Talk of the Town

- HE MAY be the Director-General of Police. But when it comes to meeting his political bosses even for a courtesy visit, Chennai is steep territory.

The other day, Dr. R. Rajagopalan, who was till recently, DGP, Training, Tamil Nadu, wanted to meet the Chief Minister, Ms. Jayalalithaa, before leaving for New Delhi to take up his new assignment as the chief of the National Security Guard (NSG), after the long ``relieving'' controversy.

The grapevine has it that the police officer had to cool his heels for a couple of hours before he could meet her.

It is also said that only after a senior officer sent word to the Chief Minister about the arrival of the DGP that she immediately called him and conveyed her best wishes.

However, one version is the DGP went to the Secretariat without seeking an appointment.

The Chief Minister was busy with official meetings and the delay in meeting the DGP was not intentional.

* * *

- THESE DAYS, when everybody is talking about numbers, here is one more - from the AVM coterie.

AVM's 162nd movie, after the 1997 hit, Minsara Kanavu is all set to be launched. ``Any moment now,'' is the industry buzz.

Director Saran is going to be calling the shots for this particular movie, the latest in a long while from one of the South's largest grand cinema houses.

This `untitled' movie, whose theme has also not been decided, will star Vikram in the lead role, while Bharadwaj has been signed up to score the music.

Thotta Tharani has promised to handle art direction, while the heroine has not yet been finalised, film industry grapevine whispers that the probable candidate is Sneha.

At the moment, Saran is abroad, busy with the finishing touches for his current project - Alli Arjuna, starring Barathi Raja's son, Manoj.

* * *

- WHAT IS film, that too in Bollywood and Kollywood without song?

Songs often make otherwise forgettable films stand out.

And the Cine Musicians' Union has decided to honour the people behind the tunes on Sunday in the city.

Those who will share the limelight as music directors are P. Bhanumathy, Pendyala Srinivasan, R. Rathnam, Hyderabad Sankar B, and A.T. Ummar.

The evening starts off at a leisurely pace at 4 p.m.

Participating in this fete at the Cine Musicians' Union Hall on NSK Salai near Kamala theatre are K.J. Yesudas, SPB and P. Suseela.

Chitra will render the prayer song.

There will also be a group of musicians at the meeting, who all contribute to the sound and rhythm of film tunes.

* * *

- SIVAJI fans get to see him on the silver screens again. Shanti Theatre at Anna Salai has been projecting the thespian all of August.

First it was the magnum opus, Veera Pandia Kattabomman; running now is Karnan and looks like there's more in store. The legend never dies.

* * *

- THE `ILAYA Thalapathy' of many, Vijay chilled out this week, to celebrate four successes in a row. At Kamarajar Arangam, the star had the `Vetri Vizha' celebrations to give away awards to his co- stars and technicians.

The idea was probably to underline the fact that his last four movies all crossed the 100 day mark. While `Kushi' and `Friends' did 175 days, `Priyamanavale' completed 125 days while `Badri' recently finished 100 days.

The moody soft-spoken star was spotted and made their target endlessly by shutterbugs who got the perfect photo opportunity, what with so many other stars around, all under one roof.

It was a busy evening for most stars as they had to go party hopping. From the Kamaraj Arangam to Park Sheraton where the Southern Spice Music Channel was being launched.

A Coke endorsement, a promising and much-awaited `Udaya', and a `Shah Jehan' under-production and four huge hits backing him, Vijay sure is in for more `Kushi' days ahead.

* * *

- THE DEPARTMENT of Posts is shedding whatever ``old'' image that has lingered and is linking up with the CII.

The department, which has proposed to embark on ``aggressive marketing'' of its services, is going to put up a stall at the CII's Logistics exhibition, slated for next month in the city.

Of all the government agencies, the Postal department may be seen, in certain quarters, as the old and conservative department, not keeping itself abreast of the changing times.

But the present postal administration in the State wants to disprove such a perception.

By Feroze Ahmed, T. Ramakrishnan, K.T. Sangameswaran, Sudhish Kamath and Ramya Kannan

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Maya's Supermodel