Telugu actor Sharwanand talks about his new film.
This time round, even 'petrol coupons' were reportedly distributed for those attending campaign rallies, especially those addressed by top leaders, cutting across party lines. If this owed to the rising cost of petrol and diesel -- which is a poll issue this time -- there were the customary coupons for 'quarter' (liquor bottle size) and non-vegetarian biryani. Some media reports claimed that some of these 'crowds' attended more than one political rally on the same day in the last week, and at times for rival political parties in adjoining constituencies or districts, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
When the powerful Reddy brothers of Karnataka staged a coup against B S Yeddyurappa a couple of months back, they had said something very important, "Our final decision would depend on what Sushma amma says."
'Going by his political conduct over the past 15 years since first becoming chief minister, he has made enough enemies among equals as friends and followers.' 'They could gang up and that could mean a lot for AIADMK politics to handle,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
After suffering successive defeats in elections since 2004, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalithaa has made a spectacular comeback in Tamil Nadu by shedding her rigid attitude and cobbling up a formidable alliance with once-not-so friendly actor Vijayakant and the Left parties.
Launching a frontal attack against the Congress top brass including Manmohan Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi on Thursday took swipes at him over a book written by his former aide and said the current Lok Sabha polls was all about a "decisive" prime minister.
In signs of thaw on All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam merger move, the factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and the one by O Panneerselvam on Friday announced formation of their respective committees to hold discussions.
At the age of 27, Chandrashekhar has cases of cheating and illegal money laundering against him in the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Chennai Police and the Bengaluru Police, a senior Delhi police officer said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Selvi is sweating it out in Thiruvarur, seeking votes for her father. Despite odds stacked up against him, her father's AIADMK rival K M Rajendran is confident about causing an upset in the DMK chief's hometown. Saisuresh Sivaswamy reports from Thiruvarur.
The threat to Sasikala won't come from the Tamil Nadu chief minister or New Delhi, but from her 20-plus kin, reports R Rajagopalan.
Describing party chief Jayalalithaa as a "very powerful and strong political leader", AIADMK leader M Thambidurai said she will get a "full majority" to rule the state and "there is no point" in forming a coalition government.
Kannada cinema goers will have two films -- Dhool and Hori -- to choose from this Friday.
Karunanidhi, 94, died at the Kauvery hospital on Tuesday following prolonged illness.
Get your lowdown on what's happening in Telugu cinema.
The last time Tamil Nadu seriously voted on pre-poll promises was in faraway 1967.
'What the Sabarimala majority verdict has done is to elevate the principle of equality over all others, including the right to worship, and declared that this will be the litmus test of all practices, and re-emphasise that practices that are ultra vires will be junked,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
A tweet by O Panneerselvam, leader of the Puratchi Thalaivi faction of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, on a possible alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party after the declaration of civic polls kicked up a storm on Saturday.
The by-elections to 18 assembly constituencies will decide if the ruling AIADMK remains in power or not.
Meanwhile, a central intelligence estimate has put the toll at 30 besides four suicide attempts.
Sandeep Gunnam on directing his first venture Kurradu.
If Muslims face trouble I will be the first person to raise voice for them, says the Tamil superstar.
Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, commonly known as the hugging saint, was conferred an honorary doctorate in humane letters at a special ceremony by the State University of New York at its campus in Buffalo in upstate New York on Tuesday.
The Election Commission has directed covering the pictures of leaves, which resembled the Two Leaves symbol of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam, on small buses plying in the city, but ruled that there was no need to interfere with the similar symbol at the entrance of the MGR Memorial in Chennai.
On the face of it, the first round has gone to Edappadi K Palaniswami. Not only has he been named chief ministerial candidate, that too by his one-time bete noire Panneerselvam, he also gets one member more in the steering committee than OPS. He can now hope to wean away one or more members of the OPS team in the steering committee just as he had done with other leaders in the latter's camp, post-reunification. That was also OPS's concern, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Even as the unity moves between the two AIADMK factions seem to be going nowhere, former chief minister O Panneerselvam is working on a grand alliance of other Opposition parties, reports R Rajagopalan.
The participation of the two veteran actors assumes significance in view of their recent statements suggesting that they could be joining politics.
Ahead of VK Sasikala's return to Tamil Nadu on February 8, there are some important questions facing her. One, does she carry electoral weight more now than her brainchild AMMK had in the 2019 LS polls? Two, can she retain or build upon the five per cent vote-share from that time? And finally, is there space for Sasikala to retrieve, first within the AIADMK and then across the state, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
OPS said Jayalalithaa had turned the AIADMK into 'an iron fortress which cannot be shaken by anyone'.
Get your low down on what's happening in the world of Malayalam cinema, right here!
TTV Dinakaran's road to reaching the poll stage could still be strewn with legal difficulties, as much as political problems from other new players, like actors Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Teja is among the 12 personalities from the Telugu film industry summoned by the SIT.
A recent Salem event was perhaps the first time many in the crowd were seeing Jayalalithaa in person in the past five years. A brief stint in jail had made her more reclusive. But none of that seemed to matter.
Manwani said HUL was using technology across the value chain from manufacturing to distribution, marketing and advertising in its endeavour to be future-ready.
The hospital, where the AIADMK general secretary was admitted on September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration, said she was "constantly being monitored".
AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala said her thoughts will continue to remain with the party even from inside the jail.
"We will work together jointly as two hands of AIADMK in future for the people of Tamil Nadu. He asked for justice. I too ask the same," Deepa told reporters.
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Producer-director Gunnam Gangaraju on his latest Telugu film starring Genelia and newcomer Arun.
From planting seedlings to holding feasts and shutting down 500 liquor shops, Tamil Nadu government is going all out to uphold Jayalalithaa's fame on her 69th birth anniversary.
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