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Thenkasipattanam
Holds
interest
 Thenkasipattanam,
the only film in 2001 to reach the silver jubilee mark in Kerala
filmdom remade as Hanuman Junction, created records in Andhra Pradesh.
It has been remade in Kannada and also in Hindi. With this track
record, the Tamil remake has created lots of interest in the media
and within the film industry. The film has MP Sarath Kumar and MLA
Nepolean, with Samyuktha Varma of Malayalam films making her debut.
The surprise package is that Rafi-Mercartin, the directors of the
original hit, are themselves doing the remake. Producer Durairaj,
a partner in all V Sekar directed and produced films turns independent.
Brisk shooting
was in progress at the bungalow of the PG group owner. A board outside
the bungalow says that Sarath Kumar, Nepolean and Devyani will meet
their fans in the afternoon. Heavy crowds throng the venue to have
a glimpse of their favourite stars.
Sarath Kumar
and Nepolean, sporting a beard, were talking about politics, the
topic being Andipatti and the by-elections. Rafi and cameraman P
Sugumar were shooting scenes with Samyuktha, Kovai Sarla, Delhi
Ganesh and Pandu inside the house.
“Though
the film has an MP and an MLA from DMK, there is absolutely no political
overtones of any kind. Both the heroes come on time and the director
and his team are working late hours. The production values are very
high. It’s a film for the entire family,” said producer
Durairaj.
Sarath said
that the Tamil version was exactly like the original and there was
no political messages loaded in it. “Even non-DMK people are
going to see the film because the women folk will definitely drag
their men to the theatres,” says Sarath. The film is about
two friends who came as laborers to Thenkasipattanam, the market
town and became rich. They have a sister whom they adore. A youth
joins them as the manager and suffers all abuses because he has
a mission to accomplish. “In fact, the title is more apt for
us. We are people who come from some part of Tamil Nadu to Thenkasipattanam,”
defends Neploean.
Aswathi Menon
plays the sister and Vivek is the manager. Samyuktha Varma and Devyani
are the two women in the lives of the heroes.
The usual pattern
in remakes is that only the crux of the subject is retained and
everything else is changed. Sometimes one wonders as to why remake
rights are bought. Says Rafi, the more vocal of the director-duo,
“The heroes are more concerned that we should not attempt to
do anything that will change the structure. We even suggested something
to boost the hero image because we were told that in Tamil Nadu
the hero worship is very large. Sarath and Nepolean are against
it.”
Suresh Peters
who scored the music for the original too scores for the Tamil film.
Said Durairaj, “The track is very upbeat which is why we retained
the composer. In fact, lyricist Vaali, at first, refused to write
since it was a remake. He felt that he did not have any scope. After
hearing the music, he accepted because it was different.”
Kovai Sarla,
the veteran comedienne, had a plea. “It’s for the first
time that a character artiste and comedienne was given a Padmashri.
Manoramaacchi deserves it. There are more like her. The state government
doesn’t even considered us for awards. Our category is not
included. With Manoramaacchi getting the highest civilian honor
we are now hopeful that our tribe is in for better days.”
Charlie, P
Vasu, Kumarimuthu, Srividya and vinu chakraarthi are the other artistes
in the film. Produced under the banner of Mass Moviemakers, the
film has dialogues by V Prabhakar. It is scheduled for release on
April 14.
Daaya
Offbeat
film
Prakashraj
is rated as one of the best villains in the south. He now plays
the dada in Daaya being made under his own banner Duet Movies. Looking
every inch the filmi dada, Prakashraj was dancing with the group
dancers to the steps of choreographer Brinda at Prasad Stuios. “Actually,
this get-up is only for the song. I don’t believe that changing
one’s get-up is acting. Daaya is a very ordinary looking character.
The character has no sob stories like why he became a criminal or
that he is repenting for being a bad guy. He is bad to the core
and he has no remorse. He is no Robinhood. He does dadagiri for
a living. It’s a straight subject told with no frills,”
explained Prakashraj. Further elaborating on the subject, he said,
“The film is about a clash between two villains, Raghuvaran
and myself. I worm myself into the roots of my enemy and start working
my way to smash his foundation. Dialogues are the highlight of the
film.”
Meena is the
heroine and Simran appears in a song sequence. Directed by Senthil
Kumar, the film has cinematography by SD Vijaymilton and music by
Bharadwaj. The film has Laxmi, Monisha, Thamu, Janakraj, Ramesh
Kanna, director KS Ravikumar, V Natarajan and Kaka Radhakrishnan
play important roles in the film.
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