Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Catch Subramaniapuram's hitmaker on TV



Even before James Vasanthan's breakout Tamil album Subramaniyapuram hit the market, he was well-known among TV audiences as a host with a pleasant smile, easy manner and a genuine love for the medium.

Subramaniapuram's chart busting songs might have plucked him out of TV and into movies, but he stills retains a love for the small-screen, opting to return as a host when he can.

That has translated into James Vasanthan's latest appearance on television, a return to a channel he has worked with in the past. He hosts the game show Oru Varthai Oru Laksham which tests a participant's vocabulary of the Tamil language. It involves finding the correct word in a given duration with the help of clues, and is played by two teams, comprising of two members in each team.

In an exclusive chat with rediff.com, James Vasanthan talks about his first stint with TV, his successful tryst with cinema, and his experiences on returning to the small-screen. Excerpts:

How did Oru Varthai Oru Laksham happen?

Truth is, I had absolutely no time for TV as my cinema commitments are overwhelming. But Vijay TV was very insistent that I do it. Even then, I hesitated, because I wasn't sure how committed I could be to the project. But I was told that this would be a weekly show, so I figured, it would be just four episodes a month. I decided that I would do it for a month and see how things went from there. I have sorted out my schedule for the show.

What was it like hosting the show?

It's a fairly new concept, and I found it a bit complicated in the beginning. But since I have already had experience hosting shows, I managed to get the hang of it by the second episode. The participants of that particular episode were outstanding as well. That built up the momentum and from then on, everything went smoothly.

How did you start your stint in television?

Those were the days when satellite TV was just becoming a phenomenon. Back then, I had no real idea about how TV worked, so I had no issues with approaching a channel directly. I went to Sun TV [ Get Quote ], working as a newsreader for a while. Later, that slowly morphed into anchoring shows on various channels.

Let me tell you, though, that music and films have always been my focus. So when I got the chance, I went back to it.

How did being a TV personality change your life?

Well, people's perception of you changes, certainly. When you go out, they recognise you but it was actually the song Kangal Irandal (for Subramaniapuram) that made me a public figure. I knew the song would work, but I had no idea it would be so universally liked. When we were working on Subramaniapuram, I had finished tuning Kangal Irandal and I thought it had come out quite well. But then I started having second thoughts. I called Sasikumar and said, please cut this one out. But he convinced me to go ahead with it.

What projects are you working on, now?

At the moment, I'm working on Sasikumar's second film Eesan, and looking forward to working in more films.

Catch Oru Varthai Oru Laksham on Saturdays at 2000 hrs, on Vijay TV.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Manmadhan Ambu audio launch on TV



Vijay TV is all set to telecast Manmadhan Ambu audio launch held on November 20 in Singapore.

This grand function was a an extravagant three day affair as the entire cast began their journey from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on board the luxury cruise liner Superstar Virgo and headed to Singapore.

The exclusive event of the Manmadhan Ambu audio launch will be telecast on Vijay TV on Sunday, December 5 at 11am.  It was an extravagant audio launch at Max Pavilion, Signapore to an audience of over 7000.

The event commenced by the performances of Vijay TV's very own Super Singer Juniors & Jodi No.1 contestants along with the popular playback singers Mano & Chitra.

The event featured performances by the music director of the movie Devi Sri Prasad along with singers Suchitra, Sagar & Andrea.

And for the first time ever in an audio launch of the movie, the stars came forward to give extraordinary performances that thrilled the audiences. Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan sang his favorite number from the movie “Neelavanam”. This was Kamal Haasan's first performance in Singapore after a gap of more than 20 years.

Apart from this phenomenal performance, Trisha joined Kamal Haasan on stage to perform an act from the movie; which was a song in poetry form which was penned by the man himself.

Director K.S. Ravikumar, Madhavan, Sangeetha, the producer, Udhayanidhi Stalin, Gauthami and Ramesh Aravind were also part of the grand audio launch function in  Singapore.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Surf Excel Little Big Film Makers



Vijay TV’s Surf Excel Little Big Film Makers coming your way..!

Kids play; kids get dirty; there is a good deed somewhere in every act they do. Dirt and goodness go hand in hand in growing up. We believe that each kid has a story to tell; and this is an opportunity for your little ones to tell us their story and they could become a film maker. Vijay TV proudly presents Surf Excel – Little Big Film Makers. The show is a platform to encourage kids, their story telling abilities and giving them an opportunity to direct their own film.

As part of the activity, a road show is being conducted at over 100 schools across Chennai, Coimbatore and Trichy. Through which kids aged between 10 to 14 years (i.e. 4th std – 9th std) can participate by writing a story (in not more than 1000 words) that highlights “Dirt is good”. A story in which they got dirty to help someone or learnt something new. And if the story is exciting and interesting and if the judges love it; then this story would be made into a film with the kid as part of the film.

The chosen kids would be put under the guidance of well established ad film makers who would help them in the production of their films. The chosen kids and the entire production of these short films including pre/post, scripting, shooting etc., would be a part of a reality show that would be aired on Vijay TV titled Surf Excel Little Big Film Makers. Leading director AR Murugadoss would be the face of this campaign and would be a part of the judging panel on this show.  The best stories would be chosen and made into a film which would be featured as part of the show Little Big Film Makers.

Apart from the school contact programme, an open entry competition has also been organized on December 5, 2010 in Chennai at St.Ebbas Girls School, RK Salai from 10 am onwards through which individual contestants can also participate in this competition.

Every stain has a beautiful story behind it. And each of you will have a lot of such beautiful stain stories to share. So come tell us your story..!
 
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