Tamil Cinema News

It's official! Ajit will be doing the remake of Billa, that Rajnikanth action classic of 1980. The film will be directed by Vishnuvardhan the young, hot& happening director of Kollywood and produced by veteran distributor L.Suresh of Ananda pictures.

So the remake syndrome has hit Tamil cinema also. Remember that it has become a fashion in Bollywood to remake old classics. Recently Shahrukh Khan did Don a remake of that old Amitabh Bachchan film with the same name. And by sheer coincidence Rajni’s Billa was a remake of the same Don!

Veteran producer K.Balaji had made Billa with Rajnikanth in his first double role along with Sri Priya, Thengai Srinivasan, Major Sounderrajan and Helen, directed by R.Krishnamoorthy. It was a film that made Rajni a mass action hero (see pic) and he was crowned the superstar on its release day-January 26, 1980!

Vishnuvardhan had in fact had this idea of remaking the film much before Farhan Akhtar even thought about it and had approached few superstars two years back. But no one was confident about doing a Rajni hit as they thought that comparisons will be far too many! Ajit had the guts not only to do the film but is gung-ho about the project. And now after Varalaaru has become a super hit, he wants to do something different and is taking it up as a challenge.

It seems that Ajit met the superstar who advised him to go ahead with the project. L.Suresh the producer who will be doing the film after Ajit completes Kireedom has brought the remake rights from K Balaji. Suresh also encouraged Ajit by saying that the curiosity and title value will make a lot of people go and watch the new Billa giving it an extraordinary opening.

Vishnuvardhan is all excited about the film and has started writing the script of the film which will be shot slickly. Vishnu is sure to give the film a modern updated, technically far superior Billa which will work magic with the audiences. He made it clear that he will not be deviating much story wise from its original.

Nirav Shah the cameraman who has won a lot of critical acclaim for the recent Dhoom-2 will be the cameraman and Sreekar Prasad will be the editor. Vishnu’s close buddy Yuvan Shankar Raja is the music director. They are planning to remix two of the original songs written by Kannadasan with M.S.Viswanathan’s music. The all-time favourite Rajnikanth introduction song My name is Billa… sung by SPB and Vethialaya Pottendy… sung by Malaysia Vasudevan will be retained in the new Billa.

Ajit’s Billa will start rolling sometime in March 2007 and promises to be a racy, peppy and ultra stylish entertainer.

After Maja last year, Vikram has been maintaining a stoic silence. His much awaited Bheema has been shaping up well.

Directed by Lingusamy, the movie went to floors a few months ago.Vikram has been busy with its shoot.

Meanwhile, buzz is that the actor has accepted a couple of movies in the coming year for popular production houses.

Say sources close to Vikram, “After Bheema, Vikram would play the lead role in a movie to be directed by Susi Ganesan for Kalaipuli S Thanu followed by a film for Kanakarathna Movies, currently producing Pokiri.”

Grapevine has it that director Selvaraghavan might direct Vikram for the movie.

Shreya the Sivaji heroine is a smart lady who plans her move with much ado and caution. Her film Thiruvilayadal Aarambam with Dhanush is likely to complete by January and so is Sivaji. Unlike other actresses, Shreya does not have a manager or a father to parley for her. She directly contacts the production houses, heroes or the directors and scouts for a chance. In a way, this method is better as the terms and conditions can be directly dealt with.

Having come to know that producer Thanu has dates of Cheeyan Vikram, Shreya has approached him for a film with Vikram. So far combination of Vikram-Trisha, Vikram-Asin and Vikram-Sneha has been tried out. This new pair of Vikram and Shreya is definitely not tried out earlier and is sure to be a welcome change to the fans.

The cast and crew of Sandai Kozhi came together to celebrate the silver jubilee run of the movie on Sunday.

Trophies were presented to all those involved in the making of the movie in the presence of galaxy of stars.

Sandai Kozhi was produced by GK Reddy and directed by Lingusamy. The movie featured Vishal, Meera Jasmine and Raj Kiran in prominent roles. Nirav Shah cranked the camera and Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the music.

Among those who took part in the success meet included actresses Namitha, Reema Sen, Sneha, Trisha, Mamta Mohandas and Sandhya, actors Vijay, Arjun and Sibiraj. Tamil Film Producers Council president Rama Narayanan, producers G K Reddy, Vikram Krishna among others. On the occasion, Vishal thanked his family members and director Lingusamy for their support in making the movie a big hit.