Mankatha in July

Ajith's eagerly awaited Mankatha, directed by Venkat Prabhu and produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri's Cloud Nine, will complete its shoot by May 31.

After that, Venkat plans to do some graphics and post production work which will take a month. As of now the producers are looking at a July second week release.

Mankatha is Ajith's 50th film and the star cast includes Arjun, Trisha, Mahat, Vaibhav Reddy, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea Jeremiah, Premji Amaren and Anjali. It has music by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

The film is said to revolve around a Mafia gang gambling during the cricket season. Ajith plays the kingpin behind the gambling, though there are rumours that he is a police officer in decoy. Arjun plays a CBI officer, while Trisha is a gangster's daughter.

Deeksha Seth in Vettai Mannan?

According to sources, Simbu has roped in Tollywood's latest sensation Deeksha Seth as the female lead in his his next flickVettai Mannan, to be directed by debutant Nelson. Deeksha has already signed Vikram's Vendhan, directed by Suseendaran.

Unlike VTV, Vaanam and Podaa Podi (ongoing),Vettai Mannan will have lots of action with a strong comedy element. Interestingly, Nelson has worked with Simbu in Manmadhan and Vallavan. Vettai Mannan, an action-packed gangster story, is Simbu's costliest film till date (30 to 40 crores). Reportedly the film will narrate the egoistic conflict between two men who work under a don.

Jai of Subramaniapuram fame will play an important role (as Simbu's friend) in this film which will be shot in Chennai, United States and Mexico; Yuvan Shankar Raja will compose its music.

Avan Ivan coming on June 10?

National Award winning director Bala's first full-fledged commercial film Avan Ivan, starring Arya and Vishal, will reportedly grace theatres on June 10, 2011. Janani Iyer and Madhu Shalini are the heroines. Avan Ivan is produced by AGS Entertainment.

The film is a comedy entertainer which narrates the story of two siblings. As per sources, Avan Ivan is being marketed directly by AGS Entertainment. Yuvan Shankar Raja's songs, which were released recently, are already topping the charts.

Rajni says that he will be back soon from Singapore

Rajnikanth was taken to the airport from Porur Ramachandra Hospital at about 9.50 pm in an ambulance. He left for Singapore after midnight. Before his departure, Rajni’s recorded message was played.

Rajni said laughingly, "Hello, I am Rajnikanth speaking. I am going there happily and I will return happily. I will come back as fast as I can. You’re showing so much affection on a person who acts for money. I don’t know that how I am going to return this. I will be back with energy. You are all like God for me. I will be back soon. Bye."

Super show by Super Kings earns them IPL 4

Chennai, May 28: The Chennai Super Kings put on a thoroughly clinical performance to trounce the Royal Challengers Bangalore by a comprehensive 58 runs and lift the IPL trophy for the second consecutive year. After demolishing the RCB attack to amass an overwhelming total of 205 with Murali Vijay top-scoring with a 51-ball 95, R Ashwin led the destruction of the RCB line-up with impressive figures of 3/16 ff 4 overs.


No sooner had the Royal Challengers Bangalore begun their chase, than the Chennai Super Kings got an enormous breakthrough when Ashwin had Chris Gayle caught behind for a third-ball duck. The visitors were 1/1 before Mayank Agarwal rounded off the over with a four. The same batsman knocked a boundary off Morkel in the next over. But in the following over, there was more trouble for RCB when Ashwin bowled Agarwal for 10 off 5 as the score read a dismal 16/2.

After a couple of quiet overs, Virat Kohli struck Bollinger for a boundary before de Villiers did the same and repeated his shot to take RCB to 38/2 in 5 overs. But the slide only continued for RCB as Shadab Jakati trapped A B de Villiers in front for 18 off 12 balls. The visitors had slipped to 48/3. The Challengers finally reached 50 in 7 overs, before Kohli smacked Raina for a six. But the defiance was short-lived, as Jakati returned to get Luke Pomersbach out caught and bowled for 2 off 3 balls as the RCB crumbled to 62/4 in 8.4 overs.

Then Suresh Raina struck to remove Kohli lbw for 35 off 32 balls as RCB slumped further to 69/5 in 10 overs. In just the next over, Ashwin returned to get Daniel Vettori out caught and bowled for a duck as the score read a despairing 70/6. Then Saurabh Tiwary and Abhimanyu Mithun tried to keep the flame alive by knocking 3 fours off Raina as the score moved onto 88/6 in 12 overs. However, in the next over, Dwayne Bravo came to the party to remove Mithun for 11 off 8 balls as Bangalore continued reeling at 92/7 in 13 overs.

Tiwary took RCB over 100 in the 15th over and immediately hit a six off Bravo. Then Zaheer Khan joined in the fun by hitting a four off Bollinger as RCB moved onto 115/7 in 16 overs. However, in the penultimate over, Bollinger removed Zaheer for 21 off 21 as the score now read 130/8. Tiwary moved Bangalore just a wee bit closer to the impossible target when he carted Raina for a couple of sixes in the last over as the visitors wrapped up their innings at 147/8 in 20 overs with Tiwary not out on 42 off 34

Shreya Saran on a roll; signs Saguni

Glamorous actress Shreya Saran is on a roll, as she has signed a third Tamil film in the year. After approving Jeeva's Rowthiram and Kamal Hassan'sVishwaroopam, now she has given the nod for Karthi's upcoming political thriller Saguni.

The makers of the film have recently zeroed in on Shreya Saran for the female lead role in Saguni. For the first time, the actress is pairing up with Karthi. The actress has liked the script and gave her consent without any hesitation, says a source close to the producer. 

Report says that the movie will feature another top actress for the second female lead. An unconfirmed report claims that Bengaluru babe Pranitha has been roped in.

However, Saguni is directed by newcomer Shankar Dayal and produced by Dream Warrior Pictures. The movie has GV Prakash Kumar's music and PG Muthiah's cinematography.

Vikram's Deiva Thiumagal release postponed?

Vikram's upcoming Tamil movie Deiva Thiumagal, which was supposed to release on June 3, has been reportedly delayed for unknown reasons. The latest we hear is that the movie is expected to hit the screens on June 17.

The lead cast along with director AL Vijay are busy promoting Deiva Thiumagal in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. A source from the production house claims that the makers of the film felt that they need more time to promote the movie. So, they decided to postpone the release. 

An unconfirmed report has a different story to say. It says that June 17 seems to be a lucky date for Vikram. Hence, the movie has been delayed. Though, the new release has not officially been announced, it is almost sure that the movie will hit the screens on June 17, adds the report.

Deiva Thiumagal features Vikram, Anushka Shetty Amala Paul, Nassar, Santhanam, MS Bhaskar and others in the cast. It is produced by Mohan Natarajan and directed by AL Vijay.