Tuesday, August 11, 2015

''IF AJITH CALLS ME, WE WILL START WORK AT ONCE.''


Director Vishnuvardhan is all geared up for the release of his upcoming Yatchan most probably on the 28th of August. He is currently supervising the post production work of the film. In a recent interview, when we asked him about his next, this is what he had to say,
 
"I have about 6 scripts, readied long time back, and each of them can be commenced as a new venture as they are all relevant stories. But I am yet to decide on my next."
 
When we asked him about the rumors that he would be working with Thala Ajith soon, he said,
 
"All he needs to do is decide and call me for a new film and we would start working together again. We are that comfortable collaborating with each other."

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

DHANUSH TO MAKE UP FOR THE EARLIER MISS?

It was a big weekend for both the actor and the star Dhanush as Maari got a big opening and a roaring response from the mass audience. From credible sources, we now hear that Dhanush will team up with Ethir Neechal fame RS Durai Senthilkumar for a new project which would commence its shoots in December. This film is said to be a political thriller.

Interestingly, Kaaki Sattai was apparently a film which director Durai had initially planned with Dhanush in mind but it was later taken up by Sivakarthikeyan and became a success too.

It must be noted that Dhanush also has Vada Chennai with Vetri Maaran in his pipeline where he would reportedly be sporting 3 unique looks. So this might make Dhanush squeeze in some time immediately after his current Prabhu Solomon project, to start the film with Durai and wrap it fast.

Lets wait for the official announcement to gain better clarity.

PRAKASH RAJ WRAPS UP KAMAL HAASAN’S THOONGAVANAM!

Kamal Haasan, even at the age of 60 years is probably the most hard working hero of K-town who seems to be in a non-stop work mode completing projects after projects.

His upcoming action thriller film Thoongavanam is apparently nearing completion with just over 10 days of shoot left to be shot.

Apart from Kamal Haasan actors like Prakash Raj, Trisha and Asha Sharath will also be seen playing pivotal roles in this film.

One of the most adaptable actors of India, Prakash Raj has reportedly completed the portions that he is involved with. The actor took to Twitter to share his joy which reads “A moment with the legend.. For uuu..Last day shoot with this talented team of dir #rajesh.. It was sheer joy. Cheers”.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

How Ceylon tamils sent plane named 'Jaffna' from Malaya ( currently Malaysia and Singapore).


Today there are communities of Sri Lanka-born families scattered around the world. The Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney, for instance, are home to two of the largest populations of Sri Lankans outside Sri Lanka. London, England is another example, as is Toronto in Canada.
But long before this trend (which began with the exodus of the Burghers after World War Two) there was another migratory flow from Ceylon that has largely gone unnoticed and, therefore, received little publicity over the years. Nowadays, visitors to Singapore and Malaysia (formerly Malaya), would notice the strong influence of Tamil names and people throughout all strata of business and public life in those countries.
What may not be realised is that those Tamil people are not all of South Indian origin, a popular misconception. The majority of them are descended from Ceylon Tamils who emigrated to the Federated Malay States (or F.M.S., as Singapore and Malaysia were then jointly known), as far back as the latter half of the nineteenth century.
Beginning in the 1850s, Malaya and the surrounding region began to develop under British influence. Industry, agriculture and the British administration thrived, creating opportunities for anyone willing to venture forth into a strange land, work hard and, if fortunate, reap the fruits of their labour. This demand struck a receptive chord with businessmen and other educated people of Ceylon.
Among the first wave of Ceylonese to take up residence in the F.M.S. in 1860 was Warnakulasuriya Gunawardena Mudaliyar Balage Parolis de Silva. He established the firm of B.P. de Silva, still renowned as a leading jewellery emporium in the region and beyond. Other Sinhalese businessmen and entrepreneurs followed B.P. de Silva's example by migrating to Malaya, as did a handful of Burghers and Ceylonese of the Muslim faith.
But, for a variety of reasons, Jaffna and its environs proved the most fertile source of migrants from Ceylon to Malaya. Firstly, Jaffna was an important centre of learning in those days, producing hundreds, if not thousands, of highly educated and qualified Jaffna Tamil men who could make useful contributions to the administrative, business and other fields in the burgeoning Federation of Malay States.
Secondly, hardly anyone in Sri Lanka even today would dispute that Jaffna men—and women - are legendary for their work ethic, dedication to study, a will to succeed despite adversity and parsimonious habits. All these qualities were well known to British administrators in Ceylon and Malaya at the time, so it was mainly to the Jaffna Tamils that they turned when seeking to attract new 'blood' to the Malay States.
Consequently, large numbers of Jaffna Tamil families uprooted themselves from their harsh palmyrah-treed landscapes, and their homes surrounded by cadjan fences, to undertake the universal migratory experience — leaving loved ones and everything familiar behind, to hopefully make a fresh start in an unknown and sometimes hostile foreign environment.
Happily for many of those Jaffna Tamil migrants, they earned considerable success in their adopted homeland pursuing their chosen professions. Many worked as administrators in the Malay Railways, some in positions of authority in the rubber plantations and other industries. As news of their good fortune and prosperity reached back to Ceylon, it encouraged more waves of Jaffna Tamil migration to cascade from the northern shores of Lanka towards the Malay peninsula.
By the dawn of the 20th century, the Ceylon Tamils were well established, and respected, in Malaya. Many who had already attained positions of eminence in medicine, education, religion, civil administration and the law, were enjoying the affluence that came with success. Gradually, a new brand of Tamil culture became entrenched in the fabric of Malayan (and later Singaporean) society.
But before the new century was two decades old, the even tenor of colonial life was disturbed by the rumble of distant war clouds. In 1914, in faraway Europe, war was declared between England and Germany, precipitating one of the worst conflicts the world had hitherto seen. Originally described as the Great War (retrospectively called World War One), it also saw the first real use of aerial warfare.
When the Great War began, powered flight was still in its infancy. Airplanes were constructed primarily of wood, fabric and wires, they were powered by temperamental engines lacking dependability, and therefore dangerous to life and limb. But their potential as fighting machines was quickly recognised. It was not hard to see the advantage of being able to fly over enemy lines for reconnaissance purposes, or to drop bombs on the foe below.
Before long, the chief protagonists — the British and the Germans — began equipping their armed forces with fighting flying machines. In fact, Great Britain founded a separate service known as the Royal Flying Corps (R.F.C.), which in later years would evolve into the Royal Air Force ( R.A. F. ).
Although successful as airborne weaponry, the fragile airplanes proved vulnerable — to enemy action as well as to their own unreliability. So, an urgent need arose to keep building more and more fighter planes and bombers to replace the ones being destroyed.
Manufacturing capability was one thing. The money needed to build them was another serious handicap. Then someone had a bright idea. Why not appeal to the patriotism of British subjects, especially those far-removed from the horrors of the Great War, to contribute towards a fund to finance more fighter planes?
The idea gathered momentum, soon attracting interest in colonies and territories of the British Empire all around the world. In Malaya, an Englishman, Mr. C. Alma Baker, O.B.E. took up the call, and began garnering support from all sections and racial groups in the F.M.S. Indeed, he was instrumental in raising sufficient money to procure and present to the British war effort no less than 94 fighter planes — no mean feat by any reckoning.
A feature of Baker's 'fund-a-fighter-plane' campaign was that each aircraft donated to the Royal Flying Corps bore a name significant to its donors. For example, some of the names given to the planes were: "Alma Baker"; "Malacca Chinese"; "Wi Cheng Kim", and ''Kuala Kuangsar".
But one of the more interesting donations resulted from a brainwave of Mr. M. Subramaniam, a native of Mallakam, Jaffna, then working in the Survey Department at Kuala Lumpur. Inspired by Mr. Alma Baker's untiring efforts, he enlisted the support of other expatriate Jaffna Tamils towards raising money for a fighter plane that they could call their own.
The undertaking was a great success. Contributions came pouring in from Ceylon Tamils and their families living and working in all parts of the Malay States: Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Taiping, Pahang, Selangor, etc. Within five months of launching the appeal, the handsome sum of Pounds Sterling £2250 was raised, enabling the Ceylon Tamils of Malaya to contribute a brand-new fighter plane to help the British combat the dreaded 'Hun'.
The aircraft was a F.E.2b, built by the Royal Aircraft Factory of Britain. Like most other airplanes of its day, it was a flimsy biplane (two pairs of wings, one mounted above the other), and could be used both as a fighter plane and a night bomber. It carried a pilot and one passenger, the latter to fire the guns or drop bombs. Unusually, the plane's single 120-horsepower engine was mounted behind the pilot with the propeller facing backwards, an installation called a 'pusher powerplant'.
This F.E.2b was presented to the British Government on December 22, 1915. The justifiable pride of the Tamils who had helped to purchase the plane was embodied in the name they bestowed on their gift. In honour of their hometown in Ceylon, the fighter plane was dubbed "Jaffna".
One wonders, as the aerial battles raged over Europe, how much death and destruction rained down on the Germans from a frail little fighter plane with the innocuous name "Jaffna", far away from the city of the same name?
Little would anyone have imagined that, several decades later, the town of Jaffna would play a pivotal role in another theatre of war back in Sri Lanka itself.
Nothing is known of the fate of the F.E.2b plane called "Jaffna". But the story of the Ceylon Tamils of Malaya, uniting in a spirit of patriotism, gratitude and generosity to gift an airplane to the British Empire, will long live in the annals of Malaysian and Singaporean history.


10 Most Famous Revolutionaries in World History!


Few ideas get the blood flowing more than that of revolution. Revolution means change, and when change is desperately needed, a revolution can empower us to do more, be more, achieve more. Through revolution, we can overcome adversity and stagnation and rise up to fulfill our potential. And there’s nothing to incite a revolution like a revolutionary man or woman who takes a stand against the established order.
Revolutions don’t just happen in politics or war. We have seen revolutions in science, engineering, art, and all other aspects of culture. Let’s take a look at 10 famous revolutionaries and their contributions to human history. These revolutionaries came from many walks of life, and each changed the world in a drastic, defining way.
10. Henry Ford
Flickr / Boston Public Library
Flickr / Boston Public Library
Henry Ford was a famous American industrialist who is often (incorrectly) credited with inventing the assembly line and the automobile. He actually invented neither, but he did sponsor their development, popularizing mass production techniques which pervade society today. Some consider him a hero, while others criticize the effects of mass production on society. Adolph Hitler and other members of the Nazi party were great admirers of Henry Ford.
9. Galileo Galilei
Flickr / Daniel DeCristo
Flickr / Daniel DeCristo
Galileo was a physicist and astronomer who first proposed that the earth revolved around the sun, and not the other way around. His views were denounced as heresy by the Church, and he was condemned to house arrest. His revolution was not only scientific, but spiritual. Galileo stood up publicly for his discovery, causing many people to question for the first time if they were really at the center of the universe.
8. Isaac Newton
Flickr / Skara kommun
Flickr / Skara kommun
While it is easy to focus on political revolutionaries, it would be remiss not to mention at least a few names in other areas of culture. Isaac Newton, perhaps the most famous scientific mind in the world, lived during the 17th and 18th centuries. He laid the groundwork for classical mechanics and changed the way that the world was seen forever.
7. T.E. Lawrence
T.E. Lawrence (Wikimedia)
T.E. Lawrence (Wikimedia)
Thomas Edward Lawrence gets little more than a footnote in most history textbooks, but his role in World War I was indispensable for the Allied forces. Following orders in the Middle East, he led an Arab revolt against the Turkish empire on behalf of Great Britain. Acting on his own, he did what he could to ensure the creation of an independent Arab state. His extraordinary leadership abilities and independent spirit captured imaginations around the globe during World War I, and led to the creation of the film Lawrence of Arabia.
6. Adolf Hitler
Flickr / Recuerdos de Pandora
Flickr / Recuerdos de Pandora
Not all revolutions are positive developments. Adolf Hitler’s revolution in Germany led to World War II, one of the most catastrophically devastating events in human history. Germany welcomed his radical changes with open arms because they were suffering from economic ruin. Hitler’s revolution fueled the life-blood of the German economy, but at the cost of countless millions of innocent lives throughout Europe and the world.
5. Malcolm X
Malcolm X (Wikimedia)
Malcolm X (Wikimedia)
Malcolm X, known in the final years of his life as El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz, was another civil rights leader in America who stood up for racial equality. Initially he was a member of the extremist faction Nation of Islam, advocating black supremacy and racial separation. Eventually he turned his back on the Nation of Islam, and took a pilgrimage to the Middle East and Africa. While there, he realized the essential brotherhood of all humankind, and joined the American civil rights movement. While participating in the movement, he urged that the words civil rights be changed to human rights, and that the issue become an international one. He was killed for his revolutionary stance, likely by members of the Nation of Islam, but his contributions live on.
4. Eva Peron
Eva Peron (Wikimedia)
Eva Peron (Wikimedia)
Maria Eva Duarte de Peron was the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952. During her life, she was a major proponent of union rights and stood up for women in Argentina. The first major feminist political party in Argentina was her Female Peronist Party. Her role in transforming Argentinean society has been immortalized in the musical Evita by Andrew Lloyd Weber.
3. George Washington
George Washington (Wikimedia)
George Washington (Wikimedia)
The first president of the United States was also the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army prior to the founding of the country. He fought during the American Revolutionary War, and was unanimously elected in 1788 for the office of president because of his role in the revolution. It was then his job to ensure that a strong, stable government was created—and that backlash from counter-revolutionaries was dealt with. Washington helped to develop the cabinet system which the US government still uses today, and delivered the first inaugural address.
2. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Flickr / Cliff
Flickr / Cliff
When we think about revolution, we often think about bloodshed, but not all revolutions rely on swords or guns to prove their point. Martin Luther King was a peaceful revolutionary who transformed a society by rallying together American citizens with a promise of equality, freedom, and brotherhood. His courage paved the way for an equal society with equal rights. Without him, America would be a very different place, and probably a much less friendly one.
1. Che Guevara
Flickr / Alexander Herrmann
Flickr / Alexander Herrmann
Che Guevara, often simply called “Che,” was a famous Marxist revolutionary from Argentina. While traveling throughout the continent as a medical student, he was so appalled by the conditions he saw that he made it his mission to spur reform. Together with Fidel Castro, he became a leader of the Cuban Revolution. A photo taken of him at La Coubre memorial service by Alberto Korda became so famous and iconic that it is now featured on t-shirts and other merchandise all over the world. Che’s image has become intrinsically linked with counterculture and rebellion, Marxist and otherwise.
What can we learn from this list? Revolutions can take on many different forms. They can be positive or negative, and can transform a society for better or worse, often with ramifications for the entire planet. A revolution may be political, social, scientific, religious, or technological, but no revolution ever takes place in a vacuum. These actions of these men and women have all had lasting effects felt around the world.

MANI RATNAM, KARTHI, SHRUTI HAASAN, DULQUER?

For the past few days, certain sections of the media had reported that ace director Mani Ratnam for his next project has roped in Karthi, Shruti Haasan and Dulquer Salmaan.

It looks like things are yet to be finalized on this project. Sources close to Mani Ratnam state that it is too early a stage to comment.

On the other hand sources close to Shruti Haasan state that the actress has a lot of respect for the director and would love to work with him as she has also been approached by him on earlier occasions but right now, she is not in a position to comment on this.

However seems like Karthi has indeed been approached but a decision would be taken on this in the coming days as the actor is in Europe shooting for his bilingual with Nagarjuna.