Hridaya Ragam - To save the little hearts

Sobha Hridaya Ragam 2008, the musical and dance show, was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on February 24. The programme, organised to raise funds to treat 125 children with congenital heart diseases from poor families, was graced by the presence of Ulaga Naayagan Kamal Haasan, the project ambassador.

The versatile actor, clad in black dress, was greeted with a standing ovation to the dais. The multi talented personality entertained the audience by singing two songs – ‘Ninaivo Oru Paravai’ in Tamil and ‘Kiliye Kili Kili Kiliye’ in Malayalam. He expressed his desire to act in a Malayalam language movie. Actor Shobana along with her students presented a Bharathanatyam performance on the occasion.






A total of 32 singers and music directors from the Malayalam film world participated for free. Senior music directors Dakshinamoorthi, M. K. Arjunan, and Ousepachan; film director Vinayan, singers P. Jayachandran, Sujatha Mohan, Ganga, George Peter, Francis, Manjari, Santhosh Kesavan, Vipin Xavier and Remi Tommy performed all time Malayalam favourite hits. Artists from the Tamil film industry who participated included music director Vidyasagar and singers Tipu and Karthik.

The programme started with a fusion song based on Saint Thyagaraja’s “Entharo Mahanubhavulu”. Mr. Jayachandran performed Aal ila thaali, Sujatha sang Priyathama from the film Pranayakalam, Jassie Gift and Remi Tommy sang Mathaapoove.

The event was organised by the World Malayalee Council — Chennai Province, Madras Medical Mission and Malayala Manorama.

A cheque worth Rs 75 lakh was handed over to Vergese Eapen of Madras Medical Mission by Praveen from world Malayalee Council. Malayala Manorama Senior General Manager Lal John was also present on the occasion.

Jodhaa Akbar - 7.4 crores a day

Grosses Rs 74 crores (approx 19 million USD) in just 10 days worldwide…a record for a Indian film!

Some key figures of the gross collections:

• India: Rs. 52.70 crores (one of the biggest openings ever in Indian cinema)

• US: USD 2.5 million = Rs. 10 crores (already one of the highest grossers of all time in the US market in just 10 days!)

• UK: GBP 700,000 = Rs. 5.60 crores (amongst the Top 10 first 10 days for an Indian film in the UK market)

• Gulf: USD 800,000 = Rs. 3.2 crores (amongst the Top 5 first 10 days for an Indian film in the Gulf)

• Australia: USD 286,906 = Rs. 1.15 crores (already tracking to emerge as the 2nd highest grosser of all time in Australia)

• Rest of the World = USD 380,000 = Rs, 1.5 crores

General:

The Telugu and Tamil versions will release on 6th March and are expected to create a huge stir in the South market.

The film has generated spectacular box office collections despite:

1. Not having a release in one of the key markets for this genre of movie - Rajasthan. UTV Motion Pictures is still in talks with various local groups to try and get the film released in the state, as interest levels amongst audiences are at fever pitch.

2. Suspension of screenings in the state of Madhya Pradesh over the 2nd weekend by the State Government. UTV has moved the MP High Court already to lift this suspension and has announced that it will go up to the Supreme Court if need be.

Rajini & Ajith, now Vijay too!

Good times have once again commenced for Nayanthara who is in an upbeat mood ever since Billa was declared a hit. Her next project with Dhanush, Yaaradi Nee Mohini is set to hit the screens soon and the lady has been swamped with plum assignments. Earlier she had missed the opportunity to be paired with Ilaya Thalapathy in Kuruvi by a whisker to Trisha. But now she is making up for all the lost offers.

She has signed on the dotted line in an unnamed film to be produced by Ayngaran international and directed by Prabhu Deva where Vijay will be the hero. Though she has danced in an item number in Sivakasi, this is the first time that the duo will be coming together as hero and heroine. Meanwhile Nayan’s kitty is full with prestigious offers in the form of Kuselan with super star, Aegan with Ajith and now with Vijay too. The lady’s career is certainly on an enviable path. Good luck Nayan.

Campus notes

Photonics workshop: A photonics workshop organised by the International School of Photonics and Centre for Lasers and Optoelectronics was held on the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) campus here on Wednesday. Vice-Chancellor of Cusat Gangan Prathap inaugurated the programme. He pointed out that only 3 per cent fund was earmarked in the country’s budget for research and development. The Vice-Chancellor said that there should be a change in the trend where too much importance was given to the ‘applications’ part in research. V.P.N. Nampoori, Director of International School of Photonics, presided. G.P. Agarwal, faculty of Rochester University in the U.S., released ‘Photonics News’ on the occasion.

Technical festival: ‘Nirmaan 08,’ a technical festival organised by the Civil Engineering Students Association, will be held at Cusat on Friday.

A release issued by the organisers said that Mons Joseph, Minister for Public Works, will inaugurate the event. The Cusat Vice-Chancellor will preside. A.M. Yousuf, MLA, will release ‘Mezzanine.’ The programme will be held at 10.30 a.m. at SMS auditorium.

Microsoft fined a record $1.35 billion

BRUSSELS: The European Commission regulators on Wednesday penalised the Microsoft Corporation with a fine of 899 million euros ($1.35 billion) for failing to comply with a 2004 antitrust order, a Europecrosoft was the first company in 50 years of EU competition policy that the commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an antitrust decision," European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told reporters in Brussels. "I hope that today's decision closes a dark chapter in Microsoft's record of non-compliance."

According to Kroes, Wednesday's fine brings the total penalties against Microsoft to 1.68 billion euros. The company was previously fined 778 million euros for abusing its dominance in the software market and failing to abide by the antitrust decision.

Microsoft has tried to allay European antitrust concerns, announcing last week that it will help competitors' software work better with some products, such as MS Office.

It sought to limit potential EU fines by agreeing in October to make network data available to open-source software developers so their server software can connect to the Windows operating system.

Kroes imposed the fine because Microsoft failed to charge "reasonable" royalty fees for patent licenses on operating system software. A European court upheld the commission's ruling against Microsoft in September, meaning the company wasn't in compliance for three years.

In September, the EU's Court of First Instance rejected a Microsoft appeal against a 2004 ruling with which the bloc's executive imposed a 497-million-euro fine - and an additional 280.5-million-euro penalty in December 2005 - on the company for abusing its dominant position.

The EU argues that Microsoft has been able to reap unfair benefits and damage consumers by refusing to give so-called "interoperability" protocols - instructions needed by servers to work effectively with Windows - to its rivals.

US-based Microsoft said in a statement that it would review the decision.

"These fines are about the past issues that have been resolved," the company said. "As we demonstrated last week with our new interoperability principles and specific actions to increase the openness of our products, we are focusing on steps that will improve things for the future."

Last month, EU regulators opened fresh investigations into whether Microsoft is using its dominance in word processing and spreadsheets to thwart rivals and whether the company illegally tied an Internet browser to its Windows operating system. The fine isn't related to the new probes.

Microsoft fined a record $1.35 billion

BRUSSELS: The European Commission regulators on Wednesday penalised the Microsoft Corporation with a fine of 899 million euros ($1.35 billion) for failing to comply with a 2004 antitrust order, a Europecrosoft was the first company in 50 years of EU competition policy that the commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an antitrust decision," European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told reporters in Brussels. "I hope that today's decision closes a dark chapter in Microsoft's record of non-compliance."

According to Kroes, Wednesday's fine brings the total penalties against Microsoft to 1.68 billion euros. The company was previously fined 778 million euros for abusing its dominance in the software market and failing to abide by the antitrust decision.

Microsoft has tried to allay European antitrust concerns, announcing last week that it will help competitors' software work better with some products, such as MS Office.

It sought to limit potential EU fines by agreeing in October to make network data available to open-source software developers so their server software can connect to the Windows operating system.

Kroes imposed the fine because Microsoft failed to charge "reasonable" royalty fees for patent licenses on operating system software. A European court upheld the commission's ruling against Microsoft in September, meaning the company wasn't in compliance for three years.

In September, the EU's Court of First Instance rejected a Microsoft appeal against a 2004 ruling with which the bloc's executive imposed a 497-million-euro fine - and an additional 280.5-million-euro penalty in December 2005 - on the company for abusing its dominant position.

The EU argues that Microsoft has been able to reap unfair benefits and damage consumers by refusing to give so-called "interoperability" protocols - instructions needed by servers to work effectively with Windows - to its rivals.

US-based Microsoft said in a statement that it would review the decision.

"These fines are about the past issues that have been resolved," the company said. "As we demonstrated last week with our new interoperability principles and specific actions to increase the openness of our products, we are focusing on steps that will improve things for the future."

Last month, EU regulators opened fresh investigations into whether Microsoft is using its dominance in word processing and spreadsheets to thwart rivals and whether the company illegally tied an Internet browser to its Windows operating system. The fine isn't related to the new probes.

Godhra: Cops free accused, jail 14-yr-old namesake

Godhra (Gujarat): The role of the police is being questioned in the six-year-old Godhra massacre case. On Wednesday, CNN-IBN showed you how innocent men have been labeled terrorists.
CNN-IBN's Special Investigation has now learnt about how a key confession was obtained after sustained torture and tutoring by the Gujarat Police. Not only that, as reward, the police set the witness free and in his place a minor with the same name has been in jail for over four years.
An accused in the Godhra case, Anwar Kalandar says, "15 din ko roz maarte the. Raat ko aur subah mein woh story sunate the. Noel Parmar, woh Bhatt tha, koi karke tha ek officer. Sab alag-alag karke aate they roz raat ko. ("They beat us up every day for almost 15 days. The whole day they would tell us what we had to say. There was a man called Noel Parmar and another called Bhatt. All the officers came to us separately.)
Anwar Kalandar was tortured and forced to give a confessional statement that he had stopped the Sabarmati Express by turning the alarm discs of the S-9 compartment.
Kalandar says, "Mere ko yeh bataya ki tu yeh number pe chada, nau number pe, aur Ilyas mere peeche wale dabbe me chadha. Hum log do chade yahan pe aur dono ne bahar se woh jo chabi aati hai na, woh ghumaya. Fir ek din usko aisa laga, Bhatt ko, ki bhai story usko poori barabar aa gayi hai, fir woh mere ko wahan leker gaya, Dhakor, aur phir wahan Magistrate ke saamne bayan likhwaya." ("They told me that I have to say that I got on in number 9 and Ilyas in the compartment behind me. Then both of us turned the key that was outside. Then after some days, Bhatt felt that I knew the story well enough and then he took me to Dhakor and made me confess to the Magistrate there.")
Anwar's confession was extracted by a policeman, Noel Parmar. He has since then retracted his confession.
But here's the twist — Kalandar was never granted bail. He was simply set free and in his place, a 14-year-old was put in jail four years ago, just because his name was also Anwar Kalandar.
The minor Anwar Kalandar's father, Abdul Sattar Kalandar, says, "Anwar Abdul Sattar Kalandar. Anwar naam hai. Doosre ka naam bhi Anwar tha sir." ("Anwar Abdul Sattar Kalandar. His name is Anwar and the other man's name was also Anwar.")
Adds the minor's brother, Farooq Kalandar, "Affidavit doosra Kalandar ne karaya na, to mere bhai ko pakad kar le gaye police." ("The other Kalandar had got an affidavit done, but they caught my brother and took him to jail.")
As justice has been, both delayed and denied in Godhra, the wounds are refusing to heal.

Hayden the most disliked figure: Harbhajan

Hayden the most disliked figure:Bajji
Sydney: Claims and counter-claims flew on Thursday after senior Australian batsman Matthew Hayden was officially reprimanded for calling Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh an "obnoxious little weed."
Tensions continue to simmer in a summer of cricket acrimony ahead of Sunday's first final in the tri one-day series here between the two fiercely competitive rivals.
Cricket Australia's code of behaviour commissioner Ron Beazley late on Wednesday upheld a charge that Hayden had breached the code of conduct with his public comment about Harbhajan and issued a reprimand.
Hayden pleaded his innocence and escaped a possible suspension and fine.
The Hayden incident is the latest in a series of controversies, and follows a racism row, threats by India to leave, and players fined for aggressive behaviour.
The fall-out continued on Thursday with Harbhajan claiming Hayden was one of the most disliked figures in world cricket.
"I don't want it to be a slanging match, but you only need to speak to international cricketers and international teams to know in what opinion they hold Hayden," Harbhajan told Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Harbhajan also accused Australia of trying to cover up their on-field sledging by hiding among their teammates to avoid being detected by television cameras.
Another unnamed Indian player told the Hindustan Times that Hayden was "insane" and vowed to give him "the fight" the tourists believe he is asking for

Kuruvi @ Salem and Erode!

Kuruvi is in its final leg and is progressing in and around Tamil Nadu gearing up for a possible mid-April release. The crew, including Vijay and director Dharani, is stationed in Salem for the shoots. It is learnt that Vijay will extend his trip to Erode after the shoots for the social welfare activities planned by the Erode wing of his fan club.
The events, planned in the evening of February 24, 2008 at 5.00 p.m. at the CST School grounds will also be attended by Minister of Handloom and Textiles NKKP Raja, MLA Palanichamy, and Erode Mayor Murugesan. Activities planned during the course of the event include distribution of computers to Government schools and tricycles to physically challenged students.
Prior to the event, Vijay will garland the Periyar statue located in Erode. Director and Vijay’s father S.A. Chandrasekhar is also expected to attend the event.

IPL - A summer nightmare for movie industry?

April 14th has always been the best date for releasing movies in TN, because it was an auspicious day, and more importantly it is the summer holiday season when film makers expect families to flock to theatres. Be it our Superstar or any one for that matter, everyone has tried to position their film for an Apr 14 release to maximize the probability of ensuring good revenue particularly from family audience. That may have been changed for ever by three words - I*P*L.
IPL has conveniently scheduled the tournament from Apr 18 - Jun 1, ensuring that they take the full share of the summer vacation. Everyone will be glued to the TV sets over the summer vacation, thereby leaving the theatres empty during what has usually been the best time for theatres. I really feel sorry for the film making industry that they have to put up with the overkill of cricket at a peak time.
We are cricket crazy country and I don't think any effort can change the dates of IPL (I'm not against IPL, as it seems to put India on a bigger stage - only against the timing). I wish BCCI could be considerate and rethink the schedule for the coming years such that other entertainers get their fair share from providing summer holiday entertainment. Maybe the schedule could be starting from May18 - Jul 1, where they will still get a great viewership.
I will be watching with interest on how some of the biggies like Dasavaratham and Kuruvi are going to position their release. I hope eventually people get tired of watching an overkill of cricket and get outto watch movies.
An avid movie fan!Vijay

Kamal & Mohanlal – Commandos, Kandahar.

If it happens, it will be the first ever movie to star two of India's finest, most versatile actors together: Kamal Haasan and Mohanlal are expected to don commando costumes for Major Ravi's Kandahar. Major Ravi who had earlier directed Aran in Tamil starring Jeeva and Mohanlal would now make Kandahar, which deals with, among other border issues, the IC-814 flight hijacking that shook the entire country eight years ago. After completing the bilingual
Aran in Tamil and Keerthichakkar in Malayalam, Ravi had made Mission Ninety days with Mammootty. Though critically appreciated, the movie didn't do well commercially. Kandahar will be his next project after completing another movie on Kargil war.Talking about the project, director Ravi said, "I have got authentic information on what really happened during the hijack episode. I would like to bring some of the facts that have been not revealed to people's notice. It is important people of India know these things" On casting two of the biggest actors of India, he says, "Mohanlal and Kamal share mutual respect and admiration for each other. They have been keen to do a movie together. If everything goes well, we can see them together as commandos."
Kamal had earlier joined together with Arjun for a police story on tracking down terrorists in Kuruthipunal. This time the actor will have Mohanlal for company.
There were also talks about Mohanlal and Kamal coming together for a movie based on a story written by the renowned MT Vasudevan Nair. The project was supposed to have a Japanese actor and Asin in the supporting cast. It would now be really interesting to see for which of the two movies the actors will be getting together first -Kandahar or the MTV project?

Action packed: CJ impact is here for all to see

http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/59186/action-packed-cj-impact-is-here-for-all-to-see.html

Indian workers jailed in Dubai for staging protests

Dubai: In a first ruling of its kind, a Dubai court has sentenced 45 Indian workers to six months in jail each for "endangering public security and damaging properties" during a strike and ordered their deportation after serving the jail term.
The workers were protesting against their low salaries. The Dubai Court of Misdemeanour said in its ruling on Thursday that the 45 workers will be deported after they complete their jail terms.
Observers said this is the first time workers have been jailed for resorting to strike. The workers were charged with holding an unauthorised labour strike which turned violent, endangering properties, inciting hundreds of other workers to strike against their
employers, seeking increase in their salaries, Gulf News said in its web site on Monday.
Jassem Baqer, Head of Dubai Criminal Court, said, "I believe this is the first ruling of its kind which sends a strong message to workers who resort to illegal methods to get their rights from their employers.”

Praveen rips through Lankan batting as India triumph

Hobart:India not only had the satisfaction of ensuring a title-clash with Australia in the CB Series but also the comfort of getting another medium-pacer for an option.
Praveen Kumar, an all-rounder from the cricketing outpost of Meerut, ripped through the Sri Lankan batting to help restrict the opposition to 179, a total that was overhauled without any difficulty by India.
Praveen bagged 4-31, including the prized scalps of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. With Ishant Sharma wiping the lower order, Sri Lanka were left with little chance of winning the match and keeping themselves in contention in this tournament.
An unbeaten 63 by in-form Gautam Gambhir and a form-striking half century by Sachin Tendulkar steered India to an easy seven-wicket with 17.4 overs to spare at Hobart on Tuesday.
Chasing a modest 180 for victory, India lost opening batsman Robin Uthappa early on a pitch that eased out considerably.
However, Tendulkar, in the company of Delhi batsman Gambhir, played intelligent cricket before making a hash of a lofted shot.
After playing a couple of flick shots to the mid-wicket boundary, Uthappa, who was dropped in the very first over of the innings by Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene in the slips off Chaminda Vaas, was caught off a leading edge by Ishara Amerasinghe off Lasith Malinga for 11 off nine balls.
Sachin Tendulkar struck the ball well from the word go and looked in great nick. He played some fine cover drives and sweetly-timed flicks and looked set for a big score.
However, he was out for 63 when he tried to lift off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan over mid-off but caught by Chamara Silva . His 54-ball knock included 10 hits to the fence.
In fact, with nothing in the pitch for the bowlers, a century was there for the asking for the 'little master', who has been woefully out of form in the tri-series so far.
Even though India lost Yuvraj Singh before reaching the target, it was a very satisfying win for them as they were under pressure to win their last league match and move into the best-of-three finals.
After Tendulkar's departure, Yuvraj played some big shots and looked in good nick before he was caught by Tilllakaratne Dilshan off Dilruwan Perera for 36, which came off 35 balls including three fours and a six.
Gambhir, who remained unbeaten on 63 off 89 balls with five hits to the boundary, played yet another match-winning knock and in the company of young Rohit Sharma (three not out) took India to the final with 17 points to their credit.
India will take on the Aussies, who have 26 points to their credit with a match to spare, in the first of the three-finals on Sunday

Symonds had just complimented Ishant

Melbourne: Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds on Tuesday claimed that he had only complimented Indian speedster Ishant Sharma on his fine bowling when the Delhi pacer castled him in the tri-series ODI in Sydney.
The incident, which sparked an unsavoury chain of events, resulted in Ishant being docked 15 per cent of his match fees for showing Symonds a "send-off finger" and the Indian team management complaining to the match referee about the Aussies' "provocative behaviour."
Symonds has told teammates he uttered, "Well bowled, champ" to Ishant before the 19-year-old mouthed off and pointed towards the pavilion, apparently misinterpreting the "compliment". It was then that Symonds fired back with his own unpleasantries, a report in The Age claimed.
Australian wicketkeeping great Ian Healy said too much should not be made of the incident. He claimed lip-readers in Channel Nine's broadcast van discerned Symonds to say: "Good ball, champ."
"Whether it had a bit of cynicism in it or not, I'm not sure," Healy said. "Sharma was holding his standards pretty well, and then when he thought Symonds said something worse, he carried on in a way that is a little too personal for mine."
Both players could have behaved better, Healy felt. He thought Sharma needed to be reminded that the send-off was unacceptable, no matter what the circumstances. But he said he did not believe the incident demonstrated residual bad blood between the sides, only that the match was fiercely contested.

No queues for tickets in 2 years: Lalu promises

New Delhi: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad has said that he wants to create the best railways in the world and he is well on his way to do that.
"We have created an organization where every child in this country will say chak de Railways. Everybody is happy with the Railways,” said Lalu in his Budget speech, which declared that his department had made a profit of Rs 25,000 crore.
He said the turnaround of the Indian Railways was due largely to the efforts of its 1 core 40 lakh employees. "Everybody is appreciating that I have done tremendous work," he said.
Railway tickets will announce the expected arrival time of trains, display boards in trains will announce stations ahead, Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains will have more modern coaches, housekeeping in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains will be outsourced and 560 railway platforms will be lengthened to accommodate more trains, he said.
The railways will implement schemes that will be no ticket queues in two years, he said.

Australia bag rain-stopped game by 24 runs

Melbourne: A sudden downpour gave Australia an abrupt win with a bonus point against Sri Lanka through the Duckworth Lewis method on Friday in the CB series.
At the stage when heavy showers hit the MCG, Sri Lanka were short by 24 runs to the score that would have won them the game. The Lankans were on 77-4 in 29.3 overs after being set a target of 185 by Australia when rain stopped play.
Sri Lanka got off to a disastrous start losing Sanath Jayasuriya in the second over. A wide slash off Stuart Clark when the batsman was yet to get off the mark, provided Ricky Ponting a regulation catch at second slip. Clark struck again in his next over, trapping Dilruwan Perera leg-before for one.
The visitors were in a spot of bother at 3-2 in the fourth over and were forced to turn once again to their most reliable pair of Kumar Sangakkara and captain Mahela Jayawardene to bail them out. The duo strung a 39-run stand with Jayawardene doing the bulk of the scoring. The skipper struck three boundaries in his knock before a lapse in concentration led to his undoing. Jayawardene, on 23, chased a wide one from Mitchell Johnson, giving Adam Gilchrist a simple catch to bring the prosperous partnership to an end.
Sangakkara departed soon for 22 as he top edged a James Hopes delivery and Andrew Symonds gulped the skier.
Chamara Silva, who got off to an extremely slow start, was batting on 16 while Tillekeratne Dilshan gave him company on nine when it started pouring at the MCG.
In the Australian innings, the top order failed to make a mark yet again in the CB series with Sri Lanka strangling the home-side to restrict them to 184-7.
Barring Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke, the Aussies failed to show stomach for the battle on a difficult pitch. The duo bailed out the Aussies from a precarious position around the 20-over mark.
Sri Lanka reaped the rewards of some disciplined bowling combined with tight fielding after putting Australia in. The Aussies were scuffled right from the start of their innings and soon panic struck. With only 12 runs in four overs, Adam Gilchrist stepped down the wicket to heave one over the 30-yard circle but Chaminda Vaas hit the stumps to send back the southpaw for six.
Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting, both short of runs in the series, hung around for a while with the run-rate hovering around just two runs per over. Australia were crawling rather uncharacteristically and Farveez Maharoof decided to get into the act to aggravate their woes further.

Arrest of techie terrorist gives Bangalore big shock

Bangalore: A suspected terrorist Mohammed Yahya Kammakutty belonging to the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) has been arrested by the Bangalore Police.
The arrest was made by the Corps of Detectives (CoD) of Bangalore Police on Thursday from the Gurappanapallya area of the city. But some of his associates managed to escape.
The 32-year-old suspect is a native of a village near Kozhikode in Kerala and had worked with General Electric (GE) Software and is said to be an electrical engineer.
Police say he had been living in Bangalore for the last eight years. He was, however, unemployed for the past few months after GE sacked him last year.
Yahya has now been taken to Hubli and will be produced in a court there. Police also seized a hard drive from his residence which has his bank account details and some other documents.

Big FM celebrating Tamilian’s pride

Big FM seems to be striding with out-of-the-box thinking with differently unique concepts. One such of their recent venture is presenting the listeners with Tamizhanin Perumai – an air show that will make every Tamilian pride about. The show commenced on January 15, 2008 with honorable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Kalaingar M.Karunanidhi, being the first celebrity to be felicitated on the station. It has been over a month time and Tamizhanin Perumai remains as talk of the town.

This show isn’t something that will showcase the features of just great personalities in tinsel town, but in other fields like medicine, politics, sports and arts too. This everyday will see a celebrity being featured on air, where his/her traits and achievements will be discussed by fellow colleagues, family, friends and fans in general.

Followed by chief minister M.Karunanidhi, other ace personalities like percussionist Sivamani, music director A R Rahman, Chennai tycoon Vasanth Kumar and many other personalities are being felicitated in this show.

Today morning Big FM had Kollywood star Prasanna and multi-faceted actor M.S. Bhaskar as the guests of honor on their talk show..

Racy April for Vikram, Vijay and Kamal

Nothing might have interested the audiences of Tamil cinema, but now its time to hold your breath for we will have enthralling movies hitting screens for April 14. As known earlier, Dasavatharam starring Kamal Haasan in 10 different roles, Asin, Malikka Sherawat and many others.

Fine! This isn’t all about on April 14, for we will have films of Vikram and Vijay releasing on the same day. Vijay, Trisha starrer Kuruvi directed by Dharani will see the lights during the second week of April. Along with this Kandasamy starring Vikram, Shriya Charan, Mansoor Ali Khan and many other will compete with the other two films.

During the same month will be releasing Saroja directed by Venkat Prabhu. The film has Shiva, Premji, SPB Charan and Sampath in lead roles.

Keep logging to Kollywood Today the previews of all forthcoming movies of this year…

Ajith or Vikram - Who is the right choice?

After the success of Billa, attempts to remake old hits have become the latest fad in the industry. Discussions are on at various levels to choose the right film which will have a contemporary feel and Kadiresan, producer of Polladavan has obtained the remake rights of super star’s Moondru Mugam which was a blockbuster hit during those times.

Now he is in the process of choosing the correct hero for the new venture and is considering Ajith and Vikram.

Currently Kadiresan is producing a film with Dhanush and Vetrimaran and after this venture gets completed, the project of Moondru Mugam will commence if he gets the call sheet of any one of these actors. At this juncture it is interesting to note that Cheeyan had once replied that he would be interested to act in Moondru Mugam if it were to be remade. Perhaps after he completes Kanthaswamy, he may consider this offer. Meanwhile Ajith is also busy in Aegan and fans should wait for a while to know which of their favorite actors will feature in this remake.

Vijay was the chief guest at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Fatima Matriculation School in Chennai. Present also were the mayor and the city commissioner. Vijay gave the keynote address. In his speech, he urged students to focus sharply on one career or ambition and follow it with determination.

He cited the examples of the lives of Graham Bell and Edison who came from humble families, and yet revolutionized the world. “I wanted to be a doctor”, said Vijay, “but instead became an actor.” From now on my movies will feature scenes that children will like, he added. His favorite movie for a long time has been the Rajini-starrer, Raja Chinna Roja, and he would love to be in a remake of it. If any producer wants to remake it, he said, he would sign up for it right away.

Ghajini remake leaps ahead of OSO!

Every time a ‘big-budget’ film is about to be released, it passes through a stage where it is compared with its predecessors. The film that is under the limelight today is Aamir Khan’s next movie under production, ‘Ghajini Remake’.

Towards the end of last year Shah Rukh Khan starrer ‘Om Shanthi Om’ broke many records and fetched a record breaking Rs. 73 Crores for its rights. Now Aamir’s ‘Ghajini’ has broken this record of OSO and set a new record of fetching a whooping Rs. 90 crores.

Indian Film Company has sold the domestic theatre rights of ‘Ghajini’ for a ‘huge’ 53 Crores. We have reports suggesting that no other Hindi film has been sold for this mammoth sum. Not only this but the satellite, overseas and the home video rights have fetched another 40 Crores, which makes an over all mammoth 93 Crore!

This massive investment flick, which is not yet titled, is a Hindi remake of the Tamil director A.R. Murugadoss Tamil flick ‘Ghajini’. This is the biggest movie for Aamir Khan this year where he is pairing with Asin, a South Indian beauty, who also was the heroine in the original Tamil version.

Reports close to the producer suggest that they are receiving good offers from various distribution houses. They say that they have surpassed any Indian film's record in terms of pre-release sales.

We wish this team all success!

Top five films of the in malayalam

With the arrival of a few new films like 'Sound of Boot' and 'Vikramadhithya' the box office list has little changes, this week. And as expected Mammootty's 'Roudram' continues on the top of the list . The top five films of the weekend are:

1. 'Roudram' - The film which opened last Thursday is a roaring success according to its makers and the theatre collections. The movie continues at the top slot, making an amazing opening,all across Kerala. The punch lines scripted by Renji Panikkar and stylish sequences with Mammootty, donning the police uniform after a couple of years is said to be reasons for the great initials that the film is fetching.

2. 'The Sound Of Boot' - Suresh Gopi's first movie in 2008 is making a decent opening all over. The film have mixed responses but the different treatment and narrative styles of the investigative thriller is definitely going to invite rave reviews.

3 'College Kumaran' - Mohanlal's first movie in the new year did not start with a characteristic 'Lal'' opening but have climbed up in the weekend. The second week saw the collections slipping further, due to bad opinions that is flourishing all over .

4 'Calcutta News' - The third week collection of the film is encouraging, as the effects of promotions have steadied the collections with incoming of more family audiences. The hit music of the film which is continuously being aired in the new FM channels have also worked in favour of the movie.

5. 'Katha Parayumpol' - This Mammootty- Sreenivasan starrer is till maintaining its collection graphs. The film hasn't taken a fall with the arrival of big blockbusters and is making an inflow of more than forty percent in major centers The film reaches fifty days this week in more than 20 centers, making it one of the biggest grosser of the last year.

Mohanlal again with Lohithadas

Mohanlal and Lohithadas has been a great team which managed to create some of the best filmi works in Malayalam. Starting with 'Dasharatham' and 'His Highness Abdullah', of the early nineties, they had created more than a dozen classy hits till 'Kanmadham’ in the late nineties.

Now after almost a decade, the best of the talented artists and scriptwriter in Malayalam are again planning to unite for a film that will be launched in a couple of months.

Lohithadas has tentatively announced the title of the movie as 'Bheeshmar'- the same title in which he had announced another Mammootty starrer , an year back. Johny Sagariga is planning to produce this movie, which is in its final discussions.

Captain Dhoni takes India home in nail-biter

Adelaide: The Indian middle order came up with an inspiring show to guide their team to a two-wicket win against Sri Lanka at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday. Taking a leaf out of opposite number Kumar Sangakkara's book who powered the Lankan innings with a brilliant ton, MS Dhoni showed his mettle to come up with a composed knock, which took India to 12 points from six games in the CB series.

Three crucial fifty plus stands resurrected fortunes for the Indians, who were 35-3 at one stage as they successfully chased down the 239-run target, keeping their campaign in the tri-series alive. Yuvraj Singh (76), Dhoni (50 not out) and Irfan Pathan (31) were the chief architects of the Indian win.

Yuvraj, who celebrated his return to form with a dazzling fifty, was first involved with Rohit Sharma in a 64-run stand to take India out of the dumps. After Sharma's dismissal, the southpaw built the base for the chase with skipper Dhoni with a 59-run partnership. Dhoni and Pathan then took India close to the Lankan total through a 58-run stand.

However, two late wickets by Ishara Amerasinghe and one by Malinga led to some nervy moments for India but the Indian captain, leading from the front took India home with just five balls to spare. Dhoni stayed till the end to ensure India bagged four points from the encounter. The wicketkeeper batsman curbed his natural instincts to bludgeon the ball and put his head down to come up with a fighting fifty, which did not include a single hit to the fence.

Earlier, the Indian innings suffered a coronary attack in the initial stages after Sri Lanka ripped through the Indian top order.

Sachin Tendulkar (zero) continued his poor run in the CB series. He could survive only one ball before Malinga cleaned him up. Robin Uthappa, coming at number three (10) fell victim to a superb piece of fielding from Sanath Jayasuriya as the all-rounder ran down the stumps from mid-off. India’s man in form Gautam Gambhir (15) was the next to fall as he edged one down the leg-side off rookie pacer Amerasinghe and Sangakkara gloved an easy catch.

Record number of rare large blue butterflies were counted at a key breeding site during 2007.

A survey at Collard Hill, Somerset, counted 354 adults during 2007, beating the previous record of 300 in 2003.

Experts believe a warm spring helped the caterpillars at the National Trust-owned site develop quickly before the arrival of a very wet summer.

Efforts to re-introduce the species began in 1983 after it disappeared from the UK in the late 1970s.

"Despite the poor summer, 2007 was a remarkable year for the large blue at Collard Hill," explained Matthew Oates, nature conservation adviser for the National Trust.

"It saw record numbers of butterflies in flight and it was the earliest and longest flight season since its re-introduction."

Dr Martin Warren, chief executive of Butterfly Conservation, welcomed the survey's findings.

"This is marvellous news for one our most endangered species of butterfly," he said.

"With seven out of every 10 butterfly species in decline, Butterfly Conservation is delighted to be working with the National Trust to save this, and other species."

Ant 'adoption'

In the 1970s, scientists discovered that the reason why the large blue (Maculinea arion) became locally extinct was a result of changes to the way the rural landscape was managed.

The butterflies are dependent on the Myrmica sabuleti red ant (Image: Jeremy Thomas)

A team led by Jeremy Thomas, from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Dorset, found that the survival of the butterflies was closely linked to a particular species of ant.

Professor Thomas observed that up to five species of red ants would "adopt" a large blue caterpillar, but the butterfly would survive in the nest of only one - the Myrmica sabuleti red ant.

But the decline of pastoral grazing saw a demise in the population of these ants, which in turn caused the large blue butterfly to disappear from the UK.

He found that the ants thrived in areas with short grass because sunlight was able to warm the soil, which suited this species.

Yet a shift away from grazing resulted in sites becoming overgrown, which caused the soils to cool.

As part of the reintroduction programme by the conservationists, grazing was re-established on the sites chosen for the butterflies.

Emerging early allowed the site's butterflies to breed before the rains arrived(Image: Dave Simcox)

Their efforts to manage the habitat paid dividends during the summer of 2006, when an estimated 10,000 of the creatures were recorded at sites across southern England.

"Generally, 2006 was a very good year for large blues in England," recalled Mr Oates.

"So, in theory, 2007 was set up very well by the previous year.

"But then we had this unprecedented spring drought in April which affected different large blue sites in different ways.

"One of the many threats facing large blues is spring droughts, and at the original large blue [reintroduction] site the ant populations were adversely hit by the dry April, so the large blue larvae had a very bad time as a result."

Mr Oates suggested that the site at Collard Hill was less susceptible to droughts than other sites, which meant that it was able to cope with the unseasonably dry weather.

He added that the butterflies at the Somerset site emerged in early June, allowing them to mate and lay their eggs before the heavy rains arrived in the second half of the month.

Despite the successful year, England's population of large blues has a history of "boom-and-bust" years, and remains listed as a priority species on the UK's Biodiversity Action Plan.

Election count begins in Pakistan

Initial results from the election are expected within hours Voting explained Ballot counting has begun in Pakistan after a key election which it is hoped will help end the country's crisis. The parliamentary poll was delayed after the killing of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, and is intended to complete a transition to civilian rule. Polling stations officially closed at 1700 (1200 GMT), and initial results are expected within hours. BBC correspondents reported many irregularities in voting, and some incidents of violence. However, there were none of the major bomb attacks which overshadowed the run-up to the elections. Nine killed But fears of violence dissuaded many of the country's 80 million eligible voters from leaving their homes, and voting in many places was slow. At least nine people are reported to have been killed in election related violence on the eve of the vote and on the day itself. I left my home today, and I prayed to God to bring me back safely Shah Zeb Election official Pakistanis describe the day Reporters' log High stakes for Musharraf In one incident in Daska district in the Punjab, a polling agent from one party reportedly shot dead an agent from a rival party after a dispute. In another, on Sunday, at least four people, including a candidate, were reported to have been killed after an attack on former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's PML-N party. BBC journalists also reported a number of voting irregularities across the country: BBC correspondent Riaz Sohail was shot at as he approached a polling station in Natario village, Sindh province, to investigate reports of ballot stuffing. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) activists and voters were also fired upon In Karachi, protesters from Awami National Party (ANP) blocked roads and stoned vehicles after an attack on their candidate Firing on a polling station in Gujranwala in the Punjab caused voting to be suspended The presiding officer of a polling station in east Karachi - a PPP stronghold - said his police escort took him to the wrong location, leaving him 5km (three miles) from the station, meaning polling was delayed by five hours Nawaz Sharif, after casting his ballot in the eastern city of Lahore, accused the PML-Q party that backs President Musharraf of "committing rigging, and... attacking our candidates and supporters", AFP news agency reported. The leader of Ms Bhutto's PPP party, her widower Asif Ali Zardari, has threatened to launch street protests in the event of vote-rigging. Most counts will be completed by Tuesday morning Benazir's ghost Balance of forces Pakistan: Key facts President Musharraf, voting in Rawalpindi, vowed to work in "harmony" with whoever won the polls, his spokesman said. There are many local election observers on the ground, but few international observers, who have either not been invited or complained they could not work freely. One, US Senator Joseph Biden, said he feared instability if the vote was rigged. "If the majority of Pakistani people do not think the election was fair then I think we have a real problem," he said. Security tight Close to half a million security personnel, including about 80,000 soldiers, have been deployed for the voting. The BBC's Barbara Plett, outside a polling station in Lahore, described a barrier designed to prevent car bombs and a heavy police presence. She said men and women were in separate queues for voting. In one tribal area near Peshawar, she said, elders had banned women from voting. HAVE YOUR SAY The difficulty is in foreseeing what changes will come. Briscott, Pakistan Send us your comments In certain areas the fear of violence hung heavy. In the town of Charsadda, in volatile North West Frontier Province, election official Shah Zeb told the AP news agency: "We're all afraid but what can we do? I left my home today, and I prayed to God to bring me back safely. Now it is in the hands of God." Nine election security officers who went missing, feared kidnapped, near the town of Bannu, in North West Frontier Province, were later found. Prospects Analysts say polls suggest a fair vote is likely to result in a hung parliament, with none of the three biggest parties winning a majority. Attention will then turn on the PPP, and whether it chooses to join forces with pro-Musharraf parties, or with Mr Sharif's party. Mr Sharif is staunchly opposed to the president, and if the two opposition parties jointly gain two-thirds of the seats, they may try to impeach him, correspondents say. Mr Musharraf stepped down as army chief late last year. He has ruled the country since seizing power in a coup in 1999.

Super Smash Bros Brawl: Top 5 Reasons You Want It

Super Smash Bros Brawl: Top 5 Reasons You Want It

Sponsored by Verizon

Find out why you shouldn't miss Nintendo's latest entry in its popular brawler series for the Wii.

by Mike Smith

1. Actually, there are over 40 reasons you want it

Link. Zelda. Snake. Mario. Samus. Sonic. Pikachu. Bowser. Kirby. Peach. Wario. Smash Bros. Brawl features a huge list of characters from classic Nintendo games -- and for the first time, favorites from non-Nintendo hits like Sonic the Hedgehog and Metal Gear join the party. Each comes with special attacks, props, sound effects and signature moves. Snake has even brought along his all-important cardboard box: no Special Forces agent leaves home without it.

2. Smash yourself

Smash Bros. games usually opt for multiplayer madness over single-player content. Not so with Brawl, which includes a solo Adventure Mode called "Subspace Emissary." Written by a designer culled from the Final Fantasy games, it's the perfect way to hone your skills before humiliating your friends, and if you get too lonely, you can even team up with a friend to take on the evil Subspace Army cooperatively.

3. Play with the world

That's not to say that Brawl doesn't have plenty of multiplayer content. In fact, it has more than any other Super Smash Bros. game to date. Not only can you enjoy four-player matches on one console you can also use the Wii's wireless networking to take on players from your Wii friends list or the world at large. You can even capture replay footage of your victories and mail it to your rivals in the ultimate of trash-talking hijinks.

4. Choose your weapon

Smash Bros. Brawl supports either the Wii remote (and optional connected Nunchuk) or a GameCube controller. Which is better? Depends on who you talk to. Feedback from our office multiplayer sessions indicate some players prefer the classic feel of the older GameCube pad, but others opt for the more precise digital controls of the Wiimote. Thankfully, there's none of this new-fangled waving, shaking, or pointing of the controller either: it's buttons all the way.

5. It's already a million-seller

After going on sale in Japan on Jan 31 and being awarded a perfect score from respected gaming magazine Famitsu, Super Smash Bros. has already made its way into the homes of over one million consumers. Can it repeat that success when it launches in the U.S. on March 9? Considering the buzz this title's already receiving, you'd be a fool to bet against it.

Posted: 15 Feb 2008

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A reluctant star Favourite Five

He plays a scriptwriter who dreams big in Vellithirai, re-make of the Malayalam superhit Udayananu Thaaram. Next is the role of Verghese in director Madhupaal’s Thalappavu in Malayalam, b ased on a real incident in the 1970s - a fake encounter that killed a naxalite youth in Kerala.

And, he is the bad guy in director Bhushan’s Telugu film. “I play the hero, but it’s a dark kind of film — no song and dance with 30 dancers, and no flying-through-the-air acts,” says the star, who smilingly calls himself a ‘25-year-old grown-up actor’.

Refreshing experience

He lives a packed schedule. But, as promised, turns up for the interview, orders coffee and starts talking. With more than 40 films in a matter of five years and as the youngest actor to have got a Kerala state award for his role as 32-year old Balachandran Adiga in Vaasthavam, actor Prithviraj says the experience is refreshing. He says he wants to let the characters he plays do the talking.

“I don’t want to become the highest paid actor or the next superstar; I just want to be looked upon as a serious actor, who is able to do justice to the roles he portrays. And, it is heartening when the audience connects with the characters, like Karthik in Mozhi,” says the son of the late Malayalam actor Sukumaran.

Vellithirai, he says, is pitched differently for the Tamil audience. Was it too much of pressure essaying the role originally played by Mohanlal? “It is unfair to draw comparisons. Mohanlal did the film in his 27th year of acting; I’m only into my fifth year. I have tried to bring in originality based on my understanding of the role,” he says.

In Thalappavu, the story is told from the perspective of the head constable who shoots Verghese. “I don’t play the protagonist. The 70s track and the current track travel seamlessly in the film,” says the actor, who draws inspiration from his travel, books and people to get into the skin of the characters. “I am a reluctant actor. Though I do a lot of preparation, my instincts take over the moment the director says ‘action’.”

Mozhi, Satham Podathey and Kannamoochi Yenada brought him closer to the Tamil audience. In Malayalam films, roles such as Neil, a middle-aged writer in director Shyamprasad’s Akale, Sukumaran, a fiery student leader in Classmates, and Shyam Balagopal in the hilarious Chocolate announced the arrival of the star.

And, of course the endearing Manu of Nandanam, his debut role. About his roles, he says, “All those guys I play on screen are much better people than Prithvi. I’m not a nice guy at all.”

He continues, “When I listen to a story, and I play it out in my mind, it should excite me enough to say ‘yes’. I make it a point to travel with the story right from the time the idea is born. This helps in getting a better emotional grip of the character.” Prithvi will also be seen in the Tamil re-make of Classmates. Talking of the lessons he has learnt from stalwarts, he takes Kamal Hassan’s example. “After proving himself in hundreds of films, he wakes up and applies make-up for four hours and faces the camera for another dream role in Dasavatharam. The effort he takes to keep the passion burning is amazing,” he says.

Summing up, he says: “I’m a recluse, an introvert. I prefer to unwind with a book in my room rather than party. I am here not for the money or glamour; I don’t even have a girlfriend to buy gifts for. It’s a matter of pride that people look up to you for your quality work. I never want my characters to be bigger than my films.”

Gavaskar flays Munaf

Adelaide: Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at Indian seamer Munaf Patel for his lackadaisical attitude on the field and suggested he should not have been included in the side that lost on Sunday.

Furious with the pacer’s sluggish fielding, the former captain said he had no problems with Munaf as a bowler but felt the pacer could neither really bat, nor did he give his best in the field.

In such a situation, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla or all-rounder Praveen Kumar would have been a better choice as the fourth bowler, Gavaskar said.

Useless fielder

"If he is among the three regular bowlers, it’s okay but Munaf does not deserve a place as the fourth bowler. Because he cannot bat, he is useless as a fielder and in one-day cricket you need to do well in at least two aspects," Gavaskar said.

“I do not have anything against him. He is a good bowler. But his attitude on the field is just not right,” Gavaskar said.

Munaf could be blamed for squandering at least one run out chance as well. While bowling, Munaf was nowhere in the scene to receive the point fielder’s throw with James Hopes well short of his ground.

However, later captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni defended his decision to field Munaf, saying he needed a bowler “who does not think too much and bowls according to the field.”

“Munaf is a bowler who bowls according to the field which was important. He does not think too much. But with Sreesanth it is difficult when you need the bowler to bowl as per the field,” Dhoni said

Job cuts will cost Yahoo Rs. 100 crore

New York: Internet major Yahoo, currently resisting a hostile takeover bid by software giant Microsoft, will incur about Rs. 100 crore in severance payouts and other expenses related to its planned job cuts across the world, which includes about 40 people in India.

The internet firm, in a regulatory filing here, said: “In connection with the strategic workforce realignment, the company expects to incur pre-tax cash charges of $ 20-25 million (about Rs. 100 crore) for severance pay expenses and related cash expenditures associated with the workforce reductions.”

The company expects to recognise the majority of the foregoing charges in the first quarter of 2008, with the remaining costs being recognised over the remainder of 2008. Yahoo recently announced plans to cut down its workforce by 1,000 employees, which was followed by about 40 people being told to quit at its India operations in Bangalore. — PTI

Reliance Power plans bonus shares issue

Oommen A. Ninan

MUMBAI: Reliance Power Ltd, headed by Anil Ambani, on Sunday decided to consider issue of bonus shares to all categories of investors, excluding the promoters group. The decision will be taken at a meeting of its Board of Directors on February 24.

The company was listed on stock exchanges only on February 11. Reliance Power’s Initial Public Offering — which was offered for retail investors at Rs.430 a share and institutional investors at Rs.450 a share — closed on January 18.

Pakistan goes to polls amid fear of violence

ISLAMABAD: A tense quiet descended over Pakistan a day before the country was to vote in a crucial election on Monday, with fears of suicide blasts, poll-related violence and rigging topping voters’ concerns and threatening to affect the turnout.

Saturday’s suicide attack in the north-west tribal area of Parachinar, in which the death toll rose to 47 overnight, underlined the widespread security apprehensions that have dominated these elections from before the start of the process, but particularly after the killing of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto on December 27.

The fears remain despite a blanket deployment of more than 80,000 troops from the Pakistan Army and paramilitary forces across the country and assurances from President Pervez Musharraf and the Chief Election Commissioner, Justice (retd.) Qazi Muhammed Farooq, that no one will be allowed to disrupt the election process.

In Karachi Rangers and police have been deployed at all polling stations, and troops are on standby to prevent violence.

Monday’s battle is for 272 National Assembly seats. Elections in three parliamentary constituencies have been postponed – in Larkana on account of Benazir Bhutto’s death, in a constituency in Lahore again due to the death of a candidate, and in South Waziristan due to the tense situation prevailing in the area. Elections are also being held simultaneously for 570 seats in the four provincial assemblies.

Punjab is the largest province with 148 parliamentary constituencies. Sindh has 61, North West Frontier Province 35 and Balochistan 16. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas send 12 parliamentarians. In addition, there are 70 reserved seats, distributed to parties on the basis of their performance. Out of these 60 are reserved for women and 10 for minorities.

In all, 2,234 candidates are contesting the election for the parliamentary seats, while 5,017 candidates are in the fray for the provincial elections. Two opinion polls by U.S.-based organisations have placed the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) far ahead of the Pakistan Muslim League (Q), which came to power after the 2002 elections but analysts are saying the election is too fraught with uncertainties to make an accurate prediction.

One uncertainty is the extent of the proBenazir sympathy wave for the PPP. Another is the impact of Nawaz Sharif’s return and whether it has divided or consolidated Opposition votes.

BATSMEN MUST TAKE RESPONSIBLITY:INDIAN SKIPPER

Adelaide: After an abject failure of his batting line-up, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Sunday minced no words in telling the Indian batsmen to take more responsibility.

The Indian pacers stuck to their task to restrict the strong Australian batting line-up to a modest 203 for nine but the batsmen messed it up as the visitors crashed to a 50-run defeat in the tri-series One-Dayer here.

Dhoni said the batsmen should back each other and focus on not losing early wickets.

"It's important that the batsmen take more responsibility. The guys must take the initiative when we are playing with five bowlers and one batsman short," Dhoni said after match.

"Especially in these conditions, it's important not to lose any wicket till the 12th over. Because after that the Kukaboora gets softer and comes on to the bat. It's a learning experience that in international cricket you have to give your best," he said.

Dhoni said his getting run out was the turning point of the match and blamed it on Rohit Sharma, who was running for his captain but could not make the ground.

"It was bad reaction from Rohit. Even with the cramps I could have run and made it easily," he said.

Dhoni defended the move to send Irfan Pathan up the batting order.

"It gives more depth to the batting as the rest of the order stays as it is. After him, Rohit comes at No.4, then Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh), me and Robin (Uthappa) at seven. I am happy with the order," he said.

India TO CHANGE THE OLD THEORY

After Sunday's debacle, India is most likely to discard the five-bowler theory and go back to their seven-batsmen formula in Adelaide. And in that case, Virender Sehwag will be back for the crucial encounter against the Lankans.SO SEHWAG IS BACK

'Paruthi Veeran', honoured at the 58th Berlin International film festival.

'Paruthi Veeran', directed by Ameer Sulthan, was honoured with a "special mention" from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) at the 58th Berlin International film festival.

The film festival concluded here on February 16. The 2007 Tamil box-office hit evoked a very enthusiastic response from German and European film enthusiasts when it was shown in the International Forum of Young Cinema, the section focusing on young, experimental and avant garde films from around the world.

The film's international premiere at the Berlinale was attended by Ameer together with Karthi, who made an outstanding debut performance in the film as the lead actor.

'Paruthi Veeran' has undoubtedly made Tamil cinema proud. We wish directors like Ameer would provide us with more such films that could secure a place for Tamil film industry at international level.

directed by Ameer Sulthan, was honoured with a "special mention" from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) at the 58th Berlin International film festival.

The film festival concluded here on February 16. The 2007 Tamil box-office hit evoked a very enthusiastic response from German and European film enthusiasts when it was shown in the International Forum of Young Cinema, the section focusing on young, experimental and avant garde films from around the world.

The film's international premiere at the Berlinale was attended by Ameer together with Karthi, who made an outstanding debut performance in the film as the lead actor.

'Paruthi Veeran' has undoubtedly made Tamil cinema proud. We wish directors like Ameer would provide us with more such films that could secure a place for Tamil film industry at international level.

S pictures to produce 3 films

Director Shankar’s 'S' Pictures is all set to commence three new projects. Arivazhagan, Naga (TV serial ‘Marma Desam’ fame), and Thamira (the dialogue writer of K. Balachandar’s ‘Poi’) will be the three directors for the three films.

Among the three, we have gathered some information on the project directed by Thamira. The movie will be a commercial venture revolving around children and the title is said to be ‘Irattai Suzhi’.

The new projects will be launched in a grand function to be held during April.

vijay -next avathar

Ilaya Thalapathy’ Vijay has finally decided to venture into producing films on his own. The decision could make wonders in his career, as he has decided to make some experiments in his own films.
So far, Vijay hasn’t tried anything different in terms of changing the get ups or donning different roles. The reason for not trying anything different is that he wants to ensure good business to the investors of his films. In other words, he doesn’t want to take risk at others cost. So he has so far stuck to the commercial boundaries.
However, after establishing his place as a successful commercial hero, Vijay now wants to try out something different and that too, at his own risk.
Vijay’s decision is commendable, as taking risk at one’s own cost is not an easy joke. Let us welcome the decision and look forward to see a new Vijay in his own films soon.