Check out Kamal’s interview on NDTV’s Walk the Talk — not a great interview, but interesting to see him in a casual chat. Kamal talks about Rajnikanth, Jayalalitha, MGR, etc.

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]

The Golden Jubilee celebrations organised by Vijay TV with the fans’ association came to a close on September 28, Monday. Though the valedictory function was not as big as originally envisioned, it provided many memorable moments nevertheless. While we wait to watch it on Vijay TV by the weekend, here are updates and photos from the media.

Rajnikanth, Sarojadevi, K Balachander, Mohanlal, Mammootty, Venkatesh, Sarathkumar and others spoke at the function. Here are details from Dinamani, Nakkheeran and Maalaimalar (1 | 2). Illaiyaraaja and AR Rahman too wished Kamal on the occasion.

Rajni’s frank and generous speech was covered separately by Nakkheeran,. His camaraderie with Kamal was reported by Sify.com and Behindwoods.

Kamal gave an emotional response. Check it out at Dinamani and Nakkheeran.

Several of Kamal’s leading ladies including Radhika, Gautami, Urvashi and Jayachitra shared their experiences. Read about it on Maalaimalar.

It seems like the same set of photos were distributed by Vijay TV to the press. You can check it out on Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, Chennai365 (1 | 2), CelluloidTamil, or SivajiTV.com. The Hindu though carried a slideshow of their own photos.

Read other reports from Sify.com, Thatstamil, The Times of India, NDTV, Express Buzz, Dinathanthi and Maalaisudar.

Prior to this function, Kamal and others went to the Marina Beach on the Kamal Express, where he garlanded Sivaji Ganesan’s statue.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

Here is a collection of interviews done as part of the promotion for Unnaipol Oruvan / Eenadu. Before you check out each of them, sample the highlights.

Kamal in The Times of India:

Is there friendly competition when two classy actors work together? In the case of UO, you and Mohanlal?
Absolutely. And we like each other. All the while, every actor is in competition, whether he is in the same film or not. Whenever I watch a good movie of Mohanlal’s, I feel like doing a movie better than his and when he watches a good film of mine, he feels likewise. We both initiate and encourage each other. The idea is that if the competition is negative in nature, we will only head downwards. The gravity will drag us down and we will have to remain there. To get up and fly, we need to motivate each other. The concept of destroying your enemy completely is a concept that does not exist in modern day warfare. When it is a non-existent concept in the art of modern day war, how can it be there in the field of art, in which enemies don’t exist?

Mohanlal in Rediff.com:

I was more attracted to the story than the role. More than anything, Kamal Haasan was a major attraction.

While I was dubbing, Kamal Haasan was with me throughout to help me with my Tamil diction. I told him not to trouble himself and after the dubbing was over, if he needed any corrections, I would come and re-do it. Do you know what he said? He said, ‘I am very selfish about my films’. Because he had good command over the language, he stood by me throughout. It shows how passionate he was about film making.

Unnaipol Oruvan is produced by Kamal Haasan. Did you at any point fear that you would be overshadowed?

Such thoughts are unnecessary. Only insecure people think on those lines. I need to think how well I can portray the role given to me. If you are insecure about your role and if you feel that the other actor will overshadow you, you should not commit to such films. It is very shameful to think that the other person will overshadow you. I don’t think that way at all.

Chakri Toleti in Rediff.com:

This was your first film, and you were directing people like Kamal Haasan and Mohanlal who have won several national awards. Were you nervous?

I was more excited than nervous. It was a great opportunity and a directors’ dream to work with artists like Kamalji and Lal.

Did you at any point feel that you will be overshadowed by the Haasan family?

[Laughs] It did not even cross my mind because of the relationship I have with Kamalji. He has given me 100% control over the film. I really appreciate that. I am fortunate to have such a producer. He is playing multiple roles in the film, that of the producer, lyricist, and actor.

Ganesh Venkatraman in The Times of India:

Kamal sir has always been a big inspiration and when I met him during the first schedule, I was awestruck by his preparedness and dedication.

[With inputs from Ananth]

What one imagined to be a minor irritant caused some tension in the eleventh hour. However, decks have been cleared for Unnaipol Oruvan / Eenadu to release on September 18 as planned. Here is the sequence of events related to Pyramid Saimira’s allegations against Kamal.

• It started last week with Pyramid Saimira issuing a legal notice to Kamal asking him to repay advance paid towards Marmayogi and then going to town about it. Many news outlets including The Times of India, Express Buzz, Sify.com, Thatstamil, Behindwoods, Galatta.com, and Dinamalar lapped it up.
• Kamal gave a fitting response by revealing details of the legal notice he had to sent to Pyramid Saimira way back in April.The full press release can be seen at Chennai365. Details can be browsed at Sify.com, Behindwoods, Galatta.com or Dinamalar. 1-0 to Kamal.
• After this, Pyramid Saimira went ahead and filed a case on Monday requesting a stay on the release on Unnaipol Oruvan and Eenadu. The court ordered “status quo”, which was interpreted in different ways by different sections of the media. Read more from ChennaiOnline, Dinamani, IndiaGlitz, SivajiTV.com and Dinathanthi. While it is a well-known fact that Marmayogi was shelved due to lack of funds from Pyramid Saimira, they put the blame on Kamal citing lack of co-operation. It was obvious that this was an attempt to extract money in the eleventh hour.
• Raajkamal Productions filed an initial response on Tuesday. Check out Thatstamil, Galatta.com, Dinamani, Dinathanthi, Dinamalar and Maalaisudar for more.
• Kamal was said to have been calm during this time. He held preview shows for select audience. Some details are available from Thenaali.com.
• The complete response was heard today (September 17) and the request for stay was rejected! The case is not over though, with the court asking Kamal to deposit Rs. 4 crores by the end of the month. Details can be found at The Hindu, Thatstamil, IndiaGlitz (1 | 2), Galatta.com, SivajiTV.com, Webdunia and Thenaali.com. 2-0 to Kamal!

As fans, while we are happy to hear that the release of the movie(s) is in no trouble, we are also eager to witness the knock-out punch to Pyramid Saimira!

An interesting aside to these events is that Kamal and Sridevi were in Chennai High Court today, the latter too for a similar case!

[With inputs from Ananth]

When Kamal stepped into his Golden Jubilee year on August 12, there were several who wished him. Kamal celebrated the occasion with a few close associates and well-wishers.

There were quite a few who put out ads in newspapers, while partially seeking publicity for themselves. Here are some of them.

Unlike some earlier occasions including Dasavathaaram, the media did justice this time.

• NDTV, CNN-IBN and Times Now carried interview snippets. The first two videos are featured above. Watch Kamal talk about his childhood acting experiences, “sibling” relationship with Sridevi, about Mani Ratnam and acting with Mohanlal among other things. He also mentions for the first time about not going ahead with 19 Steps (or The 19th Step?).
• Thenaali.com featured a long tribute from Prakashraj (aka Prakash Rai).
• Deccan Chronicle carried a short interview, where Kamal underplays the significance of the milestone.
• Nighazhuvugal.com came up with a piece that included a list of all his movies.
• The Times of India came up with a good photo gallery.
• Vikatan.com came up with a list of 50 tidbits.
• Read other reports from The Hindu, Sify.com, The Times of India, Thatstamil, Chennai365, Galatta.com, India Today, SivajiTV.com, Behindwoods, and Dinamani and Maalaisudar. Sify.com now also has a separate page for Kamal-related news and other stuff.

[With inputs from Ananth]

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]

The recently out Bollywood flick, Kambakkht Ishq, starring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor, is said to be doing well. Though it was reported quite some time ago by news sites like Sify.com and OneIndia that it is a remake of Kamal’s Pammal K Sambandham, the fact that people like Akshay and director Sabbir Khan tried to hide it irked quite a few. That included Web-sites like Thatstamil and Adhikaalai.com. Finally, Behindwoods managed to get things clarified from PL Thenappan, who produced the movie for Media Dreams.

Kamal’s movies have been clobbered before by Bollywood, including Sathi Leelavathi as Biwi No. 1, which even got a Filmfare award for best story!

[With inputs from Ananth]

Here’s the second episode of our report from the shooting spot of Unnaippol Oruvan, where Shankar ‘Ulagam’ got to witness Kamal in action! Shankar was so thrilled and speechless that we had to try very hard to get words out of his mouth!

• Shooting happened on 20 June (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and 21 June (6 to 11:30 a.m.).
• The location was the same school for the blind, deaf and dumb and involved Kamal’s scenes. Let’s avoid the description so as to not give out the story further.
• Other actors were MS Bhaskar (Broadway Kumar of Dasavathaaram) and Santhana Sivaji (”Saar, neenga engeyo poyitteenga” / Apoorva Sagodharargal).
• Kamal was very active, walking up and down across the set. He was having fun, especially with MS Bhaskar. His rest breaks were never more than an hour, during which he was seen reading books.
• Shankar was struck by his sharp eyes.
• Kamal finished his takes in no time. He provided some inputs to Chakri on the direction front.
• On the first day, he was joined in the evening by his family and left along with them.
• The shooting happened for both Tamil and Telugu versions. Chakri was using a mix of Telugu, Tamil, English and Hindi.

Shankar ‘Ulagam’, creator of the Lyrix in Pix series on this blog, was lucky to take part in a day’s shooting of Unnaippol Oruvan! Here is an account of his experiences. Portions which reveal part of the story are marked with [SPOILER ALERT] warning.

• He witnessed a few scenes filmed in a set at a school for the blind, deaf and dumb in Poonamallee area of Chennai. [SPOILER ALERT] The sequences were actually meant to happen in a police station in Anna Salai. After the police station receives a call alerting them of a bomb in the premises, the bomb squad searches around using metal-detecting equipment.
• Kamal did not take part in the shooting as he was not keeping well. Actually, his introduction scene happens in the same location. [SPOILER ALERT] Kamal’s character comes to the police station to file a complaint.
• Shankar recognised Chakri Toleti the director but none of the actors.
• Though Shankar is sad that he could not get to see Kamal, he hopes that he will get a chance soon.

From Shankar’s description, the shooting seems to be progressing at break-neck speed. Hope to hear more soon!