Amidst the Dasavathaaram euphoria, news of Kamal’s movie has found space, even if sometimes just to fill the lack of news of the former. Marmayogi is said to be launching this month in Mumbai. Atleast the press has shifted the date from 13th (Sify.com | IndiaGlitz | Thatstamil | Galatta.com | Chennai Online) to 25th (Galatta.com | Behindwoods | Chennai 365). The movie is to be co-produced by Pyramid Saimira (Behindwoods | Webdunia) on first-copy basis.

Several rumours have been flying around. Kajol is said to the heroine (The Times of India | Galatta.com | CineSouth | Chennai 365). Hemamalini was confirmed by Kamal himself at the Dasavathaaram audio release function. But whispers are that she plays the villain! Another certainty is AR Rahman as the music director (IndiaGlitz | Galatta.com).

On the technical side, we have Kamal trying out new things, as usual. This time around, it is the Red camera (IndiaGlitz | Webdunia).

Kamal has been talking about it here and there. Check out other news at Behindwoods (1 | 2), IndiaGlitz and Tamilcinema.com.

[With inputs from Ananth]

First, they created controversies. Then, they dragged the makers to court. When the movie released after crossing the numerous hurdles, they pounded it with bad reviews and spread rumours. Finally, here is the box-office performance to silence them all and delight Kamal’s fans.

The Economic Times has published a lengthy article featuring an interview with the producer, Aascar V Ravichandran. Here go the highlights:

The producer says that a state like Kerala grossed Rs 2 crore in the first week. “To date, the film has generated revenues worth Rs 100 crore and it has the potential to bring in as much as $100 million (over Rs 400 crore),” he claims.

To get deeper into the numbers, the film overall will have 1,300 prints which will include the Hindi version as well. Tamil Nadu alone had 275 prints with Kerala and Karnataka accounting for 85 and 80 prints respectively. The Telugu version of Dasavatharam had as many as 260 prints. “We will have 190 prints for the overseas markets and there will be another 400 for the Hindi audiences,” says Ravichandran.

…he is able to give the project his best when he distributes the film himself. “I have distributed the film on my own in India and across the world as well,” he says.

“We took two years to finish the project. Without Kamal Haasan, it would have taken ten years,” says Ravichandran quite candidly.

He is effusive about the actor and is clear when he says that it was his indefatigable attitude that saw the project through. “Never once did the actor ask for a break or say he was too tired,” recalls Ravichandran.

Ask Dasavatharam’s producer Venu Ravichandran if he was worried about how expensive this project could be and the answer is an emphatic NO. “Well, it came to Rs 60 crore eventually but I never ever had an estimate,” he says.

Reports have been coming in from other quarters too: CineSouth | The Indian Star | DailyIndia.com.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Graphic courtesy. The Economic Times]

Last week, Kamal found time to release the audio of Kodaikanal. Bharathiraaja, with whom he had several successful colloborations including Padhinaaru Vayadhinile and Sigappu Rojakkal, received it.

The highlights of the function were the camaraderie between them and Kamal’s decrial of Oscar awards. On the latter subject, Kamal went a little further this time, saying that he would like to see India honouring American movies with awards.

Kamal also recounted the days of their first association and encouraged the “small movie”. Watch all of that on video at IndiaGlitz. IndiaGlitz has photos too, along with Behindwoods and KollywoodToday.com.

Also read reports from Times of India, Sify.com, Thatstamil, Galatta.com, CineSouth, Web Dunia, KollywoodToday.com, Adhikaalai.com, News Today and TamilCinema.com.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

Here are photos from the preview of Dasavathaaram, held for some Kamal’s colleagues, at Four Frames theatre in Chennai.

The attendees included Rajnikanth, K Balachander, Nagesh, Manorama, Prabhu, Radhika, Sathyaraj, Sarathkumar, Surya, Bharath and few directors.

Check out the updates on MSN, IndiaGlitz, Chennai 365 and Adhikaalai.com.

More photos are at Behindwoods.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

The Dasavathaaram release is less than a day away in most places whereas some lucky folks in Muscat (and other Arab countries?) have already watched the movie! They are gushing with excitement obviously.

Anyway, before all that, it was the the turn of VIPs. First, it was Tamil Nadu Chief M. Karunanidhi. The man, who has a soft spot for Kamal, was all praise. It was said that ex-CM Jayalalithaa too would get a screening; but that does not seem to be happening.

Kamal’s colleagues in the movie industry, including Rajnikanth, got a special screening. The Hindu carries some wonderful photographs. Check out reactions and reports at Behindwoods and Sify.com (1 | 2).

News has been flowing ever since Dasavathaaram ticket sales opened on June 8, from around the world. Several theatres in Chennai are booked for many days together. IndiaGlitz, Chennai365 and News Today carried reports. Galatta.com had photos while Sify.com too joined in, along with a video!

Fellow-blogger Balabharathi reported suspicious activity at Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai.

Meanwhile, Kamal has requested his fans to tone down any celebrations for the release, so that the general public can watch the movie peacefully.

[With inputs from Ananth]

Kamal seemed to have gone underground after the April 25 Dasavathaaram audio release function and now finally emerged out of it. The reason was another such function, that of Jayamkondaan, starring Vinay and Bhavan, and directed by Kannan. The event featured many other industry personalities including Mani Ratnam.

Kamal welcomed corporate entities into the industry, in response to concerns raised by one of the speakers. As usual, he displayed his foresight and adaptability. An interesting tidbit that surfaced in the event was that Jeyam Ravi had worked as assistant director to Suresh Krissna in Aalavandhaan.

Read reports from Sify.com, Yahoo, Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz and News Today.

Kamal’s get-up seemed intact, except for a thicker beard than earlier.

Check out more photos at Behindwoods, KollywoodToday.com and IndiaGlitz.

[With extensive inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

We are just into the “hurricane season” in USA and it looks like the first one will be Hurricane Dasavathaaram! The number of prints (more than 40 for Tamil and Telugu) and celebrations across the country has been unprecedented.

The highlight of these celebrations has been the Dasavathaaram Dosa event, first in Chicago and then in the San Francisco Bay Area. Featuring 10 varieties of the Indian food item, the event also distributed free tickets to fans.

Sify.com put up an extensive list of theatres and show timings. Read more from KollywoodToday.com, Thatstamil and Webdunia.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

After a whole lot of back and forth confusion, the ‘final’ final release date of Dasavathaaram is June 13 (June 12 in some locations).

News has been pouring in, ranging from 1200 prints to theatres in Chennai (Sify.com | Behindwoods | Yahoo | CineSouth). Mumbai is excited to the extent of a closed theatre being re-opened temporarily. Below is a hoarding / billboard in Kerala.

[With extensive inputs from Ananth]

Dasavathaaram has been getting quite a bit of publicity in all kinds of media. (The Hindi version, Dashavtar hasn’t had the same coverage though.) As part of it, we had two interviews recently, one with Kamal in Deccan Herald and another with Devisri Prasad on Rediff.com.

First, let’s hear it from Kamal:

Obviously this is what fuels all my passion for work. For a creative person, two factors act as fuel— the other being constructive criticism.

From Hollywood my favourites are Marlon Brando and Peter Sellers. From India, I am also a huge fan of Yusuf saab (Dilip Kumar). Sanjeev Kumar was another favourite. We worked together in Yaadgar and it was a great experience. We had another great common interest— food!

Knowledge should be acquired from anywhere in the world. Haven’t we taken the best in medicine and education from the West? The West has also taken a lot from us. We have been an international country now for 2000 years!

The standards of Hindi cinema have risen very highly in the last few years, especially in the matter of acting and technology. I keep telling our industry here that Hindi films are really beginning to give South Indian cinema a run for our money.

We have heard Devisri Prasad gush about working on Dasavathaaram before. Here’s more, where he also reveals that he did the background score for the trailer too:

One day I got a call from his office asking me for a meeting. We had a casual meeting at his office. I asked about his films. He asked me about my work — where I record and how. It was more of a general chat.

The producer said that Kamal Sir had seen a few films of mine and loved my style. He said he would really be happy if I did the background score so he asked me to find out. I fell off my chair when I heard it.

I went and we watched the film in the editing room. What was great about him was even though the voice work and other things were not done, like an assistant director he was prompting and telling me all the dialogues in sync with the scenes.

The greatest thing about him is, he always asks for our time. He doesn’t ask ‘would you come tomorrow?’ Rather he will say ‘are you free tomorrow?’

One day he called me to his office to show the promos. He took me around and showed me his conference room, his home theatre etc. He did not act like a star. At that moment he was just a simple man switching on the lights, fans and DVD player. I was shocked to see him take such pains to show me around.

I love him as a singer too and I want to make him sing a song soon. I hope he would do it for me. Kamal Sir has been a great inspiration for me.