Exploring the Enigma Called Illaiyaraja – Episode 3
Illaiyaraja’s first soundtrack was a runaway hit, but there were many who still doubted his talent and longevity in the industry. Illaiyaraja’s second film, Paaloota Vallartha Killi was the first of his soundtracks to feature his old and lifelong friend, S.P. Balasubramaniyam. After scoring music for three successive films for the directorial duo, Devaraj-Mohan, the […]
Exploring the Enigma Called Illaiyaraja – Episode 2
Illaiyaraja was born as Gnanathesigan in the small town of Pannaipuram on 03 June 1943. When his father enrolled him at school, he registered him as Rajaiyya, but the village folk all called him Raasaiyya. His music Guru, Dhanraj-Master renamed him Raja. When Panju Arunachallam introduced him to films, there was already a Raja in […]
Versatile and Lovable Ramesh Thilak Turns 40 Today.
RJ-turned-actor Ramesh Thilak turns 40 today. He began his career as a Radio jockey on Suryan FM and rapidly rose to popularity because of his jovial nature that ensured that his shows were lively and humorous. His antics on radio led to him being referred to as Thillu Mullu Ramesh. He made his acting debut […]
Rising Star, Adithya RK Turns 26 Today
One of the rapidly ascending singers of recent times is Adithya RK. He is the son of film and TV actress Meera Krishnan and his father, Krishnan, runs the Sruthilaya recording studio. Adhithya’s paternal grandfather is the music legend, K. Veeramani (also the father of popular singer, Veeramani Kannan) Adithya came into the public eye […]
Exploring the Enigma called Illaiyaraja – Episode 1 (Introduction)
How does one adequately profile a living legend like Illaiyaraja – a genius of unbelievable depth whose career spans more than 1500 films, more than 7000 songs and who has performed in more than 20 000 concerts! In a 2013 poll held by CNN-IBN, Illaiyaraja was voted as the greatest Indian music composer of all time. […]
Ajith Kumar, a self-made star who remains a source of inspiration.
Ajith Kumar is easily one of the most respected actors in the industry. Known for his gentlemanly conduct, his profound respect for everyone and a disciplined approach to his craft, Ajith is an embodiment of humility: He has frequently cooked food for everyone on set, and would go to the extent of serving them and […]
Don’t Allow Social Media to Kill the Industry We Love
For those who follow Tamil cinema news on various social media platforms, you would have noted the increasing toxicity from fans of the various actors or film personalities. The immediacy of social media means that the discussions that used to happen face to face among people can now take place with millions of people through […]
Samantha Ruth Prabhu turns 38 today
Samantha Ruth Prabhu was born on 28 April 1987 to a Telugu father and a Malayali mother. She was educated in Chennai and is fluent in Tamil, Telugu and English. Samantha made her film debut in Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Ye Maaya Chesave which was the Telugu version of Vinaithaandi Varuvaaya – Both films were made […]
Versatile actor P Samuthrakani turns 52 today.
P Samuthrakani was born on 26 April 1973. A B.Sc and Bachelor of Law graduate, he joined Sundar K Vijayan (son of K Vijayan) as an assistant director before being chosen by K Balachander as assistant director in Balachander’s 100th film, Parthale Paravasam. He started his career as a director by relaunching Cheran’s stalled film, […]
Celebrating an unmatched Legend – S. Janaki on her 87th birthday
The word “legendary” is often used rather loosely, but it is an appropriate adjective to describe playback singer, S. Janaki – a singer who has recorded more than 48 000 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu, Odia, Tulu, Punjabi, Badaga, Bengali, Konkani, English, Japanese, German and Sinhala. If that list of songs does […]