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Raju Sundaram joins the league of dance choreographers-turned-directors with Ajith’s ‘Aegan.’ Sundaram’s actual launch ought to have been the Dhanush debacle ‘Parattai Engira Azhagu Sundaram.’ But midway through the shoot he was out of it. Whatever transpired should augur well for the director who returns anew with Ajith and Nayantara, the hit pair of ‘Billa.’ Interestingly, actor Arun Pandian is the co-producer of ‘Aegan.’ Asked how he chose to work with Raju Sundaram, whose maiden venture hadn’t really taken off, a piqued Ajith replied, “What’s that got to do with this project? Raju is a fabulous choreographer and I’m confident he’ll deliver as a director also. What happened earlier is not my concern.”

“A different experience,” is how singer, dubbing artist and actor S.N.Surendar describes his portrayal in ‘Ayya Vazhi.’ Surendar plays a tough king in the true-life tale. “The character has negative shades all right. But what I like about it is the softness in the stern king. I sing three small verses, because this king was a singer too, and I’ve composed them myself,” smiles a happy Surendar. So that’s another facet of his we know little about. The film’s music director is Sivanesan. Surendar has shot for 10 days for the film and most of the time he has managed even lengthy pieces of dialogue in a single take! “I rehearse the dialogue thoroughly even as the lighting is being readied,” he says.

Music and screenplay will be the mainstay of ‘Ajantha,’ you are told. The film, simultaneously being made in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, has Ramana playing the lead in the Tamil version. Rajpa Ravishankar, producer-director of ‘Ajantha,’ is extremely confident about his project. “Ilaiyaraja’s scintillating numbers, nine of them including a kirtana, will ring in every connoisseur’s ears for long,” he says. “And I’ve shot all of them with different light effects, which will enhance the impact,” he assures. After nearly a decade Ilaiyaraja has sung a duet for ‘Ajantha,’ with Shreya Goshal.

“It’s a clean film for both family audiences and youth,” assures N. Sundareswaran, the director of ‘Thozha’ — a story of four friends. Nithin Sathya joins Ajayraj, Premji Amaran and ‘Vasanth & Co’ Vijay, all from the cast of ‘Chennai-600028.’ “We are sure of repeat viewers for the film that will offer levity, love and action in right doses, with a foot-tapping opening number and an un-guessable climax. Premji Amaran’s music is already a selling point,” says the director. You hear that Jennifer, who played Vijay’s sister in ‘Ghilli,’ has done some daring stunts — jumping down from the fourth floor for instance! Were such risks necessary? “She was game and they lend authenticity to the sequences. You will see it for yourself,” is the reply. With ‘Thozha’ slated for release in April, you can check it out soon.

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