Sunday, April 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Mohanlal enters stock broking business
Kochi, Aug 26 : Veteran movie superstar Mohanlal is now busy expanding his business empire. He has launched a stock broking company Hedge Equities.
"Mohanlal is a partner and also the brand ambassador of the company," the managing director of the company Alex K.Babu told IANS after the official launch of the company here Monday. "Our company has a net worth of Rs.80 million which should shortly touch Rs.100 million," he said adding "Now we have 15 branches but we will have 45 branches all over south India by the end of this fiscal." Mohanlal has been closely associated with Babu's parent company which is one of India's leading seafood exporters.The superstar is also into the hotel business with a chain of hotels located both in India and abroad. He is also planning to launch a few schools shortly to enter the cash rich education business.A leading merchant banker Fedex Securities is one of the main promoters of Hedge Equities.Mohanlal said that he decided to be a partner in the new business because he knows the promoters of Hedge Equities quite well."We are basically targeting the small investors and we are confident that we will be able to guide them in the best possible manner," the superstar said."We want to be a revelation to them since this business here is still in its infancy," he said.
"Mohanlal is a partner and also the brand ambassador of the company," the managing director of the company Alex K.Babu told IANS after the official launch of the company here Monday. "Our company has a net worth of Rs.80 million which should shortly touch Rs.100 million," he said adding "Now we have 15 branches but we will have 45 branches all over south India by the end of this fiscal." Mohanlal has been closely associated with Babu's parent company which is one of India's leading seafood exporters.The superstar is also into the hotel business with a chain of hotels located both in India and abroad. He is also planning to launch a few schools shortly to enter the cash rich education business.A leading merchant banker Fedex Securities is one of the main promoters of Hedge Equities.Mohanlal said that he decided to be a partner in the new business because he knows the promoters of Hedge Equities quite well."We are basically targeting the small investors and we are confident that we will be able to guide them in the best possible manner," the superstar said."We want to be a revelation to them since this business here is still in its infancy," he said.
Mohanlal is testing his tastebuds
Having dominated the Malayalam film industry for nearly two decades, superstar Mohanlal is now attempting to mix the reel life with the real world of business.
The actor has chalked out a slew of business projects spanning diverse areas like restaurants, education, seafood and eco-tourism.
To begin with, Mohanlal will launch a chain of restaurants under the brand name Lal's Tastebuds across the Gulf countries, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The superstar will also bring the prestigious Delhi Public School to Kerala.
Mohanlal has already opened his first restaurant in Dubai. A number of Lal's Tastebuds will soon be launched in various other Gulf cities and in Chennai, Kochi and Kozhikode in the next few months.
To bring the Delhi Public School to Kerala, Mohanlal has joined hands with a few prominent businessmen in the state and the Gulf countries. They including leading seafood exporter K C Babu, Gulf-based NRI businessman Mohammed Ashraf and Thomas Chandy who runs a school in KOne of Mohanlal's partners in the education venture said the actor's desire to set up the DPS branches in Kerala should not be strictly labelled as a business proposition. "Mohanlal is very eager to bring a nationally reputed public school like DPS to his home state," the business partner told rediff.com.
To begin with, he said, they have already registered a trust named Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Education Trust. "We are planning three DPS branches in Kerala in the cities of Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. The DPS school in Kochi has already started functioning," he added.
Mohanlal and his partners are expected to invest around Rs 200 million to set up the three DPS schools in the state.
The superstar will then set up a state-of-the-art studio complex in the Film and Video Park constructed by the state government-run Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation at Kazhakoottam in Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram.
The studio will have indoor and outdoor shooting locales, special effects workshops, live shoot and edit facilities and a recording suite to be used for films, video and television. Mohanlal is pumping in Rs 30 million into the studio park which is expected to be inaugurated August 17.
Noted art director Sabu Cyril and director Priyadarshan are associated with Mohanlal in the studio project.
Mohanlal now produces and distributes films in Kerala through two companies --- Pranavam Arts and Pranamam --- which he floated some years ago. He is also a partner and director of Uni Royal Marian Exports, a major Kozhikode-based seafood export company.
Some of his close associates pointed out that Mohanlal is venturing out into the world of business because "he feels that as an actor, he has reached a saturation level. It seems Mohanlal has been discussing entering business after he huge [sums of] money in some of the Malayalam films he produced," the associate revealed.
He said the superstar is also keen to set up a chain of eco-tourism projects in Kerala. "A consultant has been entrusted with the task of undertaking a feasibility study on eco-tourism resorts in key destinations across Kerala. May be eco-tourism resorts under the brand name of Mohanlal will come up in the state soon," he said.
As a precursor to his tourism business, Mohanlal has already entered into discussions with a leading public limited company for buying a 32-room stylish guesthouse that the company plans to dispose off in the outskirts of Kochi. The actor’s plan is to renovate and re-launch the guesthouse as an eco-tourist resort. uwait
The actor has chalked out a slew of business projects spanning diverse areas like restaurants, education, seafood and eco-tourism.
To begin with, Mohanlal will launch a chain of restaurants under the brand name Lal's Tastebuds across the Gulf countries, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The superstar will also bring the prestigious Delhi Public School to Kerala.
Mohanlal has already opened his first restaurant in Dubai. A number of Lal's Tastebuds will soon be launched in various other Gulf cities and in Chennai, Kochi and Kozhikode in the next few months.
To bring the Delhi Public School to Kerala, Mohanlal has joined hands with a few prominent businessmen in the state and the Gulf countries. They including leading seafood exporter K C Babu, Gulf-based NRI businessman Mohammed Ashraf and Thomas Chandy who runs a school in KOne of Mohanlal's partners in the education venture said the actor's desire to set up the DPS branches in Kerala should not be strictly labelled as a business proposition. "Mohanlal is very eager to bring a nationally reputed public school like DPS to his home state," the business partner told rediff.com.
To begin with, he said, they have already registered a trust named Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Education Trust. "We are planning three DPS branches in Kerala in the cities of Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. The DPS school in Kochi has already started functioning," he added.
Mohanlal and his partners are expected to invest around Rs 200 million to set up the three DPS schools in the state.
The superstar will then set up a state-of-the-art studio complex in the Film and Video Park constructed by the state government-run Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation at Kazhakoottam in Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram.
The studio will have indoor and outdoor shooting locales, special effects workshops, live shoot and edit facilities and a recording suite to be used for films, video and television. Mohanlal is pumping in Rs 30 million into the studio park which is expected to be inaugurated August 17.
Noted art director Sabu Cyril and director Priyadarshan are associated with Mohanlal in the studio project.
Mohanlal now produces and distributes films in Kerala through two companies --- Pranavam Arts and Pranamam --- which he floated some years ago. He is also a partner and director of Uni Royal Marian Exports, a major Kozhikode-based seafood export company.
Some of his close associates pointed out that Mohanlal is venturing out into the world of business because "he feels that as an actor, he has reached a saturation level. It seems Mohanlal has been discussing entering business after he huge [sums of] money in some of the Malayalam films he produced," the associate revealed.
He said the superstar is also keen to set up a chain of eco-tourism projects in Kerala. "A consultant has been entrusted with the task of undertaking a feasibility study on eco-tourism resorts in key destinations across Kerala. May be eco-tourism resorts under the brand name of Mohanlal will come up in the state soon," he said.
As a precursor to his tourism business, Mohanlal has already entered into discussions with a leading public limited company for buying a 32-room stylish guesthouse that the company plans to dispose off in the outskirts of Kochi. The actor’s plan is to renovate and re-launch the guesthouse as an eco-tourist resort. uwait
'Mohanlal is my son'-KAVIYOOR PONNAMMA
Courtesy Original version available at http://www.rediff.com/broadband/
'Mohanlal is my son!'
Shobha Warrier
No star combination has mesmerised the Kerala audience like the Mohanlal-Kaviyoor Ponnammaone.
No, she was not a heroine who danced with him or sang songs with him -- she has been his mother in nearly 50 Malayalam films. Kaviyoor Ponnamma, even when she was a young girl had acted as mother to actors like Satyan, Prem Nazir.
But it's as mother of Mohanlal that people have found her most memorable. As she says, she has come to be known as 'Lalettan's mother'. To the extent that people have even forgotten her name. Why, even Mohanlal's own mother calls Kaviyoor Ponnamma as his 'second mother'!
Here, Kaviyoor Ponnamma tells us what a good son Mohanlal has been!
I have worked in the Malayalam film industry for the last 36 years. I've acted as mother to many actors who were much elder to me, like Satyan, Prem Nazir, Madhu, etc.
In fact, Satyan Sir was older than my father, and Nazir Sir's daughter was nearly as old as me.
But I never felt as free with them, nor look upon them as my children as with Mohanlal. In fact, I've never felt as if I were acting, when we've been together. We behave exactly the same way a mother and son do. Maybe that's why people like to see us as mother and son.
But because of this son, I don't have a name now! (Laughs) Young and old, people say, "Look, Lalettan's mother!"
No, it doesn't upset me at all. I can only love him as he is a nice child!
Lal and me look good in films may be because I look like Santha-chechi (Mohanlal's mother). See, both of us are fat!
It is not that I don’t like my other 'sons'. But with Lal, there is a special intimacy. Very often, when we're on location, people have come up to me and said, "Please act only as Lal's mother." And in front of other heroes, too!
Right from his very first film, I knew he has this extraordinary talent. I told many people, "This boy will be the next Prem Nazir." Then I happened to see him in Balachandra Menon’s film, Kelkatha Sabdam. I told Menon the same thing.
I didn't even know him then! But the thalam (rhythm) in his acting, his whole body was evident even then. Like music, everything about him flows so gracefully. Very few have this grace in the way they talk, walk and move. This I saw right in his first film.
His specialty is that everything about him is musical and flexible. That was why you don't feel he is acting.
Films like Kireedam, Bharatham are some I cannot forget. In fact, Kireedom. brought us close together. There's a scene in it in which I felt I was going to crack inside. It's a scene where I ask him to get out of the house. But as he is leaving, I run behind him... And, one last time, I call him, "Mone!" (son).
He looks back and says, "Amme, (mother), it is not knowingly that I became like this. Without my knowing, my life is slipping away from me. Amme, please forgive me."
When he said that, I thought I would break down. I felt a sudden pang inside me. I felt it was happening to my own child. I do not know what or why I felt that way.
How will a mother feel when her son pleads helplessly? I experienced the same feeling. I felt my own child was talking to me.
Films apart, he also behaves as if I were his own mother. He behaves like he was my own son. Why, I'd say he IS my son!
'Mohanlal is my son!'
Shobha Warrier
No star combination has mesmerised the Kerala audience like the Mohanlal-Kaviyoor Ponnammaone.
No, she was not a heroine who danced with him or sang songs with him -- she has been his mother in nearly 50 Malayalam films. Kaviyoor Ponnamma, even when she was a young girl had acted as mother to actors like Satyan, Prem Nazir.
But it's as mother of Mohanlal that people have found her most memorable. As she says, she has come to be known as 'Lalettan's mother'. To the extent that people have even forgotten her name. Why, even Mohanlal's own mother calls Kaviyoor Ponnamma as his 'second mother'!
Here, Kaviyoor Ponnamma tells us what a good son Mohanlal has been!
I have worked in the Malayalam film industry for the last 36 years. I've acted as mother to many actors who were much elder to me, like Satyan, Prem Nazir, Madhu, etc.
In fact, Satyan Sir was older than my father, and Nazir Sir's daughter was nearly as old as me.
But I never felt as free with them, nor look upon them as my children as with Mohanlal. In fact, I've never felt as if I were acting, when we've been together. We behave exactly the same way a mother and son do. Maybe that's why people like to see us as mother and son.
But because of this son, I don't have a name now! (Laughs) Young and old, people say, "Look, Lalettan's mother!"
No, it doesn't upset me at all. I can only love him as he is a nice child!
Lal and me look good in films may be because I look like Santha-chechi (Mohanlal's mother). See, both of us are fat!
It is not that I don’t like my other 'sons'. But with Lal, there is a special intimacy. Very often, when we're on location, people have come up to me and said, "Please act only as Lal's mother." And in front of other heroes, too!
Right from his very first film, I knew he has this extraordinary talent. I told many people, "This boy will be the next Prem Nazir." Then I happened to see him in Balachandra Menon’s film, Kelkatha Sabdam. I told Menon the same thing.
I didn't even know him then! But the thalam (rhythm) in his acting, his whole body was evident even then. Like music, everything about him flows so gracefully. Very few have this grace in the way they talk, walk and move. This I saw right in his first film.
His specialty is that everything about him is musical and flexible. That was why you don't feel he is acting.
Films like Kireedam, Bharatham are some I cannot forget. In fact, Kireedom. brought us close together. There's a scene in it in which I felt I was going to crack inside. It's a scene where I ask him to get out of the house. But as he is leaving, I run behind him... And, one last time, I call him, "Mone!" (son).
He looks back and says, "Amme, (mother), it is not knowingly that I became like this. Without my knowing, my life is slipping away from me. Amme, please forgive me."
When he said that, I thought I would break down. I felt a sudden pang inside me. I felt it was happening to my own child. I do not know what or why I felt that way.
How will a mother feel when her son pleads helplessly? I experienced the same feeling. I felt my own child was talking to me.
Films apart, he also behaves as if I were his own mother. He behaves like he was my own son. Why, I'd say he IS my son!
'Mohanlal is the best actor India has ever produced'-PRIYADARSAN
Courtesy Original version available at http://www.rediff.com/broadband/
'Mohanlal is the best actor India has ever produced'
Shobha Warrier
Priyadarshan was the director who first presented a humorous Mohanlal to the people of Kerala. Together, they made several slapstick comedies. They stopped when film-makers hopped on the comic bandwagon, making a series of crude and vulgar comedies.
It has been years since they made films like Chitram or Kilukkam, but even now, Malayalis name these two films as their favourites. Here, Priyadarshan talks about his childhood enemy-turned-friend, Mohanlal:
Mohanlal was my sister’s classmate, and I was three years his senior in college. Even though we lived in the same area, both of us played cricket for different colleges and clubs. I was the opening batsman for our college cricket team, and he was the opening bowler for his. So we were always on the opposing sides.
We were real enemies then. We went to college in the same bus. But we would pick fights there too, mostly over girls!
We became friends only because of cinema. A common friend of ours made a film called Thiranottam, which we were both associated with. That was the beginning of our friendship.
I found him hilarious company. Later on, when I came into films, I wanted to make use of that talent, even though he began as a villain in Manjil Virinja Pookal.
And so in Enginey Nee Marakkum, people came to know about this facet of his character. Through humour, he became a hero.
I've made 27 films with him. In each, I have seen at least two new expressions that I hadn't seen in any of his earlier films. That is how much he surprises me.
I know that his contribution has got a lot to do with the success of most of my films, especially the humorous ones. There is a thin line between buffoonery and humour. He goes to the edge but never crosses that.
I admire his spirit with all his coartistes. He has no ego hassles with anyone. He is ready to do anything for a film. Many people have asked me whether he really licked Amrish Puri’s shoes in Kalaapani. He did. He felt the scene would look realistic only if he did it. He wanted the shoe to be cleaned properly, that’s all!
He never prepares for any role or scene. He is not bothered how he looks or what he does. Once the camera is on, he is a transformed person. As he does only one film at a time, he knows everything about the film, nothing more.
All you have to do is tell him what the shot is just before you shoot. He immediately changes into that character. I haven't seen this ability to transform completely, without any preparation, in any other actor in my entire career. And, mind you, I have worked with almost all the actors from the South and the North.
This man is amazing.
I remember Mani Ratnam telling me, "Hereafter, I will never work with a man of whom I am a fan." I asked why. He said he often forgot to say 'Cut' in Iruvar. Mani said he did not expect him to perform at that level.
He stunned me in two films: Vaanaprastham and Vaasthuhara (the late Aravindan’s film).
I saw a different Mohanlal in both. A Mohanlal I don't see normally. You see him as a man carrying a heavy heart. From his body language, you could feel that he had a heavy heart. I don’t know how conveyed it to us. It was so real.
I didn't ask him to analyse it. Because, knowing Lal, it would be stupid of me to ask such things. He never plans for anything or prepares anything. It just happens.
Take Thalavattam. After he becomes mad, he doesn't blink his eyes. I didn't notice it when I shot the film. Only when someone asked me whether we did it purposely, did I notice it.
Both of us -- Lal or I -- didn’t know that mad people rarely blink their eyes. In the climax scene of Kireedam, you see him clenching and unclenching his jaws. People do that when they're tense. All this comes to Lal so naturally.
Recently, Madhavikkutty said that Lal was born in the wrong place. I agree. His potential is so much that I don't think an Indian director can ever make use of it totally.
Do we have any other actor in India who is accepted by the common man and the critics? He is a superstar. People adore him. They throw coins at the screen when he appears, like they do to Rajanikant.
At the same time, he is a super actor, too, having won three best actor awards at the national level. But we are yet to see the full potential of Mohanlal. Mohanlal is a unique phenomenon in Indian cinema.
In fact, he is the best actor India has ever produced.
'Mohanlal is the best actor India has ever produced'
Shobha Warrier
Priyadarshan was the director who first presented a humorous Mohanlal to the people of Kerala. Together, they made several slapstick comedies. They stopped when film-makers hopped on the comic bandwagon, making a series of crude and vulgar comedies.
It has been years since they made films like Chitram or Kilukkam, but even now, Malayalis name these two films as their favourites. Here, Priyadarshan talks about his childhood enemy-turned-friend, Mohanlal:
Mohanlal was my sister’s classmate, and I was three years his senior in college. Even though we lived in the same area, both of us played cricket for different colleges and clubs. I was the opening batsman for our college cricket team, and he was the opening bowler for his. So we were always on the opposing sides.
We were real enemies then. We went to college in the same bus. But we would pick fights there too, mostly over girls!
We became friends only because of cinema. A common friend of ours made a film called Thiranottam, which we were both associated with. That was the beginning of our friendship.
I found him hilarious company. Later on, when I came into films, I wanted to make use of that talent, even though he began as a villain in Manjil Virinja Pookal.
And so in Enginey Nee Marakkum, people came to know about this facet of his character. Through humour, he became a hero.
I've made 27 films with him. In each, I have seen at least two new expressions that I hadn't seen in any of his earlier films. That is how much he surprises me.
I know that his contribution has got a lot to do with the success of most of my films, especially the humorous ones. There is a thin line between buffoonery and humour. He goes to the edge but never crosses that.
I admire his spirit with all his coartistes. He has no ego hassles with anyone. He is ready to do anything for a film. Many people have asked me whether he really licked Amrish Puri’s shoes in Kalaapani. He did. He felt the scene would look realistic only if he did it. He wanted the shoe to be cleaned properly, that’s all!
He never prepares for any role or scene. He is not bothered how he looks or what he does. Once the camera is on, he is a transformed person. As he does only one film at a time, he knows everything about the film, nothing more.
All you have to do is tell him what the shot is just before you shoot. He immediately changes into that character. I haven't seen this ability to transform completely, without any preparation, in any other actor in my entire career. And, mind you, I have worked with almost all the actors from the South and the North.
This man is amazing.
I remember Mani Ratnam telling me, "Hereafter, I will never work with a man of whom I am a fan." I asked why. He said he often forgot to say 'Cut' in Iruvar. Mani said he did not expect him to perform at that level.
He stunned me in two films: Vaanaprastham and Vaasthuhara (the late Aravindan’s film).
I saw a different Mohanlal in both. A Mohanlal I don't see normally. You see him as a man carrying a heavy heart. From his body language, you could feel that he had a heavy heart. I don’t know how conveyed it to us. It was so real.
I didn't ask him to analyse it. Because, knowing Lal, it would be stupid of me to ask such things. He never plans for anything or prepares anything. It just happens.
Take Thalavattam. After he becomes mad, he doesn't blink his eyes. I didn't notice it when I shot the film. Only when someone asked me whether we did it purposely, did I notice it.
Both of us -- Lal or I -- didn’t know that mad people rarely blink their eyes. In the climax scene of Kireedam, you see him clenching and unclenching his jaws. People do that when they're tense. All this comes to Lal so naturally.
Recently, Madhavikkutty said that Lal was born in the wrong place. I agree. His potential is so much that I don't think an Indian director can ever make use of it totally.
Do we have any other actor in India who is accepted by the common man and the critics? He is a superstar. People adore him. They throw coins at the screen when he appears, like they do to Rajanikant.
At the same time, he is a super actor, too, having won three best actor awards at the national level. But we are yet to see the full potential of Mohanlal. Mohanlal is a unique phenomenon in Indian cinema.
In fact, he is the best actor India has ever produced.
NEW RELEASES
Kamal Haasan starts shooting 'A Wednesday' remake
South star Kamal Haasan has begun shooting for his new bilingual film which is a remake of the critically acclaimed Hindi film A Wednesday .
It has been almost a year since Kamal has faced the camera after completing the shooting of the blockbuster Dasavatharam , which raked in more than Rs 250 crore worldwide.
Now, the talented actor has started shooting of his new bilingual film, the remake of ‘A Wednesday’, on April 7 at Ramoji Film City near Hyderabad.
Kamal's production banner Raj Kamal has joined hands with Mumbai's UTV Studios for this film.
Actor Chakri who had earlier worked in Kamal-starrer ‘Sagara Sangamam’ is making his debut as a director with this film.
Kamal's daughter Shruti Haasan will be composing the music of the film. She will be making her debut as a music director with this film which is a remake of the Naseeruddin Shah , Anupam Kher -starrer ‘A Wednesday’ which became a surprise hit besides being critically appreciated.
The Telugu version of the film titled ‘Ee Nadu’ will have Telugu film industry's leading star Venkatesh playing the role of Anupam Kher. Malayalam superstar Mohanlal will be essaying the same role in the Tamil film titled ‘Unnaipol Oruvan’.
Kamal will play the role essayed by Naseeruddin Shah in both the versions of the film.
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