After a fun-filled three days on the cruise Superstar
Virgo, where the cast and crew were treated to performances,
food etc. from across the globe, the people responsible
for acting and making the Golden Arrow of Kollywood
landed in Singapore on Saturday, 20th November, 2010.
The audio launch was planned at the Singapore Expo
where, approximately, 8000 people were estimated to
watch the function live. The program was sponsored
by Vijay TV and hence had Mano and Chitra participate
with the ‘junior singers’ and artists
from the "Who is the next Prabhu Deva" show.
The launch function, which entertained people for
nearly 3 1/2 hours, was hosted by Vijay TV fame Gopinath
and DD. Though the list of invitees was limited to
Manmadhan Ambu's team, it was an evening to remember,
nonetheless. The mood was relaxed and upbeat and who
better than KS Ravikumar and Kamal Haasan to liven
up everyone's spirits. Though there weren't any prominent
speeches from anyone, it was the little humour anecdotes
from Kamal and others that had everyone in splits.
Trisha, who usually does not speak or spend much time
on stage other than dancing, did not hide her excitement
when she was on stage cheered by everyone. More than
just appearing on stage, she was asked to sing a song
alongside Kamal (Kamal Kavithai). When asked about
her performance, a blushing Trisha said that the credit
goes to Kamal as he was the one who persuaded her
for her stage act. Informing that this was her first
ever stage act, Trisha said that she had said ‘No’
to Kamal sir more than 1000 times but still he persuaded
her to sing with him. "Please ask Kamal sir if
you have any questions about my performance",
she said smilingly.
Kamal shed 30 years of his life and was as enthusiastic
as a man in his late 20s. Occasionally barging into
others' speeches, he spiced up the whole evening with
his wit and humour. One such incident was when Gopinath
was heaping superlatives after another on Kamal Haasan
when calling him on stage. Kamal immediately asked
Gopinath to stop and said, "I think I will start
believing in whatever you say" for which Gopinath
replied, "Sir this is one of the very few chances
we get to appreciate you. You deserve every praise”.
Kamal Haasan in one word
Ramesh Aravind was a man of few words. When asked
to describe Kamal Haasan in one word, Ramesh Aravind
thought and thought and thought and finally said that
it was too difficult to contain Kamal in one word.
He said that he can talk about Kamal all day long
but if there is one word he has to use, he would say
'Inspiration'. The reason he said was that Kamal has
been a source of inspiration for so many people to
enter the cinema industry.
The film's producer Udhayanidhi Stalin was not in
a mood to talk for long either. He made his speech
short and crisp by saying that Kamal is like God to
many. "He is the reason for me venturing into
cinema", he said to a thundering applause.
Dum pudichi ennala paada mudiyathu..
The most-awaited part of the evening was Kamal's performance
and he did not disappoint. Kamal and Trisha, together,
sang and recited 'Kamal Kavithai' and Kamal also sang
one more song to a spell-bound audience.
While Suchitra sang to Oyyale, Andrea crooned to 'Who
is the hero'. Her voice and control even in high-pitch
sequences raised everyone's eyebrows. Appreciating
Andrea's performance, Kamal quipped "I cannot
sing like Andrea at all. Ennala avlo dum pudichi paada
mudiyathu (I can't sing holding my breath for so long)".
The trailer and audio launch
The trailer of Manmadhan Ambu was screened to the
audience and got tremendous reception. The bull-ring
sequence was the talking point of the evening.
The audio launch was a never-been-done-before event.
If we thought launching in Singapore was the highlight,
the way in which the audio was released would be remembered
by many for a very long time. When the time was ripe
to release the CD, KS Ravikumar called Trisha and
Madhavan to invite men and women from the public who
had gathered. In an unusual incident, residents and
fans of Singapore found themselves on stage with the’
man’ himself.
While Kamal distributed the first copies to the men
present, Trisha gave it to the women on stage. It
was so heartening to see this wonderful gesture. KS
Ravikumar informed the gathering that it was Kamal's
idea to release the CD to the public rather than giving
it to the crew members. "This is the first time
in the history of Tamil cinema such thing has happened
and all the credit goes to Kamal for this excellent
idea", praised Ravikumar.
Manmadhan Ambu has the 'matter'
Can KS Ravikumar be hidden in such a grand ceremony?
Not at all, as he was in his usual self addressing
the 8000-odd crowd. He had everyone in splits with
his one-liners and statements. Talking about Manmadhan
Ambu, he said that it has all the ingredients and
necessary 'matter' in it making everyone present to
applaud and laugh for atleast a minute. "It will
be an entertaining and enterprising movie with the
usual KS Ravikumar stamp", he assured. He thanked
each and every member of the crew and also gave a
special note of thanks to dance master Sagar. Revealing
that Kamal does not appreciate and approve anyone
so easily, he said that music director Devi Sree Prasad
has a very bright future as Kamal had personally told
his admiration for DSP's music.
Gowthami is not on a picnic
Referring to Gowthami, who also attended the function,
KSR told that she is not on a picnic. "Gowthami
is the costume designer of the movie and is responsible
to show Kamal as a young lad", said Ravikumar.
He also told that he was impressed with her costume
designs in Dasavatharam. He added that he was stuck
in awe when he met Kamal two weeks after he narrated
the script. A surprised KSR said, "I could not
believe he was Kamal as he had lost so much weight".
Yaavarum Kelir
Talking about Yaavarum Kelir, the project which was
announced earlier by Kamal, Ravikumar said that Yaavarum
Kelir got shelved due to non availability of dates.
"It is a project which will take atleast 1 1/2
years to complete. But since Kamal only had 6-8 months
of his time, we decided on Manmadhan Ambu. “I'm
sure Kamal will make Yaavarum Kelir soon", Ravikumar
assured.
One of a kind
This is the first time that two major TV channels
joined hands to present an audio launch. Vasantham
Tamil Central, a popular Tamil channel in Singapore,
and Vijay TV collaborated to present the audio release
to viewers. We hope that this culture will also emanate
in India, murmured a few.
The gala function was attended by the film's cast
and crew which included Ramesh Aravind, director KS
Ravikumar, Udhayanidhi Stalin, Mrs. Kiruthika Stalin,
Gowthami, singers Andrea, Suchitra along with Kamal
Haasan, Madhavan, Trisha, Sangeetha and music director
Devi Sree Prasad.
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