Amy Jackson to replace Trisha in the Hindi remake of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa

Trisha has earlier been signed for the Hindi remake of the hit Tamil film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. In what appears to be a shocking move, director Gautham Menon has replaced Trisha with the south star Amy Jackson.
The Tamil movie had Trish in the lead opposite Silambarasan. When Gautham Menon decided to remake the movie in Hindi, he was extremely sure of casting Trisha in the lead. The movie was a huge success at the box-office and it was after this movie that Trisha made her debut in Bollywood with Priyadarshan’s Khatta Meetha. The movie Khatta Meetha failed to meet the expectations at the box office and sources say that this is the main reason that Trisha was ousted from the Hindi remake.
The Hindi version of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa is to star Prateik Babbar as the hero. Rumors have it that the project did not garner too many takers as it was to star a lesser known hero. Amy Jackson is gung ho about the project and says that she loved the Tamil version and did not even think in her wildest dreams that she would be a part of this prestigious team. Amy made a great impact with her debut film itself and is now looking forward to essay the character that Trisha made so memorable.
Trisha herself is shocked at the news and says that she was unaware of these developments until recently. She cites date problems as the reason for her replacement. However sources claim that it was indeed her failure in Bollywood that made producers unwilling to invest in this major project. Trisha also went on record to say that she had recently completed a photo shoot with Prateek Babbar for the movie and hence this news has come as a total shock to her.
The shooting of the movie is likely to commence in November. Trisha claims that she had allotted the dates of October for the initial film shoot and since the project got delayed, she was unable to alter her dates because of her packed schedule. She has decided to put the whole episode behind her now and move on. 

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Asin to star in multiple remakes

Asin was recently in the news for all the wrong reasons. The Malayali beauty was in for a rude shock when a black flag demonstration greeted her in Ooty because she visited Sri Lanka for the shoot of a film even though she was not supposed to. 

Now Asin has decided to leave it all behind and concentrate on her upcoming projects. She cracked the box office in Bollywood when she starred in the Hindi remake of the Tamil super hit Ghajini. She has no qualms about acting in a movie of any language as she believes that this only helps widen her reach to the audience. 

Her current projects include “Ready” opposite Salman Khan. She is also working on a Tamil movie titled “Kaavalan”. Ready is the remake of a Telugu movie with the same name while Kaavalan is the remake of the Malayalam blockbuster called “Bodyguard”. There are also talks of remaking Kaavalan in Hindi again opposite Salman Khan. IT would not be wrong to call her the Queen of remakes. She however justifies her stand saying that by remaking a film, she can connect to different parts of the country on a cinematic level. Remakes also enable the audiences from different parts of the country to enjoy all sorts of films. 

Asin has already acted in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu as well as Hindi films. She is open to acting in other languages as well. She says that language is never the criteria when she has to choose films. If the script excites her, then she is open to doing all kinds of projects. 

Her last movie outing was he Hindi film “London Dreams”. The movie was released in 2009 but did not do too well. Since then the actress has not had a single release but is working on reading many scripts that are being offered to her by the industry’s top directors. She is the latest face of the popular brand “Lux” and she is having a lot of advertisements in her kitty. Popular brands include Mirinda, Sure Deo, Tata Sky and Fairever.

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Actress Namitha plans to return to Kannada films

Actress Namitha is planning to come back with a bang with her next Kannada movie project titled Namitha I Love You. The actress was last seen in a Kannada movie called Hoo. The movie did not garner the response that she expected at the box office even though she was visually stunning in the movie. The movie starred V Ravichandran as her co-star. Her next movie titled Namitha I Love You is going to be produced by Raviteja Reddy. The movie will be produced under the banner of Jayasimha. The director of the movie is Jayasimha. He has also given the music, written the screenplay as well as the story movie and dialogues of the movie. 

Namitha’s first Kannada movie was titled Neelkanta and was released in the year 2006. Since then, the actress has come a long way and has also acted in many Tamil films. Her resume includes top movies like Billa. She has played glamorous roles in most of her movies but she is now looking forward to break that image and do more acting oriented roles. 

Her last movie Hoo was in the news for the wrong reasons. Apparently a journalist had criticized the performances of the lead actors. The director had physically attacked the journalist and given him a piece of his mind. The movie failed to hit the box office and people were disappointed in her. She now plans to change the opinions of the masses and the critics with her latest Kannada venture. She does not mind doing deglamorised roles provided they bring her acting talent to the fore. She is desperate for a hit and willing to experiment with all kinds of roles. 

Apart from concentrating on movies, Namitha also plans to take up jewelry designing. She says that she is enamored by glamour and spends most of her time shopping. She has a huge collection of bags, shoes, belts and other accessories. Off late her niece is keeping her on her toes and she spends most of her time playing with her adorable little angel. 

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Tamannah does not happy with bad rumours

I know you all won’t deny if I say Tamannah is the hot star of Tamil Cinema. She is the winning race-horse (mare) running ahead of other actresses both in Tamil and Telugu. Recent news enraged Tamannah and she outbursts of anger. You would be curious to know what news made her so furious. Scroll down to catch details. 

Latest news said directors are hesitating to book Tamannah as she is demanding One Crore rupees per film. When media asked Tamannah about this news she furiously replied that she is presently acting in Tamil film ‘Siruthai’ opposite Karthi and two Telugu films opposite Allu Arjun and Naga Chaithanya. Her forthcoming projects are ‘Aruva’ in Tamil opposite Dhanush and two more Telugu films opposite Junior NTR and Ram and the shooting of these movies would begin soon. So, she has got 6 films in hand and her call sheet diary is full up to April 2011. Meantime, few people approached her for her call sheet. She explained her situation. However they demanded her call sheet for January 2011 but she refused. Keeping this in mind those people are spreading rumours that she is demanding 1 Crore as remuneration. Tamannah also said she does not want to criticize anybody. She has not become heroine overnight. She has reached this stage gradually by her hard work in acting. 

Normally heroines love to hear gossips about them. Especially actresses would feel extremely proud to hear rumours about their remuneration and sometimes they purposely spread such rumours to demand more for their future projects. But why Tamannah, who has been branded as Lucky actress in Kollywood and an actress with whom leading heroes would love to pair, is reacting to this news angrily? Yes. You are right. If it is a normal situation, she would have welcomed and loved this rumour. But Tamannah is now facing fierce competition from Hansika Motwani and Tapasee Pannu. With director Shankar booking Ileana opposite Vijay in Tamil remake of ‘3 Idiots’ and director Gautham Menon dropping Trisha from Hindi remake of ‘Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa’ intensified the competition further. With the fear of losing opportunities to her competition, she justified her position. Okay. It’s all in the game. 

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Punjabi Navneet kaur loves with maharashtra MLA Ravi Rana

 of film actresses, some come to your mind as being beautiful; others impress you with their glamour. Seldom are those who are beautiful as well as glamourous. 24 years old (hard to believe? Her DoB is January 3, 1986) Navneet Kaur falls in that rare category. She has the rare combination of beauty, charm and glamour. She is a Mumbai born and bred Punjabi girl who drives people crazy with her scintillating postures. 

The latest news about Navneet Kaur is she is in love with Maharashtra Politician Ravi Rana and they are going to enter in wedlock soon. Navneet Kaur made her debut in Kannada film but she mainly acts in Telugu movies. In 2008, she shared screen space with captain Vijaykanth in his 150th film ‘Arasangam’ but could not strike it rich. So, she again started concentrating in Telugu. After some hard trials for years in Tollywood, Navneet Kaur was unable to manage with any single flick that could give her career the boost she wanted. Later, she acted in some steamy item songs and fly-bee roles, which never gave her any leap in the film industry. 

When actresses were reluctant to pair with Karunas, Navneet Kaur dared to pair with him in ‘Ambasamudram Ambani’. When the movie was released, three more new films, Thillalangadi from Sun Pictures, Pandiraj’s Vamsam and Naan Mahan Alla from Cloud nine movies captured the attention of the audience because of their intense publicity and Ambasamudram Ambani went unnoticed in this competition. 

At present, the saucy actress has 4 films in her kitty and she has decided to marry politician and independent MLA from Badnera Constituency in Maharashtra, Ravi Rana. The wedlock news of Navneet Kaur may hurt some of her Telugu fans, but sources close to her confirmed that the wedding would take place at the end of this year and Navneet has decided to bid goodbye to acting after the marriage. Best Wishes, Navneet Kaur! 

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Trisha krishnan faces luck and bad luck at a time

Last week was a week of upset for Trisha. Director Gautham Menon expelling her from Hindi remake of ‘Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa’ came as a major shock. Then, her facebook account has been hacked. Though these two events upset Trisha, she has some good things to share with us. Let us see it one by one. 

After the flop of ‘Khatta Meeta’, Trisha believed the Hindi remake of ‘Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa’ as the boon to conquer Bollywood over Asin and Genelia. It was earlier told that the failure of Khatta Meeta and her date problems were the reasons for ousting her from the project. But a famous portal (Vikatan.com) recently revealed that Trisha pairing with Ajith in ‘Mankatha’ may be the real reason for her ousting. You may recall here Gautham Menon prepared a script especially for Ajith for his 50th film and named it ‘Thuppariyum Ananth’ but the project later dropped as they both could not reach consensus. So, the cold war between Gautham and Ajith costs Trisha. 

Trisha’s current projects are Manmadhan Ambu and Mankatha in Tamil and Khushiga in Telugu. Trisha says it is her several years dream to pair with Kamal sir. He called her for his Dasavatharam but she did not have dates that time. Then she waited for Marmayogi doing lot of home works but it did not happen. When she felt she can never pair with Kamal sir any more, Manmadhan Ambu came as a surprise. She has been amazed about how Kamal sir could approach a thing in so many different ways. Her Tamil accent was not perfect and he corrected her pronunciation. She thanks Kamal sir for making her speak Tamil clearly and perfectly. She believes that her performance in Abhiyum Naanum and Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa yielded her the offer of Manmadhan Ambu and she expresses her desire to do more such meaty roles in future too and thereby become the top most actress in Tamil Cinema. 

My Dear people of Tamil Community! While we wish Trisha to get more such meaty roles in future, it is our duty to convey our sincere thanks to Kamal Sir for making Trisha, who has been known for her Tanglish language, speak Tamil perfectly and clearly. Kamal Sir, we are grateful to you for our lifetime! 

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Genocide King Rajapakse friend actress Asin Srilanka eye camp is a disaster

Actress Asin cannot be out of the news it seems. The actress was recently in the news because she was greeted with black flags in Ooty for visiting Sri Lanka and shooting a part of the movie Ready. When she was there, she had organized an eye camp for the poor and needy in the hope of doing some good to the society. But the recent shocker is that 10 people lost their vision after they received treatment from the camps that Asin had organized. 

People were in shock as they had gone to the eye camp for the betterment of their vision and now they have ended up blind. A group of Sri Lankan Tamils called May 17 movement has called for a ban on the actress. They said that she should not have visited Sri Lanka in the first place and that her generous activities have caused more harm than benefits to the Sri Lankan people. The movement was convened by Thirumurugan. He criticized Asin in a press conference that he held recently and said that her films would surely not be released in the state. He has also appealed to the masses and urges that her films should also not be released in South India. 

Asin refused to comment on the whole issue. She is probably in shock as well. She had visited Jaffna on her shooting schedule and she was taken aback by the conditions of the people living there. She had decided immediately that she would conduct an eye camp and be back for more such efforts. Apparently the camps that Asin visited are not allowed to be visited even by the UN bodies. Questions are therefore being raised on her connections and how she got access into those camps. 

Asin has not had it easy at all in the last few months. Form the time she visited Sri Lanka, this thing has been following her around like a nightmare. She has been in the news for all the wrong reasons and hopes hat things get sorted out soon as she wants to get back to her first love - the movies.

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Shruti Hassan turns lyricist for David Kushner

While you may think that Shruti Hassan has her hands full with a movie and signing the national anthem of Tamil Nadu, think again! She has recently been roped in by David Kushner who is also better known as part of the rock band titled Velvet Revolver to write the lyrics of their latest song. The number is the one to hit international charts and Shruti is extremely excited about it. 

Shruti claims that she was always intrigued by music and that western music was her favorite. She admires Bob Dylan and she met David Kushner through a common friend in Los Angeles. David was then looking for a female song writer and Shruti says she jumped at his opportunity. 

She is currently working on the movie titled 7am Arivu opposite Surya and she has a lot to do on her hands. She is also playing the role of a fantasy character n a Telugu movie titled Anagananga Oka Dheerudu opposite Siddharth. The movie has English subtitles and is suited for an international audience. She ias also acting in a Hindi project called Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji directed by the famous director Madhur Bhandarkar. She excited to work with him too as she considers them as one of her favorite directors. 

She has a great time shooting for all her films. So has she lent her voice to the songs in the movie? She says no immediately. She said she is purely playing the actor in the film and has no qualms with someone else lending their voice for her songs. 

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Tamil Actress Sneha – never mind about rumors

Sneha has been in the limelight recently for her movie release Vande Mataram. The movie was a bi lingual movie and was released simultaneously in Tamil as well as Malayalam. Her roles were very miniscule in both the movies but she was unaware that her role would be edited to such a small part of the movie. 
She claims that when the script was narrated to her, she was extremely excited at the role she was going to portray in the film but when the movie was released she was shocked to see the role reduced so much. She also starred opposite Mohanlal in the much awaited Malayalam caper titled Shikar. The movie was a runaway hit. She said that acting opposite the superstar Mohanlal was a dream come true for her. She is now flooded with offers from Malayalam film makers. 
Her next project is titled Bhavani IPS. The movie is a remake of the hit movie Vyjayanthi IPS that starred Vijayshanthi in the lead role. This is her first action film and she is preparing for the role diligently. She is known more as the girl next door. So was it difficult for her to portray hard hitting emotions and act like a no nonsense police woman? She immediately responds by saying that it took 3 full days to get into the character of Bhavani. 
The other projects that she is working on include Vidiyal, Murattu Kaalai as well as Ponnar Shankar. Rumor has it that she is currently dating the actor Prassanna. She says that being in the film industry for so long has helped her now ignore these rumors. She has been linked with a string of heroes in the past as well and she is now pretty okay with these rumors. She says that it is better for her to let her work do the talking. She also has a number of endorsements with popular brands to boast of. She is busy shooting for so many projects now that she does not have time to clarify these baseless rumors. She accepts it as a part of show biz. 

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Haripriya is looking forward to Vallakotai

Haripriya is all set to light the screen on fire with her Tamil movie titled Vallakotai opposite Arjun Sarja. She has been off screen for a while but she has been super busy shuttling between Hyderabad and Chennai. She has moved from the Kannada movie industry to the Tamil and Telugu movie industry and labels this move as a promotion. 

Her recent Telugu movie titled Takita Takita is doing very well in the cinema halls inspite of it releasing simultaneously with Endhiran. She feels that she has been extremely lucky to have worked in all three industries – Telugu, Kannada and Tamil. All the experiences that she gains have only helped her grow as an actress and become better with every movie. She admires the Telugu and Tamil movie industry for their understanding of the technicalities of a film and equates them to international standards. 

She has also been signed on for another Tamil movie project titled Muran opposite Charan. She shuttles between Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad to complete all her projects and says without hesitation that Bangalore remains her all time favorite city amongst the three. She place Chennai on the bottom of the list but only because she is unfamiliar with the language and the city by itself. 

Even though she was away from the movie scene for quite some time, it was only because she was busy shooting for various projects. She regrets not having been able to do Shikari. She was offered the movie but due to some date clashes, she was unable to commit. The movie was the first Kannada outing of the Malayalam superstar Mammootty. 

She has to now shoot for a song for the movie Nande which starts the hero Murali. The movie is expected to hit theatres by the end of the year. She cannot believe the love that she gets from the audiences from all the three regions and finds herself overwhelmed at times. She is also busy keeping herself fit and she stresses on the importance of a workout to not just lose weight but to also stay healthy.

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Apex court suspends 23 defamation cases against Tamil actress

New Delhi, May 15 IANS) The Supreme Court Thursday gave controversial Tamil actress Khushboo relief by suspending trial in as many as 23 criminal cases against her in a Chennai court for allegedly making denigrating remarks against women. A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice M.K. Sharma stayed the trial and issued notices against various individuals and pro-Tamil outfits, who had lodged cases of defamation and outraging public morality against her.

The Tamil actress had landed herself in a legal soup after an interview to English periodical India Today September 2005, in which she spoke on pre-marital sex and allegedly made denigrating remarks against Tamil women.

Facing proceedings in courts all over Tamil Nadu, Khushboo had earlier this year moved the Madras High Court seeking to quash all the cases lodged against her in various courts.

But Justice R. Regupathy of the Madras High Court had dismissed her petition April 30 last. The high court, however, transferred all cases against her to the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court in Egmore in Chennai. The high court had also directed that the trial of the actress be completed in six months.

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Rajnikant gets a huge welcome in Keral

Alappuzha (Kerala), June 1 (IANS) Tamil superstar Rajnikant, who is here for shooting his latest Tamil film “Kuselan”, seemed surprised at the huge fan following he has in this Kerala town. The superstar along with Keralite Nayan Tara, a leading Tamil actress, was filming a song sequence for “Kuselan”, which is a remake of Malayalam block-buster “Katha Parayambol”.

The film is directed by P.Vasu.

The shooting is taking place in the backwaters and two snake-boats have been hired for the song sequence.

A huge security cordon has been thrown around the superstar.

The over-enthusiastic fans of Rajnikant even got onto the boats and reached closer to the star.

The fans shouted slogans for Rajnikant, who emerged on one boat in a spotless sandalwood colour kurta and waved to the crowd of fans.

He will spend the next two days here to complete the shooting of the song sequence.

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Rajnikant gets a huge welcome in Keral

Alappuzha (Kerala), June 1 (IANS) Tamil superstar Rajnikant, who is here for shooting his latest Tamil film “Kuselan”, seemed surprised at the huge fan following he has in this Kerala town. The superstar along with Keralite Nayan Tara, a leading Tamil actress, was filming a song sequence for “Kuselan”, which is a remake of Malayalam block-buster “Katha Parayambol”.

The film is directed by P.Vasu.

The shooting is taking place in the backwaters and two snake-boats have been hired for the song sequence.

A huge security cordon has been thrown around the superstar.

The over-enthusiastic fans of Rajnikant even got onto the boats and reached closer to the star.

The fans shouted slogans for Rajnikant, who emerged on one boat in a spotless sandalwood colour kurta and waved to the crowd of fans.

He will spend the next two days here to complete the shooting of the song sequence.

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By Subhash K Jha On April 9 when Jaya Bachchan turns

Chennai, June 4 (IANS) Perhaps it is the proverbial seven-year itch for Pepsico India Holdings Pvt Ltd to change Kurkure’s positioning in the southern markets. The company announced Wednesday that popular Tamil actress Simran would be the brand ambassador of its seven-year-old salty snack food brand Kurkure in the southern region. “She will be the regional brand ambassador for Kurkure that is being repositioned in the southern region. The product will have a separate commercial for the southern market,” Pepsico India marketing director Deepika Warrier told reporters here.

Another interesting thing is that Simran for the first time in her career has dubbed in her own voice for the Kurkure commercial.

Warrier, without substantiating with numbers, claimed Kurkure has doubled its sales in the southern region.

About the new positioning, she said it was based on the truth that young confident Indian consumers were no longer striving to be perfect in everything, but were comfortable about their imperfections.

“In our consumer survey, we were asked to reflect this in our commercial,” he said.

She said a tomato flavoured Kurkure will soon be launched with Simran as the brand ambassador.

Asked about the company’s plans to export the product, she said: “We are looking at launching the brand in the US and the UK. The product will be made locally targeting the non-resident indian population.”

Pepsico may tone down the Kurkure’s spicy flavour in the UK market, Warrier added.

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A Very Special 61th Birthday Gift For Jaya

On April 9 when Jaya Bachchan turns 61, the makers of her new film tentatively titled Chaassni have planned a very special surprise for her.

They’ve decided to pre-pone the commencement of the film’s shooting by a month to coincide with Jaya’s birthday.

Divulging details reluctantly the film’s softspoken director Revathy Varma(not to be confused with Revathy the Tamil actress-turned-director ) says, “Yes, we’ve quickened the process of starting the film. April 9 is a very auspicious day. And my film is about honouring and giving a respectable place to the aged in our society. So what better proof of the film’s intentions than to dedicate it to Jayaji’s 60th birthday?”

The pre-ponement has been quick and sudden.

Raveena Tandon who plays a pivotal role is totally taken aback. “I thought the shooting was supposed to start in May This is the first time I’m hearing about the April 9 shoot. But I’m happy. We’re all fans of Jayaji. And the film is about making her character happy.”

Adds Revathy, “We’re doing just a brief shooting on April 9 . Then we have a detailed schedule.”

The film already made in Tamil entitled June R was based on the director’s own life. “I adopted a mother from a foster-home. She’s no more. But the love she gave me has given birth to Jayaji’s character in the film.”

Revathy is planning it as a full-on commercial film with songs composed by Salim-Suleiman. “They can give a contemporary feel to the project.”

The Tamil veteran actress Saritha had played the pivotal role in the original.

Says Revathy, “The Hindi version will be radically different from the Tamil. I’ve just taken the core of my Tamil film and re-written it completely in Hindi.”

Ayesha Takiya plays Jaya Bachchan’s daughter in the Hindi version. Jaya whose on-screen chemistry with her makebelieve daughters from Karisma Kapoor on Fiza to Preity Zinta in Kal Ho Na Ho has always been extra-special, looks forward to getting motherly with the newly-married Takiya girl. -Sampurn Media

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Malay-Indian actress on fast-track to stardo

Kuala Lumpur, June 29 (ANI): Malay-Tamil actress Shantini Theva used to be a Tamil film fan, but today, she is part of the glitzy industry herself-she is playing one of the main female leads in big budget flick ‘Nadodigal’.

Hailing from Banting, Selangor, Shantini has many more offers pouring in, which could soon see her join the ranks of famed Tamil film stars like Jothika, Simran and Sneha.

“It is a very surreal feeling but I am glad to have been given a chance to be part of India’s industrious cine world,” Star Online quoted Shantini as saying.

And she is certainly headed towards superstardom, for her co-star in the movie is Sasi- kumar, who is currently the talk of the movie world in Madras due to his sterling performance in the box office hit ‘Subramaniapuram’.

Shantini has said that working with the all-Indian crew members was also a valuable experience for her as it gave her an insight on the work culture there.

“All the cast and crew were efficient and dedicated and it was also a big thrill to work with director P. Samuthirakkani,” she said.

Shantini received the offer to act in ‘Nadodigal’ from Samuthirakkani after she played the role of a private investigator in about 25 episodes of Tamil soap opera ‘Arasi’.

“He asked me if I would like to star in his movie and I accepted without a second thought,” said the eldest of five siblings.

Shantini said that she would soon be back in India to act in a Telegu as well as a Tamil movie.

She revealed that she received the offers while she was shooting Nadodigal.

Shantini said that many filmmakers had also asked her to apply for permanent residence status in India as they foresaw a long career ahead for her there.

“I have taken their advice and am currently in the process of applying to be an Indian permanent resident,” said Shantini.

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Chaya Singh’s Holy Matrimony

Kannada-Malayalam-Tamil actress Chaya Singh got married to a hardware engineer from Hyderabad on August 7. The actress debuted in films with director Dinesh Babu’s Chitte. She was then seen in Kannada films like director Indrajith’s Thuntaata, director Dinesh Babu’s Akasha Gange and Sai Prakash’s Rowdy Aliya. Her most successful film was Thiruda Thirudi in Tamil with superstar Dhanush. She received fabulous reviews for her performance in Vallamai Tharayo opposite Parthiban.

She is currently shooting for director Naga’s Ananthapurathu Veedu. It is produced by S Pictures. The actress has expressed her desire to continue acting even after marriage. She plans to direct a film called Gandhi Bazaar, which will be made in Kannada and English.

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Santosh Sivan turns actor, to play Raja Ravi Varma in film

Even as the fate of Ketan Mehta’s “Rang Rasiya”, based on the life of Raja Ravi Varma, remains uncertain, cinematographer-director Santosh Sivan has gone ahead and signed a Malayalam film, which will be dubbed into Hindi and English, and in which Santosh will play the role of the legendary artist.

The Malayalam film entitled “Magara Manju” (Winter Mist) starts shooting next week in Kochi. It is to be directed by the arthouse director Lenin Rajendran.

Santosh was at first hesitant to enter into a new arena at a time when his hands are full with cinematography and direction projects.

“But the director Lenin Rajendran convinced me I was right for the part. I’ve grown up on the art of Raja Ravi Varma. When I was a kid my grandmother illustrated her stories with Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings. I think I’ve acquired my visual aesthetics from this man,” says Santosh as he prepares to face the camera with the new southern sensation Karthika.

Santosh said: “Karthika is the daughter of the veteran Tamil actress Radha. I sort of liked the way we look together. But the main attraction for turning to acting is Raja Ravi Varma himself. I empathize very closely with his art. I also paint a bit. And I’ve photographed the film by M.F. Husain and his son Owais.”

The film will be shot in Kerala and Goa.

Incidentally, the only other occasion when Santosh Sivan has acted for the camera was in Aditya Bhattacharya’s “Raakh”.

“And after my shot, Pankaj Kapoor couldn’t stop laughing,” laughs Santosh.

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