CELEBS FACTORY

There have been rumors of a big Aravind Swamy comeback for months now as it was originally reported that he will be playing the villain in Vishal's Samaran.

The actor/entrepreneur denied these rumors and said that he was done with films. But it seems that films are not done with him.

Mani Rathnam who introduced Aravind Swamy with Thalapathy and then worked with him on memorable films like Roja and Bombay has asked him to do a role in his next film featuring Karthik's son Gautham and Samantha.

The actor and muse in Arvind Swamy could not refuse his mentor and has agreed to wear the grease paint again for Maniratnam's tentatively titled film Pookadai.

Pookadai, that is to launch Actor Karthik's son Gautam in the lead opposite Samantha would also have Arjun and Lakshmi Manchu in pivot roles with Arvind Swamy joining the cast to play the female leads father.

It is certainly going to be a treat to see Arvind Swamy on the big screen again.

Mani Ratnam's next film has been entitled Kadal and will feature, Karthik's son Gautham and Radha's younger daughter, Thulasi. It will be remembered by Tamil cinema fans that Karthik and Radha made their debut with Bharathiraja's beloved film, Alaigal Oyvadillai and now their children will be making their entry into films together.

Mani also considered Akshara Haasan and R. Parthiepan's daughter, Keerthana who worked with Mani in Kannathil Muthamital. But finally it has been confirmed that Thulasi will be Mani's heroine. Arjun has also been roped in for this film.

Actor Arjun, Who is often referred to as 'The Action king' ever since he started his film career at the age of 19 is still going strong as a hero. True to his title "The Action King," the actor has taken a daring step and has agreed to play a compelling antagonist in maverick filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s upcoming Tamil venture, Pookadai.

As reported earlier, Veteran actor Karthik's son Gautam would be debuting as the lead actor through Pookadai with Action King Arjun as his Villain.

"Unlike The Action King’s role in the recent Ajith starrer Mankatha, Arjun would be seen in powerful negative role with an all-new, surprising look in Mani Ratnam’s flick," revealed the source and added that there are only five major characters in Pookadai including Arjun, Gowtam and his female lead, who is yet to be finalized."

Pookadai would have ace cinematographer Rajeev Menon will be behind the camera with Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman scoring the music. The movie is expected to be a romantic story set against the backdrop of the fishermen in Rameswaram.

The guessing games for the female lead in Mani Ratnam's next seems to have not come to an end, as the filmmaker is yet to find a new face for his forthcoming multilingual movie.

After unsuccessful attempts to introduce Akshara Hassan (Kamal Hassan's daughter) and Tulasi (Radha's daughter), the director is now thinking to rope in Parthiban's daughter P.S Keerthana.

"Mani Ratnam has short-listed a few names and that also has Keethana's, as he believes that she can fit the bill. However Keerthana is yet to approached for this," revealed the sources.

Though the Keerthana is not very popular, she has become a familiar face as she is often spotted at many cinema related functions like audio release, music launch and première shows.

It is to be noted that the actress has worked with Mani Ratnam before for his earlier film Kannathil Muthamittal as a child artist, that bagged her a National Award.

However, on Akshara Hassan and Tulasi's decisions to opt out of the film, sources claim that the former is currently concentrating on her filmmaking career and in the latter's case, her mother Radha is only keen on stabilising her elder daughter Karthika's career for now.

Meanwhile, Karthik’s son Gautham, the upcoming actor is visiting Chennai frequently for screen tests and is preparing for his role with a lot of hopes that launches him as an actor in a Mani Ratnam film.

Radha is apparently the brains behind daughter Karthika's smart career moves.

All thanks to Karthika's mother actress Radha that the daughter had dream launches both in Telugu and Tamil with super hits, Josh and Ko respectively.

The latest buzz was that Radha wanted to launch her second daughter Thulasi as well.

It was reported that Thulasi would be making her debut with Karthik's son, Gautam in a Mani Rathnam film.

It will be remembered that Radha herself made her debut with Karthik in Bharathiraja's famous film, Alaigal Oyvathilai. However, Radha has said that the reports were false and that her second daughter is too young to enter films. So for now she will focus on Karthika's career in addition to her hotel business.

Mani Rathnam meanwhile is still searching for a suitable heroine for Gautam.