Vijayalakshmi to play Forest Brigand Veerapan's wife

Actress Vijayalakshmi, who made an impressive debut with Venkat Prabhu's Chennai 600028 and later went on to act in films like Anjathey and Katradhu Kalavu, is all set to play Muthulakshmi, wife of Veerappan, in AMR Ramesh's Vanayudham.

Confirming the news, Vijayalakshmi says, "I know a lot about Veerappan's life and history. So, when Ramesh told me the storyline and my part, I was naturally excited. And Ramesh sir is a well-known director, and famous for his films on sensitive subjects. So, I said yes without even thinking twice."

Vijayalakshmi will start shooting for her part from the end of this month. "The rest of the cast is already shooting for the film," she informs.

Will she also be meeting Muthulakshmi in person? "I will have to do a lot of homework for my character. I need to know about her and her lifestyle. The director said I will meet her sometime soon, but I don't know when!" she smiles.

Vanayudham will simultaneously be made in Kannada as Attahasa. While Kishore plays Veerappan in the film, Arjun, Bollywood actor Suresh Oberoi and Divya Spandana play Vijayakumar, Rajkumar and a journalist respectively.

Mankatha's official website launched

Mankatha, or shall we say, director Venkat Prabhu's game, has seen an official website launch. This film marks thala Ajith's 50th innings in the Tamil film industry and has Trisha Krishnan play his lady love. This multi-starrer that also features Arjun, Andrea, Premgi, Anjali, Mahat and many others has music scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja.



IndiaGlitz has designed the official website for this Ajith starrer. Log on to the website and check out interesting pictures from the film or you can also download exclusive wallpapers! Not just that, the website has an interesting offering - The Mankatha Game. You can play 'Mankatha', literally, in here, where you can choose a player and an opponent and have the stars compete against one another in the game.



'Mankatha' has five strangers plan a heist, Ajith, a cop, gets a whiff of their plans and then the 'Mankatha', that is to say, the chase begins. This racy thriller has many interesting twists and who wins the game in this heist, forms the story of 'Mankatha'.



Don't forget to post in your feedback about the website, the game and your expectations on the film for we'll make sure that the cast and crew get a glimpse of your feedback!

Click here to log on to 'Mankatha' official website...

Trisha in Mankatha..

There has been a lot of talks about Ajith’s role in Mankatha with plenty of hype surrounding the performance of ‘The Ultimate Star’.



Fans have been waiting to watch their Thala Ajith Kumar playing the Venkat Prabhu's game for quite sometime now.



With the audio of the film releasing August 10th, the wait to catch the ‘first day first show’ of this long-awaited film only becomes even more hectic.



But what’s the leading lady Trisha doing in Mankatha?



Trisha has been taking a lot of efforts with extra pain over her role in the film. After Ayitha Ezhuthu and Manmadhan Ambu, Trisha has dubbed in her own voice for Mankatha.



Venkat comments, “I thought it would be better if she dubbed for herself than anybody else. In fact I insisted on it. Trisha was game with it and she is doing a good job with the dubbing!”



“Trisha plays a vital role in this guys’ flick, where males dominate. She plays a cute character in the film, who falls in love with Ajith. The consequences she has to face because of this, gives an interesting turn to the plot,” said director Venkat Prabhu of Trisha's role in Mankatha.

Mankatha's Audio Launch

Finally, the D-Day has been announced!

Yes, Mankatha’s audio will hit the stands on August 10th, confirms a source.

Earlier, director Venkat Prabhu had said that the audio will be released during the second week of August as there were a lot of technicalities involved.

Now all technicalities have been taken care of and Sony Music, the company that procured the music rights of Mankatha, has announced the audio release date.

It’s time for all the fans of Ajith to celebrate, as their long wait is finally going to come to an end.

No takers for Mankatha

The buzz around the release of Ajith's Mankatha only seems to be getting bigger.

The film, which was supposed to release in August, has now hit another stumbling block. This time around; it's the political pressure against the release of the film.

Distributors are hesitating to buy the Ajith-Trisha starrer, as the film is produced by Dayanidhi Alagiri, son of DMK's Alagiri. The situation is such that the film has found buyers in Karnataka, Kerala and even overseas, but not in Tamil Nadu.

Ajith has always has been a loyal supporter of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. We hear that the conditions that prevailed in the industry a year back had made Ajith to do the film produced by Dayanidhi Alagiri.

Sona and Namitha at war

Sona's role as an actress in Ko fetched her acclaims. But it apparently also earned her the wrath of Namitha, on whom it's reportedly modelled.

Certain sections of the media had reported that Sona had sent an SMS to Namitha, asking her if she was upset with her. And Namitha had apparently replied saying it was OK and asked Sona not to call her again.

When CT contacted Sona, she said, "I did send an SMS to Namitha, telling her the role was a fictious one and I was just acting in it. I told her I had nothing personal against her. But she didn't respond. But I didn't try calling her."

Meanwhile, the actress is keen to make an autobiopic. "The film will be based on certain incidents that happened in my life. It will cover three stages in my life and I will be playing the lead in one of them. I want a reputed director to handle the project sensitively. But it will go on floors only after I complete 2010 Bhagyaraj with Premji and another film with Venkat Prabhu," she informed.

Click here for more of Namitha's sizzling images !!!

Mankatha's post production in full swing

Mankatha has been completed! The entire unit flew to Bangkok to shoot the last song and it is all done and they are back in Chennai.

Director Venkat Prabhu is relieved. He apologized to the fans for the delay and said that it was a mammoth task to coordinate the dates of the ensemble cast that included Ajith, Arjun, Trisha, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea, Premji, and Vaibhav.

Yuvan Shankar Raja is working like a fiend to complete the songs since the director has promised the audio launch will be held this month so that the film can have an August release.

Dubbing, editing, and other post production work is going on at full swing. Producer Dhayanidhi Alagiri said he is proud of Mankatha and everything from the music to the performances is exceptionally good.

Mankatha in Hindi..

Director Venkat Prabhu has said that Mankatha will be remade in Hindi soon. Though he did not disclose any further details, the director has said that it will soon be taken to Bollywood as some filmmakers have shown keen interest.

To yet another question on if the film will be dubbed in Telugu, Venkat Prabhu has said that it is up to the producer Dhayanidhi Alagiri to decide.

Mankatha is a high budget film that stars Ajith, Arjun and Trisha. Incidentally it happens to be Ajith’s 50th film. Mankatha shooting is complete and the audio launch date is due to be announced soon.

Venkat Prabhu teams with Sona

Sona’s Uniq Productions will produce Venkat Prabhu’s next flick. The actress, producer and entrepreneur is now producing Bagyaraj 2010 which has Venkat Prabhu’s brother Premji Amaren playing an important role.

She has said that Venkat Prabhu will direct a film for her production house once he complete Mankatha. Other details such as the lead stars and crew have not been finalized yet.

Mankatha Fever ..

Ajith Kumar's fans have been curious a lot these days awaiting the release of their icon's 50th film 'Mankatha' with its recently released one minute teaser of the song 'Aadi Paaru Mankatha' becoming a festival like scenario for the fans.

The film produced by Dayanidhi Alagiri and directed by Venkat Prabhu is a multi-starrer featuring Action king Arjun, Trisha, Lakshmi Rai, Premji, Vaibhav and others in the lead roles.

The producers are planning to release a single-track album of Mankatha by next week. The same song that appeared in the teaser would be released as Sony BMG has acquired the rights of the audio for a whooping amount.

The music was supposed to be launched on the occassion of Ajith Kumar's birth day, but was delayed due to the delayed work of Yuvan Shankar Raja who has been busy involved in the re-recording of Avan Ivan.

Watch the teaser here . .

Ajith dons the "George Clooney" look

Irrespective of the age of the heroes, Kollywood has always gone to great heights to preserve the hero with an ever-young look. The moviegoers too love to see their hero with a flawless face and hair that waves in the air. Ajith has been a trend setter for many styles in Kollywood and he is undoubtedly the only hero who looks handsome in any attire he sports. Now in ‘Mankatha’ he will sport a look which director Venkat Prabhu is confident will be a trendsetter in films that follow.

Some news which has leaked from the ‘Mankatha’ team, which has returned from shooting in Mumbai, has revealed that Trisha plays Saniana, the daughter of a Mumbai goon who rules the slums of Dharavi. Our hero Ajith plays Vinayak. The director and hero were looking for a new look for the protagonist, trying out many styles and finally it seems Ajith suggested a new look, which was the casual salt and pepper hairstyle he usually sports. The director immediately seems to have liked the look and immediately gave it his thumbs up!

Now the fans will see their “Thala” sporting this salt and pepper hairstyle throughout the film. Venkat has also opined that this hairdo goes well with the character that Ajith portrays. It reminds us the George Clooney look. Clooney has been voted many times by People’s magazine as the sexiest man alive! With Ajith sporting a similar look we can be pretty sure it is going to look natural and be a hit with the audience.

Director Venkat Prabhu is also assisting the film’s editing process with Yuvan working on the music portions. Venkat Prabhu is believed to be quite excited about this project because he has shot the film with his favorite hero. The entire team of ‘Mankatha’ is confident of the film being welcomed by the Tamil audience worldwide.

GOA going to be remade in Telugu

Venkat Prabhu directed Goa, starring Vaibhav and Sneha in the lead roles, which was a big hit in Tamil is now being dubbed into Telugu under the same name. The film has ex-flames Simbhu and Nayanthara in special appearances. While the Tamil version was produced by Soundarya Rajinikanth under the banner of Ocher Studios, the Telugu version is being jointly produced by Gangavarapu Srinivasulu Naidu and SK Babu under the banner of Sai Balaji Films. The DTS work of the film is going on in full swing.

Briefing about the film, the producers say, "The film was shot in in Goa, Malaysia and Bangkok. It is a youthful love entertainer. Goa is the story of three friends who wish to break away from the confines of village life. They leave for Madurai and from there to Goa, where adventures await the trio. Yuvan Shankar Raja has composed some wonderful tunes for the film. We want to release the audio this week and the film in May."

Jai, Premgi Amaren, Piaa Bajpai, Sampath Raj, Aravind Akash and Melanie Marie are the others in the cast. Dialogues are by Shashank Vennelakanti and lyrics by Vennelakanti.