Latest News on Tamil Cinema

Dolby unveils its Atmos technology

The cinematic sound evolution has come a long way. From the mono sound in the early stages to stereo, and then progressing to 5.1 surround and subsequently 7.1 surround sound, acoustics have only got better.
However, even surround sound did not fully complement the human ear, which has a 360-degrees hearing capability. But after witnessing increasing adoption of three-dimensional (3D) visuals, cinema will now see the advent of multi-dimensional audio that promises to substantially enhance the movie experience.
Seeking to give cinema-goers with a lifelike immersive listening experience, sound technology innovator Dolby Laboratories has unveiled its new Dolby Atmos technology in Chennai. The technology was unveiled at Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai which has become the first cinema chain in India with the revolutionary Dolby Atmos audio technology.
Terming the technology as "revolutionary and completely different from an experience perspective," Pankaj Kedia, Country Manager, Dolby Laboratories India said Dolby Atmos will enable truly better sound, by allowing smoother movement of sound and natural audio.
The key highlight of the Dolby Atmos technology is the twin array of overhead speakers on the ceiling of the theatre, as well as support for additional surround sound speakers.
The overhead speakers enable even minute sounds such as the whizzing of an insect or jet, the clap of thunder and lighting, the chirping of birds and even the pitter-patter of raindrops sound strikingly real.
Dolby claims its Atmos technology is a new audio platform that will change the experience of sound in entertainment by delivering a more natural and realistic sound-field and thereby transporting the audience into the story.
Elucidating on the immersive aspect, Kedia quoted acclaimed filmmaker George Lucas, who has said "sound is 50% of the movie experience."
Kedia said Dolby Atmos will have provision for up to 64 channels or speaker feeds and 128 simultaneous and audio streams.
Dolby is expecting Atmos to eventually replace the 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound systems presently in use in theatres.
"Dolby Atmos makes simplified distribution of sound and scalable audio playback in the auditorium possible. It takes into account that every cinema theatre is different is in size and set-up," he added. The company is looking at having around 50 Dolby Atmos-equipped screens in the country by 2013, Kedia disclosed.
Ashim Mathur, Marketing Head, Dolby Laboratories India said Dolby Atmos will be primarily a cinema theatre technology that will draw audiences to theatres for the new audio experience.
Rajinikanth-starrer Sivaji 3D which releases on December 12, 2012 will be the first Indian film to be released with Dolby Atmos. Several major Hollywood studios have released flicks adopting the Atmos technology. These include Disney's 'Brave'; DreamWorks Animation's 'Rise of the Guardians' and Twentieth Century Fox's 'Taken 2', 'Chasing Mavericks' and 'Life of Pi' as well as Peter Jackson's much-anticipated 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' from Warner Bros.
'Gravity' and 'Pacific Rim' also from Warner Bros as well as 'Star Trek into Darkness' from Paramount Pictures will release in the same format in 2013.

Khusbu reacts to her sari controversy

Khushbu finds herself in a fresh controversy. This time, her designer sari with images of Gods seems to have whipped up trouble. She has been accused by Hindu Makkal Katchi for disrespecting Hindu beliefs once again. Members of the party are planning for an agitation if she doesn't apologize soon.

The actress had worn the designer sari for a public function in Hyderabad. And, Khushbu has decided not to react this time. She says, "I am going to ignore the issue this time. They can be jobless; I am not."

But whenever a controversy arises, Khushbu has faced it bravely. This time the actress has decided not to reply. Ask her why, and she says, "Because I have got other better things to do. I don't want to give unnecessary publicity to somebody when they wish to get publicity through me."

Here's a detailed review of the soundtrack of Mani Ratnam's upcoming film which A.R.Rahman has composed
http://www.madaboutmoviez.com/2012/1...-music-review/

please have a look and comment...

Telugu Film Industry

Lawrence told to pay 2.5 cr to Rebel producers

In an unprecedented move in the Telugu Film Industry, a director was asked to pay the producers compensation for exceeding the 'agreed' budget of a film.
After more than two months of waiting, J Baghavan and Pulla Rao, the producers of the Prabhas-Tamannaah starrer Rebel, who lodged a complaint with the Producers Council against director Raghava Lawrence for overshooting the film's budget, have got a reprieve. Apparently, Lawrence had given a written agreement that he would make the film at a cost of `22.5 crore, but the budget has gone beyond the agreed amount and as such, they had demanded a refund from the director.

After carrying out extensive talks and a series of discussions with various parties, the coordination committee, which consists of a 20-member committee, chaired by KL Naranaya, directed Lawrence to pay `2.5 crores to the producers as compensation.

This is the first time that a director is being penalised for shooting the movie beyond the budget limit. Previously, films like the Ram Charan-starrer Orange and the recent Nag a r j u n a - s t a r r e r Dhamarukam made news for grossly exceeding the estimated budget.

Confirming the same, B u r u g u p a l l i S i v a r a m k r i s h n a , President of AP Producers Council said, "The producers, in their complaint, claimed that they were running into losses of `5.5 crores since the director exceeded the budget. After a series of talks and deliberations, the Coordination Committee has directed Lawrence to pay `2.5 crore as compensation to the producers and that too within 30 days. If the director fails to pay the amount within the stipulated time, he's liable to pay the entire amount of `5.5 crores."

When asked about the status of Lawrence's complaint against the producers at a Madras High Court for selling the Hindi dubbing rights of Rebel without his notice, Sivaramkrishna said, "Lawrence in the contract agreed that the producers could sell the dubbing rights if they release the film in deficit. So clearly, it is Lawrence's fault. We had asked him to withdraw the complaint and he had obliged.

“Vengayam” film Director Raj Kumar Next Film “One”
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One – an one man show

There is always a fascination to watch Hollywood movies and that too films that were made with a difference. Unique is the word we often listen be it Hollywood or Bollywood or our own Tamil film industry.

After striking a chord with a ‘unique’ film Vengayam, that gave a voice for rationalist thinking in the society-ridden with superstitious thoughts, director Sankagiri Rajkumar is all set for making an impossible thing possible. Indeed an unique attempt, never ever tried before in any cinema across the globe.

We have come across an actor doing majority of characters or a filmmaker donning different hats behind the camera. But one individual doing everything and anything? That is Sankagiri Rajumar for you. Emboldened by the success of Vengayam, which received critical acclaims not just from the media but also from the masses, Rajkumar is all set to entertain the film-buffs across the world with a new movie in English titled One.

Quite appropriate to the title, it is a one man show. Be it from pin to plane, it is he who has handled everything. He has taken control of all 36 departments involved in making a film, all alone and embarked on a journey in his own capacity. Also all the characters that appear in the movie are enacted by him.

A novoice in cinema, he came with a dream in 2003 to do such a unique attempt. After mastering himself in all post production works and get a first hand knowledge of anything and everything in film-making, he commenced his One.

Be it a spot boy, a camera assistant or a set designer, it is all Sankagiri Rajkumar himself. He appears in over 300 different characters with appropriate computer graphic works ( all done by himself), he is all set to create a visual marvel. Visual effects for doing a moving frame is no easy task. But an avid lover of cinema, he has learnt the technic well to use it in the film at many places and for many characters.

Camera is his one eye, acting the other. Directing, music, editing, dubbing, himself for all these characters run in his veins. Besides choosing locations himself across the globe, Rajkumar has taken all pains to embark on a journey all alone to these places without the help of anyone to shoot a wholesome entertainer.

For a theatre sequence where over 500 people sit and watch, Rajkumar has used graphics in such a way that it is all himself created on screen as audience, thanks to his mastery in visual designing.

Ask about the story, Rajkumar says, ‘it is something relevant for the international audience as well as the Indian film-lovers. But for me everything will come with a message in the end’.

Asked him whether doing everything all alone and by himself was a difficult task, he says, ‘it was a huge challenge. Unless and until you master the art and give your best, nothing will come good. I planned to study all in five years, but took over nine years and many sleepless nights’

For those who cannot believe that all was his hard work, Rajkumar has taken pains to record the making of the film in all stages of film-making, which stands as an evidence for his hard work.

Asked whether there will be a monotonous film since all done by one individual, he says, ‘ it would be like a regular film. It would provide the feel and excitement of watching any other mainstream cinema’.

Impressed with his task, a famous Hollywood producer has invited him to screen the trailer in USA. Rajkumar is hopeful that One will impress one and all. With 80 per cent of the work completed, he is planning worldwide release very soon.

Pooja Gandhi(acted apposite to Arjun in Thiruvannamalai 2008, dir by Perarasu.)-Anand Gowda call off engagement


Barely a month after their engagement, actress Pooja Gandhi and industrialist Anand Gowda have decided to part ways. While Pooja insists it was a matter of different ideologies, her now former fiance Anand tells us that it was trouble in the family that led to differences. "Pooja's family brought up a lot of issues that did not exist prior to the engagement. There were issues with regard to me staying with my parents, to the kind of food we eat and even to the way I looked. I have been married before, but I never faced these kind of issues with the family," explains Anand. Having met the actress through a common friend some time ago, Anand says he was totally smitten by her. "I gave up my life in the US, as well as my political career for Pooja. But it turns out that I was only being used. I was the one who got her a place in one political party when she was ousted by another. Pooja is a nice girl, there is no doubt about that. But circumstances have forced us to call this off," sums up Anand. While Pooja prefers not to talk about what went wrong, she wishes her former fiance good luck. "Sometimes, when two people get engaged, they realize that their ideologies do not match and it is best that they part ways in a dignified manner. Anand is a nice person and I wish him all the best. I don't want to discuss anything more about my private life."

Agadam- entire movie shot on single shot...

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North always make fun of South............

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Originally Posted by balaajee

North always make fun of South............

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இவன் செருப்படி வாங்காம போமாட்டான்னு நினைக்குறேன்

Tamil films give Bollywood a run for its money


CHENNAI, INDIA—Days before the May opening of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, the director of the first Bollywood film invited for an official screening gave a shout-out to his colleagues in a long-overlooked arm of the Indian film industry.

“There’s a whole new wave in Tamil cinema,” said Anurag Kashyap, whose film Gangs of Wasseypur was screened at Cannes and the Toronto International Film Festival. “They’ve made the most extraordinary films in the last two years and, at the national level, people don’t even know about it.”

Spread across southeastern India, northeastern Sri Lanka and other parts of Southeast Asia, the Tamils number some 65 million people and possess one of the world’s oldest cultures. But in Hindi-dominated India, they — and their movies — are usually ignored or dismissed.

At the international level, Tamil cinema gets even less recognition. Writers frequently confuse Mumbai’s Hindi film business, locally known as Bollywood, with the entire Indian industry. But the increasing critical and financial success of “the Other Bollywood” could soon flip that perception upside down.

Led by Tamil cinema, the South Indian film industry — which also includes movies made in the Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages — produced more than half of all Indian movies over five years leading into 2012.

Budgets for Tamil films now rival Bollywood’s, according to a report prepared by consultant firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. And the Tamil industry is emerging as a creative dynamo.

Deloitte expects the South Indian industry to grow 11 per cent a year and earn revenue of nearly $600 million by 2015, compared with Bollywood’s $2 billion-plus. And with the emergence of a nascent corporate studio system, South Indian films like 2010’s Endhiranthe Robot — a crazy sci-fi mashup featuring Rajinikanth, South India’s biggest star, that garnered around $12 million abroad, according to Deloitte — are beginning to tap the overseas market and other new revenue streams.

“With the Sri Lankans migrating to a lot of places in the world, we get to export our films even to places like Norway and Sweden, which weren’t in our map at all a few years back,” said film producer S.P.B. Charan. “Now we are pushing our films to places like Delhi and Bombay, with subtitles. That’s another market that we’re tapping into that we didn’t have before.”

Starting with Walt Disney’s 2006 purchase of a 15 per cent stake in Ronnie Screwvala’s UTV Software Communications, companies like Sony, Walt Disney, Fox and Viacom have been betting on Bollywood for the past five years, after realizing that Hindi movies continued to outsell Hollywood imports. The reason? Unlike in the U.S., more and more Indians are going to movie theatres every year, and paying higher and higher prices.

Now that same motivation is driving Bollywood’s big players, and international firms, to the South.

In May 2011, UTV Motion Pictures had eight films in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam slated for release in the U.S., the U.K. and other foreign markets. And Sony Music Entertainment bought the catalogue of Chennai-based Think Music in July 2011 to gain a 50 per cent market share in the South, giving a corporate boost to the film songs that are the meat and potatoes of India’s music industry.

But it’s the creative energy of the Tamil industry that’s making waves. Over the past five years, Tamil remakes like Wanted, Ready, and Bodyguard were responsible for the comeback of the ever-shirtless Hindi star Salman Khan, even as his muscles turned to fat.

Three of the top 10 grossing Bollywood films of 2011 were remakes of Tamil blockbusters. And Bollywood’s biggest star, Shah Rukh Khan, is slated to star in two Tamil remakes this year.

What’s happening is a simultaneous revolution and counterrevolution.

Over the past decade, mainstream Bollywood movies have increasingly focused on the elite, shifting stories to foreign locales and focusing on scripts about modern subjects like live-in relationships (Salaam Namaste) and homosexuality (Dostana). But these films were alien to a huge part of the audience, including lower income groups in metropolitan cities and more conservative people in smaller towns.

Meanwhile, in the South, the masala or “spicy” potboiler formula — a beefy hero, two heroines, five fight scenes, six songs, and a surrealist disregard for logic or the laws of physics — never went out of style. The Tamil industry’s thriving “star culture” assured that diehard fans might see a movie 30 or 40 times just to see Rajinikanth play the hero.

At the same time, so-called “new wave” Tamil movies have recently earned critical acclaim. In 2011, Aadukalam (or Arena in Tamil) swept India’s national awards, while in 2012, Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai (Azhagarsamiyin’s Horse) was named the year’s best popular film and Aaranya Kaandam (Jungle Chapter) won a national award for best first film, along with the Grand Jury Award for Best Film at the South Asian Film Festival.

The result is that the South, once the butt of jokes in Hindi movies, is now the epitome of cool.


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