Kamal recently launched the audio of Kanagavel Kaakka starring Karan. We all remember Karan’s rocking debut in Nammavar, don’t we?

The video here, from Behindwoods, covers the audio launch and also crew members talking about the movie. It also includes an endorsement from Kamal. Check out more photos from Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz and Chennai365. IndiaGlitz too has the same video. Thenaali.com carried a short report.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Video, picture courtesy: Behindwoods]

Here’s a brilliant new poem from Kamal, that appears as the first one in a collection titled “Eezham — Mounathin Vali“. Thanks to Envazhi for bringing it to us!

காக்க ஒரு கனக (AK) 47

நோக்கவும் தாக்கவும் ஒரு நொடி நேரம்

தோற்கவும் அதே கண நேரம்தான்

ஈயம் துளைத்துக் கசிந்து சிவந்த

காயம் தொட்டுக் கையை நனைத்து

விண்ணே தெரிய மண்ணில் சாய்ந்தேன்

முன் காக்க மறந்த அமைதியைக் காத்து.

மாட்டுத் தோலில் தாய்மண் அறைபட

பூட்ஸுக் கால்களால் கடந்தனர் பகைவர்.

விட்ட இடத்தில் கதையைத் துவங்கச்

சட்டென இன்னொரு குழந்தை பிறக்கும்

அதுவரை பொறுத்திரு தாயே, தமிழே

உதிரம் வடியும் கவிதை படித்து…

[With inputs from Ananth]

As part of the Golden Jubilee coverage, Kamal was recently featured on Your Call, a programme on NDTV. Above is the full video of the programme. Highlights:

• Cho pulling Kamal’s leg on entering politics
• Shruti’s personal banter with Kamal
• Kamal’s views on marriage and family, which hit the headlines on several media outlets and debated in the blogosphere

NDTV also has an informal video of Kamal just before the programme was shot. Enjoy!

Unnaippol Oruvan is nearing its day of release and this is a good time to recap on the updates we have got in the last couple of months.

The last available information is that it will release on August 12, to coincide with the release date of Kalaththur Kannamaa, Kamal’s first movie. Check out Sify.com, IndiaGlitz, Galatta.com, Thatstamil, ChennaiOnline, Behindwoods and Cinegoer.com.

Here is what else we know through official and non-official means.

• Unconfirmed reports from Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, Galatta.com say that veteran actress Lakshmi is part of the movie. She is said to be playing the role of Chief Secretary (to the Chief Minister). In the original A Wednesday, the Chief Minister himself had a significant role.
• We haven’t heard a lot about Eenadu, the Telugu version. Here’s an interview of Venkatesh in The Times of India, where he says that the role is modified to suit his image.
• Manushyaputhran too has narrated his experiences to the media. He told Mangaiyar Malar that the opporutnity to write a song for the movie came out of the blue one day. He revealed that the song about “the greatest tragedy of our times” is sung by Kamal himself. He was ecstatic about Shruti Haasan and has said that he is proud of writing the first song with her music.
• Meanwhile, Shruti spoke about her experiences to The Hindu and ChennaiOnline.
• Two younger generation actors who are part of the movie are Anuja Iyer and Ganesh Venkataraman. Anuja spoke about Kamal’s patience and being inspired by him to Kumudam, which was reported by Dinamalar. She was also featured on The Hindu and Galatta.com. Ganesh was heard on The Times of India and Galatta.com.
• Eric Felberg from Hollywood is the special effects supervisor. He has worked on Shri Anjaneya before and also was supposed to be part of Marmayogi too.
• Manoj Soni from Bollywood is the cinematographer. He seems to have been chosen for his experience with the digital medium. Hear him go ga-ga on Express Buzz and Galatta.com.
• Writer Era. Murukan was interviewed by Ergo. He talked about his experiences with Kamal and Mohanlal, while also giving us some insight into the script. Here’s some background on Era. Murukan from Behindwoods.
• Era. Murukan writes about his experiences on his blog,  now and then. In fact, in his most recent piece, he says that he’s writing a whole book based on it called Sight at Shoot! He writes about Kamal’s tirelessness and specifically about a shot in which Kamal impressed him.

‘That was an one-man symphony, kamal-ji’ – I told. He just smiled.

• Mohanlal is said to have wrapped up his portions in early June.
• Kamal talked about the movie during the promotion of Dashavtar to The Indian Express.
• The Times of India carried some details about the economics of Unnaippol Oruvan.

Neeraj Pandey, writer-director of A Wednesday, has expressed his opinion on the remake. He told India Abroad News Service that he’s looking forward to it. This is what he had to say on PassionforCinema.com.

Q) What do you think about the cast of Kamal Hasan & Mohanlal in the Tamil version?

Great casting.

We fans, await, first for the trailer and stills and then for the movie itself…

[With extensive inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]