Ajith on a holiday

After the hectic, continuous shooting schedule for Billa 2, the ultimate star Ajith has zoomed off on a holiday with his family.

He flew to Singapore and Malaysia last week. Ajith will be celebrating the New year in Singapore and then it’s back to work in the first week of January. But before that there will be a two-week break for the actor with his little daughter Anoushka and lovely wife Shalini in Singapore.

Ajith’s buddy says, “He was missing his daughter when he was shooting away from home. So he planned this trip to spend time with her.” Now it’s absolute family time for Thala, don’t disturb!

Female bonding

Shruti Haasan, Ileana and Tamannah were spotted spending ‘girl time’ together at Tamannah’s recent birthday bash in Mumbai. Tamannah invited just 25 of her close friends to a private party and unlike some of the other leading actresses, it was nice to see these three lovely young ladies putting aside their professional rivalries and having a blast. Sisters Shruti Haasan and Akshara Haasan made many heads turn. A genuine friendship seemed to have blossomed between the leading ladies Tamannah and Ileana. Tamannah says, “Ileana and Shruti are good friends and we often catch up at my place in Mumbai. It was a great feeling to have Ileana at my party. Akshara is always sweet.” Dhanush sang the hit Kolaveri song and made her b’day bash special. Tamannah gushes happily, “Dhanush made my day. My friends were overwhelmed to watch Dhanush’s Kolaveri performance live at a private party while it was creating huge waves across the globe!”

Marina setting for Kolaveri

Kolaveri going viral perhaps is a good promo campaign for the 3 film’s team but now is the time Aishwarya Dhanush is pooling together all her creative energies as she is planning to shoot the actual video.

When asked about her plans for the shoot, she says, “We want to keep the visuals simple, unique and attractive. I would like to choose a general theme that will appeal to the wide range of our audiences.”

On special efforts being made, she says, “Of course, it is a huge responsibility to live up to the expectations. At the same time, I would like to do justice to the script and ensure that the song will not deviate from it. So no grand plans to shoot with thousand dancers and make it big.”

So, is Rajinikanth going to do a special appearance in the song? “No that’s not true,” she says, “It will be an interesting dance number and not a montage song. You can expect an energetic dance from Dhanush in the song.”

Preparations for shooting the song are on. The film’s producer, Kasthuri Raja says, “The team is planning to create a set of Marina beach to shoot the song in. They have come up with an innovative idea and are working on it. As producer, I will provide them whatever they want to make it a visual hit as well.”

Anirudh, music composer and brain behind the hit song, says, “As per plan we are not experimenting with anything. The song will enhance the story and scene and will not go off track. The whole team is very particular about this. When the song is placed at the right scene, then the job is well done.”

Aishwarya who has been busy with interviews and interacting with filmmakers who are already interested in buying the rights of the song, has already briefed her husband on the shoot and is super excited we hear. Close friends of the couple say, she has been talking about it a lot and wants to make sure it gets across to all sections of the audience and not just the urban youth. A friend of Aishwarya said, “She has worked incredibly hard on the film and wants to make sure her song fits in with the larger theme.”

Lineage Lyricists thrive Kollywood

After Madan Karky, son of veteran lyricist Vairamuthu, now it’s the turn of Niranjan Bharthi from the Subramanya Bharathiyar family, to plunge into the creative, dazzling world of Kollywood.

The Bharthi boy is penning the lyrics for Ajith in his debut film, Mangaatha.

One difference between them is, Niranjan is an MBA student who wants to take up films as a full-time career, while Madan Karky is clear that lyric writing in films will always be his part-time work.

There are other differences, too. Madan got into films without his dad’s recommendation, whereas Niranjan admits that his famous surname helped him to bag his debut film offer.

“Hailing from the Subramanya Bharthiyar family was a good visiting card for me. I deliberately told people about my background,” says Niranjan, who is currently studying at ICFAI University, Hyderabad.

“Everybody was surprised to know that I’m from such a privileged family, that I’m the great-great- grandson of Bharathiyar. Right from my college days I used to write dummy lyrics to popular films. I wanted to get into films, but didn’t get the right opportunity. I did approach quite a few people without revealing my identity, but that didn’t work out. I realized, why should I restrict myself by not revealing my background? When I am blessed to be born in Bharathiyar’s family, I should be proud to call myself Niranjan Bharthi.

“So I met director Venkat Prabhu and disclosed my family tag. I got an awesome response; he liked my style of writing as well. Then he gave me an opportunity to pen the lyrics for Ajith in Mangaatha. This could be a huge opening for me. I can still see so many youngsters struggling for a good break. I think I’m lucky that I could kick-start effectively with my family background. Most of my friends are Ajith fans and everybody is excited about my Mangaatha songs. I have written a romantic number for Ajith. Though I come from a literary family, I don’t mind penning lyrics for a kuthu song, since I enjoy peppy numbers. But I do draw the line at double-meaning words,” says Niranjan firmly.

In contrast, Madan Karky was determined to enter films without even mentioning his dad’s name. That’s how he got to write his debut song, Irumbile oru irudhayam mulaikuthe in Enthiran.

“It’s easy to enter films with a reputed family background. That will help you for just one film. After that it’s only your talent which can take you further and lead you to great heights. I didn’t want to use my father’s name in my early days when I wanted to get into films.

“I struggled for a few years before I got my opportunity in Enthiran. I met many directors and producers without using my dad’s name. After so many rejections in the film industry, I happened to meet director Shankar. Until I met him I didn’t reveal the fact that I was Vairamuthu’s son. After I impressed him with my work and technical knowledge, I told him about my dad in the course of the meeting. He was stunned to know about my background. Now I am happy that I could get an opportunity to make my debut in films without using my father’s identity.

“Even my dad is happy with the way I am proceeding. In fact he didn’t want me to enter films, he wanted me to excel in some other field. At times people compare me with my dad, but that’s okay. I am striving hard to establish my own style, trying to use fresh, unique words in my upcoming song. Lyric writing will always be my part time work” says Madan Karky, who is currently employed as a professor in Anna university, even as his latest number Nenjil Nenjil from Engeyum Kaadhal rocks radio stations!

Engineeering to Cinema..Tapsee Pannu on her debut release

Software engineer-turned-actress Tapsee Pannu radiates a combination of apprehension and elation. This attractive young woman quit an IT job to get into films and now her debut film Aadukalam is set to hit screens during Pongal.

She’s already busy shooting for her next film, Vanthaan Vendraan, on the outskirts of Chennai.

About her childhood, Tapsee recalls, “I was a class topper right from my school days. I used to be a bookworm, studying all the time, focusing on scoring high marks. My dad would ask me to compensate with a good score in my exams if I wanted to go out with my friends for a weekend.

“So with all that, seriously I had a tough time convincing my parents to let me get into films. My dad was against my dream to become an actress.”

But gradually, this bubbly student got into modeling during her college days and films soon followed. “I quit a software job for films. Now, there’s no looking back,” she declares.

Tapsee says that even her co-stars are surprised to learn of her academic background. “One day, I saw Dhanush using an iPhone application which was developed by me in my final year of college and when I told him this, he was pleasantly surprised but very proud,” she smiles.

The actress admits that she’s a tech freak who’s spotted with a new gadget all the time. “I can’t use the same mobile phone or iPod for more than a week. I keep updating my gadgets,” she adds.

As the conversation veers towards her role in Aadukalam, Tapsee quips, “I must be the poorest heroine to make her debut -- no make-up, no hairstyle, not even for a single scene and just five costumes throughout the film.”

She elaborates, “The name of my character is Irene Claude, she’s completely different from the way I am in real life. I was born and brought up in Delhi, it was an entirely different experience for me to shoot in Madurai. Until now, I didn’t know even a single word of Tamil, so to understand and speak Madurai Tamil slang in my very first film was a challenging task. My academic background helped me to learn things quickly. I was always a fast learner.”

The debut-making actress has one request for fans. “Just a few days to go, fingers crossed, guys, please love me in the movie!”

Click..Click..Actor Jeeva's New Interest

Photography is Actor Jeeva's new interest.Came to know about this when I met him on the sets of kho . Jeeva was busy shaking legs for a peepy song in a bar st up. Amidst his tiresome shooting,he managed to learn more about cinematography on the sets from the cameraman turned director k.v Anand. Jeeva is playing the role of a photographer in the film as well.Got talking to Jeeva on his secret passion. Actually speaking its a good time pass to meet a star in a shooting spot,at the same time very tedious to sit and wait doing nothing untill the shot is completed. They have been shooting a single line of the song from the morning. I did'nt find any mistake in that shot but they could find something or the other.7,6 5,4,3,2 ..the dancer master was screaming the whole day..7,6,5,4,3,2..song..cut..then again counts and comes the song,again cut. I seriously wondered that when they would finish the full song . anyways that is producer's headache.It was not boring as i was enjoying the song and watch the dancers dancing. In the break I caught up with jeeva for some time.

"I wanted to become a film technician before I get into acting" says Jeeva.."Am very much interested in photography.when I go out for foreign shoots I used to shoot everything in my camera,will compose a background score,edit the song and shape it into a beautiful montage song.I have many montage song collections.".Ieeva showed me some of his montage songs in his ipod. That was quite interesting to know about the other side of an actor." If am not into films i would have been a photographer .even now after some time i may get into photography.still learning lots about photography".he has almost clicked 20,000 photographs so far in the kho shooting spots...

Jeeva was excited on sharing his photography interest and he also spoke to me about his upcoming film 3 idiots..I composed it to an interesting article about photography. Jeeva has sent some of his clicks. but the article turned out differently focussing on 3 idiots at the editorial desk.as my editor was not interested in photography,he focussed more on 3 idiots. I know that jeeva would be disappointed with that focus. I tried hard to retain my concept but did;nt work out."I feel proud to act with Vijay in 3 idiots" says Jeeva..This was the title of the article. After the article got published Jeeva was unhappy with the context of the article.I apologized and explained to him about the editorial discussion. later he was ok with it. finally got a message from Jeeva"hey chill..no issues..cheers".. Was relieved after that message. I know it was unfair on my editorial team's part to change the concept of an article..This happens sometimes and I learnt an important lesson that I should keep up my words. I was not able to deliver an article of my choice in my magazine due to editorial team's interference. but am happy that I could share an article of my choice here.."click..click." actor Jeeva's New Interest.. title of my choice..

" I Love His Children Too" Pony Verma on Everything about Prakash Raj.

Pony Verma..Many of the South Indians would know her as Prakash Raj' girlfriend who is now his wife..she is popular here, only because of Prakash Raj. Pony is a Punjabi,Prakash Raj,a catholic Christian. She is a Bollywood dance choreographer,He is a South Indian star.He is already married and she is single .These two got to gether despite their differences .Praksh raj and Pony verma recently got married. Got a rare chance to speak to Pony Verma just few days before her marriage. when ,where and how did love blossomed ? was my very first question to her. Pony verma reveals her love story for the very first time

"I met Prakash on the sets of "Ponniyin Selvan".I don remember anything about our first meet as it was not love at first sight.we were friends for more than 3 years and then decided to get married.when i met him on the sets of" poi",he used to be very quite and we hardly talk.he always used to spend time alone and i knew that he was amidst some personal problems. we started spending some time together and enjoy each other's company." says pony,one of the leading dance choreographer in Bollywood films.she struggled almost 8 years to get here.

"Recently Prakash introduced me to his filmy friends in the film fare award function. He quoted me as "My chellam" to everyone over there. That was really a surprise for me. people there down south call him chellam . Initially i was taken a back when everybody called him chellam. Many times I got irritated with that.. After I watched "Gilli", I came to know about this chellam fun. I can say that cinema brought us to gether despite our differences.Both of us love cinema,we are crazy after films. cinema is everything to us. I may be a popular dance director in Hindi films but only with his help I was able to work in many South Indian films ..Prakash really helped me to work in Tamil and Telugu films. He loves my work as well and he wanted me to reach big heights in my profession. Thats so sweet of him." she elaborates her love life.

The wedding took place in Mumbai..it was a typical Punjabi wedding..only close friends and family were invited..Prakash raj's daughters attended the wedding and was busy inviting the guest.when asked about Prakash raj's ex-marriage,."when I entered his life he was almost out the first marriage..He never talks to me about his ex-marriage. Prakash and his ex-wife Lalitha are still good friends..He has got wonderful kids.I love his children too. love and respect are the important ingredients in our love life.. I could say that our's is the most beautiful love story",she concludes.