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The temperatures are soaring up. The heat is on. As the summer fast approaches, the sun shines more clearer than before. So is Kollywood. Kollywood Shines.

Like never before in the past decade, an array of interesting films are lined up this summer in tamil film industry to woo the public. Usually, as a trend 3-4 major films release duing the mid-april during the tamil new year day. But this time, from the beginning of april to the end of may, it is going to be movie mela in kollywood. Producers are ready to release the films despite the elections are fast approaching, which by all means is a healthy trend.

Here are some major films that are suppose to release in the next couple of months.

Gilli – From the camps of A M Ratnam’s Surya Movies, this movie is a sure shot hit. Directed by Dharani, the director of Dhool & Dhill, this one stars Vijay unlike Dharani’s friend and his usual hero Vikram. Gilli is a remake of the telugu smashit Okkadu. Given dharani’s ability to create a interesting screenplay from a small base story, Gilli also revolves around a Kabadi match. But it is reported that dharani has changed the telugu story to fit Vijay’s image and the taste of kollywood.

The music and trailers are already out. Tuned by Vidhyasagar, the songs are already rocking. Seval Kokkarakko and thr Saranam songs would be yet another hit like Dhool’s songs. The trailers say that this movie will also re-create the dhool magic. Filled with lots of action and comedy , that would feed to Vijay’s image, this will be one more milestone in Vijay’s career. Trisha looks pale and thin but pretty in those song sequences.

Perzhagan – Advertised as AVM’s 166th film, Perzhagan is expected to re-inforce the acting talents of Surya and Jyothika. Remade from the malayalam hit Kunjakoonan, the movie is directed by Shashi Shankar, who directed it’s malayalam original. The trailers project the movie to be a outright comedy because it animates the title and Surya. While the comical hunchback look for surya fits him perfectly, the city slicker role is tailor made for his fans. Jyothika looks ravishing. And imagine, they both have dual role, giving ample space to prove their mettle.

Yuvan Shankar Raja’s trailer music is filled with lots of feel good tempo giving us a hope that the songs will also be as good as YSR’s previous hits.

Vaanam Vasappadum – Suda Suda Seithi…Suda Suda Seithi sings the background alto voice for Mahesh Mahadevan‘s last musical in the trailer of Vaanam Vasappadum. The shots look very new and camera angles, unimaginable. Even the music release poster was suprising. With this and bag more of such surprises comes P.C Sreeram’s Vaanam Vasappadum. This is PC Sreeram third venture in directing, long after his previous release, Kurudhippunal.

Sujatha‘s story and PC Sreeram‘s direction is certainly a never before and a dream combo. I am personally inquisitive about what the movie is going to offer by this combination. Moreover, it is India’s first true digital film, being shot with state-of-art high definition digital cameras with the technical support of Real Image Media Technologies, the DTS gateway of India and the multicam giant EFX. See my previous post on this and the official website.

As PC puts it Vaanam Vasappadum is certainly different in all approaches in film making. If you can recollect the guy in Alai Paayuthey who comes as the brother to the bride and gets caught in an embarassing situation when Shalini announces her marriage with Madhavan. That same guy with a lots of american accent stars in this movie. A new talent to look out for. The movie also poses a question. What is poetic justice ?

Ethiri – K S Ravikumar, Madhavan and Yuvan Shankar Raja combination get together for the first time. Not much has been known about the movie but the charming look of Madhavan and the modern looking glamorous Poya Poya Sada in the posters make the movie more interesting. K S Ravikumar known for splendid screenplay techniques and the versatile Madhvan will certainly deliver beyond expectations.

To be continued…

Mani Ratnam‘s bi-lingual Aayitha Ezhuthu and Yuva is chosen to be premiered on May 20th at the IIFA awards 2004, Singapore.

The music of Yuva and Aayitha Ezhuthu is creating ripples in the music circles and it has raised the expectation for the film. A R Rahman‘s music for Aayitha Ezhuthu and Yuva has been celebrated as a comeback by his fans.

The tech savvy Mani Ratnam’s eye for detail is very clear even in the trailers of Yuva and Aayitha Ezhuthu. All his three heroes have different goals and means in life and all three of them also have a special treatment technically. During an interview, the cinematographer, Ravi K Chandran remarks on the different lenses and the color gradings used for each one of them. Mani Ratnam has used the RGB (Red, Blue, Green) colors for each of his heroes. While Madhavan gets Red, Surya takes on the green leaving the blue for Sidharth.

Much has been said about Mani Ratnam’s marketing abilities. Even this time he is pretty watchful of the Indian Politics and has decided to launch his bi-lingual flick on May 20, which is comfortably after the election mela.

As reported in Hindu, Mani Ratnam alongwith his technical crew will be flying to singapore to attend the attend the world premiere. Now, thats’ what we call taking Indian Cinema to the next level.

As Mani Ratnam ingeminates the life and times of a creator, I continue to be amazed by his philosophy of cinema.

Continue reading part 2 of Mani Ratnam’s One-on-One with Vikatan. Don’t expect any info about Aayitha Ezhuthu. It is all about Mani Ratnam and his World of Cinema.