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Ajith - the only star shining on Tamil New Year
By Chitra Prakash, Indo-Asian News Service

Chennai, April 14 (IANS) With the campaigns for the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections stealing the show, the cinematic celebration of the Tamil New Year will be a tame affair. 

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In contrast to previous years that witnessed a flurry of releases on this day, this time only six films are opening in theatres across the state - and two of them are low-budget productions.

The Tamil New Year used to be an occasion for the release of films starring big stars as well. Last year both Rajnikanth's "Chandramukhi" and Kamal Haasan's "Mumbai Express" hit the marquee this day. 

This year "Tirupathi" is the only film that boasts of a star. But Ajith, who plays the main lead in the film, is not as big a star as Rajnikanth or Kamal.

Directed by Perarasu, the film is produced by AVM. Sada, a big name after "Anniyan", teams up with Ajith in the film.

Ajith, who established himself as a romantic hero, is trying to transform himself into an action star to get entry into the 'numero uno' slot with the revenge drama. He plays a small guy who runs a microphone service and Sada a makeup artiste. 

The second out of the six films is "Thiruttuppayale", produced by Kalpathi S. Agoram and directed by Susi Ganesan. The director has two films to his credit - "Virumbugiren" and "Five Star". 

Jeevan, who made a mark as a villain in "Kaakka Kaakka", and Sonia Aggarwal play the lead roles. This is the love story of a rich girl and a villager who migrates to Australia.

The third film is "Pachchakkudhirai", directed by Partiban - a director with a difference, whose intriguingly titled film "Kudaikkul Mazhai" flopped. 

His new film has him and Namita as the lead pair. It is the tale of a playboy who seduces many women, finally finding his match in the heroine. 

Differently titled again is "Azhagai Irukkirai, Bayammai Irukkiradhu" starring Bharat and Mallika Kapoor. Vijay Milton directs this eternal triangular story. 

The two small-budget films are "Nilavinile" and "Thullura Vauasu". 

'Tirupathi' in title trouble
By Chitra Prakash, Indo-Asian News Service

Chennai, April 13 (IANS) Yet another Tamil film is in trouble over its title. Producer A. Suresh of K.A.K Films has challenged the title of director Perarasu's "Tirupathi" in court on grounds that he had already acquired exclusive rights to use it.

In a petition filed in the Chennai City Civil Court, Suresh says his company registered the title "Tirupathi" for a film to be produced with the Tamil Nadu Film Producers' Association.

The petition says that after registering the title, the company had already spent Rs.450,000 on preparations for the film's production under the direction of Krithik.

The petition contends that the use of the title for the Ajith-starrer is therefore "unlawful". It has urged the court to give a stay order on the release of the film. The case is expected to come up for hearing in the court soon.

"Tirupathi", which has Ajith in the title role, was scheduled to hit screens on Tamil New Year Day, April 14. The big-banner AVM is producing it.

Apparently Perarasu chose the title in order to continue his successful practice of naming his films after places - even though in this film "Tirupathi" is the name of the hero and the Andhra Pradesh temple town does not figure anywhere.

His last two films - "Tirupachi" and "Sivakasi" - were hits.

Before this, Kamal Haasan's "Sandiyar" attracted official disapproval for its ability to incite caste tensions in southern Tamil Nadu. The title was later changed to "Veerumandi".

Some political groups had also assailed Kamal's "Mumbai Express" for having an English title. The actor-director, however, refused to call his comedy anything else.