It made S V Shekhar, the leading southern comedian, feel old when he was asked to play Aishwarya Rai's dad in Jeans after S P Balasubramaniam, singer and character actor, couldn't. But since it was a Shankar film, he was all for it.
But Aishwarya took one look at the man who would be dad after the make-up came off and couldn't take it. Much to Shekhar's immediate delight, she blurted, "You look too old to be my father; an elder brother would have been more appropriate."
The comedian felt good for some time till he realised the negative aspect. When what was arguably the world's prettiest woman calls you a brother, it can be a bit of a damper. But then, Shekhar being married, he has no real reason for complaint, right?
Tara 's southern gambit
There's this other Malayalam film by M T Vasudevan Nair on the starting block, Daya. Same old Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, but from the viewpoint of Morgiana, the slave girl who often comes to Ali Baba's rescue.
But MT has been known to do this before, writing a story from the viewpoint of a minor character. Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha which earned Mammotty a national award for best acting and MT the one for best script, dealt with the story of folk hero Aromal Chekavar, from the viewpoint of his poor cousin Chandu.
Reading up the records, MT traced how Chandu became an orphan at a young age and was brought up and taught by Aromal Chekavar's father, actually proving better than Aromal Chekavar at the martial act.
Chandu falls for Aromal Chekavar's sister Unniarcha, herself a folk heroine, until the brother puts a spoke in the wheels. Chandu is not involved with the actual betrayal...
Another story, Randam Oozham ( Second Chance) was the Mahabharat, from Bhima's perspective. Now there's one Hindi director rooting for the rights of that one.
Paens to pulchritude
Bharati Raja, the director who first took Tamil cinema out of the sets and into the open, fresh air of the villages, is launching son Manoj in a mega-budget film. Opposite him, is Riya -- Moon Moon Sen's daughter. The film is called Taj Mahal.
Rather mysteriously, Mani Ratnam (who wrote the story), Rajiv Menon (screenplay) and Madhu Ambat (cinematography) -- all participated in the launch function. Bharati Raja indicated clearly that all three backroom biggies would have a part to play in the film. Brings up the question, what? Mani is a director (Raja has indicated that he is not directing his son).
Rajiv Menon is a cinematographer/director (Bombay/Sapnay). Madhu Ambat is a top of the line cinematographer. So just who will direct, and who will handle the camera, is being mysteriously left open.
What was officially announced is that A R Rehman will provide the music. And Vairamuthu, the lyrics.
Big B plays old man