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Back in 2006, when Ar Murugadoss made his directorial debut in Telugu with Chiranjeevi’s Stalin, his career was still at a nascent stage. And since he was working with the Megastar of Telugu cinema, the director acknowledges that he was always under immense pressure which kept him on his toes.

“He was much more senior than me. Moreover, it was the first time that I was doing a film in a language I wasn’t too familiar with. But I didn’t really lose touch with Telugu cinema, I suppose. Most of my subsequent films were dubbed or remade in Telugu,” Ar Murugadoss says.

The award-winning biographer on the best thing she's read this year, the superior pleasures of radio, and a treat to come at the National

Claire Tomalin began her career as a journalist, working as literary editor of the New Statesman and the Sunday Times before making her name as a biographer. Her first book, The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft, won the Whitbread first book award in 1974, while The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens, Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self, and Thomas Hardy: The Time-Torn Man are among her other award-winning biographies. Tomalin's 1991 play, The Winter Wife, was based on her biography of Katherine Mansfield and performed at the Lyric Hammersmith. She also edited and wrote an introduction for Mary Shelley's children's book, Maurice, published in 1998. The Invisible Woman, directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes and based on Tomalin's book, is in cinemas now.

Take any day in your life that you wish you had a helping hand. A day you may have forgotten your wallet, when you needed to pay for your bus ticket. A day your car broke down, when you had to go to an interview. What if a stranger gave you that helping hand? No questions asked and in return, didn’t ask for money or a favour. Just that you help another when the chance came to you. Would you? Jai Ho shows us how a common man that left his army life, takes on the fight to help humanity, and for a bit of masala, bashes a few bad guys along the way.

Based on the concept from Pay It Forward (2000), A. R. Murugadoss’ designed the power packed story for his film Stalin (2006). Being the remake season that it was (or is) the film’s bumper success made...

Jai Ho sees Sohail Khan return to directing after Maine Dil Tujhko Diya (2002), his debut film as an actor. Jai Ho is yet another remake of a Telugu hit, Stalin, starring Chiranjeevi and Trisha. Sohali’s version stars Salman Khan, Tabu and Danny Denzongpa in pivotal roles.

Music has been composed by Sajid-Wajid (Dabangg franchise) and Amal Malik with Devi Sri Prasad as guest composer. Vocal talents consist of Wajid, Shreya Ghoshal, Shaan, Palak Mucchal and Himesh Reshammiya amongst others. The album features 9 tracks including 3 remixes.

Baaki Sab First Class is a satirical number sung by Wajid. The lyrics (Sajid, Irfan Kamal, Danish Sabri) are impressive however the repetitive dhol beats gets old quickly and Wajid’s rendition, while decent, suffers from a serious case of been-there-done-that. The remix of the track is equally unremarkable.

Tere Naina Maar Hi Daalenge is a poor derivative of ‘Saanson Ne’ and ‘Dagabaaz Re...

It’s common for talks of records breaking to follow a film once it has released however, perhaps for the first time the media is able to report a record breaking figure for a film prior to release.

Salman Khan’s upcoming January release, Jai Ho, has been picked up Eros International for domestic and overseas distribution. The team at Eros sat down for a screening of the film to decide on the distribution details including the final figure. However so impressed with the film they cut discussions short within 1 hour of watching the film and struck a deal of 110 crores for the distributions rights. Making the film a member of the 100 cr club much prior to the release! Made on a reported budget of 130 crores Jai Ho is safely on its way of making its investors more than happy. Incidentally this is said to be the biggest budget a Salman Khan film has had.

Chennai, Aug 25: Tamil filmmaker A.R. Murugadoss, who has worked with superstars like Vijay, Ajith Kumar, Chiranjeevi and Aamir Khan, says he enjoys working with them as they don't have ego problems.

Known for helming films such as "Ghajini", "7am Arivu" and "Stalin", Murugadoss is currently busy with Hindi remake of "Thuppakki" with Akshay Kumar.

"I have worked with several top actors and the reason they are all considered superstars is because they don't have ego. They are very friendly and highly professional. I think every director would love to work with such ego-free heroes," Murugadoss told Ians.

"Since heroes.

A lot of anticipation is building up around the release of Salman Khan’s next film. The release is scheduled around the Republic Day, 2014. This is a big break from the Khan tradition who had always timed his mega releases around Eid. The story of the film too has a strong patriotic flavor. Keeping this in mind, Salman had asked brother and producer Sohail Khan to look for an alternative name for Mental. The film is a remake of the Telugu film, Stalin which was released in 2006. The lead role was played by Chiranjeevi and the film was directed by Ar Murugadoss. The story of the film revolves around a major in the Indian ar...

Chennai, Feb 7: Actress and Dmk member Khushboo's house was attacked by a group of people following an interview she gave to a Tamil magazine in which she repeated the party line that the general council would decide on the next leader, said police.

Police suspect that Dmk cadres may have been behind the attack.

The actress's views apparently enraged Dmk cadres owing allegiance to M.K. Stalin, party treasurer and son of party president M.Karunanidhi.

Shouting slogans, a group of people hurled stones at the windows of the actress's house, smashing some panes and windscreen of her car. The actress was away in Tiruchirapalli (Trichy),.

Day seven of the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival already?!? There are still four days and hundreds of great films to go!

Sliff’s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il

The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.

http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012

Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Wednesday, November 14th

Booker’S Place

Booker’S Place plays at 7:15pm at the Tivoli Theatre

Booker Wright was an African-American restaurant owner who also served double-duty as a waiter in a whites-only restaurant in Mississippi in the 1960s. He became an unlikely activist for the civil-rights movement when he appeared on a 1965 network TV...

Day five of the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival promises a smorgasbord of great films and there are still 6 days to go!

Sliff’s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il

The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.

http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012

Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Monday, November 12th

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Doc Shorts – Longevity plays at 5:00pm at the Tivoli Theatre

A quintet of shorts exploring issues of aging and persistence.

Free To Attendees 50 And Older

Bo (Kelly McCoy & Dave Schwep, U.S., 2012, 22 min.): When attorney and Playboy photographer Bo Hitchcock is diagnosed with cancer, he decides to forgo chemo and Western...

The Toronto International Film Festival has lined up 25 features for its Discovery program. All the descriptions that follow are from the festival. Additional notes and more are on the way.

Pablo Giorgelli's Las Acacias. A truck driver has been charged with transporting a woman on the long journey from Paraguay's border to the city of Buenos Aires. He is totally unprepared for the extra passenger that will accompany them, the woman's infant daughter Jacinta, whose penetrating gaze eventually disarms his gruff exterior. Subtle and poignant, Giorgelli's 2011 Camera D'Or winner is a movingly beautiful road movie highlighted by stunning performances. (See the Cannes roundup.)

Tomás Lunák's Alois Nebel. Stories from the past and present converge at a small railway in Billy Potok, a tiny village on the Czech-Polish border. The local dispatcher, Alois Nebel, is a loner who prefers old timetables to people and has hallucinations of trains passing...

After four separate announcements (here, here, here and here), the Toronto International Film Festival has rounded out their official line-up with the final slate. The big films from their Masters line-up includes Cannes favorites Le Havre, The Kid with the Bike, Once Upon A Time in Anatolia and Restless. We also getting the Sundance hit Pariah. Check out the last round of films below and head over here to see the entire schedule.

Masters

Almayer’s Folly (La Folie Almayer) Chantal Akerman, Belgium/France

North American Premiere

Somewhere in South-East Asia, in a little lost village on a wide and turbulent river, a European man clings to his pipe dreams out of love for his daughter. Working freely from Joseph Conrad’s debut novel, Akerman tells the story of a trader in 1950s Malaysia whose dreams of a Western life for his Malay daughter slowly lead to destruction. A quest for the absolute,...

It’s another jam-packed week of DVD and Blu-ray releases, here’s the rundown of what’s available to buy from today, May 9th 2011.

Family Guy : Season Ten (DVD)

During the upcoming season, the Griffins and fellow Quahog residents attend a party at James Woods’ mansion and are embroiled in a classic “whodunit” murder mystery. Meanwhile, Lois becomes a local sports hero, and Stewie works for Brian as his literary manager. Review.

I Saw The Devil (DVD/Blu-ray)

A psychotic serial killer is on the loose, committing some of the most diabolical crimes the police have ever witnessed. No one is safe as the body count rises and the killer continues his evil odyssey of sadistic butchery. But when the fiancée of an elite special agent becomes one of his victims, a personal investigation becomes a merciless and brutal game of vengeance. As one violent encounter leads to another,...

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (12A)

(Apitchatpong Weerasethakul, 2010, Thai/UK/Fra/Spa/Ger/Neth) Thanapat Saisaymar, Jenjira Pongpas, Sakda Kaewbuadee. 113 mins

Not for nothing was this dubbed "Uncle bong hit" when it took the top prize at Cannes this year. With its non-linear plot and fantastical elements – ghosts, ape-men, talking catfish, etc – woven into a story of a dying farmer in modern-day Thailand, it sounds like a far-out 1960s head-trip. But in reality (if that's the right word), it's a calm, sensual, captivating daydream of a movie that wears its weirdness without affectation. It makes the world feel like a rich and mysterious place. More of a natural high, then.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part I (12A)

(David Yates, 2010, UK/Us) Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint. 146 mins

Given the choice between giving their audience a treat and milking them as much as possible,...

Photograph by Frederick Tear

Map by Steve Stankiewicz

Global warming is opening up the Arctic Circle, and Russia would like to control its bounty of natural resources. An exclusive dispatch from the Yamal Peninsula, where reindeer give way to railroads and gas rigs every day.

Arctic Visions: Clockwise From top left, oil workers at Bovanenkovo, Gazprom's gas field on the Yamal Peninsula, which will start operations in 2012; the town of Nadym is the gateway to Yamal; Gazprom has carved thousands of miles of roads from the Yamal tundra to ease deliveries of necessary supplies. | Photographs by Jeremy Nicholl

Old but sturdy, our Russian helicopter flies low over the endless flatness of the Siberian taiga, the MiG's incessant whine barely softened by Styrofoam plugs wedged into my ears. We pass thick stands of pine trees, where brown bears lurk, and rust-colored rivers whose banks are dappled with ice. Hundreds of...

There are so many wonderful moments in Indian cinema, but the one that captured my attention was from Awaara (1951). This is the second film that Raj Kapoor directed and acted in and this time he employed his nearest and dearest: his mistress and his father. It's a monumental film in terms of its beautiful cinematography inspired by Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, and its introduction of Kapoor's synonymous character of Raju the Tramp, inspired by Charlie Chaplin's own Little Tramp. Awaara was one of the first internationally renowned films to compete at the Cannes Film Festival and was extremely popular in Russia and China, and allegedly Chairman Mao and Stalin quite liked it too!

The Scene

Raju (Raj Kapoor) and Rita (Nargis) have just finished swimming (In one of the many firsts in cinema Rita reveals her stylish swimsuit.) As Rita gets changed, Raju comes near and Rita tells...

Madhu of Leo Entertainments is well known for producing some of the biggest hits in the Telugu film industry. Madhu’s recent list of blockbuster include names like Tagore, Stalin etc. Rumor has it that Madhu recently registered the title Adhinayakudu with the Film Chamber.

It has been suggested that Madhu has decided to register this film keeping in view Chiru’s return to the film industry for his 150th film. Madhu has close alliances with the renowned producer Allu Arvind and it goes without saying that the legendary producer will be financing this movie.

It seems that the groundwork for this new movie is already set and the shooting for the movie is going to begin shortly. The film is likely to be released within next year so the Chiru fans can rejoice. As for Chiranjeevi, it seems that the actor/ political leader has left for the U.S.

Its remake season and the latest one on the board is Don Seenu, one of this year’s biggest Telugu blockbusters that stars Raviteja, Shriya Saran and Anjana Sukhani in lead roles.

Directed by debutant Gopichand Milaneni, Don Seenu is a comedy action flick about a man who aspires to be a “Don” much like his idol Amitabh Bachchan in the cult classic “Don”. Although nothing is official, Gopichand has no qualms about directing the film in Hindi. “When I spoke to Ghajini director A.R. Murugadoss, he suggested I grab the remake offer, if it comes my way” he said when speaking to Times of India. But how does Murugadoss fit into this? Well, Gopichand was one of Murugadoss’ assistants during filming of the Telugu film Stalin and both have remained in contact ever since. In fact, beyond the suggestion to direct, it seems that Murugadoss was a key player...

Michael Munn claims to have had astoundingly eventful friendships with Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Steve McQueen and a host of other stars. Those who doubt him include their families – and his own

Sitting with Michael Munn, biographer to the stars, in a somewhat bleak pub near his home in Sudbury, Suffolk, I can't get out of my head that classic Pete 'n' Dud sketch in which the flat-capped Peter Cook reveals to Dudley Moore the problems he is having being harassed by the likes of "bloody Greta Garbo". Munn, an affable man of 57, has long been a stalwart of Sudbury amateur dramatics; he still harbours ambitions of moving to Colchester, "just for the buzz". As he sips at a lunchtime half of lager, and tucks into his chicken salad, he is telling me of the time that Ava Gardner wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Ava was a brief but very intense relationship,...

June 3, 2010: Kamal Hassan who needs no recognition is back with his last hit ‘Dasavatarm’ director K.S.Ravikumar. His new venture titled Manmadhan Ambu this time. The film is produced by Udayanidhi, son of the Deputy Chief Minister Stalin, under the banner of Red Gaint Movies.

Kamal Hassan has been entertaining us for decades. And now he has not just proved himself to be a successful actor but has established himself as a successful producer and director too.

Trisha has been selected as the heroine in the film. She is considers herself to be lucky as she will get to act with Kamal Hassan..

The wedding reception of ace filmmaker S.P. Muthuraman’s grandson was held last evening at Chennai. Expressing the gratitude for his mentor – superstar Rajnikanth was present throughout the ceremony spending lot of time with the family members. Then, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu – M. Karunanidhi along with M.K. Stalin and Kanimozhi were present for the occasion. Also present for the event were Sivakumar, S.A. Chandrasekhar, Rama Narayanan, Kushboo and many others.

S.P. Muthuraman holds special mention for making couple of dozens of blockbusters with Superstar Rajnikanth had each films differing from others in genres and themes.

We as the members of Kollywood Today, extend our wishes for the family members and newly wed couple a happy married life and success in all their endeavors.

A.R. Murugadoss and Surya created high waves with their mind-boggling “Ghajini’, which was loosely based on Christopher Nolan’s “Memento’. Later, the filmmaker gained more appreciation for his stunning Hindi remake with Aamir Khan in the lead role.

It’s been a year after “Ghajini’ released and Murugadoss had the biggest offers from leading actors of Bollywood, Tollywood and Tamil film industry. Recently, there was a buzz that Murugadoss is planning to remake Telugu “Kick’ in Hindi with Salman Khan and Deepika Padukone in lead roles.

Apparently, the filmmaker has denied this baseless rumor stating that he will never remake films and hasn’t planned for a Hindi project now.

The moviemaker has decided to commence his multilingual project with Surya by March… This untitled film is produced by Udayanidhi Stalin of Red Giant Movies and is said to be an edge-seated thriller with lots of twists-n-turns on every 5th minute.

Ghajini maker Ar Murgadoss has been signed for a two film deal by the Indian movie arm of Hollywood giant studio, 20th Century Fox, Fox Star Studios. But this deal is not for making Hindi films but Tamil films.

Murgadoss is a celebrated name down South in both Tamil and Telugu cinema. He had not only delivered a bumper hit with the original Ghajini in Tamil but also given super hits in Tamil before Ghajini such as Deena (2001) and Ramana (2002). His Telugu super star Chiranjeevi starrer Stalin (Telugu) was a big success as well. He entered Bollywood with Aamir Khan starrer Ghajini.

Sources.