Priyamani waiting to dub her films in her own voice

She lost Kerala state government best actress award for “Tirakatha” because she didn’t dub it in her own voice. Southern actress Priyamani doesn’t regret it, but at the same time she is keen to dub in her own voice.
The prestigious award eluded her because the jury refused to consider her as she hadn’t dubbed for the film herself and eventually the trophy went to Priyanka.

“I have been craving to dub in my own voice in my films, but it is up to the director to use my voice. I know I could not dub for ‘Tirakatha’ because I was little busy and the film unit was not able to wait for me to finish the dubbing work. And I don’t feel sorry for missing the award also because if I was destined to get the award, I would have got it even otherwise,” Priyamani told IANS.

“I don’t act in films to get awards. I never expected that I would be getting a National Award for my Tamil film ‘Paruthiveeran’. I think, it is all part of destiny and I would accept these minor setbacks as occupational hazards in my career,” Priyamani said.

Priyamani, who is now shooting for her Telugu film in Hyderabad, says she has not dubbed for any Telugu films so far.

“I have not dubbed even for my first Kannada film ‘Raam’ where I am working with Puneet Raj Kumar. Many directors feel that my voice doesn’t suit the characters that I have been playing. But many top Hindi actresses like Rani Mukerji are dubbing in their own voices despite having a screechy voice like me,” she said.

“It is now up to the film directors to use my voice or not. I cannot force them to use my voice because ultimately it is the director or producer’s discretion to use voices that suit the characters,” said Priyamani.

“Raam” producer Audithya Babu says Priyamani speaks in Kannada perfectly, but they could not use her voice because of the needs of the character.

“Priyamani has a base voice. And director Maadesh felt that a better voice could be used… Priyamani plays the role of a naughty, prankster born to a rich family who falls in love with a fun loving commoner. We did not want a hard voice for that character. We spoke to Priyamani and she was convinced with our argument,” said Audithya Babu.

Aarya and Nayanthara together in a Malayalam movie

Actor Aarya has become busy these days shooting for many films simultaneously at the same time. Apart from “Madrasapattinam’ and “Chikku Bhukku’, he has been filming for Malayalam film and Telugu films too. On the pars, Nayanthara too is busy with hectic schedules of Surya starrer “Aadhavan’.
Right now, sources have revealed that Aarya and Nayanthara will team up for an untitled Malayalam film directed by Shyam Prasad. But a million dollar question remains, whether Nayanthara has enough time to give dates for this film, as she is looking forward for Bollywood offers. Nothing has been officially announced by Shyam Prasad who had earlier made a great film titled “Ore Kadal’ starring Mammooty, Meera Jasmine, Naren and Ramya Krishnan in lead role. Well, we’ve got to wait and watch whether this alluring missy from God’s own country will pair up with Aarya.

Mammootty launches reality show to find fresh talent

Malayalam superstar Mammootty, who promised to launch fresh faces through his recently launched production company Play House, has started a talent hunt show in search of new faces.
The reality show titled “Mammootty, The Best Actor Award 2009″, went on air on Asianet TV Saturday.

“Sixteen contestants have been selected and each of them will have to perform on the reality show. This is just to give talented youngsters an opportunity to come out,” said the three-time national award winning actor.

Among the 16 selected, 10 are men and most of the participants are in their early 20s. They were shortlisted from among more than 1,000 aspirants.

There will 13 episodes that would be telecast every Saturday. The grand finale will take place in October in Dubai where Mammootty will announce the winners.

Yesteryears actress Sheela, ace comedian Jagathy Sreekumar along with Urvasi, Sreenivasan, Nedumudi Venu and popular director Siddique are judging the show.

Mammootty is the chairman of the Communist Party of India-Marxist backed Kairali TV, but he launched his reality show on a competitor’s channel. Asked why he did so, the superstar laughed and said: “The proposal came from Asianet and I felt it was a good idea and agreed.

“My job in the reality show is limited. Since it was the first episode that was aired last night (Saturday), I decided to be present. I have committed that the films produced by my production house will feature many contestants,” said the actor who is known for his powerful performances in movies like “Aalkootathil Thaniye”, “Adiyozhukkukal”, “Oru CBI Diary Kurippu”, “Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha” and “Mathilukal”.

After being active in the Malayalam film industry for 26 years and featuring in more than 300 films and picking up three national awards for his performances, Mammootty launched Play House in June this year.

So far the company has three films for distribution and one for production, in which Mammootty will play the lead.

Mammootty turns Panchayat president

After Smart City, super hit Madambi and IG, scriptwriter-turned-director B. Unnikrishanan is ready with his fourth directorial venture titled Pramaani, which will have super star Mammootty in the lead role. The flick is expected to hit the floors by the end of 2009 and is produced by B.C. Joshi, under the banner of Surya Cine.
There’s news going around that superstar Mammootty will play a corrupt Panchayat president named Raghava Panikkar, while the heroine, who is yet to be finalized, will portray the character of his secretary. The other star cast includes Jagathy, Salim Kumar, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Innocent and Siddique.

Respect to Lohithadas

There’s news going around that producers are planning to pay homage to scripting wizard Lohithadas, who met with an untimely death last month, by making films on the story ideas which Lohi has narrated to various producers.One of the scripts planned for the team of Sibi Malayil-Mohanlal duo titled Bheeshmar which Lohi was trying to complete in his last days, will most probably get into theatres in a year.Since this script was almost complete, the makers will not find it a big deal to transform it into a movie.

Sohanlal’s next

Young director Sohanlal cemented his place in the glam-world after winning accolades for his debut flick Orkkuka Vallapozhum, and the director is all set to start working on another yet to be titled project.The new flick will feature Jayasuriya is the lead. The other cast and crew is yet to be finalized. The movie is going to be scripted by Deedi Damodharan, who became famous with her debut script Gulmohur.We hope that Sohanlal succeeds in adding yet another hit film to his name.

I am not in love with anyone says Nayanthara

Recently while addressing the media, gorgeous Nayanthara denied any kind of affair with Prabhu Deva, “I am not in love with anyone. I love only the films I act.”Further replying to media’s inquiry about her silence on the same, the actress said, “There is no necessity for me to reply to anyone about these silly things. I have no time to explain about the rumours spread about me. The only people I should explain to; are my parents. They have faith in me and have given me full freedom. I will not take advantage of this.”Nayanthara also spoke about the wedding photos of her with Prabhu Deva, “Those were graphic generated images. I was totally upset seeing these pictures. In fact I lost my balance.” About her recent meeting with Simbhu, Nayanthara clarified, “we have met recently only to discuss about a story. There is no other reason. This meeting was purely professional and not personal. I am not in love with anyone.”