Talk of the town

A GENIE tells us that `Alauddin' is in the pipeline. The fantasy flick starring Prabhu Deva is being launched under the Venkateswaralayam banner.

Sources say that the movie is a comedy that would appeal to everyone in the age group six to sixty. The story is said to be set in modern day India and follows the adventures of Prabhu Deva, interspersed with song, dance, action and comedy. The producers plan to rope in a top Bollywood heroine for the project. The others in the cast include Raghuvaran, Charlie and Dhamu.

Ravichakravarthy who has written the story, screenplay and dialogues would be calling the shots as well for this venture. The music is by Manisarma.

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A HIGH-LEVEL team led by the Chief Secretary, Mr. P. Shankar, visited to Hyderabad when things on the city water front were hotting up.

When Tamil Nadu's officers urged their Andhra Pradesh counterparts to resume the supply from Kandaleru, the experts of the neighbouring State expressed reservations as they felt that repairs and other residuary works on the canal would not be carried out once the release was made.

However, it was finally left to Mr. Shankar, one of the widely- regarded civil servants in the country, who used his persuasive skills and got Andhra Pradesh to agree to release water.

Yet, there are some officials in the neighbouring State who have not forgotten the ``not so kind words'' that the new Government had to offer, as thanks for Krishna water released in the past.

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``CRICKET DIPLOMACY'' was practised effectively by the late military ruler of Pakistan, Gen. Zia-ul-Haq.

It seems that for local politicians too, cricket has become an instrument to score over each other.

In Velachery where the Chennai Mayor Mr. M.K. Stalin resides, an all night one-day cricket tournament has been organised for the past many years to coincide with the birthday of the Mayor's father and the DMK president, Mr. M. Karunanidhi. But, from this year, another tournament is being conducted by admirers of the AIADMK's leader, Ms. Jayalalitha at the same venue. Are the local residents cheering the new teams?

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THE CHENNAI Corporation Council on Thursday got a taste of things to come. The Commissioner remained absent from the council meeting for the first time and later tried to justify his absence by quoting sections from the MCMC Act.

Ripon Building has of course witnessed a roulette of sorts with its Commissioners.

Mr.Stalin has worked with Mr.D.Jothi Jagarajan, during two separate stints, besides Mr.P.Kolappan and Dr.J.Radhakrishnan.

The Commissioner, as the number one executive, helps the Mayor with replies to questions on the full gamut of issues that are handled by the civic body. Ironically, the present Commissioner had spent sometime with the Mayor last evening discussing the agenda for the meet. Why was the Mayor not informed then? ``There is no necessity to inform the Mayor. I sent a word at 9-30 a.m. to his P.A. through my P.A. informing him about my absence,'' he explained to presspersons.

Incidentally, the Commissioners in the past have invariably maintained a good rapport with the media. At that time, it was difficult to get interviews with....not a difficult guess.

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THE KERALA Health Minister, Mr.Sudhakaran, who arrived here recently from Thiruvanathapuram, was an unhappy man. The State Protocol Department was the object of his displeasure.

After landing at the Kamaraj Domestic terminal, the Minister was provided with an Ambassador car and transported from the airport to the Chintadripet wing of the Guest House.

The Minister apparently told the staff that he did not like the conditions of the room (blame it on the water crisis ?).

Training his guns on the frontline staff of the State Guest House and the Protocol Department for ``shabby treatment'', the Minister also did not want any escort security officer to accompany him.

The visiting Kerala Minister left the Chintadripet Guest House and moved in with his friends at Vadapalani.

By Sudhish Kamath, Saptarshi-Bhattacharya, T. Ramakrishnan, and T. S. Shankar

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Section  : Southern States
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