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It is not difficult to find out who will be the winner of this X Mas season in box office race. With all the four films released in the season creating very different reviews and opinions, Sreenivasan - Mammootty starrer 'Kadha Parayumbhol' has clearly emerged as the frontrunner. The film is registering ninety percent collections in every center and is expected to continue this for another two weeks. The biggest letdown of the season was definitely Mohanlal's 'Flash', which has already started crumbling. If intensely marketed, the movie may draw the audience for at least the end of the vacation season. The other two films, Dileep's 'Romeo' and Prithviraaj’s 'Kangaru' may survive the season to become average earners. In fact 'Kangaru', directed by Rajbabu can even become a hit, if properly trimmed and marketed.
Mammooty has been encouraging new talents in the film world by giving his dates to new filmmakers. These young filmmakers have in turn given him many hits to him like 'Samrrajyam', 'Ou Maravathoor Kanavu' and 'Rajamanikyam'. Even his recent hit movies 'Big B' and 'Kadha Parayumbhol' were directed by young and new filmmakers. The veteran actor, who has been instrumental in the success of new faces, is all set to work with another set of debutants like K K Rajeev, Thomas Sebastian and Asshik Abu in the coming year. Apart from these new talents, Mamootty has again given dates to another new comer-Gireesh, who is the associate of Shyamaprasad. He has also worked as an assistant director in many of Laljose’s movies. Mammootty who heard the one-liner of the new movie, instantly agreed to become the lead character. The film which is planned to shoot in and around Bangalore will be a musical action thriller. The director himself will pen the scripts for this film which is yet to be titled. Gireesh has the experience of making many popular commercials and documentaries.
Ilayaraja has started composing for the new Sathyan Anthikkad film, which is planned to kick off by the third week of January. This is seventh film is a row that Ilayaraja is doing the music for Sathyan Anthikkad. All their previous ventures from Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal, to the latest 'Vinodayathra' were success stories both musically and commercially. In this new film which is not yet titled Gireesh Puthencherry pens the lyrics for the four sons set to music by Raja saab. This new film produced by Antony Perumbavor in the banner of Aashirwaad films, is the Vishu release of Mohanlal. The film which relates to the family chores faced by a mediocre family is scripted by the director himself, who is repeating Meera Jasmine, as the heroine, fourth time in a row.
'Cycle' the new film featuring youngsters by the super hit director Johny Antony will have its final schedule shot at Germany. The director and his crew will shortly move on to Germany to shoot the remaining parts of the movie. The film which features Vineeth Sreenivasan, for the first time in celluloid as a hero also have Vinoo Mohan, Sandhya and 'Nivedhyam' fame Bhama in the other important leads. Scripted by James Albert after the super hit 'Classmates', the film tells the youthful story about a few youngsters who are destined to do anything to catch in with their dreams. Some part of this film was shot in Mumbai for the last couple of days. The film which will hit the release centers by March, is giving all great expectations as it combines the super hit director with the super hit scriptwriter in fresh story lines.
The success of Billa 2007 has created a new trend in Kollywood. The industry seems to be reeling under the fever of remaking superstar Rajinikanth’s old films. Quite a few filmmakers have registered many titles of Rajini’s old hits with the Producers’ Council. Around 30 such titles have been registered so far. With Billa continuing its good run at box office, the fever is expected to get intensified further. However, it is not an easy job to catch up the producers of Rajini’s earlier film and get the rights to remake. But, as of now, Kollywood, which is driven by sentiment rules, is busy registering the titles.
Director Seeman’s forthcoming film 'Vaazhthugal' starring Madhavan and Bhavana introduces many celebrities from different fields. Everyone knows the contribution of Tamil Theatre group Koothu-P-Pattarai to the Tamil film world. It has given many amazingly talented actors like Pasupathi and Kalairaani. Actors like Jeeva and Vishal have also been trained by Koothu-P-Pattarai. Now, Na. Muthusamy, one of the founders of Koothu-P-Pattarai, makes his debut in an important role in 'Vaazhthugal'. Muthuswamy, who had already established himself as an important short story writer in Tamil, wrote the first modern play in Tamil. The veteran theatre person, who has given a new face to Tamil theatre scenario, has trained and created many talented actors. He has staged many meaningful and powerful plays successfully through Koothu-P-Pattarai. Likewise, Trotsky Marudu, a leading artist, too makes an appearance in the film. Marudu has earlier done animation works to many Tamil films and this is the first time he appears on screen. He dons the role of the father of Madhavan. To add more variety to the venture, Seeman has roped in more personalities into the film. Panrutti MLA Velmurugan acts as the uncle of Bhavana. Actor Prithviraj’s mother Mallika Sukumaran too makes her entry into films by acting as the mother of Madhavan. Chennai 6000028 fame Venkat Prabhu does a small but important role in Vaazhthugal'. The movie that revolves around a joint family and a pleasant love story is all set to enthrall with a horde of talented persons in its cast.
A few weeks back Ghazal king Jagjit Singh was hospitalized. He was suffering from low blood circulation in the brain. Though there were rumors around him suffering from paralytic attack, they thankfully turned out to be untrue. He is now pretty much fit and back with a 'ghazal' show YAADEIN. Jagjit Singh would be coming up with 'YAADEIN - A Journey through timeless classics', which is hosted by Spastics society "AADI". The event was held at Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi on 25th December.
With a historic opening, not only has the Indian Films-Studio 18 mega release, Welcome outstripped competition and emerged the final winner at the box-office, but the numbers in the overseas have also surpassed those of all erstwhile solo Akshay Kumar titles, creating a new record for the superstar! In the UK, the preview and opening weekend gross was a smashing £370,000 (approx) from 40 locations. In the UAE, just the 5-day business of Welcome was nearly as much as the lifetime gross of Kumar’s earlier hits. The business to date is AED 1.8 million from 29 locations. In the US, the first two days grossed $100,000 only from the mainstream theatres (independents excluded), extremely impressive considering the biggest grosses will start from December 26. In almost every mainstream location, Welcome out-grossed even the major Hollywood openers like Charlie Wilson's War, P.S. I Love You and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Remarks Akshay Kumar of breaking his record, “Three previous hits and now WELCOME creating records, 2007 has been a year of box-office fortune! I’m glad that I’m ending 2007 on a high (literally) with Welcome, my highest overseas opener.”
In a rarest of the occurrences, fans and viewers have started discussing about the sequel of super hit film 'Chocolate' even before the film has left the main centers of the state. The film, which was the first experiment of director Shafi with a young star like Prithviraj, yielded such great results that the director himself have indicated this interest to do the sequel immediately. The first part of 'Chocolate' was about a young man who is forced to study in a women's college by his mother and its aftermaths. The second part under planning will present the opposite that is about a girl student who ends up studying in a men's college. Shafi is planning to repeat the same star cast in the sequel too.
Mammootty had appeared earlier in a few Telugu films, but with limited box office success. More are his dubbed films that made the cash box tingling in Tollywood. Now the star will have another acquaintance with the viewers there as a few of his films are being dubbed into Telugu. Last year's hit 'Balram Vs Tharadas' is the first film that will be dubbed and released in the title 'Monica and Don'. The film has Katrina Kaif as the heroine, who is presently a crowd puller in the language, apart from the hero Mammootty. Mammootty's 'Big B' which also featured Shervil Vakil, Pasupathy and Mamtha was also recently dubbed to the language.
Noted actor, director Balachandra Menon will be honoured with this year’s Prem Nazir award. The award, initiated by the Prem Nazir foundation, will be given to this national award winner for his wholesome contribution to Malayalam cinema. The presentation will be made by the state chief minister V S Achuthanandan on the 16th of this month, in a function organised by the foundation. Balachandra Menon is quite famous for his proficiency in all most all fields of film making, including direction, music, acting, and editing. He has been the winner of national award for best acting in 'Samantharangal'. He is at present busy with his latest production 'De Ingottu Nokkiye' which has Jayasuriya in the lead.
After 28 films, Pritviraj has finally emerged as the hottest rising star in Malayalam cinema! The trade that thinks that no other star exists beyond Mammootty and Mohanlal is slowly realizing the existence of Pritviraj! After the Malayalam film trade tasted the sweetness of Chocolate at the box-office, they are now saying Pritviraj as a solo hero sells and is the next superstar! The film from three main centers of Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode will take a distributors share of over Rs One crore! Now that the trade has finally given him his due recognition Pritvi is on cloud nine. He is gung-ho about his X'mas release Kangaroo. The film directed by Raj Babu has Pritvi in the lead along with Kavya Madhavan, Jayasurya and Kaveri. Though it is basically a fun movie an element of sentiments has also been thrown in as Pritvi an auto driver is forced to look after a six-month old baby! Pritviraj is now going slow on Tamil films especially after the failure of his Diwali film Kannanmoochi Yaenada, and his advisors are telling him his time has come to occupy the throne. If Kangaroo is able to pouch the X'mas Box-Office from Romeo, Flash, Katha Parayumbol, then Pritviraj can boldly announce that he has arrived!
Who said that only Bollywood can churn out multistarrers? The shoot of the biggest ever star cast assembled in the history of Malayalam films, is starting this Friday December 7 in Kochi. The powerful Malayalam artists association AMMA presents in association with Grand Productions Twenty:20. AMMA as part of their fund raising is making the film in association with Dileep's `Grand Production` Twenty:20, directed by Joshy with the all members of the association acting free in the film! Take a look at the impressive star cast which makes Twenty:20, the biggest ever multi-starrer in history of Indian cinema-Male : Madhu, Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Dileep, Pritviraj, Mukesh, Manoj.K.Jayan, Balachandra Menon, Kalabhavan Mani, Indrajit, Jayasurya, Jagathy, Innocent, Harisri Asokhan, Salim Kumar, Cochin Haneefa, Manian Pillai Raju, Indrans, Captain Raju, Rahman, Siddique, Lal, Sai Kumar, Biju Menon and other male members of AMMA.Female: Kaviyoor Ponamma, Sukumari, Meera Jasmine, Kavya Madhavan, Navya Nair, Padmapriya, Bhavana, Samvrutha, Vimala Raman, Kalpana, etc, etc. The promo blurb says- "All stars in one screen!". The shoot of the film will be in one single schedule from December 7 to January 27 in around Kochi. There are four songs in the film written by Girish Puthencherry and tuned by Benny Ignatious. The story and script will be by Uday Krishnan- Sibi.K.Thomas and Camera by P.Sukumar.A spokesperson of `Grand Productions` said: " Twenty:20 will be completed in one single schedule and will be the ultimate multi- starrer in India. All the actors will appear as characters throughout the film and be a part of the story. The film will release on March 14, as Summer special."
Bollywood actor Rani Mukerji may have to pay Rs.2.1 million to local authorities for the controversial plot of land she has bought near Shirdi in Maharashtra, officials said on Tuesday."An inquiry over the illegal transaction and cancellation of the previous revenue records were made today," Ahmed Nagar Sub-Divisional Magistrate Nandkumar Suryavanshi told IANS over telephone.
Paceman Brett Lee has long expressed his desire to act in a Bollywood film and now fans of the Australian cricketing legend can look forward to soon seeing him in action on the big screen. Lee will star in Victory, a film on cricket to be produced by Vivek Aggarwal and Ajit Pal. Starring alongside Lee is Australian cricketing great Allan Border and fellow Australian cricketers Mike Hussey and Jason Gillespie.
Babu Antony, the action star is again back to good days in filmdom. The actor who was keeping away from big screen will have a release next month in 'K K Road', an investigative thriller.
Babu is presently acting in the title role in the film Droner'. Apart from these films the star is being casted in a villainous role in a new tamil film titled 'Laadam'. Interestingly, Babu's elder brother Thampi Antony has already become a big name in Hollywood with better roles in a few English films. Thampi is also the producer of dileep's new film ‘Calcutta News' which is awaiting the release next month. The rare surprise is that Babu doesn't have a role in this film
Shaji Kailash's new film 'Boot' with super star Suresh Gopi will grace the theatres by the 7th of December. The film has him again as an investigative officer. The movie also cast Bala. The film which was entangled in a title issue is holding discussions with the V A Thajudeen of Highlight creations, who are holding the title registration in their name. The film will get released on thirty centers on December 7, most probably in the same name..
Mammooty's first bilingual 'Vande Matharam' will make a release by the end of this January, as per the present plans. The film is produced by Henry under the banner of Pankaj productions which will also have action king Arjun in a surprise cameo. Directed by T Aravind, the film titled 'Aruvadai' in Tamil is presently in the dubbing stages. The producers are planning to make a simultaneous release for both the versions. But as Mammootty have another action film ‘Raudram' geared up for January, the producers may be forced to delay the release until February.
Bharathi, the young actress who shot to fame with the marvelous performance in the parthiban’s film 'Ammuvagiya Naan' is debuting into Mollywood. She has agreed to play one of the female leads in the new Mammootty film 'Annan Thambi', which has the superstar in double roles. The film is planned to start it shooting by the end of December. Meanwhile, her Tamil film which was titled in Malayalam as 'Ammu enna njan', is running to full houses in the state. The actress has been signed for a number of new Tamil films like ‘Chatru Mun Kitaiththa Thagaval’, and 'Nenjathai Killadhae'.
Simran has long ago expressed her desire to make a comeback in Kollywood. The once most sought-after heroine in Kollywood is now ready and raring to go. When she started her second innings in the tinsel world, it was buzzed that Simran would play the ladylove of Vadivelu in 'Indiralohathil Na Azhagappan'. Rumours were abuzz that Simran would share the screen with Parthiban. However, reports now suggest that Simran would act opposite Karunas. The film would be a remake of 'Vadakku Nokki Yanthram', a Malayalam blockbuster of 1980s. It had Sreenivasan and Parvathi in the lead roles. The film is an out and out comedy entertainer, which revolves around a man who marries a beautiful woman.
Less than a year after Shilpa Shetty became the victim of racial slur in Britain, 'Sexiest Asian Woman' Bipasha Basu has claimed that she was racially abused while filming in London. She said that she, along with co star Arshad Warsi, were verbally roughed up by a group of white men while they had been shooting a scene for their latest film 'Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal' near Glassy Junction, a popular Indian pub in Southall, west London, some months back. “When you come into London and you are shooting, it's the last thing you expect”, said John Abraham, who was also present on the sets at that time. It may be recalled that Shilpa Shetty became the target of racial abuse in January when she was taunted on reality TV show 'Big Brother' by fellow contestant Jade Goody who had called her cooking untrustworthy, mocked her Indian accent and complained about her 'screeching'.
The 38th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) which kicked off in Goa on Monday, has decided not to showcase any ‘mainstream’ Indian cinema in the entire festival. Last year, the mainstream section of the film festival showcased blockbusters such as Krrish, Lage Raho Munnabhai, and Rang De Basanti and there were huge serpentine queues to watch these films
Kareena Kapoor's ultimate dream is to do a romantic movie with Shah Rukh Khan. The actress can't seem to stop gushing over her favourite actor. "Very frankly I did the Yeh mera dil song in Don because of Shah Rukh. My ultimate wish is to do a full-on love story with him," said the actress whose latest movie Jab We Met is a box-office hit.
Last week Mohanlal, Parvathy, Sibi Malayil and the unit of Flash, flew to Malaysia to shoot a song for the film. It is a peppy romantic song featuring Mohanlal and Parvathy. Sibi is introducing a new music director Gopu Sundaram, with Flash, which has lyrics by Rafiq Ahammed. The shoot of the film is almost over, with the climax scenes being shot in Trivandrum. Now Sibi will start the post-production work of the film which releases for Christmas.
Malayalam cinema is going to celebrate 2007 Christmas in a big way. It is going to be a treat for the audiences as four biggies are going to clash for the X’mas cake. As of now the list is as below- 1.FLASHCast- Mohanlal, Parvathy, JagathyDirector- Sibi MalayailGenre- Comedy and psychological thrillerProduced and Distributed- Mulukupadam FilmsRelease Date- Friday, December 21
2.KATHAPARAYUMBOLCast- Mammootty, Meena, SreenivasanDirector- M.MohananGenre- Comedy and social satireProducer- Mukesh. Distributor- Seven ArtsRelease Date- Friday, December 21
3. KANGAROOCast- Pritviraj, Kavya Madhavan, JayasuryaDirector- Raj BabuProducer- Sisili Biju. Distributor- Lal CreationsRelease Date- Friday, December 21
4.ROMEOCast- Dileep, Vimala, SamvruthaDirector- RajasenanProducer- Rafi-Mecartin, Distributor- Marakkar FilmsRelease Date- Friday, December 21
After Dr. Anbumani the Union Health Minister and PMK strongman made an appeal to Vijay not to show smoking on the screen, Ilayathalapathy has said that he will not "smoke on screen in future" Vijay clarified about his smoking scenes in ATM- " I'm helpless, one of the characters that I did in ATM has negative shades and to establish that he is a bad guy there are scenes showing him smoking. At the end of the film when he turns a new leaf there is also a scene showing him discarding cigarettes." Vijay also pointed out that in the title itself, the statutatory warning about the ills of cigarette smoking has been prominently displayed. Meanwhile Vijay has decided to follow the advise of Dr Anbumani and from now there will not be any smoking scenes in any of his films. Vijay and director Dharani has made it clear that there will not be any smoking scene in Kuruvi.



It is a cracking Deepavali for Pyramid Saimira this Deepavali. The company which is running several theatres and involved in production and distribution of films in several languages, would be involved in the distribution of the majority of Deepavali films.
Pyramid Saimira would be distributing in few select centers the Deepavali movies including 'Kanamoochi Yaenada', 'Machaakkaran' and 'Polladhavan' besides the worldwide release of Suriya starrer 'Vel'.
Interestingly, Pyramid Saimira has obtained the negative rights of 'Vijay's Azhagiya Tamil Magan'.
Also Pyramid Saimira which runs over 750 theatres has now forayed into USA. The company has obtained 23 screens in USA.
The company is forayed to film production and also to small screen. They have been providing content for more than one-and-half-hour to Tamil television channels everyday and also intend to bring Hollywood movies to this part of Asia.
Pyramid Saimira's plans and future course of actions were outlined at a press briefing held in Chennai on Monday.
Pyramid Natarajan and Swaminathan of Pyramid Saimira among others were present at the briefing.

Kavya Madhavan was the only actress who sticks on to Malayalam even when her contemporaries went to other languages in the south to bag big money and names. She was rated the best loved heroine in Malayalam by a popular magazine Gallup Poll, a year ago.
Most of her hits were with the young star Dileep and she was never placed against the bigger super stars in any of the films. The actress who had been in the field for the last ten years never had attempted a role that has anything obscene or exposing in it. Inspite of all this, she continues to be the heartthrob of millions of fans in the state.
The actress is now turning up in Tamil for a second attempt with the Siddhique film 'Sadhu Mirandal' in which she plays the heroine.
"I won't be acting in a glamorous, exposing role, even if they pay a crore for a film", says the girl.
This reaffirms that the actress who expects new Tamil films to do big wonders in her career is not for glamour. She is also acting in a number of movies in Malayalam like 'Kangaroo' with Prithviraj and 'Chembakarman' and 'Rikshakaran' with Mammootty.

Association of Malayalam Movie artists has named their maiden venture 'Twenty Twenty’.
Taking a cue from the popularity of the Twenty20 form of cricket, the film with almost all major stars of Malayalam cinema was in discussions for a long time, to raise funds for the association's activities.
The president of AMMA, actor Innocent announced this week that the film is finally going to take off by the end of this month. "The film has got nothing to do with cricket even though the name might suggest it. But it is going to have all the thrills and frills of a Twenty20 cricket match," says Innocent.
Directed by Veteran Joshy in the scripts of Sibi K Thomas -Uday Krissna, the production activities of the film will be taken cared by Dileep, who will act as the executive producer for AMMA. Featuring Mammootty, Mohanlal, Dileep, Suresh Gopi and Jayaram in the lead, the film will have five heroines.
Expected to be completed by the second month of 2008, AMMA is planning to release the film by the 14th of March, if all are going as per schedules.

Earlier this year, Vishal Dadlani of Vishal-Shekhar duo was heard singing 'Kiss Of Love' for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy in JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM. Now he ends the year by pairing up with the composer trio yet again for a track in just released music album of TAARE ZAMEEN PAR.
He croons the Hinglish track 'Jame Raho' which is written by Prasoon Joshi. 'Jame Raho' too follows the album's theme as it takes a listener through the journey of a child who is motivated to do well in academics as well as strive to do things differently and rightly to be successful in life.
A fun rock song, it has a thump to it which makes it different from rest of the soundtrack that is primarily centered on melody.

Neha Dhupia is willing to reveal her secrets and that too in front of the camera, though strictly for her on-screen character that she plays in STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT, one of the short stories in Sanjay Gupta's DUS KAHANIYAAN.
In the story, she and her on screen husband Mahesh Manjrekar are shown to be sharing a pact where they reveal a secret each of theirs every anniversary. Now it's Neha Dhupia's turn and she tells her hubby about a stranger whom she met in a railway station waiting room. A secret unfolds which leads to uncovering a few hidden layers that may just have been allowed to remain stationed at the place they were.

Shahid Kapoor is riding high on the box office success of JAB WE MET.
Critics as well as the masses have been raving about the film and his mind blowing performance. The first week collection of film is huge and the trade has already declared it a hit, following his super hit VIVAAH last year.
Though Shahid's career is on a roll, he is yet rooted to the ground and quite close to his family. In fact last week when he heard that his kid brother Ishaan couldn't get tickets for JAB WE MET since it was houseful, Shahid not only arranged the tickets, but also organized a surprise birthday party for him on his 12th birthday.
According to a source, "Ishaan wanted to celebrate his birthday by inviting all his friends to see the JWM. But since the shows were running houseful, he couldn't get the tickets. He then called Shahid, who further spoke to CINEMAX and arranged the tickets for him"
Adds the source, "Soon after the show, Shahid took them to his flat at Raj Classique and organized a special birthday with cakes, balloons etc.
Shahid also gifted Ishaan an expensive electronic gadget for his birthday. Incidentally Ishaan is very tech savvy and clued into computers and gadgets.
According to the source Ishaan was very overwhelmed and felt it was a perfect gift for his birthday.

National award winning director T V Chandran began filming his latest venture 'Vilapangalku Appuram' based on the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Suhasini, Biju Menon and Thilakan play prominent roles in the movie. Producer of the film Aryadan Shoukat has written the story of the film.
According to Shoukat, ‘the story revolves around Sahira, a Muslim woman who flees Gujarat soon after the riots and arrives in Kozhikode.’
"This role is played by Priyanka who recently starred in a Tamil film 'Veyyil'. Sahira arrives in Kozhikode and is taken care by Mary Varghese (Suhasini) and Gopinath (Biju Menon). She has a lot of problems related to the aftermath of the riots and she is brought back to normalcy by the two doctors" said Shoukat, son of senior Congress leader and former minister Aryadan Mohammed.
The film would be shot in Ahmedabad, Wayanad and Kozhikode.

With just a few weeks left for the International Film Festival to kick off in Goa, it still remains a mystery as to who would inaugurate this year's edition of the coveted film festival. Though several names are doing the rounds, the organizers have not confirmed any as yet.
One of the sought-after annual event attended by avid film-buffs from across the globe, the IFFI will have movies from various languages screened attracting huge gathering.
The event has promised plenty of action both on and off the screen. The North-South divide reared its head in the earlier editions of the IFFI. Mammootty had openly stated that South Indian films are not given due prominence and all the limelight is hijacked by Bollywood movies.
Also director Ameer, who churned out Tamil movies like Ram and Paruthiveeran, also echoed the same views. He expressed his ire at regional language films not been given due prominence in such festivals.
In such scenario, it remains to be seen as to who would inaugurate the IFFI this year. Speculations are rife that a yesteryear Bollywood 'super star' may do the job. But a general feeling among the South Indian film personalities is that a veteran film personality from South India should be entrusted the job.
Clearly, IFFI is making enough noises even before its gets underway.
Mumbai, Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt was Monday headed back to jail after a two-month reprieve when a special anti-terrorism court here gave him a copy of the judgement convicting him in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. The actor, who is likely to be shifted back to Pune's Yerewada Jail later Monday, requested for permission to speak to his daughter Trishala in the US and wear home clothes in jail.Dutt surrendered before the special Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court Monday afternoon. He had been granted bail by the apex court Aug 20 pending receipt of a copy of the judgement.Dutt's advocates Satish Maneshinde and Karan Singh told reporters that they will file an appeal against the TADA court's verdict on Friday.In what could spell further trouble for the actor, the prosecution will recommend to the government to appeal against the judgement of special Judge P.D. Kode who had found Dutt not guilty under provisions of the TADA. The court had in July sentenced the actor to six years' rigorous imprisonment under the Arms Act for illegal possession of an AK-57 army assault rifle and attempting to destroy it. After he surrendered and was taken into custody, dressed in his trademark blue shirt, blue jeans and boots to match, Dutt sought permission from Judge Kode to phone his daughter to which the judge replied that he would allow her to visit him in prison. Dutt said he only wanted to talk to her over the phone. Kode granted him the permission. Advocate Satish Maneshinde requested the judge to ensure that the same security is maintained in jail for Dutt as before. In the morning, three convicts, Yashwant Bhoinkar, and father-son duo Shahjahan and Abbas Shaikhdare were given copies of the judgement concerning them. The trio have already served their jail term of three years under the Customs Act but are in custody. In all, 21 convicts have received the copies of the verdictSpecial Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who led the trial on behalf of the prosecution, told media persons shortly after Dutt's surrender that he would also recommend that the prosecution agencies appeal against the meagre sentences awarded to some of the accused in the Mumbai serial blasts case. The fast-paced developments followed the handing over of certified copies of the judgement, which runs into 4,340 pages and weighs almost 25 kg, to some of the accused and the prosecution. The court started handing over certified copies of the judgement to the convicts since last Saturday. While 13 convicts, including 10 facing death sentences - Asghar Yusuf Mukaddam, Shoaib Ghansare, Abdul Gani Turk, Parvez Shaikh, Mushtaque Tarani, Shahnawaz Qureishi, Abdul Akhtar Khan, Farooque Pawle, Zakir Hussain and Feroz Malik got their copies that day, Dutt was given his copy on Monday. He is accused No. 117 on the list.Two others on the death row - Yakub Memon, brother of absconding prime accused Tiger Memon, and Iqbal Shaikh - were not brought to the court on Saturday since they remained indisposed. Three others who have been sentenced to life terms - Salim Rahim Shaikh, Nasim Barmare and Bashir Khairullah - were given their copies. Dutt's associates Kersi Adjania and Russi Mulla also received their copies Monday. On Tuesday, the members of the Memon family, former additional customs collector Somnath Thapa, Imtiaz Gawthe and some women convicts are likely to be given their copies. The court in its July ruling had not found Dutt guilty under the draconian provisions of TADA. It had ruled that he had acquired the weapons for self defence in the wake of the communal carnage that engulfed Mumbai in December 1992-January 1993, a couple of months before the serial bomb explosions.
The veteran of Kannada cinema of over four decades Dwarakish received the 'Adarsha Rathna' award for his service to Kannada film industry as producer, actor and director on Tuesday evening at Gayana Samaja in Bangalore. "I have surpassed many difficulties in life for survival. Life in cinema is a big challenge for a person like me", said Dwarakish referring to his looks and shot build. At the same function famous flute player Pravin Godkindi who is in to television and films recently, literary personality Sa.Shi.Marulayya also received the awards.
Mohanlal, who has lined up three more movies to get released this year itself, will start another two films next January. After completing 'Flash' for this Christmas, Mohanlal will immediately join the sets of 'Casanova' by Roshan Andrews which will have a first schedule of fifteen days. There after Mohanlal has allotted fifty continuous days for Sathyan Anthikkad film that is charted as his Vishu movie. With Meera Jasmine as the heroine, the crew may need a little more luck to complete the film on time, as with the case of her latest 'Calcutta news'. Sathyan Anthikkad is now giving final touches to the scripts of this untitled movie which will start this January 20.
Suresh Gopi is planning to start his new film with Anil C Menon titled 'Collector' by the first of next month. The film which had him in the title role will have a schedule to be shot at Dubai. Suresh had been earlier with the director in last years 'Rashtram' which was a moderate success. The actor is presently busy in the sets of 'The Boot' directed by his favorite Shaji Kailas. The thing of interest in both these films will be that , both 'The Boot' and 'Collector' is scripted by Rajesh Jayaraman, who had earlier penned for Suresh Gopi's 'Time'.
Mammootty has joined the final schedule of 'Raudram' this week. Last week he was busy shooting for the third schedule of 'Pazhassi Raja' which still has got another four schedules to complete, before it is released for the next Vishu. 'Raudram' which is all set to reach theatres on November 29 will have an extended third schedule which will be completed in two more weeks. Scripted and Directed by Renji Panikkar, the shoot for the film is in full swing at Ernakulam.
'Sadhu Mirandaal' marks the reentry of Malayalam director Siddhique into Tamil cinema, who had earlier directed movies like ‘Friends’ with Vijay and ‘Engal Anna’ with Vijaykanth in the lead roles, respectively. Prasanna is doing the lead with 'En Mana Vaanil' fame Kavya Madhavan, who is one among the top heroines of Malayalam acting opposite him. Prasanna says, "I am happy to be the part of ‘Sadhu Mirandaal’, directed by veteran Siddhique. The script is simple and straight forward which will certainly woo Tamil audience. This film will be an important milestone in my career." Kavya Madhavan says, "After 'En Mana Vanil', I had no big offers here. Now I am confident that 'Sadhu Mirandaal' would bring more fortunes to me".
The film has Kalabavan Mani and Kanja Karuppu in important roles.
“ 'Dasvatharam' will be a milestone movie in my career”, says Asin. Speaking about the film, Asin says, "I have completed the shooting for the entire movie and the dubbing works would commence very soon". Asin says, "Being part of a Kamal Haasan movie is a delight for me. Every scene in the movie has been shot with great care and I am confident that it would rock the theaters". Asin says,” The shooting for Hindi remake of 'Ghajini' will resume this November”. Directed by Murugadoss himself, the Hindi version features Aamir Khan in the lead role. Asin says, "I am in no hurry to accept offers. I want to wait and watch and pick the right offers."
On October 16 a special preview of the keenly awaited romantic comedy, JAB WE MET was organized in Mumbai. Shahid Kapoor attended with his parents, Pankaj Kapoor and Supriya Pathak, who thoroughly enjoyed the film. Kareena Kapoor, not surprisingly, decided to give the trial a miss (presumably to avoid any awkwardness) and is likely to watch the film at another pre-release trial. Inside reports of those that saw the film have been extremely positive. In fact the film has already been passed by the Indian censors with a clear "U" certificate. The UK censors who have also seen the film have approved it with a clear "PG" cert. We are informed that the running time of JAB WE MET, releasing worldwide on October 26, is 2 hours 22 minutes.
Debutante Thomas Sebastian who fetched the dates of Mammootty for the new film has named it 'Mayabazaar'. Thomas who plans to present the star in a novel theme is also introducing another scriptwriter Govind Vijayan, through this film. To be produced by Sachi S Mangalam in the banner of Aakhil Films, the shoot for this film will start by the end of next March. Thomas Sebastian has been a long time associate of mainstream directors like Sibi Malayail, Blessy and Sundardas.
Shafi has got one more reason to celebrate other than the stupendous success of his new film 'Chocolate’. According to latest reports, he has been selected to direct the new film starring Mohanlal which is to be shot entirely in United States. The film will also be scripted by Rafi -Mecartin after their recent hit with Lal 'Hello'. The movie will be produced by Thara Arts and Aashirvaad Cinemas. Shafi, who has got special abilities to create hits, had been in the company of big hits for a long time. His recent two films with Mammootty- the other superstar of Malayalam, 'Maayavi' and 'Thommanum Makkalum' were the biggest hits of his career. Now that, he is going to associate with the biggest star of Malayalam, every filmgoer will be necessarily expecting another big hit from the young director.
She was recently seen in Happy Days. Then, she was signed opposite Sushant for his forthcoming film Dev. But what has Tamanna really excited these days is her film opposite Allu Arjun. She has just signed the dotted line and is looking forward for the big break.
Shooting is on at full swing for ITA film's 'Rameswaram' is directed by Selvam. Starring Jeeva and Bhavana, the movie is about the tale of a Lankan refugee who falls in love with an Indian girl. The director said,’ It was a love story with a difference. Jeeva has acquired a tan, especially for the film. The story is set in Rameswaram, hence the title. It is about a young Sri Lankan refugee in the Mandapam camp. The daughter of a landlord in the area is in love with him. Initially, he is hesitant to reciprocate her love, but later on develops an interest in her. The various incidents that bring them together will make the audience sit through the film.' One of the major high lights of the film, the director said, 'South African singer Shaliqb Khan who lives in France has sung a song for the film tuned by music director Niru,' he said.
Raza Murad is geared up to wear the character of Mohinder Singh Pandher, the dreadful murderer in Nithari killings in a film titled D5. The film is being directed by Yoginder Gupta and Sushil Gupta former builder, makes his debut as a producer.The idea is the brainchild of the director, Yoginder Singh with whom Raza had worked earlier in a comedy flick Tamboo Ka Bamboo. Nithari killings had brought shivers to the spines of every Indian earlier this year. Raza Murad along with Yoginder Gupta has taken an initiative to bring up the root cause of such a frightful incident to which Raza says, “The film is an eye opener with a purpose of making the people aware and cautious of misdoings in the world and also teaching their children to remain guarded when it comes to strangers.” Gopal Singh who had appeared in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Traffic signal as a beggar will be seen playing the servant, Surinder’s role in the film. As far as Raza is concerned, he already is done with his share of research on the subject and says, “I remember Mohinder Singh very distinctly. I have observed him very minutely. His appearance, mannerisms, body language and expressions even when he was taken to Ahmedabad for brain mapping test. However, not even in my wildest dream did I think I would play this character in future.” He also adds, “I have been to the homes of the killed children and have seen Mohinder Singh’s bungalow with my own eyes.” The film will be shot in Mumbai with some exterior shots taken in Noida. D5 went on floors on October 15 and the shoot is expected to be wrapped up in 15 days.
'Katha Parayumpol' which started its shooting last week at Thodupuzha is all about Balan and his intimate relationship with the filmi star. Balan is the first person to start a Barber shop in the village. But on changing circumstances, every youth from the village flocks to the city to beautify themelves in air conditioned barber shops with modern amenities. Balan too finds a need to change his shop and its facilities. Even though in financial crisis, he starts off to bring in revolving chairs and electric shavers to make his shop look modern . It is at this junction he meets a filmi super star Ashokraj, who also happens to be his old friend. Directed by debutante M Mohan, the film has Sreenivasan as Barber Balan while Mammootty appear as Ashok Raj. Meena is the wife of Balan in the film while Mukesh dons the character of a parallel college teacher. The film is all set to reach the theatres as a Christmas release.
The Prithviraj - Jayasuriya starrer 'Chocolate' has emerged as the dark horse among the Ramzan releases. The film which opened last Friday in 39 theatres was declared an instant hit, as the growing mouth publicity will ensure the a safe run of the film for another couple of months. The film has gathered more than one crores from the first three days. Completed in a moderate budget of around two crores, the film is likely to break even by a three week run.
Prithviraj, who didn't have a hit although 2007 will also be relieved with the film's run. Shafi who delivered a big hit in the earlier months of the year with 'Mayavi' is celebrating with his successive second hit of the year. Salimkumar and Roma have contributed equally to the success of this film which is sure to gather more momentum in the coming weeks.
As expected and predicted by the trade pundits ‘Nasraani' - the Ramzan release from Mammootty witnessed bumper initials in the first week end. It registered hundred percent in almost all the centres. The film has come in as a solace to the fans of the star who were waiting for long for a film which has all the ingredients of a commercial hit. Script writer Ranjith and director Joshy has managed to make a formula film that uses Mammootty's larger-than- life image in the role of a Kottayam Achayan , with proper mastery. The film which was released in 50 centres en masse around one and a half crores from its three days run.

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