Kaaka Kakka shocks Gautam Menon!

Gautam Menon's second film Kaakka Kaakka - his first was Minnalae - has had a fantastic opening not only in the urban centres but in the interiors of Tamil Nadu too.

Not even the director expected such an opening for KK, about an encounter specialist police officer. Surya, who gives a sterling performance as Anbuselvan, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, is expected to join the league of Ajit, Madhavan and Vijay with this film.

Gautam Menon's first film Minnalae was instrumental in cementing Madhavan's position as a successful commercial star.

A happy, 'shocked' Gautam Menon said, "We did not expect this kind of an initial. I expected the city audience to accept the film but, honestly, it shocked us to see the response in the interiors. Perhaps the look of the film could be the reason for such a tremendous opening. I must say the music by Harris Jayaraj has helped us a lot. I am happy the great initial we have had has not dropped even after five days."

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It took a long time for Gautam Menon to make his second film even though Minnale was a big hit. He does not want to have such a long sabbatical again. "I am getting a lot of offers and I do not want to miss any of them. I do not want any gap between my second and third films!"

Sandiyar is Production # 14

Sandiyar, Kamal Haasan's new film under his own banner Rajkamal Productions, which started with a lot of fanfare ran into rough weather when the Puthiya Thamizhagam leader Dr Krishnaswamy objected to the title of the film.

The PT leader feared the film would incite violence in the southern districts once again, and would restart arivaal (sickle) culture.

The shooting of the film could not take place in Madurai when the PT party members tried to create problems. The Chief Minister also refused to provide any police protection to Kamal Haasan asking him instead to change the title. He had no other option but to agree.

Kamal Haasan has resumed shooting of the film in Chennai under the title Production Number 14 as it is the 14th production of Rajkamal Productions.

He has still not arrived at a suitable title although there were rumours in the press that the film would be named Veerumandi after his own character in the film.

Kavithalaya's Thenmalai

After the stupendous success of Saami, starring Vikram and Trisha Krishnan, K Balachander's production house Kavithalaya is in the process of making another 'action film' titled Thenmalai.

The film, starring Vijay and Jyothika, features Malayalam actor Manoj K Jayan as the villain.

Vijay acts as a two-wheeler mechanic and his love interest in the film is Jyothika. The two earlier starred in the big hit, Kushi. Kavithalaya hopes to repeat the winning combination and forget the last few failures of Vijay, like Vaseegara and Puthiya Geethai.

Thenmalai is written and directed by debutant director Ramana. According to Kavithalaya, an item number by Kiran will be a major attraction.

Kaadal Kondein going strong

Kaadal Kondein has been declared as a super duper hit by trade pundits.

Tamil film producers are now queueing up after mechanical engineer-turned-director Selvaraghavan and his younger brother Dhanush.

One of the highlights of the film is the haunting music set by Yuvan Shankar Raja. The melodious compositions of the film are reminiscent of the poignant songs once created by father Ilayaraja.