Chennai News 93

CHENNAI NEWS
(NEWS OF CHENNAI AND TAMILNADU BY ENVERNATHAN)
Volume 93 (September 2008)

Enver’s Rambling.

My heart goes out to the Tamils in South Africa. A few years ago they were so excited about the East-West Channel which unfortunately failed to take off. Now they have been short changed by Multichoice when the KTV channel was taken out of the South Indian bouquet. Just for the record KTV is still part of the Sun Network in India and the rest of the world. It was not taken over by Dr Karunanidhi (who has his own channel called Kalainger TV) or any other company. In fact Sun Network has 20 channels in the 4 South Indian languages. The latest addition is a 24 hour Tamil comedy channel. Besides the 5 Tamil channels that are part of the Sun network there are another 11 Tamil channels making a total of 16 Tamil channels. I still believe that the 24 hour Sun Music channel with its young vibrant VJs will do well in SA as will the new comedy channel.
One wonders why Multichoice decided to drop KTV. Is it because of the number of complaints some subscribers made to them complaining about the programs on KTV. Some of these people did cc their complaints to me thus I know about it. I did tell them at that time that for every one complaint there would be hundreds of satisfied viewers. Some of these people have now told me that they complained so that the service could be bettered and not to have it stopped.
I find it strange that multichoice who are so secretive of their numbers have suddenly declared that the South Indian bouquet (SIB) has 4000 subscribers. They say that the North Indian bouquet has 44,000 subscribers. I am not sure if this is for South Africa or for the whole of Africa. Maybe if the South Indians can also increase their number of subscribers then they could also get a better deal. I also wonder what efforts are being made by Multichoice to increase the number of subscribers to this bouquet.
However I believe that it is really unethical for Multichoice to cut KTV and still charge the same price. It seems to go against all the laws of consumerism. People in India will not be able to understand how one company can hold the monopoly for Satellite TV. Here we have a choice of 3 cable operators and at least 5 different satellite companies. In fact companies are offering free subscriptions for 1 whole year to new subscribers.
I did advocate this last year and maybe it is time that the 4000 subscribers and the estimated 20,000 + viewers formed a SIB forum to tackle this problem. As subscribers you have this right. Engaging Multichoice head-on will be a much better strategy that cancellation. I don’t think you want to go back to only hiring DVDs.
I thought I knew all the big players in our Tamil cultural world but I have been proven wrong because I have no idea about Mr Narain Naidoo and the Ethekweni Tamil Sangam who were consulted by Multichoice.
How is it that organisations like the SATF, NTF, NTVS, MTSS, the Eisteddfod movement and TAG was not consulted instead? These organisations (sorry if I missed out any) have been in the forefront of promoting our Tamil culture in SA for many years.

Congratulation to Dr Deena Padayachee and Mr Danny Naicker who have been chosen from the Live Poets' Society for the Poetry Africa Festival. Also further congratulations to Deena for his literary success in the US.


The Pravasi Bharathi Divas is a meeting held every year by the Indian government for Indians living out side India. Although held mostly in Delhi this year it is Chennai that will be hosting this colourful and interesting event for the very first time. It will be held from January 7th to 9th at the Chennai Trade Centre. For more information you can log onto www.pbdindia.org and can register for the event. However check with me for accommodation as I am sure I can get it at a better rate or advise you to book with them if I can’t. However some of the hotels on the list are not worth the price so I will tell you which to avoid.
As a prelude to this meeting you can attend the first World Tamil Economic Conference and Tamil Diaspora Meet also in Chennai from 5th to 7th January at the Taj Coromandal Hotel. For more information you can log onto www.economic-conference.com and register here. I will give you more news of tours that I have planned before and after these two meetings. Don’t hesitate to contact me for more information.
Some good news was hearing that Magan Balakisten and Mahendri Pillay (another from the Tamil Eisteddfods) have made it to the Finals of the SATMA awards. Congratulations from me and Chennai News.

The Sydenham Tamil Society will be starting Yoga classes from next month. They will be conducting a free introductory class at the end of this month. For more information contact their PRO Miss Sivani Naidoo sivaninaidoo@gmail.com

The Saiva Sithantha Sungam Asherville branch is having a grand Dinner and dance on Saturday 20 Sept at Kenda hall at 5.00pm. Tickets are R100.00 per person. Contact Juggie: 0837760776

Internet

I have finally registered my website www.envernathan.com I am now in the process of developing this site. If you can help me please do so.
Some of you who visited India a few years ago promised me space on your server. I did not follow it up at that time but now that I have a web domain I will need that promised space. Please mail me. Thanks to those of you who have visited the website and have given me suggestions. I really value it.

One of our groups in Facebook is called Learn and Teach Tamil. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6084403897) This was started on 1st December. This is an interactive site for people who want to learn Tamil and also for people who want to teach. As it is aimed at adults we are using the English font. Please join in to get involved. Kamesh has prepared some lessons, which I will share with you. However to get really involved on a daily basis it will be better to join the group.
This site is becoming very popular and is increasing daily. An article on this site appeared in the July 13 edition of the Sunday Times extra. You can read this article by clicking on the following. http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/News/Article.aspx?id=800351

For those of you who are interested in Tamil movies you can join the group Tamil Movie Club. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6526801521) Not to be confused with the Movie club that you pay R100 as an investment. The one in Facebook is of course free. You can join in some lively discussions on all aspects of Tamil cinema.
Tamil Eisteddfod Group. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7818284447) This is a place for all of you who ever took part in an eisteddfod whether as a participant, administrator, Adjudicator or the audience. The rule of the group is that you must introduce yourself. Hopefully we will have a collection of experiences that will inspire others to take part.
The latest addition is the Chennai Super Kings (IPL). This is off course for all supporters of the Chennai Super Kings 20/20 cricket team. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18926205926
For those of you who are looking for a Tamil word processor then you should look at the Azhagi software. This is also excellent for transliterating Tamil songs etc. You can get a free basic copy by downloading from the site www.azhagi.com If needed you can then opt for the more advance version. You don’t even have to know Tamil to use it.

My son Kamesh has his own blog site, which can be accessed at http://kameshgovender.blogspot.com/. It is quite interesting and he loves putting pictures etc in it.
Film scene

After his success of Prabhu Venkat’s (Gangai Amaram’s son) first movie Chennai 28 people here were eagerly awaiting his second movie Saroja. Well he certainly did not disappoint us and this movie is fast becoming a super hit. It is a light hearted thriller which at times brings you to the edge of your seat. The suspense is kept right till the last scene. The story is about four ordinary men who find themselves in an extraordinary situation and how they react to it. Four friends go on a road trip to Hyderabad to attend an India Pakistan cricket match. However on the way they find the road blocked when a tanker overturns. They decide to take a short cut and end up in a deserted area where they witness a killing. While fleeing they find a girl Saroja who has been kidnapped. The kidnapping story is told in a parallel track. Now they have to not only save themselves but also Saroja. The first part is very light-hearted and the second part tense with however some light hearted moments included. However every thing about the movie is so natural. The cast includes the four friends Jagapathi Babu (SP Charan – SPB’s son), his brother Raj Babu (Vaibhav), Ganesan (Premji – Venkat’s brother), Ajay (Shiva), Prakash Raj as the father of Saroja and Jayaram as his cop friend. As Ajay is a TV artiste there is an array of small screen artistes who will be familiar to Sun TV viewers. The music is by Yuvan Shankar Raja and is out of this world. The role of Saroja is played by singer Vega formerly of the all girl band Viba girls. She does a good number as a DJ in a club. Premji’s comic intrusions are a real joy to watch.
One of the highlights was that all the artistes from Chennai 28 including Jai do a small cameo in this movie much to the delight of the audience.

I recently saw the movie Jayam Kondaan starring Vinay (Unnale Unnale) Bhavana and Lekha Washington. You may remember me writing about the English movie Framed where Lekha acted with my niece Malavika.
The movie is about a young man Arjun (Vinay) who comes back from the UK when his father dies. He looks for the money that he has been sending monthly to his father. In the quest he finds out that his father has a second wife and he has a younger half sister Brinda (Lekha). He finds out that his father has invested in a house near Madurai. He goes there and meets the tenants and is enamoured by the daughter Poorni (Bhavana). Bhavana is quite gorgeous here with beautiful costumes.
Lekha as the sister who tries to corner the wealth has made an excellent debut in Tamil cinema. She really looks the part of a young Indian girl of today.
The rest of the movie is how Vinay wins over his sister and also how he wards of the interference of the local goon who gets involved against his wishes. Director Kannan an assistant of Mani Rathnam has really done himself proud in his debut movie. His handling of the story in general and the brother sister situation is beautifully done. He has also handled Vivek very well and this is really one of Vivek’s better roles. The music which is very good is by Vidhya Sagar.

Many people think that Jai made his debut in Subramaniapuram. Actually it was his third movie. Jai made his debut as Vijay’s younger brother in Bhagavathy. His second role was in the hugely successful Chennai 600028 which highlighted Gulley cricket in Chennai. Incidentally Jai is the nephew of music director Deva. His next movie is Vamanam with model turned actress Priya Anand and the hugely talented Lakshmi Rai. Other movies that he is supposed to have signed for are Aval Per Tamilarasi and Rakkozhi.

Dham Dhoom is the last movie of director Jeeva who died in Moscow just as he finished the shooting of the Russian part of the movie. The movie was completed by his assistant. As in all Jeeva films the story line is divided into two parallel tracks. One is of Dr Gautham Subramaniam (Ravi) who is about to get married but has to go to Russia for a medical convention. There he is accused of a murder of a Russian girl as all the circumstantial evidence points to him. The parallel track is of how he meets and wins the love of his bride to be played by Kanaga Renault. Although playing a village belle her two dream numbers are really scorching.
Gautham is helpless in Russia because of the language barrier and is helped by Raghavan Nambiar (Jayaram) from the Indian Embassy Aarti Chinappa (Lakshmi Rai), an advocate who lives in Russia. Lakshmi Rai gives a brilliant role of a girl who slowly falls in love with her client but has to subdue her feeling when she learns that he is about to get married. However the Russian police are made to look like bungling fools. Gautham and Aarti are on the run most of the time until he decides to fight back. Ravi is maturing much as an actor but please don’t expect the Ravi of Something Something and Santosh Subramaniam. Although the movie is quite good one keeps on wondering what the final product would have been if Jeeva was still alive.

The Rajnikanth movie Robot has been renamed Endhiran in Tamil. The movie to be directed by Shankar also stars Aishwaria Rai (finally) who returns to Tamil after many years. She has reported to be getting one of the biggest pay checks for an actress in Tamil.

Actress Genellia says that she loves South Indian food and that the South Indian movie industry is the most disciplined in India. She says that she owes every thing to the Tamil and Telugu film industry which discovered her and nurtured her career. Even though she has become a hit in Hindi movies she will not stop acting in movies of the south.

Trisha who is the undisputed number one in both Tamil and Telugu movies is taking quite a chance by turning down two Telugu movies for Kamal’s Marmayogi. She has to give the movie a block of 200 days in which she can not act in any other movie.

The biggest news making waves in the Tamil film industry is the entry of Sun Pictures (a sister company of Sun TV) as a production house. They are already involved in six movies. With the reach of Sun TV thorough out the world these movies are guaranteed instant success.

I delayed sending Chennai News because I wanted to attend the marriage of Sibiraj the actor son of Satyraj. Sibi will always be Student Number 1 for my mother-in-law and my wife. The reception was in the plush Mayor Ramanathan hall. I had gone armed with my camera and had told my sons to put in new batteries which I had bought in Macro. I was really disappointed when the new batteries were dead. Anyway Sibi promised me some photos. The Chief Minister was attending the weddings so there was a battalion of cops and security personnel around. Sibi and his charming wife made a lovely couple. I spoke to actor Manivanan’s son Raghu who has a few movies to be released soon. However as I had to make an early start the next day (and my camera was not working) we decided to come back early. It was fun however to identify all the actors and actresses present.

Music Scene

The music world deeply mourns the death of the violin maestro Kunnakuddi Vadyanathan who passed away on Monday September 8. His music was appreciated not only by the conneseurs but also by the ordinary man in the street. He used to divide his concert into three parts viz classical, devotional and film tunes thus catering to everyone.
In fact he is credited in de-mystifying carnatic music for the layman. I remember some years ago a Mr Murugan who was my nephew Jayson’s teacher in Sydenham primary asked me to record some violin solos for him. I then recorded all the violin masters. However he returned all the tapes asking if I could only record all Kunnakuddi’s music.
Kunnakuddi showed no interest in music as a young boy even though his father and mother and sisters were musicians. When he was ten his father was so annoyed when the violinist who was to accompany his daughters did not turn up that he asked Kunnakudi to learn the instrument. Within a year he was able to accompany any singer. He was one of the few Carnatic musicians who revelled in playing Tamil music especially film music. His favourite ragas without doubt were Shunmugapriya and Hindolam.
Besides being a musician he was a very successful Music director composing music for movies like his debut Vaa Raja Vaa to Deivam, Agathiyar and Raja Raja Chozhan. Who will forget his immortal song Marudamalai Mamaniyae Murugaiyya brought alive by Madurai Somu. This song is still very popular in South Africa.
From 1976 he stopped accompanying musicians and concentrated in solo performances. He then concentrated in his own unique fingering technique which stands apart from other violinists. It is during this time that he formed an association with thavil vidvan Vallayapatti Subramaniam with whom he gave over 3000 concerts.
He was also an able administrator and served as secretary of the Tamilnadu Iyal, Isai Nadaga Mandram. He was also an organiser of the Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Utsavam for many years. He was also the president of the Raga foundation. I will now cherish all my Kunnakudi Cds. Depending on the source he was between 73 and 76 years old.

One of the things that I am always talking to temple organisations about is having a shop in their premises. I find that many people will buy Cds etc when they go to a concert, temple and wedding but will not necessary go to a shop that is out of their way. I am happy to announce that the Saiva Sithanda Sungam in Asherville has opened such a shop. Besides having a lot of their own goods they also have a number of my Cds on sale. Thus they are not only providing a much needed service for their members and general public but are also adding to their kitty.
People in Gauteng can buy original Tamil Cds and other related goods at Kryan’s Spice Shop run by the affable Vis Govender. The shop number 5 is situated in the Sunninghill Village, Maxwell Drive in Sunninghill. You can phone Vis for more information on 0825506631. I heard that they have something exciting lined up for this years Deepavali.
If other religious and cultural organisations also want to open these cultural shops please contact me and I will give you all the help that I can render.

Best wishes to all of you who will be starting your Puratassi fast. This is also the best time for regular vegetarians as they have a month of a variety of vegetarian dishes wherever they go.

Tourism Scene

I will be on my annual fact finding mission from Tuesday September 16. My journey will take me to Kanyakumari, Trivandrum, Kovelam beach, Kollam, Allepey, Cochin, Kottiyam, Kumaragum, Munnar and Palaghad. I will also be attending the three day Kerala tourism Mart in Cochin. The main reason from my trip is to look at all the hotels that I use or will use for the coming season and also to check out the new tourists spots that my tourists can go to. This is so that I can always give you the best possible service and also the latest products. I will try and get onto the internet every day but cannot promise you the instant replies that you are used to. I will be back in Chennai on 24th September.

A few days ago I went to Pondicherry to see some of the new Hotels that have come up. I am please with the standard of the Hotel that I use there and some new ones that I found there. However I am still looking for a really good beach Hotel there and was pleased to hear that few are coming up and will be ready soon. Looks like I will have to make another trip there soon.

Notice Board – Please mail me if you want to put your organisation on this notice board. However I need a mail from the principal organiser so that information is accurate.

The Sydenham Tamil Society has started singing and harmonium classes under the tutorage of Mr Kumaresan Chetty every Wednesday at 6 pm. For more details contact Mr Rudy Pillay at 031-2086929.

Sri Saradha Institute of Arts and Culture (Free Tuition in Tamil, Music
& Dance)
Saturday 9.00 - 11.00 at Ganesha Temple - Cnr of Palmview Dr &
CrestBrook - Phoenix
Contact Suja or Kovilan Muthumanikam on 083 742 8508 for more details

Manormani Dance Academy. A school of Bharatha Natyam and Folk Dance.
Saturday 9.00 – 12.00 at Umgeni Road Temple. 13.30 – 16.30 ABH – Chathsworth.
Tuesday 15-30 – 17.00 Stanmore Regional Hall.
Wednesday 17.30 – 19.00 Mount View Civic Hall.
For further details contact Mrs Govender on 031-5053379

Hindu Cultural League - Music and Dance Academy
Offers the following classes on Saturdays in the disciplines of Music, Dance and Language: Bharata Natyam, Tabla, Harmonium, Tamil, and Karnatic Vocal Classes & Folk & Contemporary Dance. Children and adults, from beginners to advanced are welcome.
Classes are held at the H. A. Jack Primary School, Cnr Jauncey & Preston Roads, Abbottsford (close to Melrose Temple). Johannesburg. For more information in respect of times, cost and other information, contact
Rueben 072 709 5991, Thirumala 082 563 4439, Don 082 787 2056 or Inbam 083 262 6511 or email info@hcl.co.za Visit our website www.hcl.co.za

Sahaja Yoga, the following numbers could be used: Durban - 031-400 4703, PMburg - 033-391 3557, Johannesburg - 011-864 3410, Cape Town 021-713 2463alternatively, you could visit www.sahajayoga.org for more info or e-mail lincoln.pillay@bcx.co.za.


Classified Section.

I have 4 mrithangams ranging from R1200 (18”) and a naal also R1200 to 2 mrithangams at R1900 (22”) and a kuchi mrithangam for R2100 (24”). Two double reed harmoniums at R1800 each. A scale change at R5000 and a Paul and Co at R7000. Electronic srudi box at R650. Please contact me if you need any. Dance bells – 6 lines at R160. Mallipoo - Double R15 a metre. Dance sets from R400 (stones) to R1200 (temple set). I also have a Sachin Tendulkar’s MRF cricket bat for R600. I just remembered that I have a beautiful coat style leather jacket for sale at just R650. however this for a really big size guy and is a XXL.

South Africa: Contact Mrs. K. Govender, 30 Eskdale Road, Sydenham, Durban, 4091. Tel. 031-2086929.

Mauritius: Contact Mr. Balakrishna Tandrayan, 8 Sun Yat Sen Street, Port Louis, Tel. 2423404. Fax. 2413299. (Sorry this is for people from Mauritius)