Sunday, May 20, 2007

Now its June 15!


In keeping with Shankar's history(Anniyan was especially atrocious in this respect), Sivaji's release date has been moved to June 15 from the previously announced 'official' date of May 31.

Shankar doesn't seem to have been the reason for this postponement though. According to Rajinifans.com, the date of May 31 became impossible after AVM decided to assign the film roll processing fully to Prasad Labs to avoid or atleast diminish the possibility of piracy that could occur if multiple labs prepared the prints. Though this would have moved the release back only a few days, June 15 was then picked since the period June 1 - June 14 is considered an inauspicious period. A couple of other reasons have been mentioned too - including Rajni wanting the issues around Sivaji release in Karnataka to be fixed.

Whatever the reason, the fact remains that the countdown has been restarted. 25 days to go...

But with almost all sites having begun their countdown to the release, there is no dearth of articles to read about the film though.

- Rediff had an interview with the cinematographer K.V.Anand. He talked a bit about the Vaaji Vaaji... and Sahana... songs and the problems he faced, especially for the latter song.

- They also featured an interview with art director Thotta Tharani. Interestingly he talked only about the same 2 songs. His descriptions of the sets for the songs sound real grand and his sketches for the same were cool. Can't wait to see them on the big screen.

- Found out from an article on Rajinifans.com - and then after a little googling - that Balalaika is a kind of folk music in Russia.

18 Comments:

At 5:07 AM, Blogger Srivatsan Sridharan said...

BB,

Do you think the reasons are valid, I doubt it :(

 
At 5:58 AM, Blogger VThinkTank said...

It is kind of weird that they keep postponing the release knowing very well that they missed a great chance of cashing in during the summer holidays.

SHANKAR CAN BE TERMED AS THE WORST PROJECT MANAGER, going after perfection with almost a maniacal drive, he just does not care of deadlines. I guess until the day there is failure because of this, he won't change.

It is sad for Rajnikanth - who generally typically finishes his movies and gets it out in about 4-5 months time frame going by recent past.

Well the press as always will rake his soft corner for karnataka and all that. Hopefully they will bring it out by June 15th.

Another postponement if any however justified is going to make people lose interest in this movie. Shankar being the smart guy should know it better than anybody.

 
At 6:11 AM, Blogger VThinkTank said...

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14454779

guys did you see that I am not sure if this is a good move. I am also not sure if it will prove death knell to SUN TV due the powers that are working against it.
give me your thoughts.

 
At 9:17 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The sketches of Thota Tharani look magnificent.

On a hilarious note check this out http://entertainment.oneindia.in/movies/regional/tamil/exclusive/85-lakhs-inspectors-role-210507.html

Tell me how much you laughed

 
At 9:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow! the set designs hold a lot of promise. Sivaji is definitely going to be a stylish extravaganza. with KV Anand behind the camera, it most definitely is gonna have a great look...

What Shankar does with the story might not be a matter of significance to hardcore Rajni fans but I hope Shankar comes up with a better screenplay than he did in Anniyan. To me, Shankar's screenplays post Indian have been ok, no more no less. Sure, his films have become big hits, save Boys but the 2nd half of Mudhalvan, the concluding portions of Boys and pretty much the last 1 hour of Anniyan were all marked by unremarkable scenes, with the occasional brilliant moment saving the day.

I hope that Shankar has made a script that suits Rajni's image as well as gives us a glimpse of Shankar of "Indian" where he adroitly infused a strong story with a superbly paced screenplay, lacing it with commercial elements...

 
At 9:27 AM, Blogger VThinkTank said...

Rajni - the villian - it is not related to Sivaji ok let me make it clear at the begining

http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2007/may/21slid1.htm

 
At 10:10 AM, Blogger Filbert said...

Balaji, was very disappointed when I first heard the news but the reason behind the delay assuaged the disappointment almost fully. BTW,I am not sure if you came across the still that was released in the papers back in India, announcing the new release date.

http://www.rajinifans.com/detailView.asp?title=234

Thalaivar looks dashing and this is easily one of the best stills released so far (wish they had released a digital version of the same). This still and the reason behind the delay is more than enough for the Thalaivar fan in me, to keep up with 2 more weeks of waiting.

 
At 10:17 AM, Blogger Vidya said...

:( .. was hoping to catch the movie on May 31 .. if it got released here at the same time..Guess gotta wait a little longer :)

 
At 11:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Balaji, did you read this reason (or this other one)? I would think the piracy issue is very serious, for which, my question is (which is also what my hubby was asking too): Why should they get all their prints done in Chennai anywhere?

For producers like AVM, who can afford to spend 30 crores for a film, how much more would it be to get prints prepared in some foreign lab nearby. They may have better luck in keeping piracy under control at an unknown location somewhere than do it as a prominent location in Chennai itself.

ARR asking for the film back to re-do the background score? Oh come on.. ARR has very rarely cared much for background scores. You can actually count the number of films that he has composed that have wonderful background scores (barring all Mani films where he works overtime! :-).

They had already decided to postpone this film (in my opinion), no matter what we all thought!.. No surprise that it got postponed.. I, for one, didn't think 5/31 was even realistic considering they didn't start doing any substantial marketing for the film (not that it needs more than what 'we' the public, have already done for it, out of our own accord! :-)

 
At 1:01 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wind of change by Scorpions is one my fave songs of all time and has the line "Let your BALALAIKA sing what my guitar wants to say". And now you are telling that is the same as Ballel-akka!! Who wud have thunk?!!! :)

Actually, balalaika is a Russian stringed instrument..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balalaika

Kumar

 
At 3:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Off-topic:
prin, in response to ur article abt the "hero" of "kaanal neer"-> i did laugh my arse off at all the pretensions...esp. Chinni mentioning that he spotted Riteesh in a gym and asked if the latter could be the hero! nalla comedy, pa.
now, i know who the real producer of kaanal neer is...!

 
At 6:50 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

pretti disappointed abt e delay...was looking forward for it. i realli hope sivaji shld be worth the wait of 1 1/2 years.

Balaji how wld u feel if e movie does not live up to yr expectations????

 
At 6:53 PM, Blogger Srivatsan Sridharan said...

Ram,

off-topic:
Naan sollale, there is some XYZ acting in a film named Nayagan, looks like it's Ritesh. Paavum Maniratnam and Kamal :(

 
At 11:02 PM, Blogger Balaji said...

srivatsan, i guess we'll never know for sure. but with news about those pirated CD covers, it makes sense :)

vthinktank, i agree. he has been notorious in taking his own sweet time to finish movies and then postponing their releases in the name of last-minute work. but as long as he gives hits, i guess finding producers won't be a problem :)

filbert, somehow missed seeing that snap. so thanx! thalaivar looks stunning :)

sandya, the 3 songs getting leaked though the rerecording was done in a foreign lab might've made them paranoid about labs in foreign lands too!

and i felt the same about the marketing. do they really need to spend any money on it?!

Kumar, just did a search on 'balalaika' and came up with that 'type of Russian music' :)

 
At 11:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Amidst all the mass hysteria and euphoria, there is this little lump in the throat that seems to suggest this: what if all of this becomes a damp squib should Sivaji become Baba...

 
At 11:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Amidst all the mass hysteria and euphoria, there is this little lump in the throat that seems to suggest this: what if all of this becomes a damp squib should Sivaji become Baba...

 
At 6:47 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

My Guess is it will turn out to be a dud.

 
At 7:41 AM, Blogger VThinkTank said...

RAJNIKANTH MBA

http://sify.com/movies/tamil/fullstory.php?id=14456447
Cheers
Venkat

 

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