CELEBS FACTORY

Little-known Tamil actor Dhanya Balakrishna, who hails from Bangalore, has become an "issue" between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu after she allegedly hurt Tamil sentiment by posting certain messages on her Facebook account.

Dhanya's facebook post regarding the IPL playoffs has almost cost the budding actor her promising career in Kollywood.

The actor's remarks ignited a fierce backlash on social networking sites, rattling the tinsel world damsel so much that she has decided to shun the Tamil film industry for good.

After the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) entered the playoffs, the young star gave vent to her feelings at local team Royal Challengers Bangalore's defeat turning out to be a gain for CSK.

Referring to the decades-old Cauvery river water sharing dispute she wrote,

Shruti Haasan has been hunting for an apartment in Mumbai for a while now and she has finally found her dream pad in Bandra.

The actor is very excited about moving into her rented apartment soon and is already planning to rework the interiors.

Sarika and Akshara, Shruti's mother and sister also live in Mumbai.

The young belle is happy about staying close to her family besides being considerate on pursuing a Bollywood career from her new place. 

Shruti's heart has a soft spot in Mumbai itself as she attended St. Andrews College in the city.

To celebrate this new phase in her life, Shruti has gotten a chic makeover and has colored her hair brown.

In a freewheeling chat with fans on CNN - IBN, Shruti Haasan got candid and answered questions ranging from beauty secrets to her latest crush.

About how she manages to look so good all the time, Shruti said that lots of water and sleep is her secret.

About her fitness fundas, Shruti said that she relies on diet and exercise to stay in shape though there are times when she feels lazy and also indulges in her fave foods like Sambar sadam, burgers with fries and cupcakes.

Shruti said that currently she has a crush on Hollywood hottie, Ryan Gosling. Other than him, there is no one in her life she said cheekily.

The actress also said that she has absolutely no plans to marry and settle down at present but will concentrate on her work. She speaks English, Tamil and Hindi fluently and is currently learning Telugu.

Just when you thought that Aishwarya would get to sit back and enjoy the success of her debut film, ‘3’ starring husband Dhanush and Shruti Haasan, things take a strange turn in the debutant director’s life.

If the grapevine is to be believed, all is not well in the home front for Aishwarya R. Dhanush, the eldest daughter of Superstar Rajinikanth.

According to a daily, Aishwarya and Dhanush’s relationship is going through a rough patch. Thanks to the leading lady of their film – Shruti Haasan and her growing proximity with Dhanush that has left Aishwarya mighty miffed and the couple is not sharing their best relationship currently.

"Numerous instances in the public forum over the last few weeks have lent credence to the fact that there are issues between the couple. Dhanush, Shruti and Anirudh were on a radio show chatting away happily but the minute Aishwaryaa joined them, Dhanush feigned a headache and walked off the show," added the source.

Apparently, the Kolaveri Di star has made some comments about his director-wife in public which haven’t gone down too well with Aishwarya or her family.

Even at the premiere of ‘3’ the discomfort between Dhanush, Aishwarya and Shruti was very apparent for everyone to see.

"Dhanush came in first followed by Shruti and the duo spent considerable time alone. Aishwarya joined in later and when the team stood for pictures, the two ladies looked in opposite directions," said the eye witnesses.

"Dhanush is apparently doing his best at avoiding his wife in public and his closeness with Shruti that has now become more evident for all to see. Aishwarya is said to be very upset about the way Dhanush has been treating her," added another source.

Well, let’s hope the rift between the couple is just a temporary one!

Aishwarya Dhanush's directorial debut starring Dhanush and Shruti Haasan was expected to release on March 30th and then later pushed to April 6th.

The much awaited film now appears to be postponed again to release on April 12th on the eve of Tamil new year weekend when everybody will be in holiday mode.

The Telugu version will be released on the same day and both versions will be facing the censors soon.

The Hindi version will be released a little later as Dhanush is dubbing for it himself and he wants to do a thorough job.

While most actors usually shy away from discussing their cosmetic surgeries, Shruti Haasan - the 26-year-old daughter of veteran actors Kamal Haasan and Sarika had no problem in admitting that she went under the knife for a nose-job before her Bollywood debut.

"I had a common disorder involving a deviated septum and I underwent Septoplasty, a corrective surgery in the United States avoiding further breathing problems," revealed Shruti Haasan on BIG CBS Love’s show “India’s Glam Diva” adding "Life has become a lot easier post-surgery and I am now able to sleep and sing peacefully without any difficulty. It was a minor procedure and I am greatly relieved."

Shruti, who made her Bollywood debut with “Luck” in 2009 is also a singer and was apprehensive about undergoing the surgery for the fear of the procedure affecting her voice.

Thus clarifying that the procedure was performed for medical reasons.

Reacting to rumors about Dhanush and Shruti Haasan dating, Aishwarya Dhanush has said in a social networking site that it is just baseless rumor.

The director of 3 and daughter of Rajinikanth, says that she and Dhanush are perfectly fine as a couple and Shruti Haasan is a good friend. Aishwarya wondered where such news surfaced from and puts them down as ridiculous rumors.

3’s dubbing process has been completed and its music director Anirudh is now working on the background score. The film is expected to release next month.

Businessman, is an upcoming film directed by Puri Jagannath with Prince Mahesh Babu and Kajal Aggarwal in the lead.

Businessman is one of the highly anticipated films to release early in 2012 after Mahesh's Dookudu that created collection records across the globe.

The music for Businessman is composed by Thaman who has been rocking down South with hits like Dookudu and Osthe still reigning the charts.

The title track will have Mahesh Babu and Puri Jagannath lending their voices and a promo video has been planned featuring them and Thaman as well to be shot in a studio in a casual setting rather reminiscent of Kolaveri di, which is currently the rage across the globe.

The comparison was inevitable and fans voiced the opinion that Mahesh Babu was copying Dhanush.

Thaman has begged the fans not to compare the two tracks as they are entirely different. He said they all think that Kolaveri di is awesome and they have no intention of trying to emulate its feat.

'White skin-u girl-u girl-u, Girl-u heart-u black-u ..!
Eyes-u eyes-u meet-u meet-u, My future dark!
Why this Kolaveri Kolaveri Kolaveri di?'

These are the lines of a soup song that is now being played or replayed on YouTube and updated on Facebook as status messages. This new song was officially released last week and is a part of the upcoming Tamil film 3, directed by Aishwarya Dhanush starring her spouse Dhanush and Shruti Haasan in the lead.

3 is the directorial debut of Superstar Rajnikanth's daughter Aishwarya Dhanush. His son-in-law Dhanush, apart from starring in the film as the lead also sung the Kolaveri song that has gone viral over the web with over 27.4 lakh hits on YouTube ever since its launch.

“Why this Kolaveri Di is as simple as it is silly. Perhaps that is what has made the song a phenomenon,” says Dhanush.

The wacky lyrics stemmed from an impromptu jam session a couple of months ago. Dhanush entered the music studio, heard the catchy tune and as the tune goes, took a mic and just started singing.

"The song details the story of youngsters who have been “ill-treated in love”. We have deliberately used the lines 'I am sing song... soup song.. etc.' ‘Soup’ is slang for an unfortunate situation. In fact, even now we do not have a lyrics sheet for the song, it was sung on the spot and we forgot to write it down! We knew that the song would be a hit but we never imagined it would scale this high,” said first-time music director Anirudh Ravichander, the 21yrs old passout from A.R Rahman’s KM Conservatory Music School.

“We had to take those breaks because we were laughing uncontrollably,” says Dhanush.

“The movie is being produced by Rajnikanth’s daughter, his son-in-law is singing the song and Kamal Hassan’s daughter is acting in it. How much bigger can it get?” wondered Anirudh, who was later revealed to be Aishwarya's cousin.

“Phones have been ringing non-stop. More than anything people are just laughing. The song has raised expectations for the album, scheduled to release in mid-December and there is a lot of pressure to ensure that the other songs of the film are as good,” adds the composer.

The followers of Buddhism have raised objections towards 7am Arivu over the facts provided about the monk 'Bodhi Dharma' in the movie.

Despite being a well-made science fiction film in the Tamil film industry, Surya's 7am Arivu has sparked a controversy regarding the portrayal of Bodhi Dharma, a Pallava prince who migrated to China and became the Shaolin master.

Buddhist Teacher Babu T Raghu has said that the depiction of Bodhi Dharma in 7am Arivu is inaccurate. For an instance, the monk travelled to China, when he was 150 yearsold but in the recently released film, it has been portrayed, as if he left Kanchipuram at his young age with six-pack abs. He further claims that it is an insult to their community and has objected those scenes.

The Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary professor Bikku Bodhi Bala says that it is believed that Bodhi Dharma was one of the seven monks, who left to China from Tamil Nadu between the 2nd and 13th century. He, however refuses A.R Murgadoss' portrayal of the Bodhi Dharma's death in 7am Arivu as the monk breathed his last in Tamil Nadu after being resurrected from death in China.

Meanwhile, historians claim that Bodhi Dharma left Kanchipuram to propagate Buddhism and that he was known only for his expertise in martial arts and not for any skills on medical science scrutinizing 7am Arivu that glorifies the monk as a Tamilian without researching his contribution to the community.

All in all, irrespective of whether Bodhi Dharma's depiction is accurate or false, the audience have loved Suriya's performance as the monk in the first twenty minutes of 7am Arivu.

The first look poster of the film 3 has been the talk of the town ever since its release for the chemistry the lead actors shared in the photo shoot and now the recent buzz is about the kiss that they share in the film.

Aishwarya Dhanush, the director of 3, though didn't deny the kissing scene said that it was too early to talk about any details of the film saying “It is difficult for actors to do intimate scenes in the presence of the cast and crew. There are about 100 people watching you and to get romantic with each other is quite challenging. I didn’t have any issues while shooting the lead actors together as I share a warm relation with them."

"We are professionals who are out to complete a film. Moreover, only what’s necessary for the script will be filmed and the story is not entirely about their romance,” said Aishwarya who makes her directorial debut with 3 starring Dhanush, her National Award wining husband opposite good friend Shruti Haasan, who is basking in glory over the rave reviews of 7am Arivu.

According to Dhanush, 75% of the filming is completed and 3 is headed for a January release. The actor went on to add that the audio launch of 3 will be held sometime in the month of November and a plan for it is being worked out.

Pawan Kalyan has things at his own pace.

Being committed to Vishnuvardhan's Panjaa, the Power Star could not give accomodate his dates for the making of Gabbar Singh, the Telugu remake of the Hindi blockbuster Dabangg that is to be directed by Harish Shankar with Shruti Haasan in the lead.

Meanwhile, the Tamil version titled Osthi, starring Simbu and Richa Gangopadhyaya is well on its way to release later this month.

To talk a bit about Osthe, the film has Simbu playng Osthe Velan, the role that Salman Khan essayed in the original. The trailers for this flick is already out and is eagerly awaited for its item song that features Mallika Sherawat, that is a rage across the state already.

Pawan will start working on Gabbar Singh very soon as Harish Shankar began shooting some scenes on Shruti Hassan. The film is scheduled to release in the summer of 2012.

If Osthe does well in Tamil Nadu, it will certainly be a confidence-booster for the makers of Gabbar Singh.

There was a call to ban 7am Arivu in Sri Lanka because the film had some dialogues on the lack of Tamil liberation movement that created uproar in Sri Lanka.

Following this opposition, the producer of 7am Arivu, Udhayanidhi Stalin, decided to delete the offending scenes so that it would not hurt the film’s success in that country.

The protestors are now contended that the dialogues have been removed and have allowed the film to be screened.

7am Arivu directed by A.R. Murugadoss has Suriya and Shruti Haasan starring as the leads with music composed by Harris Jayaraj.

Noted director Thangar Bachan has lauded 7am Arivu so much that he has penned an open letter to Red Giant Movies Udhayanidhi Stalin for producing the film.

Thangar Bachan in his letter had said that only few films bring honor to Tamilians and 7am Arivu is one among them.

According to the director, the film has made every Tamilian sit up and take notice of their glorious past.

Thangar Bachan, on the discussion about the film’s success, said that the collections at the box office, are largely the concern of the people who are going to benefit from the profits that is the producers and distributors and it is not for the movie buffs who only need to enjoy the film.

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.