As part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations organized by Vijay TV, “Kamal Express” rolled out of Chennai on August 24, as per plan.

The bus left from AVM Studios and was flagged off by AVM Saravanan. It is apt that the bus originated from here since Kamal’s first movie Kalathur Kannammaa was shot here. Others present included Aksharaa Haasan, Subbulakshmi, Rama Narayanan and VC Guhanathan. Read more from The Hindu and Behindwoods.

IndiaGlitz has a video and photos for a peek into the bus, speeches by the guests and more. Also, check out Galatta.com, Behindwoods and Chennai365 (1 | 2 | 3).

Several members of the Kamal Haasan Orkut community were there, including Shankar ‘Ulagam’. Check out their celebrations and posters in these photos.

The bus was also sighted at Puducherry (Pondicherry). Did you catch the bus anywhere? Let us know your experiences in the Comments section!

[With inputs from Ananth and photos via Shankar ‘Ulagam’]

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]

After a long wait, this week, details of the Golden Jubilee celebrations emerged. The series of events titled “Ulaganayagan Kamal Aimbathu – Oru Thodarum Sarithiram” (Universal Hero Kamal 50 — A Continuing Legacy) is arranged by Vijay TV, as mentioned earlier, with support from the Nadigar Sangam (South Indian Film Artistes Association).

We fans are in for a treat! Below are the phases of the celebrations. Check out more details from The Hindu, Chennai365 and Behindwoods.

Sarath Kumar, A.R. Murugadoss, Khushboo, Myshkin, S.P.B. Charan, Yugi Sethu, Cheran and Ravi K. Chandran are the core team working with Vijay TV. The plans for celebrations were announced in a press meet involving them.

IndiaGlitz and SivajiTV have videos covering almost the entire event. Don’t miss the emotional outpourings of Murugadoss and Cheran, and also a bit where Sarath mimics Kamal.

News reports are available from Thatstamil, Dinathanthi, Sify.com, ChennaiOnline.com, News Today, Nighazhvugal.com, ExpressBuzz (1 | 2), The Times of India, IndiaGlitz and Galatta.com.

During this press-meet, they also played a video message from Kamal, expressing his gratitude. Check out his humility and motivation when you read the message at Galatta.com, Dinamani or Chennai365.

Vijay TV telecast an introductory programme yesterday, including highlights of the press meet, Kamal’s message and all the above details.

On Sunday, Kamal was present for the launch of Nee Indri Naan Illai, scripted by Kalaignar Karunanidhi, who is also the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Also participating were Manorama, Sivakumar, Surya, Bhagyaraj and Vivek.

Kamal and Karunanidhi extended their mutual admiration society, lavishing praises on each other. The latter recounted an incident during the shooting of Dasavathaaram when Kamal surprised him in the old lady get-up. The below video of Kamal’s speech comes from Top10Cinema.com.

Read more from ChennaiOnline, News Today, Dinamani, Dinathanthi, Maalai Malar (1 | 2), Webdunia and Dinakaran. Check out photos from Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, Galatta.com and SivajiTV.

Kamal also met Karunanidhi privately, possibly on the same day.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: 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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

The premiere of Dashavtar was held on 16 April, Thursday at Mumbai. Kamal was there with his whole family. Few of Kamal’s industry friends also attended. It was heartening to see Yash Chopra and Rohan Sippy attend despite the ongoing producers’ strike.

See photos from MastiOne, Glamsham.com, Behindwoods, IndiaGlitz, NowRunning.com, Galatta.com . Read a report with photos from Rediff.com.

Below is a video from Glamsham.com covering the press meet that happened along with the premiere. Another amateurish version is available on YouTube.

Alongside, more pieces came out in the media as part of the movie promotion. The one from Reuters stood out — they had a series of short Q&A. Check out others from The Hindu, Hindustan Times, IBNLive (1 | 2) and IndiaGlitz. Above is a video from IBNLive.

[With inputs from Ananth]

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]