Cloud Nine's Dhayanidhi Alagiri and Vivek Rathinavel has produced their first film Thoonga Nagaram, set in Madurai, their home town. The film is directed by debutant Gaurav, a former assistant of KS Ravikumar, and is said to be different in treatment and packaging.  In an exclusive interview to sify.com Gaurav opens up on the film

What is Thoonga Nagaram all about?
Thoonga Nagaram is set in Madurai city, the city that never sleeps as the locals say it. For villagers around coming to Madurai was something similar to going to Singapore.  People coming to the city are always fascinated by its hustle and bustle. There are places like Periyar bus stand and Yanakkal vegetable market that are open round the clock. The film is about four youths from neighbouring areas who come to Madurai and how life changes for them.

Ilayathalapathi Vijay's Kaavalan is slowly but surely becoming stronger by the day at the box-office.

The family audiences all over Tamil Nadu are thronging the theatres, to watch this Vijay entertainer.

Says director Siddique, who is shooting for Hindi Bodyguard with Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor in Pune: " My phone hasn't stopped ringing since the release of Kaavalan. The kids are enjoying the clean comedy of Vijay and Vadivel in the first half and ladies are hooked to the last 15 minutes of the stunning climax. The feedback that I'm getting is that it is an out and out Vijay film and he has excelled".

Vijay fans feel that some vested interests are out to destroy their beloved Ilayathalapathi's Kaavalan all over Tamil Nadu.

Among the Pongal releases, it was the last to release literally as matters were being sorted out on the releasing day.

Gemini Ganesh might have been the original 'Kathal Mannan' but the baton passed on to Kamal Haasan in the late 1970s.

A lot of stars have done well in romantic lead roles since but Kamal still holds sway. Surprising since it has been quite a while since we saw Kamal in an out and out romantic film. But come December 23 and Kamal will strike with Cupid's Bow (!)  in Manmadhan Ambu which will see him paired with Trisha. A great time to roll back the years and reminisce some of Kamal's most memorable romantic films. (While a lot of Kamal's films are remembered for the special chemistry he shares with his heroines, this is a list of romantic genre films)