Kanthaswamy

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Kanthaswamy
Directed by Susi Ganesan
Produced by Kalaipuli S. Dhanu
Written by Susi Ganesan
Starring Vikram
Shriya Saran
Krishna
Indrajith
Ashish Vidyarthi
Vivek
Santhanam
Music by Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography N. K. Ekambaram
Distributed by Kalaipuli International
Release date(s) October 28, 2008
Language Tamil
Budget 40 crores[1]

Kanthaswamy (Tamil:கந்தசாமி) is a forthcoming Tamil feature film currently being directed by Susi Ganesan, who with Kanthaswamy will direct his fourth film. Vikram acts in the lead role, whilst Shriya Saran, Krishna, Ashish Vidyarthi and Vivek also play roles in the film. The film, which has been under production since mid 2007, has Devi Sri Prasad as the music composer. Upon the conclusion of post-production, the film will be subsequently dubbed into Telugu as Mallana and simultaneously released with the original. The film, produced by Kalaipuli International, is set to be released on October 28, 2008 clashing with Diwali, despite the trailer stating that it will release coinciding with Tamil New Year.

Contents

[edit] Production

[edit] Development

In January 2007, early reports suggested that Kalaipuli International were set to make a film starring Vikram directed by Susi Ganesan, titled Kanthaswamy for a release during Diwali 2007.[2] Soon after the announcement Shriya Saran, who was acting in Sivaji: The Boss at the time was roped in to play the heroine.[3] However due to Vikram and Shriya's projects, the film was delayed and the first schedule was postponed to July 2007. The film's first photo shoot was carried out in June 2007 at Mutukadu near Chennai featuring the lead actors.[4] The film began filming a pre-launch trailer, the first of its kind in Tamil cinema, to be screened at the launch, with Vikram, Susi Ganesan and fashion designer Chetan travelling to Malaysia to look for Hollywood-inspired costumes.[5]

The inauguration of Kanthaswamy took place on 22 September 2007 at the Devi Paradise theatre in Chennai. For the event, a unique electronic invitation, made in China, was presented to guests who had been invited. The invitation was the size of a laptop and featured a 8 minute trailer of Kanthaswamy.[6] Each invitation had cost about Rs. 15,000, making it the most expensive invitation in Indian film history.[7] Following the launch ceremony, the team announced they had adopted two villages near Madurai; Sangampatti and Gandhi Nagar, to shoot in initially and then to provide basic amenities like school and proper roads among other things to the villagers for a year. The team, who were praised for their actions, were the first production team to take part in such activity in Tamil cinema.[8]

In November 2007, the shooting was halted temporarily due to an accident that occurred at the shooting spot at the Chennai Boat Club. Cameraman Ekambaram was canning the shots as per director Susi Ganesan's instructions when a pole erected on the sets unexpectedly fell on the director's head resulting in an injury.[9] The film has finished schedules at Italy, where the trailer was filmed as well as schedules in Tanzania, Kenya and Switzerland. A schedule in locations in Mexico are also imminent, with the team having been location hunting there.[10] The film, initially described as a "hilarious comedy", was rumoured to be a remake of the Hollywood cult hit, The Breakfast Club,[11] however Susi Ganesan has claimed that the film has a more Robin Hood feel to it.[12]

[edit] Casting

Following the announcement of the project, titled as Kanthaswamy, Vikram and Katrina Kaif was originally selected to be the heroine, however due to commitments in Bollywood as well as the fact that she would have had to have a pay cut from her usual higher salaries in Bollywood, Kaif opted out of the project.[2] Shriya Saran was signed in February 2007, when she was in the middle of completing her other prestigious projects Sivaji: The Boss and Azhagiya Tamil Magan.[3] In September 2007, with the release of the trailer several other artistes names were featured as supporting cast. Prominent supporting actor Raghuvaran was selected to playas Shriya's father and shot scenes in the role, before his unexpected death during the production of the film, subsequently, his role was replaced by Ashish Vidyarthi.[13] Vivek and Santhanam were also added, as well as lesser established actors such as Vikram's father Vinod Raj, Y. G. Mahendran, Shiv, Arun Madhavan, Vinayak and Alex. Later on, veteran Telugu actor Krishna,[14] father of Mahesh Babu was signed to a role in the project as well as Indrajith, elder brother of prominent actor, Prithviraj, whom will do a villainous role in the film.[15] Indrajith was selected for the role ahead of other prominent character actors Arjun Rampal, Irfan Khan and Suman.[16] Recently, Mansoor Ali Khan took up a negative role in the film to make a comeback ino the acting foray.[17]

The producer of Kanthaswamy, Kalaipuli S. Dhanu and Susi Ganesan the director ensembled an experienced team to produce the film. Veterans Thotta Tharani, A. S. Laxmi Narayanan and Vairamuthu, winners of nine National Film Awards between them, take care of the art direction, audiography and lyrics respectively. Devi Sri Prasad composes the music for his biggest film to date following several compositions for smaller budget Tamil films and Telugu films. N. K. Ekambaram controls the cinematography of the film, whilst Antony edits the film. Kannal Kannan is the fight master for the film, whilst Mittra media are responsible for the publicity designs the film outputs, adding to their work with the trailer and the invitations. The film is co-produced, by Chennai businessmen, A. Paranthaman and A. K. Natraj along with Dhanu.

[edit] References

  1. ^ 'Kanthaswamy' and Magical. Indiaglitz.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
  2. ^ a b Susi-Vikram venture named 'Kandasamy'. Nowrunning.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
  3. ^ a b What makes Shriya click?. Indiaglitz.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
  4. ^ Vikram begins work on Kandasamy. Galattatime.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
  5. ^ Vikram’s costume party. Behindwoods.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
  6. ^ Ashok Kumar, S.R (2007). Invitation for launch of ‘Kandasamy’ not commonplace. The Hindu. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  7. ^ Warrior, Shobha (2007). 'I want Kandaswamy to be the biggest film of 2008'. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-25.
  8. ^ Kavitha, S.S (2007). Adoption with a difference. The Hindu. Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
  9. ^ ‘Kandasamy’ shooting comes to a halt. Cinesouth.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-23.
  10. ^ Bangkok purchases for 'Kandasamy'. Cinesouth.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
  11. ^ Vikram's Kandasamy remake of the English movie "The Breakfast Club". TamilFilmRatings.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
  12. ^ The Robin Hood of Kollywood. OneIndia.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
  13. ^ Kanthaswamy’s latest replacement. Behindwoods.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
  14. ^ A new star joins Kanthaswamy. Behindwoods.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-05.
  15. ^ Prithiviraj's sibling in Kanthaswamy. Behindwoods.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
  16. ^ Kanthaswamy's new villain!. Sify.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-27.
  17. ^ Mansoor's Kanthasamy connection. Chennai365.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-17.

[edit] External links

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