Dhanush is 'Karuppu'

The name of the character Dhanush plays in his Pongal release 'Aadukalam' is Karuppu, say reliable sources in the unit. "It is a lively and rare role for any actor and Dhanush has performed it with elan," they say.

"He initially found it tough to master the Madurai slang for Aadukalam. However, he practiced hard and finally came out with a very good performance," maintain sources.

Elaborating more on Karuppu, they say, "He is one person who is so outspoken. This trait of him makes him land in troubles. How he overcomes everything is the crux of the story."

Songs from 'Aadukalam', set to tune by G V Prakash Kumar, have already become hits. Directed by Vettrimaran of 'Polladhavan' fame, the film distributed by Sun Pictures is expected to be a sure shot this harvest festival.

'Eththan' gets ready

After 'Kalavani', Vimal and producer Nazir of Sherali Films are gearing up to strike the box office with 'Eththan'. Shoot of the movie is in its final stages of completion, according to circles close to the film's unit.

Directed by L Suresh, the film would be as interesting as 'Kalavani', they say and add, "But at the same time, there would be no shades of the earlier venture of Nazir and Vimal."

Music is by Taj Noor, who hogged the limelight with 'Vamsam', the Arulnidhi starrer. "Eththan is about a youngster who uses his brain to be happy all the time," sources add.

To remind you, Vimal recently married his ladylove Priyadarshini, a medical college student, by taking a break for a couple of hours from the sets of 'Eththan'. "I am happy about the way Eththan is shot," he says.

What Hansika did last night?

At a time when the whole world was busy welcoming 2011 last night, Hansika kept herself away from all the celebrations that took place around her and chose to spend the New Year eve with herself.

"Well, I’m going to sleep at home on December 31 because I’m shooting from January 1. So yay! Going to sleep like a baby!," the actress wrote on her page on a microblogging website.

Meanwhile, Kollywood pundits have been predicting that Hansika would rule Tamil cinema in 2011 as she has not just one, but three promising projects in hand.

They are 'Velayudham' with Vijay, 'Maappillai' with Dhanush and 'Engeyum Kadhal' with 'Jayam' Ravi. It is to be noted that she is already an established face in Tollywood and Bollywood.

Suhasini hails Gautham Menon

Suhasini Mani Ratnam was all praise for Gautham Vasudev Menon at the audio launch of 'Veppam', a film produced by the director's production house Photon Kathas, in Chennai on Friday.

In her address, the actress-filmmaker said, "After Mani Ratnam, Gautham is the one director who shows Chennai life so beautifully in his films. At a time when Kollywood moving towards south, very few filmmakers make Chennai-based movies."

She also said that talent along would taste victory in the tinsel town. "Many with money are making their entry. But only those with talent and passion could excel," the wife of ace director Mani Ratnam said.

Songs of the film, composed by Joshua Sridhar of 'Kadhal' fame, were screened for the audience on the occasion. 'Veppam' director Anjana, R Parthiban, Nasser, Poornima Baghyaraj, Dharani, K V Anand, Priya and Balaji Sakthivel among others were present.

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Gayatri now added to Vaanam

Prominent Yesteryear Actress turned Choreographer Gayatri Raghuram is now officially into Team Vaanam . The Actress is said to be Choreographing for various Tamil Movies.

It is said she was given an assignment to Choreo a song in Vaanam. The song is said to be a Rock number featuring Chinna Thalapathy Bharath and Pasanga fame Vega.

Gayatri recently spoke to a Online Magazine Reporter where she has reportedly said that the song by Yuvan Shankar Raja made her to give some elusive moves in the movie. She added that the rock number is to rule the charts. It is widely expected that Gayatri will Choreograph for Thalaivan(called by his fans) STR in his forthcoming flick Vettai Mannan

Controversies that rocked B-town in 2010

Bollywood and controversies are just inseparable. Year 2010 was an extremely eventful year as far as controversies are concerned. Be it SRK, Salman, Aamir or Rakhi Sawant, Bollywood was in news for several reasons. Let's have a look on who did what the past year.



3 Idiots' credit controversy
The year started with the biggest hit of 2009 '3 Idiots' running into controversy over the story credit. Writer Chetan Bhagat was upset with Aamir Khan and Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra for not giving him due credit for the story. Rajkumar Hirani's '3 Idiots' was based on Bhagat's popular book 'Five Point Someone'. Aamir called a press conference to clear the makers' stand. The controversy died a natural death after Bhagat apologised to Khan.

Shiv Sena attacked SRK's MNIK
Shiv Sena's attack on SRK's 'My Name Is Khan' marked the biggest controversy which eventually helped Karan Johar's film. Shiv Sena attacked SRK's MNIK as the actor remarked that no Pakistani cricketers had been picked for the Indian Premier League. Shiv Sena threatened to vandalize 'My Name Is Khan'.

Koffee with Karan
More than movies, Karan Johar was in news for his chat show this year. His show became a place to make confessions and instigate fights between people. Be it Sonam and Deepika's take on Ranbir Kapoor or Kareena Kapoor renewing her cat fight with Priyanka Chopra.

IPL trouble for Preity and Shilpa
IPL beauties Preity and Shilpa would have never imagined that they would end up in a mess after the IPL was over. After their teams' pathetic performance Shilpa and Preity had to go through the ownership problem. Questions were raised about the ownership of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab and both the teams were terminated.

I&B ministry and Colors controversy
Small screen landed in controversies when the I&B Ministry served notices to shows like Emotional Atyachaar and MTV Splitsvilla in February by declaring their content vulgar and unfit for family audience. Reality shows like Bigg Boss and Rakhi Ka Insaaf were also under scanner and were asked to change their show timings.

Yana Gupta's 'no panty act'
Yana Gupta shocked everyone by forgetting to wear her panties at an event for kids. Calling herself a 'No Panty Girl' Yana justified the reason for not wearing them. Well the girl took the whole incident very sportingly but received a lot of flak and oodles of attention.

Salman Khan on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Guzaarish
The rift between Salman Khan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali became stronger with Salman's remark on Bhansali's film 'Guzaarish'. Salman was reported to have made some rude comments about the film which didn't go down well with Bhansali or the lead actor Hrithik Roshan. However, Khan later cleared the air by saying that he was misquoted.

Rakhi Ka Insaaf
After her attempt to get married on a television show 'Rakhi Ka Swayamwar' the starlet Rakhi Sawant again made news for a wrong reason. Rakhi landed herself in trouble after humiliating a participant on her show 'Rakhi Ka Insaaf'. Unfortunately, after getting humiliated on her show the participant committed suicide. A case was filed on Rakhi.

Sara and Ali's fake wedding
Television actors Sara Khan and Ali, who were already married two years ago, staged a wedding on reality show 'Bigg Boss 4'. Showing it as their first ever wedding, Sara and Ali upset their fans by faking something as sacred as marriage for the sake of TRPs and money.

Adnan and Sanjay Dutt Property case
Last but not the least, singer Adnan Sami and actor Sanjay Dutt landed in property controversies. Enforcement Directorate (ED) confiscated Pakistani National Adnan's properties worth Rs. 2.5 crores for not seeking Reserve Bank of India's permission before purchasing property. Interestingly, Sami informed that he was unaware of RBI's denial of permission as part of the formalities. Adnan has made an application to the RBI to clear his stand.

Controversies favorite child Sanjay Dutt found his way to headlines at the end of the year as the Bombay High Court ordered the attachment of two of his properties over a financial row with producer Shakeel Noorani.