AVM Saravanan Interview

So even a banner like yours can't get a concession from them?

Nothing. No concession! We too are no exception. But here I remember an incident with N T Rama Rao. NTR was charging a lakh those days and was to do a film for us. He gave an appointment at 4.30 a.m. I went to his house with our distributor Poornachandra Rao. NTR was up and ready with his make-up. He said, "Saravanan do you know how much I am charging?" I said I knew that he was charging one lakh. He said, you know that my last two films have not done well? I replied that I was aware of it. Then he said something that surprised and shocked me. He said, "When our films are successful we increase our price. Now that two of my films have flopped, you can reduce my fee to Rs 90,000." Though I may not get any concession today, I'm happy that like an NTR, an MGR, Sivaji or a Rajkumar, today too there is sill a Rajnikant, a Kamal Haasan and a Vijaykanth who show us the same respect. Which unfortunately we don't get from the rest in today's generation who treat us more like producers! Though I have to admit that they do come and meet us when we phone them.

 

Let's come to 'Sivaji'. It's taking a long time in making, the financial aspect must be bothering you.

Shanker has his own style of working. He is a very meticulous director who seeks perfection, and his schedules are well-planned. Even Rajnikant expressed his satisfaction over Shanker's work style. But one difference is that while for all our earlier projects we sold the film the day we announced it, this is the first time I'll be selling my film only after the entire shoot is over. When I can be sure what exactly my total cost of production is. As for the funding, the financial part has been taken care of by the bank (IOB), and the entire transactions are through cheques. The film should most probably be an April release.

 

Talking of Rajni, how did you get him to act in 'Sivaji'?

Frankly, there is no question of our 'approaching' Rajni! If he decides to do a film for someone, he himself will approach them. He came to our studio one day, and it was while we were talking casually that he expressed his desire to do his next film for us. We, of course, were elated. Incidentally, we are the only producers to have done a record nine films with him. It was Guhan who roped in Shanker for it. Later, on an auspicious day, Guhan and I went and gave Rajni a token amount of Rs 1,000 as the signing fee. He was reluctant to take even that. We share a comfortable rapport, he's not changed a all. Only, he's become a little more pious these days.

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"சிவாஜி" ஷ¨ட்டிங்கில் நயன்தாரா

சென்னை, செப்.25: சென்னை பின்னி மில்லில் ÔசிவாஜிÕ படப்பிடிப்பு நடந்து வருகிறது. அதே இடத்தில் ஜீவா, நயன்தாரா நடிக்கும் ÔஈÕ படத்தின் படப்பிடிப்பும் அண்மையில் நடந்தது.

"ஈ" படப்பிடிப்பில் இருந்த நயன்தாரா, "சிவாஜி" ஷ¨ட்டிங் நடப்பதை அறிந்து, அதைப் பார்க்க வேண்டும் என்ற தனது ஆவலை மானேஜரிடம் கூறி அனுப்பினார்.

இதைக் கேள்விப்பட்ட ரஜினி, நயன்தாராவை செட்டுக்கு வருமாறு அழைத்தார். அப்போது, ரஜினி வில்லன்களுடன் மோதும் சண்டைக் காட்சியை ஷங்கர் படமாக்கிக் கொண்டிருந்தார். நயன்தாரா இந்த காட்சியை பார்த்து ரசித்தார். பின் ரஜினியை சந்தித்தார். இது குறித்து நயன்தாரா கூறும்போது, Ôசிவாஜி படத்தில் ரஜினி முன்பை விட அழகாகத் தெரிகிறார். 20 நிமிடங்கள் அவருடன் பேசினேன். இயக்குனர் ஷங்கரையும் எனக்கு அறிமுகம் செய்து வைத்தார். "ஐயா" படத்தில் வரும் Ôஒரு வார்த்தை சொல்லÕ பாடல் தனக்கு பிடிக்கும் என ஷங்கர் சொன்னார். அவரிடம், என்னை சிறந்த நடிகை என ரஜினி கூறியது, பெருமையாக இருந்ததுÕ என்றார்

Binny mills thronged with Rajini fans and general public

The most expected visual extravaganza Rajini’s Sivaji is progressing day after day in and around the outskirts of the city. The shoots are nearing the stage of wrap up. On Thursday, Assistant Police Commissioner office premises at Pulianthope (near Perambur) witnessed massive turnaround of activities and was thronged with general public who were dying to catch a glimpse of their icon – Superstar Rajinikanth.

The shoots were scheduled at the APC office and scenes of Rajini being arrested by the Police Commissioner and taken charge were shot. Rajendranath donned the Police Commissioner’s role. Earlier, Sivaji was shot in different locations in Chennai and Hyderabad. Song sequences of Rajini with Shreya in the lead were shot in Europe and other exotic locales. Shoots were carried out in Binny mill premises during the week that went by and it is reported that the shooting schedule of the mega movie is nearing completion.

Coming over to Pulianthope again, after news seeped out that Rajini is going to turn up for the shoots, the entire vicinity was swarmed by eager fans and kids in the surrounding areas longing to grasp a lifetime look at their favorite star. Besides, junior artistes close to 1000 were hired in loads and were filled in the spot. RRajini’s arrest and the public protest over it were shot. Junior artistes enacted the scene and artistes who were dressed as cops controlling the crowds created confusion among the public since there were real cops around.

Rajini appeared in the midst and the arrest scene was shot and he was walked out of the Commissioner’s office. Rajini was amidst heavy security measures and was seen escorted by his personal guards. He was escorted to the Binny mill premises after the completion of every shot to relax. The stretch of Ambedkar College road from Pulianthope to Vyasarpadi was closed owing to the maintenance measures of the canal.

This facilitated the crew since the road was deserted with no traffic. Rajini will be seen playing a NRI millionaire in Sivaji who comes back home only to lose his entire wealth to the corrupt politicians in Tamil Nadu. He is left with a single rupee and his struggle to re-earn his lost wealth is Sivaji – if what close sources say can be believed.

 

http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news/sep-06-03/22-09-06-sivaji.html

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The unsung heroes on the sets of Sivaji

Now, the scene moves onto the making of another movie, Sivaji. The making of this movie too witnessed some unfortunate incidents. Three stuntmen suffered serious injuries during the filming process. One of them suffered a dislocated shoulder, another suffered a fractured thighbone and the third person got blood clots all over his body. All three of them are under treatment. Rajinikanth visited them in the hospital and gave them the courage to fight back from their injury.

This surely must have raised the confidence of the injured men and their families. Rajni also assured that all the medical expenses would be taken care of by him. This article is dedicated to Logu and the thousands of stuntmen in the industry who risk their lives for the stars to rake in crores.

 

http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-articles/movies-04/19-09-06-kamal-rajini.html

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Shankar is confident that Rajini will get Nataional Award for Sivaji

Hi,

Just Wanted to share a Piece of infoormation:

We all Know that Rajinikanth has not got a National Award in Cinema..So in a
Public Function,Where shankar was also an Invited person,Rajini fans have
expressed about this intrest ..

Shankar Replied that our wish will be fulfilled by this Movie...
That means Rajinikanth will get a National award for his performance in
SHIVAJI...

From this ,we can confirm one thing ...There is Something special in this
movie which gives scope for rajini's Acting Talent..


Regards

Prashanth Subramanian

 

http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/RajinifansDiscussions/message/24532

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Sujatha�s lengthy dialogue for Rajini in Sivaji

Sujatha the distinguished Tamil writer has a varied and vivid experience as a dialogue writer for Tamil films. He has been associated with Shankar, Manirathnam, Kamal and a hoard of others. The keyword for contemporary cinema is ‘don’t talk, show’.

The pioneer for this style of filming is Manirathnam. Shankar also follows similar style of dialogue writing. Though these two illustrious directors differ in their film making style, they are alike in having their character speak in crispy tones. There would be lengthy dialogues only when there is a chance of a scene not being understood by the audience. Unless it is extremely essential, these directors are not inclined to let their characters go on a talking parade.

The TV scene in Indian where the Indian thatha talks of corruption, TV interview scene in Mudhalvan, Nehru stadium scene in Anniyan- these are some of the scenes which had long drawn out dialogues. An intelligent filmmaker would rely more on the body language to convey the emotions or the essence of a scene rather than through the prolonged dialogues. In the recent times Sujatha has written a fairly lengthy dialogue for Sivaji in a terrace scene. Rajini fans would have to wait for some more time to enjoy their icon mouthing such a speech.

 

http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news/sep-06-01/08-09-06-sivaji.html

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AVM Saravanan speaks about Sivaji Film

 

 

 

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Rajini to the rescue: Shankar gets the camera he wants

We all know that Shankar likes to try out something new in every film of his. He is in more ways than one the technical pioneer in the industry.

Remember all those marvelous things that he introduced in Boys. Even though the movie did not live up to expectations the technical perfection was noted. Also remember the Matrix fight sequence in Anniyan. Shankar is the man to test the waters with any state of the art technology. Nothing has changed for his upcoming movie Sivaji. The reports are that he plans to film a fight sequence with a special sort of camera that has never been used in Tamil cinema before.

The rent alone for the camera is said to run into lakhs. This put off producers AVM who were already a bit concerned about the budget that was crossing their estimates. They hesitated to hire the camera. This was when Rajinikanth stepped in and expressed his faith in Shankar and his skills to do a good job. He convinced AVM that the money spent on the camera would be worth every penny and that the results on screen would be excellent.

AVM could not brush aside the Superstar’s recommendation and agreed to get the camera for Shankar to film the fight sequence. Now we can all look forward to seeing a stunning fight sequence in Sivaji when it releases.

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Sivaji: Rajini�s fluttering hair � not this time

The man never ceases to surprise us. One might think that the Superstar has achieved everything that an actor can in filmdom, yet he keeps finding new ways of making things better, for himself, for others and most of all, for the viewers. We have heard a lot about him, but we have certainly not heard everything and definitely not heard the last about him. This man still seems as enthusiastic as a schoolchild while shooting for his films.

No, this is not an ode dedicated to the superstar written by a fanatic; we have solid facts to support our statements. This is what happened on the sets of Sivaji a few days back. A scene was being shot which involved the superstar and his nemesis (in the movie) Suman. Though Suman is one of the most experienced actors he couldn’t come up to Shankar’s expectation that day and the particular scene was retaken and retaken and retaken – for not less than 15 times till Shankar finally said ‘OK.’ All the while Rajni was patiently redoing his part without showing any signs of frustration whatsoever. A complete professional!

Now, here’s another one. During his earlier movies Rajni was in the habit of standing in front of the giant propeller, usually found in shootings, and enjoying the breeze/gust of wind, whatever you want to call it. The sight of Rajni’s original hair fluttering about in the wind would be marvelous. But nowadays we couldn’t see that scene since the wind would spoil the wig that he is wearing. And what a full time assistant has been recruited by Shankar to see to it that the hairpiece meant for the movie is properly in place.

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Groom absconds to watch film shoot

IN a comic situation, a bridegroom left his own wedding ceremony to watch the shooting of Tamil actor Rajnikanth’s new film.

 

According to reports, the film Sivaji was being shot near the marriage venue when Thangaraj, an avid fan, left without informing his relatives.

 

The anxious family launched a search and located him at the shoot and brought him back to conclude his marriage.

 

Rajnikanth’s fans are notorious for their fanatic loyalty, imitating his clothes, mannerisms, dialogues and political affinities.

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