CELEBS FACTORY

Shahrukh Khan's new movie titled 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' is set to release on Diwali day. The first look posters have been released too. The King Khan's market pervades all over the world and his films open strongly even in Tamil Nadu.


Over the years, by some coincidence or the other, Vijay's films also release on Diwali day and they invariably clash with the films of Bollywood's Baadshah Shahrukh Khan.

It was Vijay's 'Azhagiya Tamil Magan' vs SRK's 'Om Shanti Om' in 2007. In 2011, it was 'Velayudham' vs 'Ra. One'. This year, history repeats itself yet again as SRK's 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' will compete with Vijay's 'Thuppakki' for a share of the Diwali box-office pie in Tamil Nadu.

A super battle ahead! Shahrukh has Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif for company in this movie and both these stars are popular with TN audiences as well. A.R Rahman scores the music for this SRK starrer and the Mozart of Madras commands his own opening. For Thuppakki, Vijay has a strong technical team backing him with Kajal Aggarwal for company. On the whole, Diwali day is going to see fireworks on the cinema screen as well.

The anticipation surrounding the Vijay - AR Murugadoss film, Thuppaki continues to increase with the latest addition of Sarath Kumar to its cast.

Apparently Sarath Kumar has a pivotal role in the film that is guaranteed to make a massive impact. He agreed to take up the part because he loved the script and the scope offered for his character.

It can be recalled that Sarath Kumar did a supporting role in Kanchana for which he was widely appreciated. He will also be seen in Kochadaiyaan. Sarath is one of the biggest stars in the industry as his career has stood the test of time. He is also the president of the South Indian Film Artistes Association, an MLA and leader of All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi.

A social activist, V Selvakumar has filed a complaint against A.R Murgadoss' Thupakki  that has Vijay starring as the lead with the beautiful Kajal Aggarwal opposite him. Its not the movie but its poster showing youth icon 'Vijay' puffing a cigar that has made the news now.

The Ministry of Health and the Government of India has banned any public display of smoking and the posters of A.R Murgadoss' Thupakki showing Vijay smoking a cigar violates this. This objectionable poster has been displayed all over Chennai and in the print media as well.

"In regard to the above mentioned violation of the Indian Tobacco Act, I have filed a complaint on 04 May 2012 with the Commissioner of Police, requesting to take necessary action against the violators," informed Selvakumar.

Recently, Shah Rukh Khan was pulled up for smoking in public and now it is Vijay's turn. The makers of the film are yet to comment on this situation.

Santhosh Sivan, cinematographer par excellence has done the country proud by becoming the first Director Of Photography (DOP) to receive a coveted membership from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).

Santosh Sivan is the first person from the Asia Pacific region to have received this honor.

The membership with ASC is a towering achievement in cinematography and is the top accolade that can be conferred towards a cinematographer.

Santhosh Sivan said that it was a dream come true and thanked his directors like Mani Ratnam and Priyadharshan for believing in him.

While Celebrities like K.V Anand, A.R Murugadoss and Ravi K. Chandran have been congratulating Santhosh Sivan and Celebs Factory joins them most heartily in congratulating him of his stupendous achievement.

Asin has decided to give television a try, say sources. The actress will reportedly appear in a television show titled Superstar Santa. The program is to be telecast on UTV. The actress has a couple of Hindi projects on hands for now and hopes television will open new avenues for her.

Asin, however, has made it clear that she is not hosting the show as stated by the media. The actress pointed out that she will be appearing in one of the episodes.

Asin entered the Tamil film industry with M Kumaran S/o Mahalakshmi and reached the top slot with several smash hits. She shifted base in Bollywood after director AR Murugadoss offered her the role in the Hindi version of Ghajini.

Her decision to enter the small screen has surprised many of her fans but Asin says that it will help her widen her fan base.

Kamal Haasan is a proud papa and despite his hectic schedule for Viswaroopam, he managed to catch a special screening of 7am Arivu.

The film directed by A R Murugadoss opened to huge crowd across Tamilnadu on the Diwali day.

Kamal had nothing but good things to say about the film and not surprisingly he loved his daughter Shruti in it.

Shruti has done a good job and 7am Arivu undoubtedly proves to be an ideal debut for her in Tamil, said Kamal.

"I couldn’t meet him personally after he saw the movie because I was busy with promotional activities. But I called him up and he gave his views over the phone. He felt that it was an extraordinary movie," added Udhayanidhi.

Kamal Haasan quickly left after the screening avoiding public appearance as his look for Viswaroopam is urged to be a top secret!

Trisha is unhappy over reports that she is to play Tollywood star Mahesh Babu’s sister-in-law in a Telugu film.

In the film industry, it is well known that the sister-in-law and sister roles are considered to be offered to heroines who do not have opportunities.

Trisha says that she is not in such a position as she has several good offers in her kitty at the moment.

The heroine is currently busy with the Tamil film Samaran, in which she is paired opposite Vishal. The actress adds that Samaran has a good role for her and it is equal to that of the lead star Vishal.

Tamil superstar Ilayathalapathy Vijay has termed his upcoming release "Velayudham" a special film of his career.

Addressing thousands of his fans in Banglore on Saturday at the city's Poornima Theatre, where two trailers of the film were screened, Vijay said:

"Velayudham is a special film for me. I have acted in many films which have been filled with commercial elements.

"You have liked my films for their quality in picturisation of songs and fights. But Velayudham is one such film that is focused on a issue besides being packaged with lot of commercial elements."

"You have already given a thumbs up for the audio of the film. I hope you would like the film also," he said amid cheers.

Slated for a Diwali release, Velayutham is produced by Aascar Ravichandran and directed by M. Raja. The film also stars Genelia D'Souza and Hansika.

Vijay was in the city to inaugurate a store of Jos Alukkas Jewellery, of which he is the brand ambassador.

"I have come here many times, including the launch of the Kannada film Jogayya, which was my friend Shivaraj Kumar's hundredth film. I am very fond of my fans in Karnataka," said Vijay.

Velayudham is being released along with actor Surya's 7 Aam Arivu, helmed by Ghajini director Murugadoss. These two major Tamil films have to contend with a big competitor in the form of Shah Rukh Khan's RA.One, the costliest film to be ever made in the country.

Murugadoss had also directed the Hindi version of Ghajini with Aamir Khan in the lead, which had become a sensational hit. Now, the news is that Bollywood star Shah Rukh too is interested in working with the director.

Even as their 'Oh My Friend' is shaping up in a brisk pace, the latest buzz in tinsel town is that Siddharth and Shruti Haasan, who are touted to be seeing each other, are no more a pair, as the actor and actress have parted ways due to difference of opinion.

Siddharth and Shruti shared the screen space together for the first time in a Telugu film titled 'Anaganaga O Deerudu' and since then rumour mills had it that they have become close and were in love. Their on-screen chemistry led to their coming together in another Telugu project 'Oh My Friend'.

However, sources now say Siddharth and Shruti are no longer together. "Their split is the latest sensational talk in film circles in Hyderabad and Chennai," they claim.

Meanwhile, Shruti is gearing up to take part in the promotional activities of '7am Arivu' that happens to be her maiden acting venture in Tamil. "As the countdown has started for Diwali, some big promotional programs are being planned for the Suriya-starrer, directed by AR Murugadoss."

The buzz surrounding 7aam Arivu, a film directed by AR Murugadoss starring Suriya and Shruti Haasan continues to mount every day closing its grand release this Diwali.

The Buddhist monk's character portrayed by Suriya is especially the one that is most interested one and talks are out it is certainly worth it. Apparently this character is originally a Pallava prince named Bodhidharman, who renounced his Kingdom, becomes a monk. He then goes to China to spread the word about Buddhism in the steps of its founder Prince Siddhattha Gotama who later became Gautama Buddha.

The existence of Prince Bodhidharman has been recorded in history, but Murugadoss has given a fictionalized account of his life that is based on some true facts.

Now wasn't that fascinating? We're sure it was . . If it was not, read more about Bodhidharman.

what is more fascinating is that Shruti Haasan plays the role of a scientist in the film and that the film will be in an alternate between the past and the present during the course of the narrative.

Hold your horses. Diwali ain't that far.

Vijay’s next film to be directed by AR Murugadoss is taking a good shape despite the director being very busy with 7aam Arivu’s audio launch and movie release.

The latest we hear on this project from the sources in Kollywood is that the director of photography for the Vijay-starrer will be Santhosh Sivan.

Grapevine has it that Harris Jayaraj may be the music director for this flick but this has not been finalized as yet.

With AR Murugadoss completing 7aam Arivu and Vijay free of Nanban, we can expect an announcement on their project soon.

Cinematographer Ravi K Chandran has said that he had met Bollywood star Aamir Khan recently and the star enquired about AR Murugadoss’s 7aam Arivu and Suriya’s role in the film.

7aam Arivu is a Sci-fi thriller, which stars Suriya and Shruti Haasan in the lead roles with Ravi K Chandran handling the camera. Aamir Khan’s interest in the film has raised an expectation that he may want to remake the film and star in it too.

It may be mentioned here that Aamir Khan had starred in Ghajini, which was remade by AR Murugadoss in Hindi. Interestingly, Suriya had played the lead role in the Tamil version of Ghajini.

Suriya's upcoming film of director A.R. Murugadoss with Shruti Hassan opposite him is nearing the finish line and has been creating news nearing its audio launch touted to be one of the most awaited films of the year.

Surya apparently plays a circus acrobat in the film and has worked very hard to pull off this difficult role.

This spectacular event is to take place at Nehru stadium and Kalaignar TV has obtained the broadcasting rights. Udhayanidhi's Red Giant Movies is producing the film. Therefore the trailer for his Oru Kal Oru Kannadi will also be released simultaneously.

Not only Tamil cinema fans but even folks in Bollywood and the Telugu film industry are counting off the days to its release as its director A.R. Murugadoss had turned down many Bollywood and Tollywood projects to concentrate on 7am Arivu.

The director's confidence in his film and Suriya is immense and the whole world awaits to see it!

Looks like it is raining audio launches in the town this August.

Just when the audio launch of Ajith's 'Mankatha' was reported, here comes another audio launch that is good news for all Suriya fans out there.

'7am Arivu' team is gearing up for its music launch soon after 'Mankatha's audio hits the stands.

Harris Jayaraj has done the music for this film and the audio album is touted to have 6 songs, inclusive of one song in Chinese.

7am Arivu has Harris Jayaraj's association with Mandarin singer Hau, from China and the duo were quite comfortable working together. Harris had even revealed that he felt good when Hau was able to play one of his Tamil songs too.

The music launch of '7am Arivu' is being planned as a grand affair.

The fans of Suriya are particularly looking forward to this because of the reports leaking about the hero's dare devil acrobatic acts during the music launch.

7am Arivu would have Suriya sporting three different avatars that are distinctly different from each other.

Sruthi Haasan will be making her debut into Tamil films as Suriya's heroine with '7am Arivu.'

The film is believed to be very sophisticated in fight sequences and special effects with director A.R. Murugadoss roping in talent from the west for the Computer Graphics required in the film.

Though there are no confirmed reports regarding the music release date yet, a part of the film circuit has revealed that the audio launch of '7am Arivu' will take place on August 20. Though this date has not been confirmed by anyone closely associated with the film, it has created an unrested eagerness among Suriya fans.