Kattabomman !

With the digitised version of “Karnan” becoming a hit, many are on the race to give yesteryear films a new lease of life. For one, Raj TV, which has the rights of many Tamil hits, is looking at digitising many Sivaji Ganesan and MGR films. Rajendran of Raj TV says: “I watched a few scenes of James Cameron's 3D version of ‘Titanic' recently. It was a fantastic experience! That made me think ‘why not make 3D versions of a few yesteryear films?' In fact, we are working on making ‘Veerapaandiya Kattabomman' digital. I'm sure it will be an enjoyable experience for the audience.” Looks like the Tamil audience can look forward to visual treats on the big screen soon!

A new role

Actors turning to production is not new — everyone from MGR to Siddharth has done it. The latest to join this list is actor Vijay. Sources say the production house could be named after one of his hits “Gilli”. His first production will be the remake of his father's hit “Sattam Oru Iruttarai”, with Vikram Prabhu (actor Prabhu's son) and heroine Karthika (Radha's daughter) in the lead.

The long road to a title

Suddenly, actors and directors seem to want the word ‘Nedunchaalai' in their films. Director Vetri Maran wants it for his film because the story happens on a highway. Siddarth plays the lead in the film. Krishna of “Sillunu Oru Kadhal”-fame too wanted it, for, his story too revolves around a national highway and is set in 1985. Ari and Shivatha play the lead. Actor Srinivasan too wanted the title and now his film (which he also produces) is titled “Desiya Nedunchaalai”. And, Krishna's film is titled “Nedunchaalai”. According to Krishna, the film will be shot on highways in Salem, Dharmapuri, Mysore, Bengaluru, New Delhi and Chennai. The cast includes Prashanth Narayan, Thambi Ramaiya, VTV Ganesh, Manigandan and Ponnaiya. The music is scored by Sathya C., and the film is produced by Fine Focus.

'கர்ணன்' again!

தூள் கிளப்பும் 'கர்ணன்'

Posted Date : 20:03 (21/03/2012)Last updated : 20:03 (21/03/2012) - பானுமதி அருணாசலம் கடந்த ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை 'கர்ணன்' படம் பார்க்கும் வாய்ப்பு கிடைத்தது. திருவிளையாடல், வீரபாண்டிய கட்டபொம்மன் போன்ற படங்களை டி.வி.-யில் பார்த்திருக்கிறேன். ஆனால் ஏனோ இதுவரை 'கர்ணன்' படம் பார்க்கும் வாய்ப்பு மட்டும் கிட்டவில்லை. டிஜிட்டல் தொழில்நுட்பத்தில் வெளியிடப்பட்ட படத்தைப் பார்க்க மிகவும் ஆசையாக இருந்தது. காலையில் கிளம்பி தியேட்டருக்கு சென்றபோது அங்கு ஓடிய புதுப்படங்களுக்கு ஈடாக டிக்கெட் கவுன்டரில் கூட்டம். தள்ளாடும் வயதினர் மட்டுமல்லாமல் இளைஞர்கள் அதிகளவில் வந்திருந்தது ஆச்சரியமாக இருந்தது. டிக்கெட் வாங்கிவிட்டு தியேட்டரில் உட்கார்ந்த போது கொஞ்ச கொஞ்சமாக இருக்கைகள் நிரம்ப துவங்கின. முன் இருக்கைகளில் உட்கார்ந்திருந்த பெரியவர்கள் தாம் அந்த காலத்தில் 'கர்ணன்' படத்தை பார்த்தது பற்றி பெருமையாக பேசிக் கொண்டிருந்தார்கள்.படம் ஆரம்பித்தபோது திரையரங்கம் நிறைந்திருந்தது. சிவாஜி முதலில் வந்த காட்சிக்கு அத்தனை விசில், கைத்தட்டல்கள். படம் ஓட ஆரம்பித்து இருபது நிமிடங்கள் ஆகியும் சில இளைஞர்கள் இருட்டில் இருக்கைகளைத் தேடி வந்து உட்கார்ந்து கொண்டிருந்தனர். நட்பு, காதல், வீரம், பாசம், நகைச்சுவை என அனைத்து அம்சங்களும் நிறைந்திருந்தது படத்தில். சிவாஜியும், சாவித்திரியும் வரும் காட்சிகள் அவ்வளவு சுவாரசியம். நகைச்சுவை கலந்த வசனங்கள் என்னை மிகவும் கவர்ந்தன. இன்றைய திரைப்படங்களில் சொல்லப்படும் 'டைமிங்' நக்கல் அனைத்தும் 'கர்ணன்' படத்தில் இடம்பெற்றிருந்தது. சிவாஜியின் நுணுக்கமான முகபாவங்களுக்கு, வசன உச்சரிப்புக்கு, கைத் தட்டாமல் இருக்க முடியவில்லை. அசோகனிடம் நட்பைப் பற்றி பேசும்போதும், தேவிகாவிடம் காதலில் மயங்கும் போதும், கண்ணனாக வரும் என்.டி.ராமாராவிடம் வில்லங்கமாக பேசும்போதும் சக்தி கிருஷ்ணசாமியின் வசனங்களை சிவாஜி பேசும்போது ஆர்பரிக்கிறது கூட்டம். தியேட்டர் முழுவதும் ஆரவாரம். 'நிலவும் மலரும் மலரட்டுமே' என கண்ணதாசனின் கற்பனையை, விஸ்வநாதன் ராமமூர்த்தியின் இசையில் - அதுவும் டிஜிட்டல் சவுண்டில் - கேட்கும் போது காதுக்கு மட்டுமல்ல மனதிற்கும் அவ்வளவு இனிமையாக இருந்தது. 'உள்ளத்தில் நல்ல உள்ளம் உறங்காதென்பது' என்னும் பாடல், படம் பார்த்தவர்களின் உள்ளத்தை உருகச்செய்திருக்கும் என்பதை சொல்லத் தேவையில்லை. தனது மாமனார் தன்னை அவமானப்படுத்தும் காட்சியில் வசனம் இல்லாமல் வெறும் நடிப்பால் பதிலடி கொடுக்கும் காட்சியில் சிவாஜி சிவாஜி தான். அந்த காலத்தில் பிரம்மாண்டமாக தயாரிக்கப்பட்ட படம், இன்றைய தொழில்நுட்பத்தில் பார்க்கும்போது இன்னும் மிக பிரம்மாண்டமாக திரையில் தெரிகிறது. என்னதான் பீசா, பர்கர்ன்னு சாப்பிட்டு வேஷம் போட்டு திரிந்தாலும், இட்லிக்கு சாம்பார், சட்னியுடன் சாப்பிடும் திருப்திக்கு ஈடு இணையே இல்லை. அதைப் போலத்தான் இந்த படமும். 'நம்ம' படம் என்ற உணர்வை ஏற்படுத்துகிறது. மொத்தத்தில் அற்புதமான படத்தை பார்த்த திருப்தி. படம் முடிந்து வெளியில் வரும்போது 'இது மாதிரி வரலாற்று சிறப்பு மிக்க படங்கள் மறு வெளியீடு செஞ்சா நல்லா இருக்குமே...’ என ஒரு இளைஞர்கள் கூட்டம் பேசிக் கொண்டு போனதை கேட்க முடிந்தது. இன்றைக்கு இருக்கும் தொழில்நுட்ப உதவியுடன் நல்ல படமாக எடுத்து வெளியிட்டால் ரசனை ஆரோக்கியமானதாக இருக்கும்.. முடியாவிட்டால், அட்லீஸ்ட் ஏற்கனவே வந்த நல்ல படத்தை தொழில்நுட்ப உதவியுடன் மறுவெளியீடாவது செய்யலாமே.. கர்ணனைப் போல!

Modi-ji on TIME cover!

 

Karnan rules

CINEMA “Karnan,” the classic featuring Sivaji Ganesan and a slew of other stars, releases in some theatres in the city today in its restored format

As N. T. Rama Rao in the role of Lord Krishna walks on the battlefield that has turned bloody with bodies of soldiers lying all around, I wonder how director B. R. Panthulu could have filmed the mammoth scene more than 40 years ago when graphics and gimmickry were unheard of! “Exactly,” says Mrs. YGP, dean and director, PSBB group of schools, who was among the audience that watched “Karnan” recently. “Panthulu's son, Ravishankar, told me that it took four days for the shot that appears for just about two minutes in the film,” she adds.

In the Mahabharata, the character of Karnan has several interesting facets. You can gauge the extensive reference that has gone into the production. “I remember dad poring over huge volumes for months on end for the project,” Ravishankar had told me when I met him recently. “It is an authentic depiction of the Mahabharata,” says Mrs. YGP.

Sakthi Krishnaswamy's dialogue is another enhancing factor! “Today we wax eloquent about Tamil culture, language and values. But the ‘Karnan' team highlighted these commendably decades ago,” she says.

Ganga's artwork is an exercise in aesthetic splendour — be it the palaces or the outdoor locations, his contribution is considerable. Particularly, the scene at dawn near the river where Karnan meets his mother Kunthi Devi is excellent for its muted lighting and the Sanchi Stupa-like structure that forms a silhouette in the background. V. Ramamurthy's cinematography and Ganga's art meld beautifully here!

Every scene of “Karnan” has been crafted with care. And for his part, now, S. Chandrakumar has done his best in the DTS department.

“It's like watching a new film. To me it is in the league of ‘Ben-Hur.' Remarkable job,” Mrs. YGP extols.

PERFECT BODY LANGUAGE

If the technical crew is brilliant, so is the cast that has Sivaji Ganesan at the helm. “Every muscle in his body performs. His eyes convey much more than words can. This is what I term as perfect body language,” she says. By today's standards songs could have been fewer and a couple of scenes could have been underplayed, you could say, but the riveting performance of Ganesan throughout makes such comments too frivolous to mention. What a performer! When will come another such? Notable actors such as Muthuraman, M. V. Rajamma, Sandhya (mother of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu), Savithri Ganesan, Devika, Asokan, Jayanthi, Kalpana and Javert Seetharaman play significant roles.

The illustrious composing duo of Viswanathan and Ramamurthy has worked magic with music. “The ‘Ullathil Nalla Ullam' song gives the essence of the Bhagavad Gita in three verses,” Mrs. YGP says. They are by Kannadasan, that lyricist nonpareil!

A classic that was almost gone has been restored to the maximum extent, thanks to the perseverance of Shanthi Chokkalingam. Yet minor hiccoughs seem inevitable.

Besides other theatres, Karnan releases this Friday at Sathyam, Serene and Escape.

Swaroop Reddy, director, Sathyam Cinemas, feels “Karnan” isn't a mere business proposition. “The Tamil culture of the past has to be projected. Also such efforts would help the producers and distributors involved. Money is secondary. We are releasing it, not on a rental, but on a sharing basis. It means we could win or lose, but we feel it's worthwhile,” says Muni Kanniah, VP, Movie Scheduling and Distributor Relations.

“And for my part, I plan to bring my students from Classes IX to XII to the theatres so they can understand the values the epic imparts and watch the versatility of that great actor on the big screen. ‘Karnan' is a film for people of all age groups. Hope they throng the cinemas to watch it,” Mrs. YGP smiles.

The words propel me to my past, when Ms. Jesudas, who taught us Tamil in school, walked into the classroom with the announcement: “The school plans to take you all to watch ‘Karnan' this week.” We were thrilled.

To me, Karnan is synonymous with Ganesan, and my memories remain evergreen…

Living the role

“Panthulu means magnificence,” laughs octogenarian V. S. Raghavan. Just a couple of scenes, but, for the veteran it was enough to make an impact. Humiliated at Duriyodhanan’s court, Vidhuran vows not to fight for the king in the war, breaks his bow that has the power to annihilate the opponent, and walks out in a fit of rage. “I got so involved in the character that even after the shot was over I kept walking. Only when N.T. Rama Rao stopped me and asked, ‘What is this,’ did I realise it,” laughs Raghavan. “And later when Sivaji Ganesan complimented me for my performance, it was like winning an award for Karnan,” he recalls.

Kick-startled!

Shanmugasundaram who played Salliya Chakravarthy, a charioteer as skilled as Lord Krishna, was just 19 at the time. “A terrific experience! I think my fit physique gave Panthulu the idea that I could pull it off,” he smiles. His superciliousness in the battle sequence proves Shanmugasundaram’s potential. “It was shot in Jaipur. After work for the day was over, the horses, about 400 of them, were being led away in rows of four. I was still in the garb of a royal soldier and wanting to cross over to the other side I began moving between the rows. But the horse before me sensed my presence and gave me a solid kick on my jaw with his hind leg that I couldn’t close my mouth for a while. Every time I think of ‘Karnan,’ the horse and its kick come to my mind,” he laughs.

Moved to tears

The actor may be the father of two teenaged sons now, but he is still known as Master Sridhar. He was the orphaned child who seeks justice in Karnan’s court. “I’ve been extremely blessed to act with such a storehouse of talent. As I delivered my dialogue, Sivaji Ganesan was so moved that tears rolled down his cheeks. He called out ‘Cut’ and the scene had to be re-shot. Drawing me towards him after the shoot, he gave me Rs.1000 as a reward and gave me a hug. It was a memorable moment for me,” says Master Sridhar.

Keep moving!

Why It’s So Important to Keep Moving

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

Coneyl Jay/Getty ImagesScientists are coming to learn how staying active helps stave off illness.

Hoping to learn more about how inactivity affects disease risk, researchers at the University of Missouri recently persuaded a group of healthy, active young adults to stop moving around so much. Scientists have known for some time that sedentary people are at increased risk of developing heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. But they haven’t fully understood why, in part because studying the effects of sedentary behavior isn’t easy. People who are inactive may also be obese, eat poorly or face other lifestyle or metabolic issues that make it impossible to tease out the specific role that inactivity, on its own, plays in ill health.

So, to combat the problem, researchers lately have embraced a novel approach to studying the effects of inactivity. They’ve imposed the condition on people who otherwise would be out happily exercising and moving about, in some cases by sentencing them to bed rest.

But in the current study, which was published this month in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the scientists created a more realistic version of inactivity by having their volunteers cut the number of steps they took each day by at least half.

They wanted to determine whether this physical languor would affect the body’s ability to control blood sugar levels. “It’s increasingly clear that blood sugar spikes, especially after a meal, are bad for you,” says John P. Thyfault, an associate professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri, who conducted the study with his graduate student Catherine R. Mikus and others. “Spikes and swings in blood sugar after meals have been linked to the development of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.”

So the scientists fitted their volunteers with sophisticated glucose monitoring devices, which checked their blood sugar levels continuously throughout the day. They also gave the subjects pedometers and activity-measuring armbands, to track how many steps they took. Finally, they asked the volunteers to keep detailed food diaries.

Then they told them to just live normally for three days, walking and exercising as usual.

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Exercise guidelines from the American Heart Association and other groups recommend that, for health purposes, people accumulate 10,000 steps or more a day, the equivalent of about 30 minutes of walking or easy jogging. Few people do, however. Repeated studies of American adults have shown that a majority take fewer than 5,000 steps per day.

The Missouri volunteers were atypical in that regard. Each exercised 30 minutes or so most days and easily completed more than 10,000 daily steps during the first three days of the experiment. The average was almost 13,000 steps.

During these three days, according to data from their glucose monitors, the volunteers’ blood sugar did not spike after they ate.

But that estimable condition changed during the second portion of the experiment, when the volunteers were told to cut back on activity so that their step counts would fall below 5,000 a day for the next three days. Achieving such indolence was easy enough. The volunteers stopped exercising and, at every opportunity, took the elevator, not the stairs, or had lunch delivered, instead of strolling to a cafe. They became, essentially, typical American adults.

Their average step counts fell to barely 4,300 during the three days, and the volunteers reported that they now “exercised,” on average, about three minutes a day.

Meanwhile, they ate exactly the same meals and snacks as they had in the preceding three days, so that any changes in blood sugar levels would not be a result of eating fattier or sweeter meals than before.

And there were changes. During the three days of inactivity, volunteers’ blood sugar levels spiked significantly after meals, with the peaks increasing by about 26 percent compared with when the volunteers were exercising and moving more. What’s more, the peaks grew slightly with each successive day.

This change in blood sugar control after meals “occurred well before we could see any changes in fitness or adiposity,” or fat buildup, due to the reduced activity, Dr. Thyfault says. So the blood sugar swings would seem to be a result, directly, of the volunteers not moving much.

Which is both distressing and encouraging news. “People immediately think, ‘So what happens if I get hurt or really busy, or for some other reason just can’t work out for awhile?’” Dr. Thyfault says. “The answer seems to be that it shouldn’t be a big problem.” Studies in both humans and animals have found that blood sugar regulation quickly returns to normal once activity resumes.

The spikes during inactivity are natural, after all, even inevitable, given that unused muscles need less fuel and so draw less sugar from the blood.

The condition becomes a serious concern, Dr. Thyfault says, only when inactivity is lingering, when it becomes the body’s default condition. “We hypothesize that, over time, inactivity creates the physiological conditions that produce chronic disease,” like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, regardless of a person’s weight or diet.

To avoid that fate, he says, keep moving, even if in small doses. “When I’m really busy, I make sure to get up and walk around the office or jog in place every hour or so,” he says. Wear a pedometer if it will nudge you to move more. “You don’t have to run marathons,” he says. “But the evidence is clear that you do need to move.”

KarNan

புதுப் பொலிவுடன் நடிகர் திலகத்தின் கர்ணன்!

நடிகர் திலகம் சிவாஜி கணேசன் நடிப்பில், பி ஆர் பந்துலு இயக்கத்தில் 1964-ம் ஆண்டு வெளியான பிரமாண்டமான புராண - வரலாற்றுப் படம் கர்ணன்.

பார்த்தவர் அத்தனைப் பேரையும் கட்டிப் போட்ட காவியப் படம் இது. சிவாஜி கணேசன், சாவித்ரி, தேவிகா, அசோகன் என ஜாம்பவான்கள் நடிப்பில் வந்த படம்.

பெற்ற தாய்க்கு மட்டுமல்ல, படைத்த இறைவனுக்கே வரம் அளித்த பெருமைக்குரிய தர்மவான் கர்ணன். தர்மதேவனையும் நெகிழ்ச்சியில் கண்ணீர் விட வைத்த கர்ணன் என்ற மகாபாரதப் பாத்திரம் உயிருடன் இருந்திருந்தால் எப்படி இருந்திருப்பார் என்பதை கண்முன் நிறுத்தினார் நடிகர் திலகம் சிவாஜி கணேசன்.

அந்தப் படம் கிட்டத்தட்ட 50 ஆண்டுகள் கழித்து மீண்டும் புதுப் பொலிவுடன் வெளிவருகிறது.

இந்தப் படத்தை தயாரித்து இயக்கிய பி ஆர் பந்துலுவுக்கு இந்த நூறாவது ஆண்டு வருடம் என்பதால், அவரை கவுரவிக்கும் வகையில், படத்தை டிஜிட்டலுக்கு மாற்றியுள்ளனர், இதனை வெளியிடும் திவ்யா பிலிம்ஸ் நிறுவனத்தினர்.

தொழில்நுட்ப ரீதியில் இன்றைக்குள்ள அனைத்து வசதிகளையும் பயன்படுத்தி இந்தப் படத்தை 5.1 ஒலியமைப்புடனும், மேம்படத்தப்பட்ட தரத்துடனும் வெளியிடுகிறார்கள். அதே நேரம் ஒரிஜினல்தன்மை மாறாதவாறும் பார்த்துக் கொண்டுள்ளனர்.

படத்தின் ட்ரெயிலரை வரும் பிப்ரவரி 21-ம் தேதி சத்யம் திரையரங்கில் வெளியிடுகின்றனர். பின்னர் ஒரு புதிய படத்தை எப்படி ரிலீஸ் பண்ணுவார்களோ அதே மாதிரி கர்ணனையும் உலகெங்கும் வெளியிட திட்டமிட்டுள்ளனர்.

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