CELEBS FACTORY

Vetri Maaran's Vada Chennai seems to be in news for one reason or other even before it goes on floors.

Latest is that Rana Daggubati, who is supposed to do his Tamil debut, will not after all be in the movie.

According to sources close to the director Rana willingly opted himself out of the project for reasons best known only to the director and him. Rana himself, however, was not available for comment.

Vada Chennai has Silambarasan in the lead and is produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri's Cloud Nine Movies. Andrea Jeremiah and Divya Spandana play the female leads in Vada Chennai.

With Rana having opted out of Vada Chennai, Vetri Maaran and crew are now scouting for another actor to fill in the shoes of the character sketched for the script.

Divya Spandana we hear is the number one contender for a coveted role in Vada Chennai to be directed by Vetri Maaran and starring STR.

Divya Spandana who made her debut in Tamil opposite STR in Kuthu is also known as Ramya and has worked with Vetri Maaran in his first film Polladavan.

When the role was narrated to Divya, she was very excited as she loves the national award winning director's style of film making.

The actress is the reigning Queen of the Kannada film industry and she has made an impact in Tamil with her outings in films like Vaaranam Aayiram and Singam Puli.

Divya is trying to find the dates for Vada Chennai and if all works out an offical announcement will be made soon.

Andrea and Rana Daggubati have already been finalized for key roles in this film.

It has been confirmed, finally!

Vetri Maaran's next film has been generating considerable excitement in the industry circles ever since the film was titled Vada Chennai.

"Rana Daggubati, who debuted with 'Leader' and recently made waves in Bollywood with Dum Maaro Dum will appear in a special prominent role while STR stars as the hero of the film," disclosed Vetri Maaran.

"Vada Chennai, as the title indicates would have a story that revolves in and around North Chennai with Silambarasan playing the lead role and Telugu sensation Rana Daggubati sharing the screen space making his first foray into Tamil Cinema," said producer Dhayanidhi Alagiri of Cloud Nine Movies putting rumors to rest that 'Vada Chennai' is a historical film.

According to the producer, Vetri Maaran is taking some time to finalize the heroine, whose role is as significant of the male lead and is unwilling to reveal any further details about this film.

Word is that Rana Daggubati's role in Vada Chennai will be meaty one and that Andrea Jeremiah had been roped in to play a pivotal role. The other members of the cast are yet to be signed up and the producer has promised an official announcement of that once the crew signs them up.

Vada Chennai is going to roll in March, 2012.

It is a well know fact that STR was approached for Ko before Jiiva and the actor was even ready to start shooting for Ko being impressed with K.V. Anand's script, but yet STR chose Vaanam over Ko at the last moment despite everything.

Post the success of Ko, STR had stated that he did not regret his choice, even as Karthika and himself were expected to be the pair for the blockbuster hit. But the recent reports say that STR and Karthika have been approached to play the lead roles in Vetrimaran’s next film that is yet to be titled. Once more there are lots of expectations from this lead pair.

However, inside sources say that nothing about Vetrimaran’s film is confirmed yet. Infact, STR is believed to be waiting for Vetri’s confirmation regarding the project.

When we contacted yesteryear actress Radha, Karthika’s mother about the possible pairing, she confirmed, “Karthika will pair up with STR soon. She is currently shooting for 'Dhammu' with Junior NTR," adding that she was visibly excited for Karthika who is acting with the most inspirational heroes.

Karthika and Trisha are believed to be currently shooting for the film 'Dhammu' with Junior NTR.

Will Karthika's combination with STR work this time? Lets wait and watch.

National award winning actor-director duo, Dhanush and Vetri Maaran, go back a long way.

They worked together on Maaran's 2007 directorial debut Polladhavan and Aadukalam, their second collaboration, won six National awards this year. But the director has said no to a hat-trick.

The 35-year-old filmmaker says that his next offering, still in the scripting stage, will not star Dhanush, the son-in-law of superstar Rajinikanth.

"I believe in change. If you keep on working with the same people it gets boring for both parties. We need to keep changing. I am not working with Dhanush in my next movie," Maraan told PTI.

Both his films have found success at the box office and the director frankly says that he makes movies to make money, not to gather awards.

"I make films to recover the cost, to make money and not to get awards. Awards are always welcome but acceptance by the audience is more important," he said.

The film's haul at the 58th National awards surprised the director who says that awards should not be a yardstick to judge a movie.

"I was surprised and was not ready to accept it. My friend called me up and said 'Its your day' which I couldn't quite understand. I thought we won the best regional film award.

"Awards are always in tandem with the jury. There are great films that go unnoticed at times and so awards should not be a yardstick to judge films. I was a little sad that my cinematograper R Velraj didnt get an award but then I respect the decision of the jury," added Maaran, who has earlier assisted noted filmmakers like Balu Mahendra and Kathir.

The director who entered filmdom after a stint in TV, said that Aadukalam, which takes a look at the mysterious world of rooster fighting, is not an art house film and was made keeping the mainstream Tamil audience in mind.

"My film was meant for a mainstream Tamil audience. It is not an art film. In the past we have seen that National Awards are usually given to art house films. I think that the ethnic feel of the film impressed the jury. Preserving the identity is very important in any culture and that has always been my aim," said the filmmaker.

Over the years Bollywood remakes of Tamil films have become blockbusters and Maraan says that it is a positive trend.

"Bollywood remaking Tamil movies is fine as long as they are well made. I dont mind if Aadukalam is remade in Hindi but it should be as good as the original if not better.

"I am not sure about the lead actor but I would like either Naseeruddin Shah or Nana Patekar to play the role of the mentor Pettaikaran. It is a very intense character and who better than these veteran actors to essay the role," he said.