CELEBS FACTORY

Karthi has signed up a project with Jayam Raja.

Following the huge success of Velayutham, Director Jeyam Raja is working on a family subject and has roped in Karthi for the lead role. It is not immediately known if the film is a remake, as Jayam Raja is known for handing remakes well.

Karthi, who is currently busy with Alex Pandian is awaiting release of Saguni this April. He is expected to join the sets of Jeyam Raja's upcoming film soon after his prior commitments are over.

Hansika’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing with congratulatory messages for her glamorous and bubbly act in Velayudham with Ilayathalapathy Vijay.

But the message tweeted by Khushboo, the ex-diva of the south screen, was so special and unforgettable for the young damsel.

“I got a message from one of my fans about what Khushboo madam tweeted after watching Velayudham. Khushboo commented on ‘Junior Khushboo’ and tweeted as follows:

“Watched Velayudham! Hansika is a cutie-pie! Don’t compare her to me as she looks much prettier than I did in my initial days in films.”

An excited Hansika says, “Coming from an actress of her stature, I feel honored and touched by her humble gesture. I literally have no words.”

Now that the film has been declared a hit, the actress can’t stop raving about her costar Vijay.

“I am thrilled that everyone is talking about my chemistry with Vijay, especially in the Chillax song. I did that song on my second day of shooting with the Velayudham unit and knowing neither Vijay nor Raja. Despite that, our on-screen chemistry worked so well. We became instant friends. Even my comedy timing has been appreciated.”

While Velayutham emerged as a winner in the Diwali race against the extravagant 7am Arivu, the cast and crew of Velayutham have reasons to celebrate.

However, one of the female leads of the movie Hansika is lying low and not partaking in celebrations, as it was happening.

What did Hansika, the young damsel had to say for this?

"Right now, I am focusing on my studies and my celebrations will start after my exams are over," said Hansika stating that she is currently too busy for celebrations preparing for her exams that are to be held in London,

The members of the Kannada Rakshana Vedike staged a protest yesterday stating that their organization is planning to celebrate the Karnataka Rajya Utsav for a month and in this period only Kannada films should be screened in the state.

The protestors were at the Radha Krishna Theatre that screened Vijay’s Velayutham and had the audiences watching the film move out and threatening the theatre authorities with dire consequences if the film was screened. They also tore up Vijay’s banners following which the shows were cancelled.

Kannada Rakshana Vedike’s member Praveen Shetty said that the protests will continue if other language films are screened in the state for the next one month.

7am Arivu and Velayutham collections for the first five days have been declared by trade sources.

It is reported that 7am Arivu grossed about 40.25 crores from October 25th and Velayutham has grossed over 40 crores from October 26th onwards.

Both Suriya and Vijay are excited over these figures because the competition is still neck to neck and looks like this competition will end in a draw.

Velayutham has Vijay, Hansika and Genelia in the lead while in 7aum Arivu it is Suriya and Shruti Haasan as the lead pair.

Kollywood saw a massive clash between two big movies that were released during Diwali. One was the much-hyped AR Murugadoss’s 7am Arivu and the other, Jeyam Raja’s Velayudham.

With two popular heroes of Kollywood — Suriya and Vijay — battling it out on this festive occasion, it was rather surprising to learn who actually won the hearts of the masses this time.

7aam Arivu, produced by Udayanidhi Stalin’s Red Giant Films, saw massive publicity that ran for nearly a month before its release. Expectations too were soaring high for this film as the director who gave a runaway hit like Ghajini (both in Hindi and Tamil) was expected to deliver triple the success for this one.

Adding to the hype was Suriya’s role as Bodhidharma (a Buddhist monk) and Shruti Haasan's debut in Tamil cinema.

On the other hand, Vijay’s Velayudham was promoted at a mediocre scale in and around Tamil Nadu. With Vijay playing the role of a super-hero for the first time in his career, this one too created a lot of buzz before its release.

However, post the release, Velayudham’s stupendous victory has come as a rather surprising one. With critics and audiences voting for Vijay’s super-hero flick over Suriya’s 7am Arivu, the results have proved to be a shocker.

What really turned the tables?

“Before the release of these two movies, it seemed clear that 7am Arivu would win over Velayudham. The film’s massive promotional activities, claiming it as ‘something unseen’, proved to be a wrong tactic, once the film was released. With a lot of commercial elements in the film and scripting errors, people were let down by the Suriya-Murugadoss’s combination,” reports the source.

As a matter of fact, Velayudham which was released in comparatively lesser number of theatres across the country, has raked in more than 7aam Arivu in the first week of its theatrical release.

“Velayudham was promoted as an out-and-out commercial entertainer and did surprise the audiences when it was released. Though it had lesser publicity compared to the former, it has proven to be the ultimate winner. And while both the movies enjoyed a massive opening, the rather critical reviews let 7am Arivu down,” adds the source.

For films that rely only on promotional activities, the clear win of Velayudham proves to be a resounding lesson.

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.

The latest on Ajith's next is that he has given bulk dates to producer A M Rathnam and his Sri Surya Movies.

So after wrapping up Billa 2, Ajith shall soon begin work on a film for Sri Surya Movies of A M Rathnam.

It was earlier reported that director Vishnuvardhan who directed Billa would be a part of this project but it has now been confirmed to be a Tamil remake of 'Dookudu' - A Mahesh Babu starrer with Samantha in the lead directed by Srinu Vytla.

Jeyam Raja who recently wrapped Velayudham with Vijay, Genelia and Hansika for a Diwali release has now been roped for this remake and the project is expected to go on the floor soon once Ajith wrapps shooting for Billa 2.