Tamilnadu News, Tamil news

Tamilnadu News: V. Muthuselvi of the ruling AIADMK was Wednesday elected to the Tamil Nadu assembly from Sankarankoil constituency, defeating her DMK rival by over 68,000 votes in a by-election.

Muthuselvi bagged 94,927 votes, the Election Commission said. The AIADMK has retained the seat. DMK’s Jawahar Suryakumar got 26,220 votes followed by MDMK’s T. Sadan Thirumalaikumar (20,678) and DMDK’s K. Muthukumar (12,144 votes).

Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa in a statement issued here thanking the people said: The voters weighed the working of my government and the welfare and growth measures and DMK’s misrule during 2006-2011 and made Muthuselvi victorious with a margin of over 68,000 votes.

Reacting to the by-election result, DMK President M. Karunanidhi said there was nothing new in the ruling party winning the by-polls and cited his party’s turning victorious in 11 by-polls while in power between 2006-2011. He added that there was nothing to worry about the loss.

He said Sankarankoil has been with AIADMK since 1991 and the party retaining the seat was expected.

Tamilnadu News: Budget session for Tamilnadu 2012-13 will be presented in the State Assembly on March 26. In an official statement here today, Assembly Secretary A M P Jamaluddin said the Budget for 2012-13 will be presented in the Assembly at 1000 hrs on the day.

Finance Minister O Panneerselvam will present the budget.

After the budget in which Mr Panneerselvam would outline the fund allocation for the government’s welfare schemes for the next one year, the Business Advisory Council would meet to decide on the duration of the session.

Assembly Speaker D Jayakumar would chair the meeting.

The session was likely to last about 40 days during which demands for grants for various departments would be passed.

Earlier, Raj Bhavan statement said Governor K Rosaiah had summoned the Legislative Assembly to meet on March 26 under the powers conferred upon him by the Constitution.

Cinema News: Our Bengal Tiger Retired Indian captain Sourav Ganguly is starting afresh. Making frequent appearances on the small screen he is seen giving his valuable inputs as a commentator and playing an entertaining host. Now Ganguly’s game enters the silver screens, big time.

He will be seen playing the lead role in a Bengali film on cricket. It happened so that Ganguly recently caught up on the Tollywood flick Golconda High School starring actors Sumanth and Swathi Reddy in key roles. So impressed was the former cricketer with the storyline that he bought the remake rights for the film instantly. Actress Swathi of Subramaniapuram fame received praises for her performance as Anjali in the movie. The actress, who had a decent release in Porali, is currently filming for her upcoming Kollywood flick in Amali Thumali .While her role in the remake version is still in the talks, it will be Ganguly who will replace Sumanth in the Bengali version of Golconda High School, donning the role of a will powered coach. The movie will stress on the fact that sports should be made an important part of the school curriculum with academics.

Tamilnadu News: Blockbuster movie of Ajith’s Mankatha, which was released last year and became a super-duper hit, has just won as many as 5 awards in various categories at a function organized in Singapore. The awards ceremony, organized by popular magazine IMN, was held in a grand manner in Singapore in which the likes of actresses Hansika and Shriya Saran danced on stage much to the job of the huge audiences who had come to watch the proceedings.

The event was held on the evening of last Friday and witnessed Ajith’s Mankatha winning a record number of 5 awards. The film, which was also the actor’s landmark 50th film in a career spanning close to two decades, won the awards in the categories of ‘best film’, ‘best director’, ‘best cinematography’. ‘Best playback singer (female)’ and ‘best supporting actor’. Suchitra and Premji Amaren won the awards in the last two categories.

Brothers Venkatprabhu and Premji were the happy award-winners. Gangai Amaren, muti-talented personality who is known as a lyricist, music composer, producer and director, won the ‘lifetime achievement’ award to make it a memorable evening for the entire family.

Simbu and Shriya Saran (a surprise selection, many felt) won the ‘best actor’ and ‘best actress’ awards for their performances in films Vaanam and Rowthiram respectively. Jai, who had put in an admirable performance in last year’s Engeyum Eppodhum, won the award for the ‘best upcoming actor’. Actresses Shriya Saran, Hansika, Sandhya and Meghna Naidu danced live on stage for the audience amid thunderous response.

Tamilnadu News: Superstar, this star shines all over the world. Rajinikanth recently watched the special screening of the upcoming film 3 starring his son-in-law Dhanush and actress Shruti Haasan in lead roles. The film marks the directorial debut of Aishwarya, eldest daughter of the superstar and Dhanush’s wife. The film has music by Anirudh, a close relative of Aishwarya and has been produced by producer-director Kasturiraja, Dhanush’s father. The film has generated a huge buzz and excitement among Dhanush’s fans in particular and the public in general thanks to the hugely popular why this Kolaveri di… song, penned and sung by Dhanush himself. The on-screen ‘chemistry’ between Dhanush and Shruti has also become a talking point, much like their reported ‘affair’ off-screen which did rounds in the press a month ago.

Rajini, who watched the film recently, reportedly suggested to his daughter to change the climax from a ‘tragic ending’ to a ‘happy ending’. The climax of film, which is likely to be released either towards end-March or in early-April, is now likely to be re-shot by Aishwarya as she might bring in changes in the script as ‘advised’ by Rajini.

Rajini appreciated Dhanush and Shruti’s performance and also had a word of praise for Aishwarya, the debutant director. Though nothing has so far been revealed to the press about the script, it has now been reported that there would be a considerable change in the film’s climax has come to light now as per Rajini’s suggestion!

Tamilnadu News: Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi Movie reviews, Love stories in any form always attract masses. Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi (KSE) by debutant Balaji Mohan is an interesting tale where mere sequence of events between a lover couples sum up the film. It speaks more about their emotions, ego, understanding of things in their life and value for relationship. Arun (Siddharth) is a simple youth who falls for Parvathi (Amala Paul), who study in the same college. They initially start as friends. Soon spend time together, exchange numbers and slowly romance blossoms.

Arun’s parents are like his friends, while Parvathay’s parents have difference of opinion almost ready to get estranged after filing for divorce. After initial romance, Arun and Parvathi start arguing for almost everything and that leads to misunderstandings. Parvathi at one point of time strongly feels that Arun is not sensitive towards her feelings. Arun on the other hand finds Parvathi as a nagging girl. The ups and downs reach a point where the lovers part ways.

Both suffer from the separation while Arun is more confused about what went wrong. He firmly believes that girls cannot be understood. However, he gets to find a way out when he shares his feelings with a friend who has some experience in love.

What was initially made as ten minute short film has manifested into a feature film. Director Balaji Mohan has taken pains to ensure that when stretched, its momentum is not lost anywhere. The movie does carry a strong message to respect each other’s emotions in love and try adjusting to the situation. It harps on a simple philosophy that no one is perfect in and we have to live taking positive things in mind and heart.

The smartness of Balaji Mohan lies in the catchy dialogues and narrating the real-life like situations of contemporary romance. The supporting cast compliments the theme well to give the movie a sophisticated look. There are enough scenes to throw light on romance among contemporary lovers.

Tamilnadu News: The new air-conditioned mini-bus services being operated between the Chennai Airport and the city for the past few months will henceforth ply on a new route. The four skyblue painted buses of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) will be operated on only one stretch, which is towards Tiruvanmiyur in south Chennai via Kathipara Junction, Guindy, Adyar and Besant Nagar from the Airport instead of the two different routes. Presently, two buses ply between the Airport and Egmore Railway Station through Kathipara Junction, Guindy, Anna University, Adyar, Alwarpet Flyover and Cathedral Road, while the remaining two services head from Airport to Anna Nagar West via Kathipara Junction, Ashok Pillar and CMBT.

A decision in this regard was taken after a meeting was held between the officials of the MTC and the Airport Authorities of India in Chennai, recently. The new route is likely to be used from the first week of March, a senior official with MTC told City Express. This will also help bridge the huge gap in the frequency between any two services, which is one of the major reasons identified as the cause for poor patronage.

The luxury air-conditioned coaches are being operated at a frequency of once every hour. However, the prevailing traffic congestion across the city due to the ongoing construction work for the Metro Rail project keeps extending the journey time, resulting in delayed departures. If all the four coaches are operated at a single stretch, it will reduce the frequency by 30 minutes and will help us stick to schedules, the mini bus services have been incurring heavy losses, which nullify the profit earned by other buses. Despite the daily revenue for these vehicles being fixed at anywhere between Rs 8,000 and Rs 9,000 everyday, the luxury vehicles have been able to achieve only half the target — around Rs 4000, reports suggest.

Tamilnadu News: National award winning director Pandiraj has tried to explore Marina beach. The world’s second largest beach is a synonym for romance in many Tamil films but there is more to it than that. It is also home to many vendors and beggars. If romance flows on the beach, child laborers are also a common sight. Pandiraj, who started his journey in the industry by exploring the world of children in his directorial debut Pasanga, which won national awards, has attempted to advocate the cause of educating young children who sell the sundal snacks on Marina beach.

Ambikapathy (‘Pakada’ Pandian) comes to Chennai from a remote village. He makes Marina beach his home and earns his livelihood by selling water packets. He soon befriends children of his age group, who are involved in small businesses there. It is fun under the sun for children, who are cared and loved by grandpa (Sundararajan), a beggar, and a postman (Jithan Mohan). A singer (Attakathi Aarumugam) and his daughter also live on the beach.

The story has a subplot, where the director shows the romance of a young couple (Siva Karthikeyan and Oviya), and regular visitors to Marina. Pandiraj blends all characters to send a strong message about the need to provide every basic education to every child for a better tomorrow. Marina is a feel-good film that moves at a leisurely pace advocating a strong message. Pandiraj takes a close look at the deprived class them and their plight. Despite touching upon such a serious issue, the script is fun filled and lively.

With romance as accompaniment, the director conveys a message about upliftment of child labors and he must be lauded for making all the characters so real. But the movie also has a documentary feeling at some places. It also suffers from stereotypical portrayal of characters. The selection of other supporting characters makes the film stereotypical. The beggar, the singer and his daughter, the horse rider, and the postman look real. But the way Pandiraj has put them together around these children and the way he uses them to move the story are clichéd. The twists involving these characters are quite predictable and hence they mar the overall impact of the movie.

All the characters revolve around Pakada Pandian and the young artist delivers a good performance. Siva Karthikeyan’s one-liners elicit laughter. Oviya is wasted as she has little scope in the script. Others in the cast, from child artistes to Sundararajan to Jithan Ramesh, fit well into their roles. The kids emote well and almost live the characters. Cinematographer Vijay’s captured the life and colours of Marina in a pleasing manner. Debutant music director Girish background music is lively, especially in horse race scene. His music effortlessly replaces dialogues in many places.”Marina” has succeeded in its attempt to drive home a message in an entertaining way.

Tamilnadu News: One of the brave attempts in tamilnadu on yesterday, a woman in Ariyalur spread chilli powder on three robbers face and recovered gold jewels worth Rs 3 lakh stolen from her house. Ambika (28), wife of Saravanan (33), a resident of Minnagar in Ariyalur, was at home along with their two children Pandian (8) and Santhosh (4). Saravanan was in his office at the time of the incident. At around 2am, Ambika came out of the house to take her son Pandian, who wanted to attend nature’s call. All of a sudden, three unidentified robbers in half-trousers pounced on Ambika and snatched her ‘thali‘. Then, they gained entry into the house by pointing a knife at her. They ordered Ambika to open the almirah from which they took 25 sovereigns of gold ornaments and Rs 70,000 in cash.

Not convinced with that, the thieves further threatened her to bring any valuables if kept in the kitchen. Utilizing the opportunity, Ambika went to the kitchen and returned with the chilli powder in her hands. The unsuspecting robbers, who were expecting more bounty, were in for a shock when Ambika sprinkled the chilli powder on the three robbers face.

In the meantime, she recovered about 14 sovereigns of gold from the pockets of one of the robbers and ran out from the house and shouted for help from the neighbors. Aware of the danger, all the three fled the scene with the rest of the valuables. Ambika later lodged a complaint with the Ariyalur police. Based on the information, the police registered a case and are investigating.

Tamilnadu news: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today announced a facelift for the memorials of former Chief Ministers C N Annadurai and M G Ramachandran on the beach front at a cost of Rs ten crore.

The names of Anna and MGR still remain fresh in the minds and hearts of people. It is natural that the memorials of two great leaders are located next to each other. Since thousands of people from across the state visit these memorials, it was imperative that they are clean and maintained in an effective manner.

In line with the announcement made during the budget session of the State Assembly that the memorials would be given a facelift, Ms Jayalalithaa sanctioned Rs 1.20 crore to renovate the Anna memorial.

The release said, a sum of Rs 4.30 crore has been allotted to beautify the memorial of her political mentor, Bharat Ratna MGR, besides changing the frontage and constructing a compound wall at a cost of Rs 3.40 crore.