Simbu to lend his voice to Abhishek

April 02, 2010
Multi-talented actor Simbu is said to be lending his voice for Abhishek Bachchan for his upcoming movie Ravana. Director Mani Ratnam feels that Simbu's voice will suit Junior Bachchan and wants him to dub it for Tamil version of Ravana.Mani Ratnam has recently met actor Simbu and has requested him to dub for which Simbu has happily agreed. The actor had earlier dubbed his voice for Naanum Kodeeswaran,the Tamil version of Slumdog Millionaire.Manmadhan star Simbu has acted in 19 films as a child artist and his debut as a hero came in the form of Kadhal Azhivathillai. From then on, he has tried his hands in singing, screenwriting and direction. His upcoming movies Valiban and Poda Podi are in pre-production stage.

SIMBU TARGETS SONAM KAPOOR

Simbu's next film is going to be with Lingusamy and Simbu is toning his biceps to fit the character the best way. Our sources say the shooting will start in June and Lingusamy is keen to release the film by December. After that Simbu will plunge head on into his favourite ‘Valiban’. An interesting development in this regard is that Cloud 9 may take over the production of ‘Valiban’.

With a high profile banner coming in Simbu has decided to keep everything ready before the film starts rolling in December. Particularly the heroine. For that Simbu has approached Sonam Kapoor, the daughter of Anil Kapoor who is a hot property for class Bollywood today. Simbu is in touch with Anil Kapoor's family to convince Sonam to make her debut in Tamil. To make it more perfect Lingusamy has planned to test shoot some scenes with Simbu and Sonam Kapoor before the start of the film.

Simbu's Poda Podi start again

April 13, 2010
Simbu, who's captured hearts with Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, is all set to start his next venture. Earlier, there were reports that the handsome star will soon start the much hyped Valiban. Apart from playing the lead role, Simbu will also wield the megaphone. Now the latest buzz is that the movie has been stalled temporarily and the actor will go ahead with Poda Podi.“I'm still very confused about whom to cast as heroine. So, for the moment, it has been stalled. I intend going ahead with Poda Podi,” he said. The film will have Sarathkumar's daughter Varalakshmi playing heroine opposite Simbu. “Vicky, a friend from my schooldays, will direct it,” he added.

TAMANNAH WITH SILAMBARASAN?

During the interaction with the winners of the Paiyaa Contest, which was held by Behindwoods.com, a visitor questioned director Lingusamy about his forthcoming project. To this the director replied that he is working on a venture that will have Silambarasan as the hero. He, however, declined to divulge any details about the storyline.Meanwhile, the latest buzz in Kollywood is that Lingusamy has decided to cast his Paiyaa heroine Tamannah opposite Silambarasan.

HAPPY TAMIL NEWYEAR TO ALL SIMBU FANS

VTV: A love story that never existed!

Everyone in town is talking about Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa; about the beautiful romance, the understated Karthik and the classy Jesse. Everyone is singing ‘Hosannas’ to the movie and its music. So, I have decided to join the chorus and talk about VTV.

But, I won’t be singing in chorus with everyone i.e. I am not going to talk about how the movie made me feel romantic, about how I felt personally connected to its characters and their lives and about how it looked as if it was a very familiar sweet romance playing out on screen. I won’t be doing that because so many readers have already done a wonderful job of it. That, I believe is because of the nature of the emotion that the film handles in elaborate detail – love. And, with that I will stop singing ‘Hosanna’ and get down to what I want to say.

Did VTV trivialize love? I can already feel the brickbats come my way. I have a fairly good indication of how much the movie has been loved. But, before you react, give me a

chance to explain completely.

The reason for me to feel that VTV might have treated love a bit too casually comes from the way the Tamil version ended. Yes, many have pointed out to the poetic and agonizing nature of the ending as perhaps the best part of the movie. But, however poetic it might have been, the cold truth is that the romance never found its culmination. In simple words – ‘the love story failed’. What is so new about that, you might ask? Love failures are dime a dozen in cinema. In fact the most loved love stories happen to be the ones that never made it through to marriage. Immortal love stories like Romeo and Juliet, Indian favorites like Ek Dhuje Ke Liye, or the Jack-Rose romance in Titanic have the thread of tragedy connecting them. In essence, they were all failed love stories. We could start another debate here about what a failed love story means. Some would perhaps contradict the view that any love story that does not end in marriage is a failure. i.e. ‘marriage is not a binding condition in all love stories. A love story can still be a success without ending up in marriage!’ Now, I am not trying to breach moral ground here.

But, why did Gautham choose to go for separation instead of marriage which was a perfectly plausible ending (the Telugu version is proof). Of course, we have at many times before discussed the liking that Gautham seems to have for tragic love stories. Almost all his previous films have one. The only change is that, in previous films the tragedy was caused by something from without, in VTV the decision to separate is made by the lovers themselves and is made to appear practical.

The point, in precise terms is that, the decision taken by Jesse seems to be one of convenience, rather than one of compulsion, which is why I feel that VTV perhaps trivialized love. Moreover, even Karthik was able to come to terms with her decision in a very matter of fact way. There is a quote: ‘Ever has it been known that love knows not its depth until the hour of separation’. VTV does not seem to comply with this piece of wisdom. The separation part is made to appear too easy a decision.

I disagree with Gautham in casting such an uncertain character as Jesse in an intense love story. The character seems unworthy, in the end, of all the attention being showered upon her by Karthik. And, the entire romance is made to look misplaced and misjudged. Yes, Karthik did get inspired by his love story and went on to become a director, but that is not the reason people fall in love for. I am also not forgetting the parental side (which definitely deserves a lot of consideration) that also played a role in the final decision. But, in spite of all the factors, Jesse’s plain and easy acceptance of the love story’s fate makes one feel that her initial commitment was either half-hearted or a complete hoax.

Looking at it that way, VTV is perhaps not the best love story to have come out of Kollywood in a while. Yes, there were moments of romance that tugged at your heart. But, in the final analysis, one feels that the real feeling never existed. The love story in VTV failed because it never was there. Even if it was there, Jesse seemed to be prepared to lose it fairly simply. She seemed to believe in Lord Tennyson’s lines: ‘It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all’. But, ‘lost’ here doesn’t seem to be a conspiracy of fate; it looks like a program from a software engineer. Hence I feel; VTV trivialized love!

SILAMBARASAN AT GALATA 3RD YEAR ANIVERSARY FUNCTION