Thalapathy 61 aka Vijay 61 brings back the blockbuster combo Vijay and Atlee after their successful outing in "Theri" last year. The movie is produced by Sri Thenandal Films and this project is a very special as it is their milestone 100th film.

 

The shooting which began a couple of months ago was initially expected to release next year, but Team Thalapathy 61 has made an unexpected surprise announcement now (April 22nd) through a poster which has a few important details about the project and the release plans. AR Rahman is officially announced as the music director for the first time by the team.

 

The October release window hints that the movie has a high probability to release for Diwali 2017, which ensures a grand opening for a big star movie.

Ajith fans are quite excited that their favourite star’s birthday is around the corner. With just 12 days away, the fans are anxious to know about the special plans of the Vivegam team. Till now there is no official announcement from the team on this.

 

Now for the very first time, Vivegam producer, Thiyagarajan of Sathya Jyothi Films confirms to Behindwoods that the teaser of the film will be officially launched on the 1st of May as a treat to all Ajith fans.

 

Wow, finally some official word on Vivegam teaser. This news should come in as a relief for all Thala fans!

Superstar Rajinikanth’s 2.0, directed by Shankar, which was supposed to release for Diwali this year, has been postponed. The new release date is confirmed to be January 25th 2018. Raju Mahalingam of Lyca productions confirmed this news through his Twitter handle.

 

Raju Mahalingam’s Twitter said, “Our most ambitious project, Shankar's 2.0,shifts to 25Jan2018.It moves from earlier Diwali release to achieve world class standards in VFX.”

 

*tweet is not spell-checked

Kamal Haasan's long awaited Vishwaroopam 2, is finally seeing a development! Kamal Haasan, a few months ago, posted on his Twitter account that all bigger financial issues are sorted out, and only technical issues were left to be cleared.

 

Our close sources inform that the dubbing has started for Vishwaroopam 2 from yesterday and it is going on full swing. When we checked with Rajesh M Selva, the close associate of Kamal Haasan and director of Thoongavanam, he confirmed the news by saying, "Yes, we have revived, and it is not just dubbing, we are working on other departments too. The post-production works are in full swing."

 

This definitely must be a happy news for all the Ulaganayagan fans!

Many of you would be aware that a Madurai-based couple- Kathiresan and Meenakshi had claimed that Dhanush is their son who had left home during his teens. They had filed a case and also sought a monthly maintenance of Rs 65000 from him as they are living in penury.

 

For the past so many days, there were many arguments and counter arguments in this case in the court and today, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has dismissed the case in favor of Dhanush for want of proper proof. This is surely a great relief for Dhanush.

 

The aged couple had responded saying that they would be appealing against this judgment in a higher court.

Vada Chennai directed by Vetri Maaran is touted to be a gangster trilogy that has Dhanush, Samuthirakani, Daniel Balaji and others. Amala Paul was earlier in the film but now she has opted out of it. Sources in the knowhow say that she has walked out of the project due to date issues.

 

Furthermore, sources hint that Aishwarya Rajesh could be the front runner for Amala Paul's replacement.  If this turns out true, it appears to be an interesting casting. It has to be observed that Aishwarya Rajesh had previously worked in Kaakka Muttai which was bankrolled by Vetri Maaran’s Grass Root Film Company and Dhanush’s Wunderbar Films and chances are stated to be high for her casting in Vada Chennai too.  Stay tuned and we will update you.

Earlier in the day, we had reported that AAA would be made in two parts. One will release for Ramzan 2017 along with Mahesh Babu’s Spyder whereas the second part will release later. Now, Simbu has again tweeted to make another announcement. He says the second single is on the way and has also shared a couple of lines from the song.

 

Announcement 1: “#AAA in 2 Dimensions. #AAA1D from #Ramadan 2017 June. For a change late becomes latest .God bless #DoubleDelight”

 

Announcement 2: “#AAA1D #SpiritualGanaa single 2 on the way . @thisisysr #YSRnSTR #RottulaVandiOodudhu”

 

“Yaaruda naannu kepaan buthisaalida . Naan yaaru theriyumaanu kepaan Komaalida. #SpiritualGanaa #AAA1D #RottulaVandiOodudhu”

 

*Tweets are not spell-checked

For the past few days, Baahubali 2 has been facing release issues in Karnataka, due to the protest started by activist Vattal Nagarajan. He criticised Sathyaraj for attacking Karnataka people on the Cauvery issue in 2008.

 

The film's director S.S.Rajamouli too released a video requesting the activists to allow the film to release there. He also added that the team informed Sathyaraj to come out and speak about it. Following all these, Sathyaraj has finally come out and released a statement in the form of a video, which is 3 minutes 39 seconds long. Sathyaraj regretted wholeheartedly for the comment he made and requested Vattal and team to allow Baahubali 2 to release in their state. He added that thousands of people, including the Karnataka distributors and theatre owners life, is at stake, and only if the film releases, it will help them financially. He also stated that he is always a proud Tamilian, more than an actor and thanked Rajamouli and the entire Baahubali 2 team for their patience. Stay tuned, and we will update you about his full video statement.

 

As the statement has now officially come from Sathyaraj, we can expect a positive response from Vattal Nagarajan's side.

The release issue of Baahubali 2 in Karnataka appears to be coming to a smooth finish. After Sathayraj’s regret statement yesterday, we had reported that Vattal Nagaraj and the Kannada activists are considering talks with a team of lawyers to announce their stance on the issue.

 

Now reports coming in say that the Kannada activists/protesters are reportedly satisfied with Sathyaraj’s statement and would be removing all the road blocks on the way to Baahubali 2 release in Karnataka. All is well that ends well! Stay tuned for more updates.

We had earlier reported that actor Mohanlal will be acting in India’s most expensive film Randamoozham directed by Shrikumar Menon. But now as per the official press meet, this film will be made at a budget of 1000 crores and it has been titled as The Mahabharata.

 

Here's the official press release:

 

Kochi, 17th April 2017: Setting a rare record in the Indian film industry, Dr B.R. Shetty, UAE based billionaire businessman and philanthropist is investing Rs. 1000 crore (USD 150 million) to produce India’s biggest ever motion picture, ‘The Mahabharata’. This magnum opus is being directed by noted ad man and advertising film maker V.A Shrikumar Menon. 'The Mahabharata' will be produced in two parts and is scheduled to go on floor by September 2018 for a release in early 2020. The second part of the film will be released within 90 days of the first part. The film will be shot primarily in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu and will be dubbed into major Indian languages and leading foreign languages.

 

The film will be a coming together of the crème de la crème of Indian and global cinema in terms of its cast and crew. The technical crew would include some of the great names in the world cinema including some academy winners. The cast will have the best of talents from Indian cinema as well as some big names from Hollywood. This film will have an identity across continents, with their representatives donning the myriad characters in 'The Mahabharata'! A global team led by an internationally renowned casting director will handpick the cast.

 

Serial entrepreneur and billionaire Dr. B.R. Shetty has been a keen supporter of Indian arts and culture for over many decades. With his decision to back 'The Mahabharata', Dr. Shetty will join the league of visionary producers like Lord Richard Attenborough who backed the biopic “Gandhi” which was based on the life of India’s most famous freedom fighter, and Father of our nation, which appealed to a global audience.

 

It remains almost impossible to narrate The Mahabharata on the big screen except by way of adaptation of M T Vasudevan Nair’s Jnanpeeth Award winning novel Randamoozham (The Second Turn). This novel narrates The Mahabharata through the eyes of Bhima, the second of the Pandavas. The screenplay is written by the writer himself who holds a record of maximum national awards for screen writing in the history of Indian cinema.

 

The ancient Sanskrit epic of The Mahabharata has been a topic of creative adaptation in different formats for many decades. There have also been efforts to render it, but the success of these have been limited to the stage or serialization for the television audiences. Hence, this project will be the first of its kind to take the epic which has engaged generations of audiences on the silver screen at such a grand level. The Indian core team led by Dr. B.R. Shetty augurs well to ensure that the sanctity and the iconic status of the epic is upheld.

 

Dr. B.R.Shetty, Founder and Chairman of UAE Exchange and NMC Healthcare said, “The Mahabharata is an epic of all epics. This movie will be a true 'Make in India' made for the world. The Mahabharata mesmerizes as well as brings focus on life and living”. “I believe that this film will not only set global benchmarks, but also reposition India and its prowess in mythological storytelling. I am confident that this film will be adapted in over 100 languages and reach over 3 billion people across the world.” Importantly, am awestruck by the fantastic screenplay by Sri. MT and I have tremendous faith in the ability of V.A. Shrikumar to paint this narrative on celluloid. His passion and energy are boundless” Dr. Shetty added.

 

Commenting on the initiative, Padma Bhushan M.T. Vasudevan Nair, recipient of almost every literary award in the India including the Jnanpith Award and many abroad said “I’m extremely happy with Dr. B. R. Shetty’s belief in the potential of the story and his passion and commitment to take it to global audiences. I sincerely congratulate him for his vision in backing a project of this scale.”

 

Mr. V A Shrikumar, Director, who has been living the script and researching for this project for the past few years, said, “I would like to sincerely thank Dr. B R Shetty for having immense faith in this project and help bring it to life with his financial commitment & his innate pride on Indian heritage. We are fully geared to attain the next level of production quality and visual magic, as well as narrative wizardry with this initiative.”

 

About Dr B R Shetty

Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty (known as Dr. B.R. Shetty) is the Founder and Chairman of Abu Dhabi based nmc group. The conglomerate includes global institutions like NMC Healthcare, UAE Exchange, Travelex etc. The group when established in 1975 was initially interested in hospitals, but since then has diversified into sectors including pharmaceuticals, global financial services, retail, advertising and information technology. The Enterprise he has built over the years is truly a metaphor of India’s emerging leadership in a global marketplace.

 

*Press statement is not spell-checked!