An evening with Kajal

Kajal Agarwal, the cover girl of Southscope's April issue, unveiled the magazine in Chennai

Music director Vijay Antony turns hero

The fastest rising music director in Kollywood, Vijay Antony has worn the grease paint and turned hero with Naan !

The 'Nakka Mukka' man is still topping the charts with songs like “Chinna Thamarai….” (Vettaikaran) and the catchy melody “Aval Appadi Ondrum Azhagillai…” (Angadi Theru) and is one of the hottest music directors in Tamil cinema.

The handsome music director has been flooded with offers from various producers to turn hero with their films. Finally Vijay Antony himself has turned producer with Naan for which he will be providing music and has Roopa of Thiru Thiru Thuru Thuru playing his heroine.

The film is a musical thriller directed by Shankar a former assistant of the late cameraman turned director Jeeva. The shoot of the film is now taking place in a bungalow on ECR near Chennai.

Dr. Murray's Defense - Jackson Killed Himself

TMZ has learned Dr. Conrad Murray's legal defense is that Michael Jackson gave himself the fatal dose of Propofol.

Multiple sources familiar with the strategy tell TMZ the defense argument goes like this:

- At around 10:50 AM, Dr. Murray gave Jackson 25 mg of Propofol from a 20 ml bottle -- that's only about 1/8 of the bottle.

- The dose Dr. Murray administered would keep someone asleep for only 5 to 10 minutes, but the Propofol, along with the Ativan and Versed that was already in MJ's system, had a synergistic effect that put Jackson to sleep for a longer period of time.

- For the next hour, Dr. Murray stayed in the room and was on the phone for much of the time. Dr. Murray didn't leave the room to make the calls because MJ liked activity in the room, regularly sleeping with the lights on and cartoons blaring on the TV.

- At around noon, Dr. Murray left the room for approximately two minutes to go to the bathroom. While he was gone, the defense believes Jackson suddenly awakened and was frustrated he had spent nearly 9 hours trying in vain to sleep. The defense theory -- Jackson took the 20 ml bottle of Propofol and self-injected the remaining contents through the IV, causing a massive overdose that stopped his heart.

- Dr. Murray walked back in the room and saw Jackson with his eyes open and pupils dilated. Dr. Murray dropped the phone (he was speaking with his girlfriend) and began administering CPR.

The defense will argue Michael Jackson was a long-time Propofol addict -- something TMZ first reported shortly after the singer's death. As one source said, Jackson liked the sensation of Propofol being administered by IV, adding, "Michael liked to push it."

L.A. County Coroner's investigators took a picture in the room, showing an empty Propofol bottle on the floor, underneath the nightstand by Jackson's bed. The defense will argue Jackson grabbed the bottle from the nightstand, injected himself and then dropped the bottle.

Remember, law enforcement believes Dr. Murray hid bottles of Propofol before paramedics arrived. The defense will argue ... if Dr. Murray was really hiding Propofol, he would have removed the empty bottle under the nightstand that caused Jackson's death.

Sadha means it

An interesting thing about Sadha is that she would never utter a single word in front of the camera without knowing the meaning of it. “This is one thing I’ve been doing since my first film Jayam,” she says.SAha means it

The actress elaborates: “There is no point in delivering dialogues without knowing their meaning. It’s the duty of the artistes to be doubly sure of the character they play and the dialogues they speak. Only then justice could be done to the job.”

Giving a tip on how to learn a language soon, she says, “One has to observe their colleagues well. When so many people around you talk in a particular language, you would naturally pick up some words. That’s the trick.”

Saying she is already fluent in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, Sadha adds she is currently learning Malayalam and Kannada. “I am looking forward to dub for myself in a Tamil film. I am working towards that,” she says.

Rajini&kamal come together

The Tamil film industry is getting ready for yet another grand carnival. For Chief Minister M Karunanidhi will lay the foundation stone for ‘Kalaignar Thirai Oor’, a residential colony for members of the film fraternity, at Paiyanoor near Chennai on April 23.

The colony would come up at the 65-acre land allotted by the Chief Minister. Besides residential complexes, the Kalaignar Thirai Oor would also have a film studio, a hospital and other infrastructure facilities.

Superstars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan among other actors would take part at the function. While the Chief Minister would lay the foundation stone for residential complexes, Rajinikanth would do it for the studio and Kamal for the hospital.

According to Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) president V C Guhanathan, “We have also plans to set up an edit suit, a recording and dubbing studio at Kalaignar Thirai Oor. The colony would surely set an example for others.”

"Paiyaa at peak"

Declared already as a hit, collection reports of Lingusamy's 'Paiyaa' suggest the film is all set to become a blockbuster. Ever since the Karthi-Tamannah starrer hit screens Friday last, it has been running packed houses all over Tamil Nadu, theatre sources say.

Rave reviews from the media and aggressive marketing strategies by Dhayanidhi Alagiri, who had acquired the release rights, have been drawing crowds to cinema halls screening 'Paiyaa', we learn.

"Expectations of those who come to theatres are thoroughly fulfilled by Lingusamy and his team. Most of the scenes are received by the audience with huge applause," say sources.

"Music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is no doubt an asset to the film," they say and add: "Youngsters are seen dancing for most of the numbers with Adadada Mazhada topping the list."

On performance by the lead actors, sources say, "Karthi's aggressive acting and cool looks have won the appreciation of many while Tamannah steals the show with her stunning looks and expressions. The chemistry they share on screen is great."