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'BABA' RELATED NEWS, TRIVIA AND GOSSIP
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| Court
Case against Baba |
| Even before it can make
it release as scheduled on August 15th 2002 a court case has been
booked against 'Baba'. The case is a stay on the movie 'Baba' to remove
certain scenes, songs and lyrics from the movie before its release.
According to those who have filed the case the lyrics of one of the
songs in the movie questions the belief of the followers of the political
leader 'Periyaar' who is an atheist. The lyrics of the song glorify
the political leader 'Rajaji' and portraying the beliefs and ideologies
of 'Periyaar' not to be right in a subtle way. The followers of Periyar
feel that it is not a right thing to exploit the freedom of expression
given for those in the field of cinema, especially to offend a great
political leader like 'Periyaar' who has worked for the upliftment
of the socially backward people. The song that was written by the
lyricist Vaali also supports the believers of God and offends the
non-believers. G.Swamydurai of the 'Dravida Kazhagam' has filed this
case against the movie 'Baba' in the Chennai highcourt to remove the
respective songs, lyrics and scenes from the movie. |
| A
Baba back up |
| Baba and his 21-member
crew, which includes Manisha Koirala, had gone to the Swiss Alps for
the film shooting. They had an extra luggage apart from the usual
apparatus necessary for the film shooting. It was an 800 kg luggage.
It was a banyan tree, an artificial one, that was needed as a prop
for the movie. The tree could be dismantled and packed into 40 wooden
boxes. The news around the industry is that tree is also a part of
the nucleus of the movie. While we are hoping those hanging roots
of the banyan tree really bear the weight of the high expectations
that are running high around Baba the latest update around Baba is
that there was an entire stunt scene which was choreographed in way
where Rajinikanth used only his right hand alone. |
| Baba's
sentiments |
| After all the Banyan tree
prop that was flown to Switzerland for the shoot it is now time back
in India. Apart from direction, talent, skill and hardwork now sentiments
and lucky charm also seem to be an intergral part of any film during
the making process. And 'Baba' seems to be no exception to that. The
shooting of Baba is happening at Mysore which is considered to be
a lucky place for all Rajinikanth films to happen. If it turns out
to be successful it will leave us questioning the 'Feng-shui' of Mysore.
May be all films should be shot in Mysore for its perfect 'Vaasthu'.
While the position of the land of location of films to be shot is
having its influence on tinsel town the people from the 'Land of the
Rising Sun' who are great fans of Baba are getting geared to watch
the movie. The distribution rights for 'Baba' have already been sold
for 8 crores in Japan. |
| Prakash
Raj opts out of 'Baba' |
While Baba is busy practicing
stunt scenes with one hand, an experienced hand at acting has chosen
to drop himself out of the movie. Prakash Raj who was booked initially
to play the role of the Chief Minister in the movie opted himself
out. He was initially narrated a role in the film. Finally when the
shooting for his role started he landed up three days in the shooting
with no scenes about him ever being shot. Infuriated he went and questioned
the director Suresh Krishna who said that his role is still in the
making process. With precious time in his career being wasted he went
to Rajinikanth and excused himself out of the movie as he had other
movies in other languages to attend too. Nasser was approached for
the role, which Prakash Raj was supposed to play. Nasser agreed immediately
and the shooting for Baba is happening at full swing in Mysore now.
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| The
'Raj' rejections of 'Baba' |
| First it was a furious
Prakash Raj excusing himself out of 'Baba' for not clearly defining
his character and thereby wasting his time. Prakash Raj who had went
for the shooting of 'Baba' initially for the first two days became
restless and walked out of the project when the director told him
that his character has not yet been defined in the film. He went to
the superstar himself and excused himself out of the movie. Later
Nasser was roped in for Prakash Raj's role which was the role of a
'Chief Minister'. Now it was Satyaraj's turn to say no to 'Baba'.
With a majestic role demanding a strong performance from a powerful
actor, Rajinikanth felt it would come out excellently if Satyaraj
starred in the role. So he approached Satyaraj for the role. But then
Satyaraj declined the offer saying that it wouldn't be appropriate
for his career when he himself was still a full-fledged hero doing
his own genre of films. Whether the reason was credible or not Rajinikanth
accepted it and said that he understands his reason for saying 'No'
from his point of view. So now it's Bharathi film fame Shayaji Shinde
pitching in for Sathyaraj. |
| Launch
of Baba |
| Shattering all wild rumors
and gossip being spread that the launch of Rajinikanth's Baba was
planned to secretively take place on March 23rd the actual launch
of Baba took place on March 24th 2002 as announced to the press. With
simplicity being his keyword the launch of Baba took place in a very
simple style at a Lord Ganesha temple in the AVM Studio, Chennai.
Present in the muhurat of the film was an actress of oriental origin,
a Japanese actress. It is too early to know if a whole Japanese family
is being used in the cast of the film but what is known is that the
superstar has a dedicated clan of fans among the Japanese too. Present
during the launch of Baba were his political mentor 'Cho' Ramasamy,
professional guiding star Director K.Balachander, A.V.M Saravanan,
Nambiar and Senthil. While the daily papers carried the still of Rajinikanth
smoking and the tag line of the movie 'Known is a drop...unknown is
a ocean, the lawyers of Rajinikanth have issued a legal notice banning
unauthorized use of Baba & anything to do with Rajinikanth's previous
films for other commercial purposes. For all those die-hard fans of
Rajinikanth, a few extra trivia about the Rajinikanth's 150th film,
BABA: While most of Rajinikanth's films are shot in Mysore predominantly,
the shooting of Baba will take place in Chennai for the first 40 days
and then will be shot in Hyderabad and Mysore. An entire railway station
has been replicated with railway tracks, a goods train and about 200
junior artistes working everyday at the cost of 45 lakhs in Chennai.
Manisha Koirala acts as the heroine. Goundamani stars with Rajinikanth
after 7 years. Goundamani's last film was with Rajinikanth in "Uzhaipaali".
Ashish Vidyarthi who starred in Vikram's Dhil stars as the villain.
Suresh Krishna directs the film while A.R.Rehman scores the music. |
