Chennai had a bit of everything this year.
R Ashwin
Chennai had a bit of everything this year — from the usual dose of do-gooders and success stories to gossip, scandals and controversy. The floods towards the end of the year also saw the emergence of several unlikely heroes — celebs and prominent names who braved the deluge to help those in greater need.
In this special year-end edition, we bring you a whirlwind recap of most things good, bad and even the occasionally ugly from 2015; those who mattered and set the standards high, as well as those who’d have disappeared from the spotlight totally if it hadn’t been for their shenanigans! We have no doubt, next year, Chennaiites will make our job tougher to pick a deserving lot — and as the countdown to 2016 begins, there’s only one thing left to say: the Force is strong with us! — Team Chennai Chronicle
Fists of fury: R Ashwin
Collecting his fifth ‘Man of the Series’ award in the recently concluded series against South Africa, Ashwin has matched legends Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. He did in 12 series what took Sehwag 39 and Sachin 74 to accomplish! In the same series, Ashwin also became the fastest Indian to reach 150 wickets. Ashwin played a major role in prevailing upon South Africa and forcing their first away series loss in nine years, courtesy of a 12-wicket haul in the third Test in Nagpur. He also snapped up a career-best 7/66, bowling SA for 185 and handing India a 2-0 series win.
Besides playing his second consecutive World Cup for India, Ashwin also had the honour of dismissing Kumar Sangakkara in the 2015 three-match series against Sri Lanka, which happened to be the swashbuckling left-hander’s swan song. Ashwin has dismissed Sangakkara four consecutive times in the latter’s final four innings. He finished this series on a high with 21 wickets, becoming the Indian bowler with the most number of wickets against the Island nation, and took home the Man of the Series award as well. Ashwin is also the only bowler other than Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis who has mastered the carrom ball. Despite being mainly a bowler, Ashwin has already been picked to play for Pune in IPL 9. Yet another reason to celebrate — he became a proud father to a baby girl recently. No wonder he’s ending the year on a happy high!
Who’s the ‘Boss’?: Rochelle Rao
Her sultry looks, confidence, and charm made her win the title of Femina Miss India and International in 2012. But this beautiful belle from Chennai has been in the news this year because of her entry into season nine of Bigg Boss, a reality show on TV. Having faced all the challenges with dignity and elegance, this girl is making her home city proud. Another thing that made us all go ‘awww’ was the fact that her current boyfriend Keith Sequeira joined Bigg Boss too, and the duo are absolutely killing it! Together for nearly six months now, they seem to be a TV couple that everybody likes. Rochelle’s elder sister Paloma recently visited her on the sets, and proudly tells us that even though her baby sister is having a tough time, she’s maintained her calm and is storming through all the competitions and activities with ease. Still going strong even towards the end of the season, let’s hope Rochelle sails through successfully and wins this one!
Rays of sunshine: Siddharth and RJ Balaji
The flood fury in Chennai was a time when the ruling government came under the scanner for its shameful tactics to stay in the limelight. But actor Siddharth and RJ Balaji stood tall amongst them, inspiring people from all walks of life to do their bit for the city. Siddharth was actively involved in reaching out to people in the city and Cuddalore, providing them the required materials and sharing information through social media. Balaji, on the other hand, donated a huge sum to the affected, successfully rallied several efforts in bringing the attention of the national media towards the issue, and was like a pillar in the process of rebuilding the city. The duo hogged the limelight not just for this — Sid has Jil Jung Juk and Aranmanai 2 in his kitty, while Balaji went on to carve a niche for himself in Tamil cinema with his role in Naanum Rowdy Dhaan.
Like father, like daughter: Uthara Unnikrishnan
Singer Uthara Unnikrishnan is a star in the making. A Class six student of the Lady Andal Venkata Subba Rao School, she won the Best Female Playback Singer at the 62th National Film Awards for her debut melodious number, Azhage Azhagu in AL Vijay’s Saivam, composed by GV Prakash Kumar. This has also made Uthara one of the youngest playback singers to receive the award in this category. The song that describes a child’s idea of the beauty around is based on the raga Darbari Kanada and was penned by Na Muthukumar, who also received the National Film Award for the Best Lyrics.
She is the daughter of renowned playback singer-Carnatic vocalist P Unnikrishnan, who bagged the National Award for his debut songs, composed by AR Rahman in 1994. She started off when she was quite young, learning music from vocalist Sudha Raja. This teenager, whose hobbies include reading books, watching TV, playing computer and outdoor games, wants to follow in her father’s footsteps.
In an interview with DC previously, Uthara had spoken about the applause she got from her friends. “I didn’t find the song hard to render. I practised a couple of times, and we recorded it. How I got the chance to sing was purely by accident. I sing at golus, where Prakash uncle heard me sing,” she had added. She has sung a peppy number in Vijay’s next, Theri.
A pizza slice with a heart: Manikandan, Kakka Muttai
Manikandan set a trend in Tamil cinema with his offbeat flick Kakka Muttai, which besides garnering universal acclaim and winning several international awards, almost made it as the Oscar selection from India. Kakka Muttai, which had a simple premise — the story of two slum boys from the city with a desire to taste pizza — became the first film by a debut Tamil filmmaker to have its world premiere at Toronto since the inception of the festival in 1976, besides being screened at several international festivals like Dubai International, IFFLA and Gold Coast Film Fest.
The director/cinematographer Manikandan broke the perception that art movies are slow and intellectual, and do not make it commercially. The movie turned out to be one of the biggest blockbusters of 2015 when released in early June this year, and received fabulous reception. No wonder the movie grabbed the National Film Awards for Best Children’s Film and Best Child Artist for its lead boys Ramesh and Vignesh! Manikandan is ready with his next, Kuttrame Dhandanai, produced by its lead actor Vidharth. The crime thriller also has Aishwarya Rajesh and Pooja Devariya and is slated for 2016.
Jyothika’s sensational comeback:
Jyothika, once the ‘Queen Bee’ of Tamil cinema, quit the industry in her prime. But, she made a sensational comeback after a hiatus of nearly eight years with the movie 36 Vayadhinile, a remake of the Malayalam blockbuster How Old Are You. The movie was also the first production venture of Suriya’s 2D Entertainment.
The pretty actress said that there was no forethought of a comeback to films. “One day Suriya brought the DVD of the Malayalam film How Old Are You, and asked me, ‘Jo, do you want to do it in Tamil? When I saw the movie, I was floored and I decided that this should be my comeback vehicle.”
Though there were several offers post her successful re-entry, Jyothika says that she would wait for the right script with a meaty role. The star couple even announced that they can be seen together in a movie very soon. “We are hearing scripts, and if everything goes as planned, we may act together next year,” Suriya remarked.
Here comes a storm: SR Ramanan
Every monsoon, he becomes a favourite of students. But this season, he was also the most ‘memed’ person on Tamil cyberspace. The whole state was waiting to listen to his rain updates to know if schools and colleges would be shut the subsequent day. SR Ramanan, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, has the inimitable style of reeling out the weather forecast on television channels with his straight face speaking poetic Tamil! Especially during the recent heavy floods, he was made an overnight superstar with his morphed images going viral on social networking sites.
Though he has been in the job for more than three decades, the recent rains made him so popular that he now has a dedicated Wikipedia page, fan page and a fake profile on Facebook! Though fan pages were initially filled with humorous posts about him, the content drastically changed over the next few days with forecasts, helpline numbers and other useful information for the state’s stranded inhabitants. According to the reports, he will retire shorty.
Street art in Chennai:
T his year was great for street art in Chennai, with many groups surfacing to paint the town red, yellow, and blue. Though it’s unfair to say that the Goethe-Institute’s Conquer The Concrete (CTC) started it all, the group definitely put the spotlight on this underestimated art form. They did something new — a common platform for showcasing the artistes. And so they began taking over public walls — cleaning the muck and dried urine to create beautiful canvases. Styles from around the world — abstraction, realism, surrealism and more, came together with the artists for a perfect fit.
This event acted as a catalyst for other artists, many of whom met during the course of CTC, which took place between January 20 and February 7. The group The Third Kind — T3K, consists of four boys Prasanth Baskaran, Mohammad Aqueel Hussain, Veera and Deva, who form the city’s first graffiti crew. They are most renowned for their ‘legal’ pieces in Cathedral Road, Besant Nagar and elsewhere. Another amazing group is The Paintbox — a motley crew of talented artists who also clean the city’s walls. Art Lab and Coloured Particles are two other remarkable groups with quirky murals.
Auto Chandran goes to Venice!
It’s the stuff of fairy tales — a 53-year-old auto driver from Coimbatore, M. Chandrakumar with a penchant for writing gripping novels that question the very nature of humanity — a passion that led him all the way to the prestigious Venice Film Festival!
“It all began when a close friend of mine, Gnani aka Thankavelavan read one of my books, Lock Up, which is a real-life account of a brutal ordeal some friends of mine and I went through in Andhra Pradesh by the police, when I was 19 years old! I always wanted to document that saga, and finally published it a few years ago,” says Auto Chandran.
It was then noticed by director Vetrimaaran, who was impressed with the tale, and promised Chandran that he would be given the credit for the story. Before long Visaranai, with a stellar cast comprising the likes of Attakathi Dinesh and Samuthirakani was made and premiered in Venice, where this humble auto driver watched it along with thousands of film personalities, celebrities and journalists from across the world! In fact, it was the first Tamil film to enter in a competitive category at the renowned festival in its 72-year history.
Talking about the book, Chandran says, “Lock Up had already been recognised as ‘The best document of human rights’ several years ago — but imagine my joy when the film also won the ‘Cinema for Human Rights’ award in Venice! The unheard voice of my struggles, which had been suppressed for over three decades, is finally resounding across the globe.”
Nivin Pauly’s Premam phenomenon:
There have been several instances of Tamil films setting the cash registers ringing at the Tollywood and Mollywood box office. However, in what was a rare phenomenon, a non-Tamil flick had a gargantuan run of 200 days in Chennai and won the hearts of audiences here. Malayalam flick Premam, a feel-good love story became a super-hit and Nivin Pauly, who played the protagonist, sent girls into a tizzy with his bearded, dhoti-draped persona. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the actor, who pulled off three phases in a youngster’s life effortlessly, won more appreciation from movie buffs in Chennai than his fans in Kerala! His on-screen presence and chemistry with the three heroines in the movie was a rage, and social media celebrated its success like never before.
Interestingly, the movie managed to attain a cult status – almost everyone who watched the film is not in favour of it being remade into other languages, as they feel the magic can’t be created again. Premam also had more surprise elements for audiences in the form of actresses Sai Pallavi and Madonna Sebastian. The former, a Tamil girl, became an overnight star among Malayali audiences, and now enjoys a considerable fan base here too. Madonna, on the other hand, has been roped in for a Tamil film opposite Vijay Sethupathi.
Trust in Sam: Sam Paul
Serial entrepreneur, advocate, restaurateur, actor, producer and Chennai’s jolly good fella — Sam Paul dons all these multiple hats with elan and ease — and his eclectic persona only seems to be increasing with every passing year. Known for his affable nature, Sam recently also emerged as a hero from the floods, mobilising his wide network of followers on social media and his influential contacts, to help those affected — over a series of relief activities as well as playing a key role in updating verified info online.
Next year promises to be even better for the big man with a heart of gold -— more interesting business ventures, expansion plans through the roof, and further steps into climbing the film industry ladder. In fact, his plans are already on to introduce a state-of-the-art lifestyle centre next year (almost a mini-mall of sorts) that would offer consumers a radical new experience. Not to mention, his good-natured Facebook interactions with foodies across the city always make for an interesting read!
Surrounded by friends from every walk of life who swear by his integrity, literally anything Sam touches seems to make sense, however unlikely it may seem initially. Call it an uncanny talent or just street smarts garnered over years of roughing it out, this 37-year-old has emerged as a true-blue son of Chennai, who the city can count on anytime — he’s just a call away.
Chennaiyin replace CSK as city heroes:
While fans were still expressing rage over Chennai Super Kings’s expulsion from Indian Premier League, they had all their hopes pinned on Chennaiyin FC to restore the pride of the city in sporting scenario. The players didn’t let the fans down as they went on to win the second season of Indian Super League emphatically. This accomplishment was celebrated widely across the city, especially given the fact that the team was actually tottering at last position in the table at one point of time. The victory has also given a new lease of life for football culture in the city. With no IPL guaranteed for the next two years, the likes of Mendozas and Elanos can easily replace Dhonis and Rainas as Chennai’s new talismanic sporting heroes.
Chennai’s own Captain Planet: Sundar Rajan
There has been no looking back for this man ever since he decided to end his career as an engineer to dedicate his life to wellness and nature. Well-known environmentalist Sundar Rajan had a significant 2015 in which he, along with others, introduced many unique concepts, apart from fighting to make the world a better place to live. The year also saw him attain international popularity after his impactful speeches about the environment in San Jose and Washington DC in the FeTNA conference.
“I owe it all to Poovulagin Nanbargal. It’s unfair me alone to take credit, because the whole team has not only been trying to save nature, but has also been creating basic awareness among people,” says Sundar Rajan. The team started publishing a book called Minmini, which is the first ever magazine about nature for children. Apart from this, as part of educating people, he, along with the team, have organized programs like Pozhuthugal Aaru to inform about major climate issues, and several seed festivals which have got large turnouts. He considers his efforts in bringing disaster preparedness measures for Kalpakkam as one of his biggest accomplishments this year. Apart from this, Rajan also bravely fought against Neutrino and mercury contamination, questioning scientists and government.
Bedazzling Cannes: Dheepan
It was surprise and joy in equal measure when French director Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan was awarded this year’s Palme d’Or at the Cannes festival — and also a matter of immense pride for Chennaiites as the flick featured theatre artist Kalieaswari Srinivasan as one of the protagonists.
Brilliantly portraying the character of a refugee having to flee post civil-war Sri Lanka with a fake family to France, Kalieaswari’s performance has received much critical acclaim from the jury headed by the Coen brothers and also from others in it including the likes of director Guillermo del Toro, actors Jake Gyllenhal and Sienna Miller among others.
In the grim drama, Kali essays the role of Yalini, who arrives in France with pretend-husband Dheepan (Antonythasan Jesuthasan) and daughter Illayaal (Claudine Vinasithamby), and goes to work as a housemaid — while striking up an intriguing relationship with a recently released French prisoner.
Kalieswari absolutely dazzled at Cannes with her poise and wardrobe, receiving praise from viewers and film people alike the world over. Did she imagine an experience like this ever occurring, while being a BPO employee a few years ago? “I had no dreams or wishes to make it big, but to act and act well with all what I have. I thank my theatre family for all the love. And I do not think making it big in movies is the be-all and the end all of an actor. Nor is theatre considered a second option. We do theatre because we believe in it and for the joy of it,” she smiles.
Suicide, he wrote: Perumal Murugan
In the past year, much-loved author Perumal Murugan got into trouble with caste-based groups who protested one of his novels, Mathorubhagan. The people of Namakkal, where events in the book take place, were not appeased by the removal of references to the place. Hindutva groups and people from the Gounder community, who felt offended by the depiction of their women in the novel, started the protests. Murugan then made the decision to withdraw the book along with all his other novels, short stories and poems. He then went on to put up a status on Facebook that read like a suicide note and read, “Author Perumal Murugan is dead. He is no God. Hence, he will not resurrect. Hereafter, only P Murugan, a teacher, will live.” Several supporters who had previously voiced their opinion against the protests were shocked when the author finally agreed to withdraw all books. They also claimed this was against the freedom of expression and blamed it on politically motivated groups and encouraged the state government to look into the issue.
Back to the future: Chillu
Chennai was witness to its first Tamil sci-fi play a few months ago. Titled Chillu, it had robots and was set 50 years in the future. Cine scriptwriter Era Murugan was the brain behind Chillu. The venture wouldn’t have taken shape if not for its director Dheepa Ramanujam —originally a theatre person settled in the US with her own theatre company called Krea. When she first heard the script, she felt it would suit only a niche audience in the USA. However, when another theatre group in Chennai convinced her to stage it here, she agreed.
Over the next few months, Dheepa led her team of actors, technicians and other crewmembers to success. "Directing a futuristic play meant we couldn’t procure any materials from this day and age. We had to custom-make every single costume and prop and this would naturally cost us money. So I decided to approach film producer Sri Thenandal Films," says Dheepa. She must have a way with words, for the production house decided to fund the entire play—this meant that for the first time in history, a movie producer was bankrolling a Tamil theatre production. "It was like a revolutionary move! In fact, it has even led to more producers backing other theatre companies," says Dheepa. The play went on to run houseful for three days and received rave reviews!
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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