Lakshmi Rai plans a ‘brief hiatus’ from Tamil movies (TFC)

From nowhere, actress Lakshmi Rai has managed to strike a deadly double blow.  No, we aren’t talking about any assault she made; it’s only that she has just had two back-to-back hits in ‘Kanchana’ and ‘Mankatha’.  Till a few months back, Lakshmi Rai was struggling with no significant hit to her credit except for a significant role in the hit film ‘Dhaam Dhoom’ which had ‘Jayam’ Ravi and Bollywood’s Kangna Ranaut in lead roles.

Things changed dramatically when Anushka opted out of Ragava Lawrence’s ‘Kanchana’ and Lakshmi Rai was drafted in as the heroine.  The film, which recently crossed 50 days, has become a phenomenal hit all over Tamil Nadu and the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.  Without an iota of doubt, the film’s success has surely upped Lakshmi Rai’s stakes in Kollywood and Tollywood.
As if that wasn’t enough, Lakshmi Rai has also played a small but significant role in Ajith’s latest landmark film ‘Mankatha’, which has also been declared hit by the tradepundits.  The press was lavish in its praise that the film showed Lakshmi Rai like never before as her ‘true beauty’ was visible in the film.  For some reasons, though, Lakshmi Rai has decided to have some ‘hiatus’ from starring in Tamil films.
The actress surprised many by her portrayal of the ‘vamp’ in Mankatha and just when producers and directors are queueing outside her house to sign her up for their films, news about her reported ‘hiatus’ from Kollywood comes.  The reason given by the actress is that she has a handful of Kannada, Malayalm and Telugu films and can come back to Tamil films only after completing all her pending assignments.
She feels that this ‘break’ would make her fans yearn for her presence in films.  If it happens that way, it’d be alright; but what would Lakshmi Rai do if the notion that ‘out of sight, out of mind’ becomes true?

Ajith’s Mankatha actresses Locking Horns! (TFC)

Ajith’s Mankatha actresses Locking Horns!

 

Ajith’s ‘Mankatha’ is a big success! The actors and actresses have earned a big name for themselves for the role they have done in the movie. But, it seems some are not satisfied with the big popularity they have got from this blockbuster.
They are none other than the leading lady Trisha and sultry girl Lakshmi Rai who now are locking horns in the fight that who would garner more mileage from the popularity of the movie.
Lakshmi Rai sparked a friction with Trisha by claiming that she was the one who was first considered for the role of the leading lady to pair opposite Ajith in the film. She added instances to her claim saying, “Venkat Prabhu while narrating the story to me and offered to choose between these two roles that I and Trisha did and I chose the one with the negative character. It was like the role that Trisha did was that what I considered second to mine!”

But, Venkat Prabhu and Trisha denied the claims of Lakshmi Rai and asked why an established actress like her should get into these types of false claims. “Trisha’s role was made for her and the claims of Lakshmi Rai are false”, says Venkat Prabhu. Trisha has her version saying, “The director approached me with a clean offer of the leading role, and as I was waiting to do a film with Venkat Prabhu, I did not wait to accept it. I cannot comment on the claims of Lakshmi Rai because I don’t care her claims”.
So, what prompted Lakshmi Rai to rake up this issue like this? Only she knows? Or the claims of her are true? Only time will tell!

Lakshmi Rai is a Hot Star After Mankatha

She was once considered an unlucky star and hunting for offers in all the south Indian languages. But, all of a sudden she has become the hot cake of south film industry. Actress Lakshmi Rai is on Cloud Nine now!

Thanks to the big success of Raghava Lawrence ‘Kanchana’ and Ajith’s ‘Mankatha’ the films that were released recently. In ‘Kanchana’ she did the female lead opposite Lawrence and in ‘Mankatha’ she donned a negative character that was appreciated by everyone. This particular ‘Mankatha’ role has now put her in the position as one of the heroines who is now in high demand for coveted roles in south films.
But, Lakshmi Rai is playing cool by not accepting those flooding offers from various languages, especially from Tamil. She is already committed with few films in Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu and she wants to finish it first and needs a break. After this rest she would accept and concentrate doing Tamil films, sources close to the actress say.

 

Marketing lessons from ‘Mankatha’ (TFC)

The success of Mankatha can be used as a case study by those who would like to taste success in film industry. Effective usage of the internet is one of the important reasons behind the film emerging a super hit," said G Dhananjayan, Chief - south business of UTV Motion Pictures.

He was addressing MBA students at a private college in Chennai on Wednesday, where the crew members of 'Krishnaveni Panjaalai' conducted a seminar on effective marketing tools to take cinema to the masses.
Dhananjayan said: "No doubt that Mankatha is able to witness a grand opening because of Ajith. But at the same time, we should also take note of his fans and others marketing the movie on the web in a unique way."
Others who spoke on the occasion include veteran filmmaker Balumahendra and Pandiarajan. Balumahendra's speech drew the attention of students as he went down the memory lane and explained the making of evergreen movies like 'Moondram Pirai'.

Mankatha made history along overseas

Mankatha, Ajith’s 50th movie made history in collection not only in India but also in United Kingdom (UK). In Chennai Mankatha was released in 85 theaters, it’s totally of 350 prints.

In overseas, Mankatha masses... Yes, Mankatha is creating a buzz in the state as it had the second highest opening post Superstar Rajnikanth's Enthiran. The latest buzz is that the film has collected Rs. 81.72 lakhs in its opening weekend in UK.
Mankatha is an action thriller which narrates the story of match-fixing sagas in international cricket matches. Arjun plays the role of an investigative officer officer who takes up the task of exposing the bookies. Thala Ajith plays the role of a cop-cum-gambler.