Simbu's Maniratnam Project Set To Begin Soon!

It has not been exactly a smooth patch for actor Simbu of late having embroiled himself in a clutch of controversies. The talented actor with substantial star power endured a rather rough patch after the much publicised issue of AAA producer's complaint against him to the producers' council.

Things seemed to be getting out of hand for the maverick actor, producer and director after reports emerged that he may very well get a red notice, which would have barred him from acting in upcoming projects.

But now it looks like that the tide has turned and Simbu seems to be getting back into his groove. His meeting with the legendary director Mani Rathnam on Tuesday has made film buffs interested. It is heard that Simbu is gearing up to attend a workshop for his next film with the ace director.

Simbu reportedly sought the blessings before the release of his upcoming biggie Sakka Podu Podu Raja. The film incidentally marks Simbu's foray into composing as he will be debuting as a musical composer. Sakka Podu Podu Raja will have actor Santhanam as the hero.

The yet untitled Mani Rathnam project is expected to get off the blocks from January 2018. The film is already causing a huge flutter in industry circles as it has an extremely meaty star cast and apart from Simbu, the film has such big names like Aravind Swami, Jyothika, Vijay Sethupathi, Fahadh Faasil and Aishwarya Rajesh.

The film will have music by none other than the Oscar laureate legend AR Rahman. The camera will be handled by ace cinematographer Santhosh Sivan. Interestingly this film will mark Mani Rathnam's 6th association with Santhosh Sivan.

An Action Thriller

The movie is touted to be an action thriller, which will be interesting given the fact Maniratnam hasn't done too many out and out action movies in his stellar career. The movie is expected to hit the big screens by summer of 2018.

Sakka Podu Raja & Simbu

Sakka Podu Podu Raja a Tamil comedy film directed by Sethuraman and produced by VTV Ganesh. Interestingly Simbu is not part of the cast of the film and the film features Santhanam, Vaibhavi Shandilya and Vivek in the leading roles.

Cinematography is by noted Malayalam talent Abinandhan Ramanujam and the editing is by Anthony.The film began production in October 2016.The movie is a remake of Telugu movie Loukyam.

Simbu-Dhanush Camraderie

The audio launch of Santhanam's Sakka Podu Podu Raja which took place recently had got everyone's interest. The grandiose affair had noted film personalities and the presence of national award winning actor Dhanush was particularly noted.

Dhanush launched the album of the movie which sees Simbu making his debut as music composer in Tamil cinema.

Dhanush On Simbu

Simbu returned the compliment and he said that Dhanush deserves a huge loud round of applause for being in the event despite his extremely busy schedule.

Simbu About His Foray Into Music Direction

Speaking about his debut as music composer the multifaceted Simbu said, "I thank God, industry, media friends and my fans. I am very happy to stand here as a music director. Music is something I really enjoy. I agreed to this film for Santhanam. I didn't introduce Santhanam. I thought he is a good talent and wanted him to do well. He has proved that today. I'm very happy."

Maniratnam

Ace director Maniratnam is not going through the best phase in his illustrious career with his recent films not exactly living up to the huge expectations.

Having already worked with Arvind Swami in Roja, Thalapathi, Bombay and Kadal, this will be Maniratnam's maiden collaboration with the big names like Vijay Sethupathi, Simbu and Fahadh Faasil.

Dhanush About Simbu

Speaking at the event a rather beaming Dhanush had said, "When had finished recording the songs for the Sakka Podu Podu Raja album and Simbu invited me to attend the audio launch. And with an invite from my friend, I just couldn't refuse.Though Simbu is acting from his childhood, he and I made our debut as hero in 2002. In fifteen years, we have shared our failures and success."

"He is multi-talented, I cannot dance like him. I used to go to the sets of Thulluvatho Ilamai without interest. At that point, I couldn't dance well. The dance master used to quote Simbu's dance as reference, Anyone can come to this industry and they can also taste success but staying on the top is difficult, Simbu has been here for fifteen years".

Simbu And Recent Controversies:

Simbu during the musical launch of Santhanam project said that people are expectedly curious to know what transpired from his perspective as far as the recent controversy is concerned. He admitted his fault and said, "I agree my film AAA did not do well. For fans, we did a jolly film which did not work. It should have been a 1 part film, but due to the budget issue, we had to make it a 2 part film", as quoted by an online portal.

Simbu divulged that there were issues but according to him the producer could have taken the initiative to speak to him.He added that there was no reason whatsoever to create a major issue six months after the film's release.

Recently, Michael Rayappan made allegations about Simbu's unprofessional behaviour during the making of their AAA. Michael Rayappan had said that he suffered massive losses due to Simbu's unprofessionalism.

Simbu was not forthcoming with his reply at the outset and had said that he was not responsible for anyone post a film's release and stated that the producer was yet to clear his pending salary of Rs 3.5 Crore.

As things seemed getting out of hand with the Tamil Nadu Producers Council raking up the issue against Simbu, the fiery actor backtracked. His next film is with ace director Maniratnam and his apparent attempts at truce seems to be springing out of his worries about the project getting affected.