The 55th Tiger Balm Filmfare Awards, South, had it all – glitz, glamour and emotions that just couldn’t be kept in check.

It was a moment to cherish. It was a moment that misted your eyes, brought a lump to your throat and warmed the cockles of your heart, all at the same time. It was the moment when father and Tiger Balm Filmfare Lifetime Achievement award winner Sivakumar shared the stage with his two strapping sons Surya and Karthi, who gave the award to him. The standing ovation was spontaneous and when Surya called out “amma, amma,” to his mother to share the stage, it underlined the fact that traditional value systems of the Indian family were still going strong. Not a dry eye in the audience.

It all started as Madhavan and Sindhura walked down to invite the audience to experience the show of a lifetime, the thousands of film-crazy fans in the Nehru Indoor Stadium cheered enthusiastically. After about four scintillating hours of awards and entertainment, Chennaiites went back to their homes thoroughly satisfied with the grandeur and glamour the event and the evening Awards offered them.

Emotions ran high as Paruthiveeran made a clean sweep with six awards that included the Best Film Award and the Best Actor Award. It was an ecstatic moment for the Sivakumar family, with father Sivakumar and son Karthi hugging the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Best Actor Award respectively.

As the audience experienced a rare celebration of South Indian cinema, the heady music and the energetic dances between the ward presentations had them on their feet. Sizzling dance performances by stars of the industry such as Shriya Saran (numbers like Vaaji Vaaji) and Rambha (numbers like Sei Edhavadhu Sei) had the crowd asking for more. Shobana and Vineeth’s impeccable steps lent grace to the occasion.

The emcees of the evening – Madhavan and Sindhura – delighted the crowd with their poise and a perfect sense of humour. Daring to be different in the middle of the event, Maddy walked towards the seated guests for an audience interaction and surprised them. “Why don’t you sing a song for us, Tabu,” he asked the pretty actress, even as she gushed and smiled at the eager lensman. She later obliged the audience when on stage to give away an award.

The Best Music Director Award went to AR Rahman for his tunes in Sivaji, but the music whiz was not present to receive his award, much to the disappointment of many fans.

“We don’t get to talk about movies much at home,” said Paruthiveeran Karthi, who was on cloud nine, “I consider my dad getting the Lifetime Award more special than my award.” For brother Surya, it was a double treat to watch his family dominate the ‘Black Ladies!

The day was certainly a happy one for director Sekhar Kammula and his crew of Happy Days as the movie walked away with six black ladies in the Telugu section.
The joy was visible on the faces of the crew who cheered every time a member of the team won an award. While Happy Days walked away with the awards for Best Film (Sekhar Kammula and Chandra S Kammula), Best Direction (Sekhar Kammula), Best Music Director (Mickey J Meyer), Best Supporting actress (Sonia), Best Lyricist (Vanamaali) and Best Male Playback Singer (Karthik), Yamadonga fetched the Best actor award for Junior NTR. The Best actress award went to Trisha for Adavari Mataluku Ardhale Verule. Speaking after receiving the award, she said," I'm truly honoured holding this award for the third time."
Speaking to Chennai Times, Director Sekhar Kammula said, "Usually this kind of clean sweeps don't happen in Filmfare. At least, that's what I've been told. The film has won awards in several categories and that shows that it's a complete film. For me, personally, I've won a national award for Dollar Dreams and a couple of state awards for Anand and Godavari. But all this while, I didn't win a Filmfare award. Then, this blockbuster happened. Only the most popular movies get Filmfare awards and that's the benchmark for Filmfare."

Music Director Mickey J Meyer, who received the award for the sensational music of Happy Days from Director Vasanth and actor Srikanth, said,"I had been longing to work with Sekhar Kammula. Finally, I got an opportunity to meet him and he heard my previous albums and was impressed with my work. It was then that he gave me the script of Happy Days.

"It's been my dream to receive a Filmfare award. It means a lot to me. I wish to thank my director Sekhar and my brother Tarun."

In the Kannada section, Aa Dinagalu fetched Sayad Aman and M S Ravindra the award for the Best Film and the Best Director award for Chaitanya. Speaking on the occasion, Chaitanya, who thanked his wife and guru, said,"Filmfare does not have the Best Cinematographer and the Best Editor categories. Had they been there, I'm sure my cinematographer and editor would have won those awards."
The Best Actor award went to Vijay for Duniya, which also fetched Rashmi the award for Best Actress.

Actress Tara, who won the Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film Ee Bandhana, said," I feel honoured and encouraged by this award." The Best Supporting Actor award went to Sharath Lohitashwa, who said," This is my first Filmfare award and it has given confidence to take on more and more creative and difficult roles."

In the Malayalam section, the Best Actor award went to ace actor Mohanlal for his spledid performance in Paradesi while the Best Actress award went to Meera Jasmine for her role in Orekadal. Mohanlal admitted on stage that he himself considered the role he essayed in the film as the best he’s played. The Best Film award went to Sreenivasan and Mukesh for Katha Parayumpol.

The title sponsor of the show was Tiger Balm and the associate sponsor was BSNL. The Telecast partner was Sun TV Network Ltd and the event was supported by Radio Mirchi. Black Dog United Spirits was one of the partners as was Oriental Cine Advertising Pvt Ltd. Hospitality partner was The Park, and the event was managed by 360º Experience with Oxygen Entertainment as event consultants.

The stars shine bright

After an evening celebrating cinema, it was time for the stars to party at The Park. The dance floor was the place to be in, with most of the stars shakin’ a leg with effortless ease. Shriya, one of the first few to hit the dance floor, urged everybody to follow suit, and nobody was seen complaining about that!

Jothika, who came in with hubby Surya, missed the awards ceremony but made sure that she made her presence felt at the party. Dressed in a pretty white top, she caught up with old friends but seemed keen to get away from the music. Karthi, the star of the evening, was pulled from a chat and made to dance in the midst of a lot of pretty girls. It sure seemed to be a lucky night out for the Paruthiveeran star.

While Trisha, accompanied by Sidney, and Priyamani thoroughly enjoyed the music, Nayanthara seemed to enjoy herself chilling out in a cozy corner. Upcoming actors such as Arya and Narain enjoyed the evening to the hilt. The host of directors present at the party – Dharani, Gautham Menon, Vetrimaran, Balaji Shaktivel, Ameer among others – were on a league of their own, probably discussing scripts in the midst of drinks and dinner!

film-fare-awards

Labels: Jothika, Madhavan, Namitha, Nayantara, Shreya, Surya, Tabu

Satyam

Name of the film : Satyam
Main Cast: Vishal, Nayantara, Upendra, Premji Gangai Amaran and others
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Producer : Vikram Krishna
Director : Rajasekhar
satyam - Tamil Movie

Labels: Nayanthara, Upendra, Vishal

Interview: Sandhya likes glamorous roles
Tuesday, 8 July, 2008

Nayan: One girl with a good head on her shoulders is Sandya. She has been known to do hep, college girl roles that dont go overboard in terms of "glamour.She had stated in an interview that she's not averse to doing 'glamorous' roles but that she would never the cross the limit into vulgarity. She had turned down the chance to act in Lawrence's film which was supposed to feature six heroines. Why? Well, first of all, she's got her hands full with Odipolaamaa, where shes acting as a college student.

Sneha's 50th film Kuselan
Saturday, 5 July, 2008

Nayan: Actress Sneha has not reached the age of 50! This smiling princess of South India, who started her film career in 2001 with the Malayalam film Engane Oru Nila Pakshi as a supporting artiste, is completing her 50th film with Kuselan.She is now pairing with Mammootty in Vande Matharam, titled Aruvadai in Tamil. This Telugu girl, born in Mumbai and brought up in Dubai, was first spotted by Malayalam film director Fazil during a cultural show. Her major breakthrough came with the Tamil film Ennavale opposite Madhavan. And before she could complete this movie, she got offers from Tamil and Telugu film producers. Since then, this pretty girl has never looked back. Sneha has acted with almost all heroes in Tamil cinema including Kamal Haasan, Ajith, Vikram, Suriya and Vijay. She was longing for an opportunity to be part of a Rajinikanth film.

Labels: Kuselan, Sneha

Kuselan Audio Function
Thursday, 3 July, 2008

Kuselan Audio Function

Labels: Kuselan, Rajanikanth

BIG 92.7 FM – Kekkalam Pesalam Life Kondadalam

BIG 92.7 FM in continuation to celebrating “Tamizhanin Perumai” is all set to enthral its listeners with a fully packed on-air and on-ground content on Superstar Rajinikant’s latest Movie “Kuselan”. Apart from enjoying Kuselan’s songs on-air, listeners of BIG 92.7 FM will now be able to catch interviews of the movie crew and take part in various on-air and on-ground contest based on Superstar and the movie.

Starting 2nd June 2008 BIG 92.7 FM’s BIG Vanakkam show hosted by RJ BIG Dheena will feature trivia about the movie along with featuring the movie crew on-air. There will also be on-air contests around Kuselan’s songs and Superstar’s punch dialogue.

In terms of on-ground, there will be a signature campaign and BIG 92.7 FM’s BIG bus will go across to various places to take signature from Superstar’s fans who would want to wish him all the best for his movie. Superstars cut-out will also be taken across and his fans will be given a chance take pics along with the cut-out. BIG 92.7 FM also plans to conduct Kuselan look alike contest. So tune into BIG 92.7 FM to know more about the contest and the activities.

Speaking about the initiative Mr. P.B Ramaswamy, Cluster Director, BIG 92.7 FM TamilNadu said “vibe of the city currently is Kuselan and we at BIG 92.7 FM would like to bring to our listeners all the trivia possible and make our on-air and on-ground offering highly interactive and interesting for the listeners. This is just another Life Kondadalam offering from BIG 92.7 FM”

Labels: Kuselan