Mohanlal in the first superhit of 2005!

The verdict is out. The Mohanlal-Srinivasan combination has delivered the first superhit of 2005. In the first ten days, from 39 theatres, Udayananu Tharam grossed Rs 3.40 crores, which is a big amount for a small state like Kerala.

Udayananu Tharam lampoons the Malayalam film industry mercilessly. Laced with dark humour and frankness, it bares all the dark secrets connected with the industry. Acting as the cunning and arrogant superstar Saroj Kumar is Srinivasan (right, below). Mohanlal (left) plays Udayan, the struggling assistant director who dreams of directing a film one day. Saroj Kumar becomes a superstar in a complex move which involves stealing a script written by Udayan.

Srinivasan, who has scripted the screenplay and dialogues mocks at everyone in the industry with his razor sharp dialogues. In fact, Mohanlal bears the maximum brunt of Srinivasan's wit. As is his wont, Srinivasan has not spared himself either. The news in media circles is that Mammootty has taken the digs rather seriously but Dileep has been as sporting as Mohanlal.

With the film's huge success, the debate in Kerala is: who is the real star of the film? Is it Mohanlal, as the film's title suggests, or Srinivasan?

Mohanlal has given one of his best performances but the vote will go to Srinivasan because the real star is the script.

Srinivasan's son, Vineet, an engineering student, has sung a song for his father in the film.

Sonia Agarwal in Fazil's film

Sonia Agarwal shot to prominence with Selvaraghavan's Kadal Kondein. She also featured in Selvaraghavan's second film, 7-G Rainbow Colony. With the Telugu version of 7-G Rainbow Colony also striking gold at the box-office, she has become a sought after actress in the Telugu film industry.

But an important film in Tamil for her is Fazil's yet-untitled one, opposite Srikkanth.

Female leads have meaty roles in all Fazil films. Some leading ladies who have benefited from Fazil's films are Nadia Moidu and Shalini, not forgetting Shobhana who won her first National Award for Manichitrathazhu.

No HIT matter for Thirupachi!

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It was not good news for the Vijay-starrer Thirupachi. The film did not fare as well as expected. The last straw is the order from the Madras high court restraining the producer, Super Gold Films Pvt Ltd, from screening the film in theatres, on VCDs and on cable television or in any other format with certain scenes.

The order is based on a complaint from Godrej Sara Lee Ltd. According to the petitioner, their insecticide HIT has been scandalously depicted with a motive to tarnish the company's image. HIT was depicted in two scenes in the film. In the first, a dialogue says HIT could be used not only to kill insects but to terminate pregnancy too.

In the second scene, the hero sprays HIT in the villain's mouth and he dies on the spot. GSL say HIT can be used to kill cockroaches only and not against human beings.

Rahman back in Tamil

A R Rahman has decided to dedicate his next year to Tamil films.

In the pipeline are S J Suryah's BF, K S Ravikumar's Godfather and producer Kalaipuli Dhanu's next film with a new director.

High and Mighty Mohanlal

After the success of Udayananu Tharam came the news that Mohanlal has been chosen by India Today as one among the 50 High and Mighty of India.

He is the only person from the South Indian film industry, besides lyricist Vairamuthu, to be included in the Power List 2005.