He comes from a family of directors and the actor-singer wants to wield the megaphone soon

Tamil actor Dhanush, who is awaiting the release of his debut Hindi film Raanjhanaa, said on Tuesday that he is keen to direct soon. In all probability, he is likely to wield the megaphone by the end of 2014.

“I have been thinking of directing for quite some time now. In fact, I would have started my directorial project had Raanjhanaa not come my way. Currently, I have signed two more projects and therefore, I may likely direct a film by the end of next year,” Dhanush told reporters.

The direction bug bit him because he comes from a family of directors.

“My father (Kasthuri Raja) and brother (Selvaraghavan) are renowned directors in the industry. I can say I have been influenced by them, but I want to take things slowly,” he added.

While Dhanush made his cinematic debut through his father Kasthuri Raja’s Tamil romantic-drama Thulluvadho Ilammai, he has worked with his brother Selvaraghavan in Tamil films such as Kadhal Kondein, Yaaradi Nee Mohini and Mayakkam Enna.

In Raanjhanaa, which is directed by Aanand L Rai, Dhanush stars opposite Sonam Kapoor. Produced by Eros International, the movie releases this Friday.

The recently released first look trailer of the movie, a Pizza franchise, is all about a seemingly haunted villa, an antique typewriter and scares that are hinted at, not in your face

The teaser of Pizza 2 – The Villa is out and one of the first things you notice is the haunting music by Santosh Narayanan, who also scored for Pizza. It begins with an old piano being dusted off and played and builds up to a crescendo as eerie things happen. None of the goings-on are obvious, though, and that is likely to be one of the attractions of this thriller.

It’s evidently not a sequel in the strictest sense for the cast is different. The Villa stars Ashok Selvan and Sanchita Shetty, fresh from their recent outing in Soodhu Kavvum. The director this time is Deepan Chakravarthy, while the producer is the same, CV Kumar.

The sound effects are definitely going to be a talking point of this thriller. While Pizza was released in the much hyped 7.1 Surround format, Pizza 2 – The Villa gets into another league altogether – it’s in Dolby Atmos. So, expect some serious scares.

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The Raanjhanaa actor says she is not doing Hollywood project Curry in Love with Nick Nolte

Refuting rumours that she has signed a Hollywood project titled Curry in Love with Tamil filmmaker P Vasu, Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor said Tuesday that she hasn’t been approached for any English film as of now. “The news about me part of an English film is just a rumour. Nobody has approached me for a Hollywood project,” Sonam told reporters in Chennai.

It was reported Sonam Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Tamil actor Vijay and Hollywood actor Nick Nolte have been roped in to feature in Curry in Love, which was to be helmed by P Vasu, known for Tamil films such as Chandramukhi and Kuselan.

But the actress would love to act in any language film. “Language has never been a barrier for me. I would love to do films in other languages, but I don’t want to end up playing similar roles. If I get a challenging role to play, then I would be more than willing to work in any language,” she said while promoting her upcoming Hindi romance Raanjhanaa with Tamil actor Dhanush.

Raanjhanaa, directed by Anand L Rai, is dubbed in Tamil as Ambikapathy. While the Hindi version is scheduled to release on June 21, the Tamil version will release a week later.

Photo: Spicy Southdreamz

The glamorous actor turns 28 today

Born on June 19, 1985, Kajal Aggarwal should be one happy young lady as she celebrates her birthday today. It’s been a good year, work-wise, and she has plenty to look forward to as well.

The girl who made her debut with the Bollywood film Kyun! Ho Gaya Na in 2004 has worked her way up in the years since then, going on to establish herself as a leading heroine in Tollywood and as one of the in-demand actors in Tamil cinema as well.

Her big break came in 2009 in the Ram Charan Teja-starrer Magadheera and she hasn’t looked back since. Kajal has starred in various blockbusters such as Darling, Brindavanam and Mr Perfect.

She also made a talked about return to Bollywood with Singham in 2011. Her more recent successes have been Businessman opposite Mahesh Babu and in Kollywood last year’s big hit, Thuppakki starring Vijay.

The actor who doesn’t shy away from glamorous roles is currently working on two other biggies, the Karthi-starrer All in All Azhagu Raja and Vijay’s Jilla.

Here’s wishing Kajal a very happy birthday!

While Kollywood is abuzz with news that P Vasu is directing the father-daughter duo in his debut Hollywood venture, the Kapoors are yet to confirm the development

Ace filmmaker P Vasu, who delivered super hits such as Chandramukhi, Chinna Thambi and Uzhaippali, is apparently on his way to Hollywood.

It has been announced that he will direct an English movie titled Curry in Love, which will have Amanda Seyfried, Nick Nolte, Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor in lead roles.

“Anil and Sonam will play father and daughter in this movie. International technicians will work in Curry in Love,” said Vasu, who is very happy about his Hollywood debut.

The film will be produced by Raj Thiruselvam, on behalf of a Hollywood-based production house. Thiruselvam has also written the script for Curry in Love and will be co-directing the film.

Tamannaah plays Ajith’s heroine in this family drama

The title of Ajith‘s 52nd film, directed by Vishnuvardhan, is yet to be announced. However, the actor’s 53rd movie, helmed by Siva of Siruthai fame, has been named it seems.

According to sources, the film has been titled Vinayakam Brothers since it is about a family of four brothers, headed by Ajith.

“Ajith is playing the role of a responsible elder brother, who lives for his three siblings. The film will be a complete family entertainer,” sources say.

Tamannaah plays Ajith’s heroine in this flick being produced by the reputed Vijaya Productions to mark the centenary year of its founder, the late veteran B Nagi Reddy.

The remake has been titled Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham and will be directed by Srinath

Top comedian Santhanam, who tasted success by playing the hero in Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya, is set to play the lead role in more movies.

A few days ago, there was an official announcement regarding his next film as protagonist, titled Vaaliba Raja. He is set to share screen space with his KLTA co-actor Sethu in the movie.

And now, the latest update is that Santhanam is set to play the lead role in yet another movie. It will be a remake of the Telugu super hit Maryada Ramanna. “The project to be directed by Srinath has been titled Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham,” say sources. The original was directed by SS Rajamouli, with Tollywood’s leading comedian Sunil in the lead.

The 59-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest on Saturday morning

Popular Tamil actor, writer and director R Manivannan died on Saturday following a cardiac arrest. He was 58. Manivannan passed away at his residence in Nesapakkam, a friend of the filmmaker told IANS. He is survived by his wife, son and a daughter.

Southern actor Siddharth took to Twitter to mourn the death of the multi-faceted talent. “The great Manivannan Sir is no more. Many lives in cinema are what they are today because of him. Writer, director, actor… gone too soon. RIP,” he posted.

Manivannan’s 50th directorial outing was Tamil political-satire Nagaraja Cholan MA, MLA, which recently released to a lukewarm response. It was the sequel to highly successful Tamil film Amaidhi Padai.

Other noted films directed by Manivannan include Pudhu Manithan, Chinna Thambi Periya Thambi and Jalli Kattu. It was as a character actor that Manivannan won the hearts of millions. Known for playing hero’s uncle or father in most films, Manivannan will be remembered for his roles in Tamil films such as Mudhalvan, Sangamam and Ullathai Allitha. He worked in over 400 Tamil films.

He started his showbiz career as a writer. He penned dialogues for projects like Tick Tick Tick and Kathal Ovium.

Siddharth and Santhanam’s magic does the trick in this comedy flick

Sundar C has made a name for himself as a director with a finger on the pulse of the audience and a penchant for light-hearted entertainers. In a career dotted with mostly comedy-based films, the director has often come up trumps and seems to have done it again with Theeya Velai Seyyanum Kumaru (TVSK) with Siddharth, Hansika Motwani and Santhanam in key roles.

If one remembers right, Sundar C’s rollicking comedy Ullathai Allithaa sparked a revival in fortunes for Karthik in the mid-90s and made Goundamani a bigger star than he was thought to be. In TVSK, he has pinned hopes on Santhanam, the in-demand comedian these days in Tamil cinema and seems to have scored a winner. The Siddharth-Santhanam combo does work well and it is a laugh-riot right through. Santhanam scores as usual with his witty dialogues and one-liners.

Kumar (Siddharth) is an introverted young man, who comes from a family in which everyone has had a love marriage; but he is not inclined towards romance. However, in the course of the story he undergoes a transformation and begins to yearn for love. The introverted Kumar is an IT employee and has the idea of wooing a girl. However, the entry of George (Ganesh Venkataraman) into the office comes as a hurdle as Mr Smart is liked by everyone, especially the women. Meanwhile, the beautiful Sanjana (Hansika Motwani) joins as a programmer and Siddharth falls for her, but she has a soft corner for George. Meanwhile, Kumar seeks the help of one Mr Mokia (Santhanam), a love guru, and the scenes involving the two bring the roof down. The rest of the plot is as to whether the love guru is able to make Sanjana fall for Kumar and the twists and turns involved. Devadarshini, Bosskey and RJ Balaji among others form part of the cast. Siddharth, who has earlier shown glimpses of his comic talent, does well in Santhanam’s company and Ganesh does his bit in a role that appears tailor-made for him.

The songs (music by Sathya of Engeyum Epodhum fame), though impressive, appear to hamper the pace of the film. Sundar C’s films depend a lot on the dialogues and TVSK is no different with Santhanam leading the way. All in all, it is a fun ride even if there’s no real storyline.

Based on the 1981 Tamil comedy of the same name, the new version appears to be a half-hearted tribute to the original

One of the glaring differences between the original version starring Rajinikanth and the new one with Shiva is the treatment of comedy. While the first installment was sensible and funny, the remake is loud and commercial. Despite a few rib-tickling moments between Shiva and Prakash Raj, Thillu Mullu suffers due to extended running time and skewed screenplay.

In search of a job to support his sister and find a groom for her, Pasupathy (Shiva) lands in the office of Shivagurunathan (Prakash Raj), chairman of a water purification company. With his obedience and piousness, Pasupathy wins over Shivagurunathan and eventually lands a job as marketing head.

Pasupathy is not the same man when he steps out of the office. He smokes, drinks and occasionally gets involved in bar brawls. When Shivagurunathan learns about his original identity, Pasupathy’s job is at stake.

To save his job being terminated, he convinces his boss that he must have mistaken him with his cat-eyed twin brother, who is exactly opposite to him in behaviour – rebellious and uncivilised.

The rest of the story is all about how Pasupathy continues to fool his boss without blowing his own cover. Will Shivagurunathan ever come to know about Pasupathy’s hidden identity? This forms the climax.

Some of the best moments and lines are between Shiva and Prakash Raj in the film. Barring these moments, rest of the scenes don’t evoke laughter. In fact, it turns annoying, especially scenes involving Kovai Sarla, who seems to be getting louder with each movie.

Sequences in the original were genuinely funny and never forced you to laugh. The remake fails miserably on this front as it attempts to make every single line as witty as possible with cliched references.

Shiva and Prakash Raj shoulder the film with equal responsibility. They are brilliant in their respective roles, but hardly do they get any support from the rest of the cast.

Isha Talwar, though, in her limited screen time, does her best to get noticed and succeeds too.

But the never ending second half and extended climax is boring.

Thillu Mullu would have been even more enjoyable if the running time would have been shortened. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining watch.