English Entertainment Podcast
Episodes
From radio to film to music to event hosting, powerhouse talent ABISHEK RAAJA has moved seamlessly throughout the Tamil entertainment and media industry building brands and becoming one himself. His dedication, creativity & constant motivation to improve & grow has brought him this far at such a young age. Tune in to this episode of 1 by 2 to learn more about the man, & brand, himself direct from the source.
Having just finished making her fourth feature film, LAKSHMY RAMAKRISHNAN has built an inspiring body of work in a short amount of time. First known for her many character roles on screen she has gone on to serve as an inspiration and advocate for the advancement of females in the field of Indian filmmaking, especially. In this episode she pours out her thoughts on the state of the industry, how she feels her career has been built on spontaneous opportunities and the fulfillment she received from making her latest film - House Owner.
As one of the finest 21st century Indian film critics, National Award winning writer BARADWAJ RANGAN has changed the way many of us evaluate the films we watch each week. He joins us on 1by2 to open up about his decision to move from print to online media, the future of Indian cinema, and what directors he hopes to have “conversations with” next.
After 8 years , award-winning and critically acclaimed filmmaker THIAGARAJAN KUMARARAJA is returning to cinemas with his second feature - “SuperDeluxe”. We sat down with the prolific writer and director to see what we can expect of his new multi-starrer, his career thus far and where he feels South Indian cinema is headed in the future.
Audiences have been relishing in true fright at one of India’s purest horror movies to date - “Aval” / “Gruham” / “The House Next Door” which is making it onto all the Best Indian Movie lists of 2017. I caught up with director MILIND RAU to speak about how he and the film’s co-writer, producer and lead Siddharth painstakingly created this terrifying & visionary film, inspired by true events.
The phenomenally talented LAKSHMI PRIYAA CHANDRAMOULI has been making a name for herself in Tamil films and theatre steadily over the last few years. Now, she's currently garnering an overwhelming amount of attention for her role in the short film "Lakshmi" for which she won a Best Actress award at the Noida International film festival. I caught up with my friend to discuss her choices to do this powerful short and how she feels about the barrage of love & negativity since the film was released online 2 weeks ago by Gautham Menon's Ondraaga Entertainment.
In Part 2 of our special with PUSHKAR & GAYATRI, the writers & directors of “Vikram Vedha” we discuss their foray into the action/drama genre, the symbolism of the film’s 3 main characters and how they achieved the beautiful aesthetics of their cat and mouse chase. We also chat about how they feel multicultural audiences will receive the film as it makes its way to more countries around the world. And, of course, we unravel that cliff hanger ending and if we can ever expect to see a Vikram Vedha sequel.
“Vikram Vedha”, one of the finest Tamil films of 2017 and arguably the last few years released over 2 months ago, and yet continues to run in theatres to this day. The neo noir drama starring Madhavan & Vijay Sethupathi captivated our attentions for its impeccable script and direction, courtesy of the masterful filmmaking duo of husband & wife, PUSHKAR & GAYATRI. In part 1 we chat in depth about how they wrote and crafted the details of their fantastic script & why it was apparently “easy” to cast Maddy and Sethupathi since they’re so much like their Vikram & Vedha roles in real life!
Ranked as having one of India’s top 5 stand up specials of 2017, SA ARAVIND has been shouldering the entire representation of South Indian comedians lately. With a hit special on Amazon Prime and a new one already in the works, the “Madrasi Da” artist has garnered much love for his witty and intelligent takes on issues ranging from growing up in Mylapore to the difficulties of long distance relationships. Recently the focus of many online discussions after releasing one of his most popular sets – related to the infamous Shah Rukh Khan film “Chennai Express” – Aravind coolly takes his criticism and his praise in stride. In this episode we speak about how he deals with online love & hate, the development of his next special and how he feels about his comedy being coined “hyper local”, despite its international success.
SHRADDHA SRINATH has been garnering strong reviews for her role alongside Madhavan & Vijay Sethupathi in the summer blockbuster hit “Vikram Vedha”. In fact, the talented actress hailing from Karnataka has been on most top performer lists in South India since her much celebrated debut in the 2016 thriller “U Turn”. It was a pleasure to chat with the witty actress who’s been basking in the success of her recent films, on her experiences being directed by the duo of Pushkar Gayatri & her exciting career graph to date.
SPOTLIGHT: A Chennai native, HARI DAFUSIA got his start in producing on the electronic music scene in Canada, and was soon recruited by the team of Isai Puyal AR Rahman to work on the much beloved soundtrack of "Tamasha". Since then he has been creating waves through his independent collaborations with singers around the world, including Shakthishree Gopalan, and is eager to make a name for himself in the Kollywood film scene.
VINAY SHUKLA and KHUSHBOO RANKA are the co-directors of the award-winning documentary “An Insignificant Man”, which chronicles the birth of India’s Aam Admi Party and the rise of current Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Now ready to release the film theatrically, after taking it to over 40 festivals around the world, they are facing bizarre barriers created by the current central board of film certification in India, demanding they obtain permissions from India’s Prime Minister himself – something never once requested of a film team in India’s cinematic history.
The dubbing artist behind many leading actresses down South, RAVEENA RAVI is already a household name in Tamil and Malayalam films. Lately, however, she has been garnering rave reviews for her brand new role as the lead actress in Oru Kidayin Karunai Manu. I spoke to the sparkling Raveena about her foray into acting and why she felt this was the right role to launch her on-screen career. We also talk about her inside view of the filmmaking process and how she came to be a part of some of India’s biggest blockbusters of the last few years.
Editor RUBEN is the much famed film editor of many of the Tamil industry’s biggest movies over the past few years and 2017 is shaping up to be his biggest year yet – as he edits the much awaited blockbusters Vijay61, Sketch, Triple AAA and Vivegam, amongst others! We speak about how he’s balancing all these mammoth projects simultaneously & what all of us Ilayathalapathy and Thala fans can look forward to soon!
Director ROHIN VENKATESAN made a splash at the start of 2017 with his first feature Tamil film “Adhe Kangal”. In this episode he discusses how his first feature came to fruition and the interesting creative choices his team made to concoct such a unique film.
Award winning singer-songwriter SHAKTHISREE GOPALAN is most known for her collaborations with South India’s leading film composers. She took the time to chat about her experience in the playback industry thus far & her plans for an independent music album of her own very soon. She also delved into her experiences recording everyone’s favorite ballads & why she believes that playback singing is very much akin to acting.
Tamil cinema fans around the world sport the movie-inspired tees of popular Kollywood merchandise brand FULLY FILMY. In this exclusive chat, days before they unveiled their first retail store in Chennai, the company's co-founders RAUNAQ and ANAND open up about where they want to take the Fully Filmy brand and how they had to set up a travelling office at the top of the Himalayas when Mani Ratnam asked them to.
VINODHINI VAIDYNATHAN does a lot of everything! Most recognizable for her commendable character performances in many high profile films Vinodhini is also a talented playwright and director for stage productions in Chennai. Gearing up for a busy 2017 for
With just a few films young actor & KATHIR has made a mark for himself with his keen choice offilms. Since last being seen on screen in his second, award-winning film “Kirumi”, the talented performer has been on a signing spree, choosing un
A seasoned actor of stage and screen in multiple Indian languages, as well as Hollywood, ADIL HUSSAIN has a knack for choosing strong scripts that receive international acclaim. He was most recently seen in the critical & award winning films “The
Since his strong start with films like "Thegidi" ASHOK SELVAN has moved away from the ‘serious brooding characters’ he started out with to try his hand at comedy & other experimental roles. Along the way he discovered a lot about wh
After production on her second feature film was halted, award-‐winning director NANDHINI JS decided to turn her script into “Inspector Rishi”, a weekly, free, digital comic book series.In this episode she discusses what it’s l
NATTU DEV began a short lived career as a character artist acting in major Tamil films like“Ko” and “Singam Puli”. However, after becoming fed up with the way his physical appearance was being used for jokes in films he decided to s
In a such a short span of time we’ve seen AISHWARYA RAJESH as a beautiful village belle, a reporter, a young mother of some precocious little crows, a ghost and much more; she is one of South India’s most versatile young actresses. Recently see
Smoothe crooner SID SRIRAM grew up in North America and then followed his goals all around the world. His incredible vocals have set the Tamil playback charts on fire ever since he entered the film music industry under the tutelage of AR Rahman & he co
KRISHNA KUMAR, better known by his stage name “K”, shot to fame with his very film as a music director, the critically acclaimed “Yuddhem Sei”. Now, after only a few short years in the Indian film industry he has scored music for 15
Knock out actress and kick boxer RITIKA SINGH made her Indian cinema debut in“Irudhi Suttru” / “Salaa Khadoos” which earned her a special mention National Award with her first role itself. In this episode of 1 by 2, recorded on the
Rising, but already hugely popular, star TEEJAY isa Tamil singer from the UK who has amassed a global following for his independent music over the years. 1 by 2 caught up with the accomplished singer while he was in Chennai filming his first ever Tamil fil
Young, South Indian character artist VIDYU RAMAN discusses her extensive filmography in Tamil & Telugu cinema and her unfortunate typecasting of late.
Actress/playwright/model/artist POOJA DEVARIYA star of recent Tamil films "Iraivi" and "Kutrame Thandanai" chats about her versatile travels through South Indian entertainment & her recent breakout roles.
