PODAA PODI- STRICTLY FOR YOUNGSTERS

Poda Podi is a Romantic Musical Movie. Film was started in 2008, but due to various issues, it got delayed and was released finally.

Story: There are only 4 Characters in the Movie - Simbu, Varalaxmi, VTV Ganesh and yesterday actress Shobana. 90% of the scenes are between Simbu and Varalaxmi only. It is about their love, ego, breakups, reunion, marriage, kid, breakup, reunion and kid again. Does it sound like Engeyum Kadhal? Yup, the first half was quite similar to Engeyum Kadhal and it looks like Part 2.

Varalaxmi is a very very modern girl who lives in London and follows London's culture. Her ambition is to win Dance Competition as she is a very good Salsa dancer. Simbu, on the other hand, though he lives in London, respects our Tamil culture and wants Varalaxmi to follow our culture. Fight starts because of this difference in opinion and it goes on and on testing our patience.

Simbu had done the role with ease as he used to play this kind of role quite often. Movie starts with the song "Love Pannalama" and ends with "I am a Kuthu Dancer". Simbu had danced well in both the songs and those two songs are the highlights of this movie. Simbu had really acted well and tried to carry the movie on his own shoulders.

Varalaxmi is daughter of actor Sarathkumar. She dances well and comes in glamorous costumes. She looks fat in most of the scenes. Did I mention "most of the scenes"? Yes, both Simbu and Varalaxmi's weight differs in the movie as the shooting went on for nearly 3 years.

VTV Ganesh is the only comedian in the movie. Santhanam and Premji come for 3 - 4 seconds in "Love Pannalama" Song. VTV Ganesh had tried his best to bring laughter, but it works only occasionally.

Music is by Dharan who had an excellent debut with Bhagyaraj's Parijatham. He is really talented and didn't get many opportunities. All the songs in the movie will be liked by Youngsters. Love Pannalama and I am a Kuthu Dancer are the best songs in the movie

Director Vignesh, it is debut movie for him. He took a short film based on the same story and made into feature film with the help of Gemini Films and Simbu. He had tried his best to give a FEEL GOOD Movie to Tamil Audience. But due to very average story and below average screenplay, he couldn't succeed in it.

'Don't compare me with Vijay' - Simbu

All around the world Tamil film lovers eagerly await the arrival of Deepavali to catch the latest releases. Some filmmakers have decided to postpone their releases in an attempt to avoid their films from clashing with the big names such as Vijay’s Thuppakki. Only a handful of movies are boldly releasing on the same day as the Vijay-A.R. Murugadoss action entertainer. Thangar Bachchan’s Ammavin Kaipesi being one and Simbu’s Poda Podi being the other.

In a recent interview Simbu clarified that he was not competing with Vijay as he considers him to be more senior and as a star belonging to a completely different level. He said that there was no intention of creating a box-office war between his Poda Podi and Vijay’s Thuppakki and the media should never compare the two stars.

STR's Vettai Mannan at Brazil, Bangkok and Thailand

Vettai Mannan is the upcoming action film starring STR in the lead. The makers are doing their best to make it technically very sound. They planned to shoot major portions in Brazil. But due to excessive problems by the local militia groups, the makers are planning to just go there with the cinematographer and capture the ambiance. The shoot will happen in a set erected at Bangkok, and will be matched with the footages shot in Brazil, during the post production. The film processing will also happen in Thailand, say sources.

For this purpose, the film’s director Nelson and art director Ilayaraja will fly to Bangkok tomorrow, to choose the locations. Cinematographer Sakthi couldn’t join the duo, as he is busy with the shooting of STR’s Vaalu

STR in Varuvan Thalaivan - Poster Launch

STR does Siddharth a favor

STR has crooned a few hit tracks for a number of heroes like Prashanth, Srikanth and Jayam Ravi among others. Now he has recorded a song for Siddharth. It is for the Tamil version of the Siddharth - Shruti Haasan Telugu hit, Oh My Friend. In Tamil, it will be released as Sridhar. Hansika and Navdeep will also be seen in this film.

Thaman is the music director and he and STR are good friends. STR sang the Kattuvali track for Thaman, featured in Prashanth's Mambattiyan. Thaman also did the music for Osthi. The original track for Oh My Friend was sung by Benny Dayal and STR has done his own unique take on it. The buzz is that it will be a hit track as it is an energetic and peppy number.

STR opens up on Love Anthem

Silambarasan is back after a vacation / work schedule in the US for composing music and finishing up his Love Anthem album. "We only had plans to release a couple of songs on the internet but now a full fledged album will be released," said Silambarasan in a media interaction. There will be 8 songs in total, sung by him of which 3 are composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja and the rest by him. Discussion are already over with a Hollywood production company for the release of the album.

STR on marriage

STR is probably the most eligible bachelor in the South. He is always being peppered with questions about his love life and marriage plans. Work has been his partner for quite a while now and he has been powering ahead on the career front with back to back movies and has even recorded a music album for Sony.

Deciding to put an end to the speculation, STR has said that he has given in to parental pressure which he has resisted for the past four years and asked his mother to go ahead and find a girl for him. He said that the marriage will take place next year. He joked that if he doesn't fall in love by then, he will just go ahead with his mother's choice!

STR waits for Haniska at Binny

Back in Chennai, STR is shooting for Vettai mannan. The team commenced a schedule today at Binny Mills in Perambur, one of the most popular locations for Tamil cinema these days. The scenes being canned today involve STR, Jai and VTV Ganesh (who now seems to be a constant in all STR movies). Hansika Motwani is scheduled to join the unit on the 19^th. The schedule is expected to go on till the 21^st of this month and will be shot at both Binny Mills sites, Perambur and Meenambakkam. Vettaimannan is fast moving towards completion and is expected to be ready for a summer release. The film's satelite rights have gone to Zee Tamil for a huge price.

STR makes a flashy return

STR has been away at the United States on work related to his first album which features the popular Love Anthem for World Peace. The actor has returned to the sets of Nelson's Vettai Mannan and shot some scenes with good friend, Ganesh. Word is that he will shoot his scenes with Hansika next.

Distance certainly makes the heart grwo fonder in his case it seems as the fans are going berserk and there is a huge buzz surrounding his gangster film. It has been reported that Sun TV has obtained the satellite rights for Vettai Mannan at a record price of Rs. 6 crores thereby consolidating his position as a bankable star. Clearly STR knows how to make a big splash!

STR, Allu Arjun and G V Prakash

STR is very busy nowadays. He is involved in the works of his Love Anthem, which will probably be first of its kind in India or even around the World. It is made with Lyrics composed of countless International languages.

Simbhu is expected to return to India soon. As he was in US, in few other works, the pending works of his film are to be finished soon. As of now, he is involved in 3 films namely ‘Poda Podi’ with Varalakshmi, ‘Vettai Mannan’ with Deeksha Seth and Hansika Motwani and ‘Vada Chennai’.

Simbhu was busily involved in the Ad shooting works for 7up. Simbhu has done the Tamil version of this Ad and Allu Arjun is doing the Telugu version of this Ad. The Music for this Ad is composed by G V Prakash Kumar. He said that, Simbhu fans would love this Ad, which is expected to be aired in few weeks time.

STR's Poda Podi in full swing

The film Poda Podi has been in the making for really a long time. Now, STR and Varalakshmi, the lead pair in the film along with the team is powering through to finish the film.

The final schedule will begin on March 20th at Macau, HK. Music for the film is scored by Dharan and besides STR, Yuvan, Andrea and Benny Dayal has sung in the album. The audio launch will be held soon. The film is expected to hit the screens in a couple of months.

STR's Update on His Love Anthem

Str T.Rajendar is a uniquely multi-talented guy in the film industry. He is like a jack of all trades in Cinema, be it, Acting, penning Lyrics, Singing, direction, penning Story, screenplay etc. You name the task, he is ready for it.

Now, Str has gone a step ahead. Probably, he has become the first Actor who is coming up with a Music album. Recently, he featured in an album called Love Anthem, which was written and composed by him, apart from featuring in it.

STR is determined to release an album before 2012. Str is conducting discussions with Rihanna, Akon and other Hollywood pop stars. STR is very thrilled about this and said from Los Angeles that, “It was suggested that I make an entire album instead of releasing just one song. So I decided to make a video album with six to nine songs.”

Simbhu says that, this album will have other themes too. Regarding this, Simbhu says, ‘The main theme is love. But I am still considering other subjects too for a couple of songs. Talks are on with Rihanna and Akon and several other Hollywood stars.’

‘With Rihanna and Akon, it seems to be a problem getting them together at the same time, since the dates are clashing with their schedules. Once all this is sorted out I can make a clear plan for recording. No Actor has done a Music album and that’s my point.’

As of now, STR is involved in making arrangements for the shooting of videos and recording. Simbhu adds that, ‘I plan to release one single after another and then release the entire album by the end of the year. Love Anthem’s final version will be the last track to be released. Rich Lee is helping out with the choreography.’

‘Because of the album, shooting has been stalled for a while. So, I am back to resume work. I am looking forward to working with Vetrimaaran on the photo shoot for Vada Chennai!’

Str returns to Chennai by next week to recommence the works on 3 films namely ‘Poda Podi’, ‘Vettai Mannan’ and ‘Vada Chennai’.

40 Days of Vada Chennai Without STR

The busy schedules of STR with Love Anthem seem to have let Vetrimaaran go for this decision. The shooting of Vada Chennai is all set to go on floors from March and the preproduction works are close on the heels of completion. Since STR is busy with Love Anthem and pending works of Poda Podi, the director will go for shooting that will include portions without STR

Since it’s a film based on the Northern Chennai Crime Syndicate, there are some powerful characters that are equally powerful as STR. Right now, the director is busy finalizing the film’s lead heroine and replacement for Rana Daggubati, who walked out of the film due to creative difference of opinions.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR THALA STR

STR ropes in international pop singer for Poda Podi?

Reports are rife in Kollywood that Silambarasan is planning to rope in international fame Shakira to sing a song in Poda Podi. The film has been in the making for long and Silambarasan is planning to wrap up the shooting schedule as soon as he is done with the Love Anthem that he is currently working on with Elan Morrison.

Poda Podi will also mark Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar’s debut in the film industry. The film is directed by debutant Vignesh Shivan. It has Santhanam and Premji Amaren making a guest appearance.

Silambarasan says nothing has been finalized

Silambarasan has cleared the airs that nothing has been finalized about him working with international singers Akon and Rihanna. The star said that he is looking to finalize on a male and female star of international fame and has asked his fans for some suggestions.

STR added that he will be travelling to the US and the Love Anthem will be recorded from January 3^rd at Los Angeles. It may be mentioned here that STR has penned the lyrics for this Love Anthem in about 96 languages for a universal appeal.