Couple of days ago, Kamal met MK Stalin, who recently became the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He gave his best wishes on the new appointment. Also seen in the above photo is Napoleon, Kamal’s co-star in Dasavathaaram and Virumaandi, who himself became a minister in the central government recently.

Behindwoods carried a brief report with the above photo.

[With input from Ananth]

[Updated: News / photo from Behindwoods]

The Chennai International Screenwriting Workshop drew to a close on June 3. The official Web-site featured a piece providing a round-up and promising photos and videos. It also said that this was just a beginning and more such efforts would happen over time. Kamal’s family was also present for the event.

SivajiTV, IndiaGlitz and IndiaInteracts had videos of a “mini press conference” where Kamal provides a few more thoughts. Kamal even recalled how MGR had inspired him.

More photos can be found at Galatta.com, Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, Chennai365 (1 | 2) and CineSnacks.com. Shekhar Kapur, who participated in the seminar, went onto blog about it. News reports are available from Sify.com, Thatstamil, ChennaiOnline, Behindwoods, News Today, CineSouth, Dinathanthi and Maalai Malar.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

Kamal attended Jayam Ravi’s wedding on July 4. Here are some photos from Behindwoods. Sify.com, IndiaGlitz, Galatta.com and CineSnacks.com too had published photos.

Those who have watched the “Kalakka Poavadhu Yaaru” special programme on Jaya TV would remember Ravi dancing to one of Kamal’s songs.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

SivajiTV and IndiaGlitz and ChennaiOnline (1 | 2 | 3) have videos of the media event on May 28. The former is more complete, including questions from the press.

A wide range of photographs are available from Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, OneIndia, Chennai365 (1 | 2), SivajiTV, ChennaiOnline, Top10Cinema.com.

Also see news reports from Sify.com, The Times of India, Thatstamil, News Today, ChennaiOnline (English | Tamil), CineSouth and TamilCinema.com.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

The Chennai International Screenwriting Workshop (CISW) organized by Raaj Kamal Films International started rolling yesterday with an event for the media. There were several writers and directors present at the event, displaying camaraderie.

Kamal dedicated the workshop to Ananthu, one of his mentors. He displayed his humble side when stating that he was still a student and that he learnt from juniors too. See reports from and Dinamani and Dinathanthi. Other reports can be found on Sify.com, Behindwoods and IndiaGlitz.

The Hindu, the prime sponsor of the event, carried a piece which gives a peek into the genesis:

The Tamil filmmaker is like a street dancer with some exciting moves but if you ask him to show you something else, he will do the same thing again. The need of the hour is trained dancers, who can adapt to different forms of dances. But where will new forms come from if we continue to keep churning out the same old moves?

First out with the photos was Galatta.com. Kamal looks trim in a just-out ‘RKFI’ T-shirt!

Check out the schedule for the workshop. The primary instructors will be Anjum Rajabali, Atul Tiwari and K Hariharan.

More to follow…..

[With inputs from Ananth]

Some movies come with a bang and crash with a thud; others cause only a mild flutter. While Dasavatharam burnt up the box-office in the middle of 2008, its Hindi version passed off almost unnoticed in April of this year. In tune with this blog’s balanced nature, here’s a round-up of some reviews and reactions of Dashavtar.

The marketing did work to some extent. RealBollywood.com featured an interview with KS Ravikumar. Blogs like PassionForCinema came up with previews.

Though most of the Hindi audience seemed to have not warmed up to the movie, there were some unbiased reviews from The Times of India, The Telegraph, Mumbai Mirror, Central Chronicle, RealBollywood.com and Khabrein.info.

A good opening was expected, as there wasn’t much else to watch due to the Hindi movie producers’ strike. There were such reports from Kolkata (The Telegraph | IndianTelevision.com). BollywoodHungama.com showed mixed reactions from Mumbai, as seen in the video below.

Rudresh came up with some box-office figures on his blog. Thaindian News and Webdunia reported on the failure of the movie.

[With inputs from Ananth]

The people have India has spoken and a new government is on its way. But our man, who dutifully exercises his right to vote every time, was unable to do so this time around. It is not fully clear whether Kamal’s name was struck off the electoral rolls (due to his move to the outskirts of the city) or he indeed did have his name but in a different polling centre. Kamal expressed his anguish to eagerly awaiting media.

Kamal had put off shooting for Unnaippol Oruvan for a couple of days, but stayed back in Hyderabad after learning about his inability to vote.

Read other reports and interviews from IBNLive, Behindwoods, Thatstamil, Dinamani, Dinamalar and Dinathanthi.

[With inputs from Ananth]

After releasing the teaser trailer of Unnaippol Oruvan last month, Kamal met the press along with significant members of the cast and crew. Those present on stage included Mohanlal, Chakri Toleti and Shruti Haasan.

Kamal announced that shooting is proceeding at a good speed and should be wrapped up in May. The release may be postponed to August 12 (the same date on which Kalathur Kannamma released in 1959), to mark Kamal’s 50th year in movies as per fans’ request. While Mohanlal plays the police commissioner in Tamil, Venkatesh will take it up in the Telugu version titled Eenadu.

Also present on the occasion were 2 more debutants –Era. Murukan as dialogue writer and Manushyaputhran as lyricist. Both are associated with the late Sujatha, one of Kamal’s favourites. The former has been writing about Unnaippol Oruvan and Kamal for sometime. His blog / Web-site isn’t very navigable though — try your luck. Manushyaputhran earlier featured in “Kamal Kaviyarangam” in 2007.

IndiaGlitz has a good video of the press meet and fantastic photos. A short video report from IBNLive is featured above. Read reports from Sify.com, The Hindu, News Today, ChennaiOnline, Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, Galatta.com, Thatstamil, Webdunia, Dinamani, Dinathanthi, Maalai Sudar, Cinesouth, Envazhi and TamilCinema.com. Photos are available on Sify.com, Behindwoods and Galatta.com.

[With inputs from Ananth, Velmurugan Ranganathan]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

One event that received very little press coverage was Kamal witnessing his mentor K Balachander’s return to stage-plays. Kamal watched Pournami along with Gautami.

Behindwoods and SivajiTV published a few photographs.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

Even before Rahman created history at the Oscars, Kamal had sent his congratulations on Slumdog Millionaire. But after the big night, news channels and sites jostled for opinions and Kamal was one of their favourites. Here’s a (much-delayed) round-up from the various media outlets.

For Kamal’s complete thoughts on the occasion, watch Kamal say it all on IndiaGlitz. Kamal makes fun of himself, rubbishing titles like “Oscar naayagan” (Oscar hero).

Kamal also participated in a discussion on CNN-IBN. Below are couple of videos from Times Now and Zoom.

Kamal praised Rahman’s hard work and commitment, while looking forward to working with him in the near future (The Hindu, Screen). Check out other coverage from Economic Times, Thatstamil, Behindwoods, ChennaiVision.com, ApunKaChoice.com, Dinathanthi and Dinakaran.

[With inputs from Ananth]