his upcoming movies.

JUNE01 --- Jayam's Ravi's Wedding

Jayam Ravi is all set to enter wedlock on June 4th. The wedding will take place in Chennai and a reception for the newlyweds will be held at the Mayor Ramanathan Chettiar Hall in Chennai.

Jayam Ravi said that though it was love marriage, both the parents have given their consent wholeheartedly. The actor said that reports that his parents were against his love was baseless.

According to the actor, Jayam, his debut venture proved to be a turning point in his life. Likewise, he expects his wedding to his love Aarthi to turn out to be another turning point.

JUNE1 --- Chennai Box-Office - Thoranai opens at No.1

1.Thoranai [தோரணை] -- 52shows | 13screens | Opening Week | Average

2.Angels and Demons [English] -- 18shows | 5screens | Opening Week | Hit

JUNE1 --- ANGELS AND DEMONS REVIEW

CAST:Tom hanks,Ewan McGregor,Ayelet Zurer,
Stellan Skarsgard,Pierfrancesco Favino,Nikolaj Lie Kaas
GENRE:DRAMA|ADVENTURE|THRILLER|MYSTERY
DIRECTOR:RON HOWARD

STORY:Tom hanks(Robert Langdon) ,the symboligist who proved the entire Vatican that Jesus christ had a wife In his earlier Da vinci code is now called by the Vatican to solve a mystery named the "ILLUMINATI". Illuminati refers to the group of people of the 16 th and 17 th century who had enough knowledge on Science and were considered aethists as they had no faith in God. The Vatican were against this.So in the 17 th century almost all the Illuminati's were killed by the vatican(Incident named Legorah).The story begins with the death of Pope and an antimatter being stolen from the particle collidor laboratory in Geneva ( Switzerland).The death of the pope calls for an immediate election to deceide who the next Pope will be . The cardinals and Saints from various countries assemble in Rome.Unfortunately the 4 candidates who were to stand in election are kidnapped by the group Illuminati and they also have the anti matter with them. The illuminati then issue a warning saying that at the end of every one hour a candidate for the Pope election dies and at the end the anti matter will be blown thereby destroying the entire Vatican.The vatican police and the church calls up on Robert langdon(tom hanks) to solve this mystery.Hes accompanied with Scientist Vittoria Vetra(Ayelet Zurer) who works in the particle collidor laboratory in switzerland from where the anti matter was stolen.

THE MYSTERY: Illuminati's try to kill each and every pope(ie. 4 candidates) by placing a mark on their heart with an illuminati symbol. There are 4 symbols Each one referring to One Illuminati Church and the 4 signs are as follows Wind water Earth Fire. Each of the pope of the 4 will be kept in each of the illuminati churches plus there is an additional 5 th sign and a 5 th church where the anti matter is placed. Its upto Robert Langdon and his team to find out the 5 churches around the city of rome and save the pope as well as find out the anti matter before it blows offThe Screenplay is absolutely Fantastic with each scene remaining a mystery to be solved thereby leading to the illuminati churches .The background score is a huge plus for the movie .An additional Info the entire vatican city rome you come to see in the movie is actually an animated one which has been made to look real .Tom Hanks does a fantastic job as the symbolist who solves the mystery while Ayelet Zurer assists him. Hes also accompanied by the Vatican City comissioner and Other city police officials who help him tracing down the illuminati churches. The young cardinal Ewan McGregor who himself has a desire of becoming the next pope although hes not taking part in the elections has done a good job. Lookout for his twist in the endThe movie ends with one of the most unpredictable climaxes and a pope being elected to become the leader of christianity .

RATING:3.5/5
VERDICT:GO FOR IT
AT THE CBO: WITH TAMIL MOVIES FAILING TO HIT THE BULL'S EYE THESE DAYS ,THIS MOVIE WILL HAVE A DECENT RUN IN THE CITY

JUNE01 --- Sameera Special Interview

After the success of Vaaranam Aayiram, Sameera Reddy’s on a high. The actress has already signed up two Tamil films with leading directors and she’s looking forward to more offers. “Vaaranam Aayiram gave me my first break in Kollywood and I’m very happy with the feedback I have received. People recognise me more as Meghna than Sameera in this city. I had positive vibes about the movie when I heard the script itself and I was proved right,” says an excited Sameera. Her hard work and commendable performance in the movie has landed her the lead in Gautham Menon’s next project — a psychological thriller, about which he’s tight lipped, even to his star. “Gautham didn’t say much about this thriller. But, I accepted the role because it’s his movie and he can never go wrong with his gut feeling,” she says. “I won’t say that this movie is completely different from other movies in the genre. But, I will definitely vouch for the fact that this movie will be out of the ordinary.” Apart from Gautham’s flick, Sameera is also a part of Ajith’s much-hyped Asal with director Saran. “I start shooting for Asal this month in Malaysia,” she says. Prod her more about the movie and she says, “From what I’m told, Asal has two heroines and I’m playing one of them — a smart, intelligent, and focussed girl with a completely modern outlook.” And on cue, she adds, “Oh yeah, she also dresses to match her flamboyant personality.” Interestingly, Sam hasn’t met Ajith after she signed the movie. “I met him in Chennai when I first came here. He’s cool and fun to be with. And, do you know what the best thing about him is? He’s very fluent in Hindi and that will save me from half the trouble while shooting for Asal,” she giggles.However, she assures us that she’s in the process of learning Tamil and insists, “I’ll soon be able to speak the language without any problem.” She’s currently working in Priyadarsan’s De Dhana Dhan and Nagesh Kukunoor’s Yeh Hausla. “I play a tribal girl from Rajasthan in Yeh Hausla. Priyan’s movie will most probably release by August and I also have Red Alert with Suneil Shetty. I’m also playing a role in the sequel to Race. Yes, my hands are full with Bollywood movies, but, I’m open to offers from the south,” she states. Sam will be coming to the city this week and she’s more than looking forward to it. “I have a lot of friends here and I know my way around here. I feel at home. I usually hang out in Nungambakkam and catch up with my friends over a cuppa. The last time I was here, I called up Suriya to wish him on his success of Ayan. It’s nice to know that your costar is doing really well,” she says, ready to sign off. But, we nudge her in a last attempt to know more about her two Kollywood projects. And, sexy Sam says, “I can only tell you is that Gautham’s project will be a psychological thriller and Asal will be an action thriller. And, I’m here to thrill you with my performance!”

JUNE01 --- Padmapriya’s loss, Nikita’s gain

Padmapriya has suddenly become hot property in Tamil and Malayalam. The actress was to do a special appearance in Mammootty’s Malayalam film titled Daddy Cool, but the dates clashed with the climax shoot of Cheran’s Pokkisham. Finally, Mammootty had to call Nikita who has earlier done films like Kaiyethum Doorathu, Bus Conductor and Moonam Khandam in Malayalam.
The lass is in demand now post her hot number in Venkat Prabhu’s Saroja. We hear that she will be doing a song and few scenes with Mammootty and Daniel Balaji at Kochi, after which the film will be complete.

JUNE01 --- Sneha's right choices

Sneha is perhaps the smartest among the new generation actresses. The lass seems to know how to make hay while the sun shines! Keeping this in mind, the actress is doing all genres of movies. Just take a look at the mix of movies she is doing — an experimental Achchamundu Achchamundu and a mass masala Murattu Kaalai. She’s also doing Nootrukku Nooru. Also on the cards is a glam role in Goa and an action-packed character in Bhavani (where she plays a cop). The latest we hear about Bhavani is that she has done her action scenes without using a dupe! The film, which is directed by G Kicha, is a remake of Vijayshanthi’s yesteryear superhit Vyjayanthi IPS. We hear that the highlight of the film will be the punch dialogues of Sneha, apart from her deadly action scenes! To top it, the actress is doing a cameo as herself in Angadi Theru. Way to go, girl!