Horlicks Wiz Kids 2007, no kids’ stuff

Chennai:School students performing at the Horlicks Wiz Kids 2007 in Chennai on Thursday.But for the school uniforms, the scene at Kamaraj Arangam on Thursday could have been mistaken for a concert.Hordes of cheering schoolchildren filled the auditorium, and more spilled over onto the grounds. Amid the chaos, competitions were conducted, finalists selected and results announced.The Horlicks Wiz Kids 2007, an inter-school fiesta comprising over 40 art, literary and cultural competitions, started off with a bang.

Over 9,000 students from 126 schools across the city gathered at the hall where the first competition. ‘Indian Film Hits’. was held.Students from several schools performed popular songs from Indian movies such as ‘Dil Se’ and ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’. Free style dance competitions were also part of the event.At the preliminaries of the shipwreck competition held on the grounds students impersonating various personalities had to convince the organiser that they deserved the only life jacket on board the imaginary ship that was sinking. From Angelina Jolie’s impassioned plea to the men in the audience to Michael Jackson’s dancing, the competition had the audience in gales of laughter.

One participating student said the event provided “a great platform to showcase talents.” Also, the number of schools participating made it very competitive, she added.This is the fourth year that the Horlicks Wiz Kids event is being held.The winners at the city level competition then participate in a national level competition, the winners of which are sent to Brazil for a cultural exchange programme.Sumeet Saluja, General Manager, Marketing, Glaxo Smithline Consumer Health Care, the company behind Horlicks, said: “It provides a platform for children to develop into better human beings.” He added that with academics becoming the focus of schools these days, extra curricular activities were being sidelined. A fiesta such as the Horlicks Wiz Kids helped in the overall development of the child through a range of competitions, he added.

A sharp, short training in short-film making

One of the students framing a shot at the Bonsai Short Film Society’s training workshop in Tiruchi on Friday.This time last year, S. A. Subramanian was not much into the idea of involving amateur short-films.“I’m against the idea of taking filmmaking as a hobby. I wanted people to consider short-films as a serious medium. I thought amateurs usually took to this just as a pastime.”That was before he had a discussion with his likeminded members of their Bonsai Short-Film Forum, a Chennai-based film club.

When one of the members mooted the idea of training visual communication students in the budding genre, Mr. Subramanian got into the act.“It sounded so inspiring. Short-films can be razor-sharp medium to reach the masses. And what better way to popularise it than involve students into it.”That’s how the magic of moving pictures was unfurled at the four-day training workshop for short-film making in the city.Along with his member-friend Ramachandran, he invited filmmakers, journalists and assistant cinematographers to train the 45 participant team consisting of over 40 students and few working men.

After their dynamic first day stuffed with ice-breaking sessions, seminars and short-film screenings, the participants took to camera on second day of their training.“No tripods, please,” Mohamed Farhan, an assistant cinematographer to Ravivarman, began his class, to the students who took shelter in the available tree shades of seared grounds.“Short-films are mostly taken without tripods and sophisticated equipments. These people should learn to balance the camera on shoulders and hands,” he explained.It is striking that how some seemingly simple shots could actually involve neck-wracking off-camera works. He made the participants run, walk, crouch and pose for the swinging angles of the camera, handled by their counterparts. More to follow in practical training, Mr. Subramanian says. After the string of sessions on filmmaking on rest of the days, the sessions would wrap up on Sunday, with certificates of participation and an extra dose of filmmaking tips.

Two-day French Cultural festival

Tiruchi:Film buffs will have a mega bonanza this month-end.The Jenneys Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management and Alliance Francaise of Madras will be conducting a two-day French Cultural festival from Friday, which includes a short-film fete that comes with a surfeit of French movies.

Conducted as part of the cultural festival, the short-films come under five themes and each will have seven movies. The duration of films will range from three minutes to 30 minutes.The films include Carlitopolis (4 minutes), Chambre 616 (22 minutes), Be quiet (19 minutes), Rosa (23 minutes), Misadventure of a day (10 minutes), After-shave (27 minutes), Kitchen (15 minutes) and Imago (10 minutes).Addressing presspersons, the Academy Director M. Ponnilango said that the cultural festival gets to a start with a culinary show by a French native on the classical French cuisines.

Kalaignar tv's stock holding pattern

KALAIGNAR TV, the new Tamil entertainment channel that was announced with much fanfare at the peak of the tensions between TN chief minister Karunanidhi, his DMK party and the Maran brothers, is owned by Karunanidhi family members and friends. While the CM’s wife MK Dayalu owns 60% in Kalaignar TV Private Limited, the new company formed to launch the proposed channel, his daughter and Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi owns 20%. In fact, contrary to their oft repeated claims, Raj TV promoters do not have any equity stake in the new entity, according to documents furnished before the Registrar of Companies (ROC) in Chennai.

The stockholding pattern, documents for which are available with, clearly shows that just three stakeholders hold the entire 100% equity in the new company, incorporated on June 06. The third promoter is Mr Sharad Kumar, who was earlier a stakeholder in Gemini TV and Udaya TV, and will hold the balance 20% stake in Kalaignar TV. The channel is scheduled to go on air on August 15. It may be noted that MK Dayalu was earlier a 5.75% stake holder in Sun TV, owned by Kalanithi Maran.The stake was acquired by Mr Maran in October, 2005, after which the company went ahead with an IPO in April, 2006. The new company, Kalaignar TV Private Limited, has an authorised share capital of Rs one crore, comprising 10 lakh shares of a face value of Rs 10 each.

However, the subscribed capital of the company is a mere Rs one lakh, with the three stakeholders -MK Dayalu, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and Sharad Kumar subscribing to 6,000, 2000 and 2,000 equity shares, respectively. The development is likely to be seen as a set back for the promoters of Raj TV, who went to town repeatedly with their claims on Kalaignar TV. In fact, Raj Television Network, the listed entity of the group, had informed the BSE about its plans to launch two new channels, including Kalaignar TV. Efforts to contact Mr M Raajhendhran, CMD of Raj Television Network, proved futile.

As reported earlier, Raj TV is now likely to end up merely providing the uplinking facility for the new channel through their teleport and receive a fee for the same, which would work out to a few lakh rupees per annum. The latest development also throws up an interesting question. If Raj TV is not part of the promoter group of the new company, then who has been funding the acquisition of satellite rights of several of the new films that was being picked up on behalf of Kalaignar TV, even before the new company was incorporated? According to industry sources and media reports, the satellite rights for several of the recent hits like ‘Mozhi’, ‘Paruthiveeran’, ‘Imsai Arasan ....’, ‘Veyil’, as well as some of the yet-to-be released big ones like ‘Sivaji’ and ‘Dasavatharam’, have already been picked up on behalf of the new channel. The list also includes films like ‘Tirupathi’, ‘Sillunu Oru Kaadhal’, ‘Guru’ and ‘Muni’.

Enquiries among film industry circles revealed that for almost all the films, whose satellite rights were acquired until last week, the agreements and cheques were signed in the name of ETH Limited, an off-shoot of Sterling Infotech, owned by NRI, C Sivasankaran. An e-mail query sent to Mr V Srinivasan, Finance Director for the Sterling Infotech Group, went unanswered. However, for the films for which rights were acquired from early this week, the agreements were signed on behalf of Kalaignar TV. Back of the envelope calculations indicate that ETH would have paid around Rs 30 crore just for a few of the films mentioned above. However, sources in the Tamil film industry, indicate that the outgo for ETH may be higher, as rights for several more films, including those still under production, have also been acquired by Kalaignar TV. However, it is not clear, whether the payments made by ETH will be considered as ICDs (intercorporate deposits) or will take some other form.

Chennai mals

Gearing up to meet competition from national multiplex players like Inox and PVR that are swooping down on southern cities, Chennai-based Sathyam Cinemas is venturing out into the other southern states. It has signed a deal with the promoters of Phoenix Mall in Hyderabad to open a multiplex with 10-12 screens and is in discussion with companies in Kerala as well, said Tan Ngaronga, COO, Sathyam Cinemas. In Chennai also, Sathyam is expanding and will add 25 screens in a year to its existing six. “In Kerala, our first destination will be Kochi, we are still in discussion for screens there. Other tier II cities in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are also on our radar. It all depends on good quality malls being developed. We are looking at large entertainment complexes — we are not interested in smaller malls,” Mr Ngaronga said.

Evam is back

Have you ever paid to get abused? Do you know how to defend yourself against a fresh fruit? Have you ever spotted camels with numbers? Have you tried hijacking a plane? Do you want to know the answers to these questions? Do you want a peek into this world of such weird and colourful characters - then watch this evam show, says an Evam spokesman.

Best of Python Hyssssteria – Side A – by evam
"The craziest British comedy show ever!"

Adapted from: Monty PythonThe Hyssssing Cast: Karthik Kumar, Sunil Vishnu K, Karthik Srinivasan T M, Sarvesh Sridhar, Navin Balachandran, Sundar R, Karuna AmarnathThe Dancers: Megha, Aparna, Divya, Vrusha, SamyuktaChoreography: Mani Lights: Akshay BhatSound: Vijay Karthik

When: May 26 and 27, 2007Where: Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium, MCTM School , Luz Church Road , AlwarpetTime: 3.15 & 7.15 pm (on both days) Only 4 shows.Tickets are priced at Rs 500, Rs 250, Rs 100 and Rs 75 (for students only).

1st SIIFA awards show will be at Singapore

Chennai : The South Indian International Film Academy (SIIFA) has announced that the first SIIFA awards show will be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on August 10.The objective is to serve as a forum for promoting the south Indian film industry on an international scale and facilitating a two-way exchange of knowledge and technology.The star-studded event has been planned on the lines of a Broadway musical.

SIIFA founder K. Ramesh said: "This is a unique opportunity for the entire south Indian film fraternity to showcase their best in an international arena."A retrospective of south Indian films would be showcased as part of the event.Director Manobala would select Tamil films.The other selectors are Suhasini for Telugu, Revathy for Malayalam and Sumalatha for Kannada films.The event features language pavilions, symposiums, world premieres, exhibition and sale of film memorabilia.Some of the artists who have confirmed their participation at the event include Shriya, Reema Sen, Sneha, Siddarth, Bharath, Prithviraj, Genelia, Sandhya, Vadivelu, Ramesh Arvind, Sudeep, Ramya and Shobana.Producers' Council and Artistes Associations in South India have promised their support to this unique venture.SIIFA will be officially launched on June 10 at a function in Chennai.

Summer camp for Kids

Chennai: "What is your name?"; "What do you do after school?"; "What time do you have dinner?".The conversation may not have been spontaneous, but the two young speakers were eager to show off their vocabulary onstage in front of their peers.About 300 children who participated in a summer camp funded by outsourcing and technology company, Xansa, enthusiastically tried out their newly acquired skills from spoken English classes on Saturday. It was the last session of the 20-day camp conducted for the economically backward students of four schools adopted by Xansa. The camp was conducted at each of the schools situated at Mambakkam and Sholinganallur.

Associate vice president (corporate social responsibility)-India of Xansa Gayathri Mohan said the Chennai office at Siruseri had teamed up with charitable trust Aruwe to teach the children computer literacy, English speaking skills and focus on their personality development and health and hygiene.Ms. Mohan said education has been the focus of Xansa's CSR initiatives, and the company has been involved with 22 education projects across the country for years. Under these, the company sets up computer centres at school, play areas, libraries and laid emphasis on English speaking classes. One per cent of Xansa's annual profits are set aside for the CSR initiatives.

This was the first such summer camp conducted for the children during their vacation. The camp began with 500 students but the number dwindled through the vacation as children had to leave for holiday visits. Each of the children who completed the camp was given school bags (funded by employees of Xansa) and a certificate of participation.V. Natarajan, centre director and COO - Finance and Accounting BPO, said about 250 staff volunteered from the company to help with the camp. "It was not enforced. They helped out on weekends especially," he said.

An effortless performance

Playback singer K.S. Chitra at a music show in Royapettah on Sunday. K.S. Chitra, a crowd-puller, a cheerful fellow performer, a solid guide to the orchestra and of course, a singer totally in sync with the song and the emotions it conveys.All these and more were evident at the `Kodaiyil Oru Isaimazhai' — a musical programme organised by Raj Television Network on Sunday at Wesley School grounds in Royapettah.

"I know you guys have taken a lot of trouble to listen to us by stepping out in this heat. But please do not forget to applaud us at the end of a song. Otherwise, we will feel dull and our songs will sound duller," said Chitra with her trademark smile after finishing the soulful `Satyam Sivam Sundaram.' That set the tone for the rest of the show.

The crowd, consisting of happy families and cheering youngsters, responded with a resounding applause whether it was the peppy `Kuzhaloothum Kannanukku' or duets such as `Uyire' and `Karuvappayyaa.'The loudest cheers were reserved for this national-award winner's personal bests: `Naan Oru Chinthu' `Sindhubhairavi', the unforgettable `Antha Nilaavu Thaan Naan Kaiyile Pudichen' from `Mudal Maryadai.'

The singer also effortlessly moved from melodies like `Ethetho Unnai Valarthen' to the fast-paced `Veerapandi Kottayilee' from `Thiruda Thiruda.'Unfortunately, only very few fellow singers could match up to Chitra's effortless singing, particularly when it came to tonal clarity. Even the orchestra came achingly close to losing the rhythm a couple of times.But Chitra made up for all the shortcomings by helping the orchestra from Lakshman Sruthi troupe maintain the rhythm, encouraging the chorus singers and thus, retaining the `studio' quality of the complex mosaic of a film song.Tickets for the programme were complimentary and were collected from the showrooms of Vasanth and Company. They were distributed on a first-come-first-served basis.

New contest 'Thanga Kondattam' by BIG FM

BIG 92.7 FM Chennai has launched a new contest 'Thanga Kondattam', wherein listeners stand to gain in gold. Starting May 21, 2007 lucky winners will get the opportunity to win gold coins every hour between 7 - 10 am during weekdays by simply choosing to answer three different questions asked by celebrity RJ Mamathi Chari in her show 'BIG Vanakkam'. The contest will run up to June 02, 2007.'

Thanga Kondattam' contest involves three simple questions being asked by RJ Mamathi Chari every hour in the breakfast show, and the listener who gives the most innovative and appropriate answer will be rewarded with Gold Coin.Speaking on the occasion, Zarine Menon, Station Manager, BIG 92.7 FM Chennai said "We have received tremendous support from the city of Chennai and what better way than to thank them by getting them to win gold. The contest format ensures that maximum number of our listeners benefit from it. The 'Thanga Kondattam' is not just about fun and games for the callers, but also an innovative method to ensure frequency recall in addition to great content and listener involvement."

Big FM, Chennal shifts its location

BIG 92.7 FM's Chennai station has set up its broadcasting tower in the heart of the City with the motive of getting close to its listeners. With this move, the transmitter will now be located at Mount road.BIG 92.7 FM uses IP technology for broadcasting. This technology ensures best and reliable audio quality which is cost effective and easy to use. Broadcasting from inside the city gives out crystal clear sounds, which ensures the most superior quality of entertainment to listeners. Says an official release.

Speaking about this initiative Big 92.7 FM VP South and regional head Lakshmi Sharath said, "Radio is an aural medium of entertainment, which makes sound clarity an extremely critical aspect. We have a great programming mix coupled with superior technology, which offers listeners best quality output. This movement of our tower, will further better our transmission, which will work very well for our listeners."BIG 92.7 FM is part of Adlabs Films. Ltd. The Station is heard across 45 cities.

Moser Baer & Pyramid Saimira enters home video

Chennai based Cinema chain operator Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd. and digital disc maker Moser Baer India Ltd. have joined hands to tap India's growing home video market. With this deal that follows Moser Baer's entry into low-cost pre-recorded video retailing, the two companies hope to beat the grey market for compact discs and DVDs with copyrighted versions of movies produced, distributed or exhibited by them.

"This is the beginning of a new chapter for viewers who want to see movies of their choice," G. Dhananjay, chief operating officer of Moser Baer's entertainment division, told Reuters.The plan envisages Moser Baer's releasing home videos of movies shown in Pyramid halls, which in turn, would serve as additional points of sale. Profits would be split equally.Home videos would come out typically after 4-6 weeks of theatre release and retailing would be done both through own outlets and franchisees, Dhananjay said.

"Retailing is the key. We have to ensure that every store stocks our products and we are present everywhere," he said adding the new approach could help expand India's 5.5 billion rupee home video market rapidly. Moser Baer, a maker of blank optical storage media, moved into entertainment sector, selling films on DVDs for 34 rupees each and video CDs at 28 rupees each.It is selling the low-cost discs through 2,000 outlets in Tamil Nadu, where it launched the service.

Last week, Moser Baer announced a tie-up with Baba Arts Ltd. to exclusively burn CDs and sell 450 Telugu titles produced by Baba in the Indian market for a period of 8 years."We have just launched in the southern markets and we will be looking at the Hindi market soon," Dhananjay said, adding that similar talks were on with other production houses. Pyaramid has around 256 screens in Tamil Nadu and plans to release 100 films in southern India.It is also setting up a content fund for $25 million and would raise $150 million in India and overseas to fund movies for the local market.