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The rise & rise of Karthi
Sreedhar Pillai, TNN, Aug 31, 2010, 12.00am IST
Article

Never before in history of Tamil films have two brothers dominated the box-office in Tamil cinema like Suriya and Karthi. Last week, at a closed door trade meeting, leading distributors and theatre owners had come up with a rating card to determine the box-office value of a star.

And, Suriya and Karthi figure among the top five saleable stars in the industry, a fantastic feat by any yardstick.
Karthi, in fact, has been the star of 2010 as, within a space of eight months, he has had a hat-trick of hits — Aayirathil Oruvan, Paiyaa and now, Naan Mahaan Alla (NMA).

Suseenthiran, the director of Karthi's NMA, says, "NMA took a good opening thanks to Karthi's star power and went on to become a hit due to the content of the film. When I started the film, he readily agreed with me that we will not have a hero introduction song or anything to show heroism until the climax." "Tell me which hero will agree to do such a film?," he asks.

Actor-director Parthepan, who worked with Karthi in Aayirathil Oruvan, points out, "Karthi is a chip of the old block and has the pedigree, being the son of Sivakumar sir and the brother of Suriya. He has been able to create a new fan base due to his screen presence, sincerity and hard work. In just four films, he has reached dizzy heights, and is definitely going to be a superstar of the future."

A leading theatre owner in Chennai too shares his view. "I know star ratings, based purely on box-office collections, is a very sensitive subject in Tamil Nadu. However, now, nobody can deny that Karthi has an opening. All his three films released this year took fantastic opening which is the true sign of a superstar. It means audiences are willing to pay money to come to the theatre to see the star. Among the new breed of stars, I'm betting big on him," he gushes.

Says Paiyaa's director and producer, Lingusamy, "Paiyaa turned out to be a blockbuster because there was a repeat audience for the film. Karthi was shown without his beard for the first time and his on screen chemistry with Tamannaah sizzled on screen. On the whole, the packaging coupled with Karthi's charisma made it work wonders."

Now, the Karthi-Tamannaah pair is coming together again for Siruthai. Says Tamannaah, "I believe Paiyaa worked big time due to Karthi's lovable screen presence along with Lingusamy's racy script. I truly like Karthi. He's brilliant — a fine actor with a terrific charisma that endears him to the masses. If you ask me what makes the brothers tick, it is the fact that they are passionate about movies."

Meanwhile, the Kollywood grapevine is abuzz that Karthi is being offered a whopping Rs 6 crore to do his next film, a 300 per cent increase in salary!


Read more: The rise & rise of Karthi - News & Interviews - Regional - Entertainment - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/e...#ixzz0yAACuXI7