Return of MGR, in time for poll
M.G. Ramachandran, MGR to his countless fans, is set to scorch the silver screen again. Some of his 1960s’ classics that made him an icon are making a comeback in theatres.
One of his many popular movies, Ayirathil Oruvan (One in a Thousand), hit the marquee on Friday. The film, co-starring Jayalalithaa, helped make her and MGR highly popular as a pair.
The film, shot in exotic locales in Goa, tells the story of a village doctor’s fight against feudal chiefs and his eventual success in delivering power to people. The movie was made during the days of the anti-Hindi agitation against the Centre. The effort paid off. The film’s success did wonders for Jayalalithaa, raising her status as a star.
Now, ADMK workers are hoping the film’s re-run might swing votes Jayalalithaa’s way in this month’s bypoll in the Madurai West Assembly constituency — a seat MGR had won in 1980. After all, the myth and the image always go together.
Height of madness
A naked man clambered up an electric tower in a bustling colony and refused to heed calls to come down for hours.
The incident took place on Tuesday evening, when residents of Aarey Milk Colony in Goregaon gasped at the sight of the 21-year-old standing on the 200-foot structure.
Rajkumar Gopaldas Behra, later found to be mentally unstable, was brought down by a squad from the fire brigade after four hours of drama. The officials spread a net on the ground, while four men climbed the tower to stop him from taking the death leap.
He was finally brought down after 10 at night, wrapped in clothes and taken away by police.
Rajkumar, from Calcutta, was a jewellery hand in Mumbai. “He had been missing since a fight with relatives,” said B.S. Shinde, inspector of Aarey Colony police station.
Exams over, race begins
Students in Andhra Pradesh have extended their run of successes from civil service exams to engineering tests. The triumphs have also sparked a scramble among coaching institutes to claim credit for the good work.
Caught in the jostle was Anirudh Kulkarni, who bagged the 216th rank in IIT-JEE, besides coming out with flying colours in exams for entry to other engineering institutes. But he has not spelt out where he was coached.
Another high-flier was Ankit Garg, who stood sixth in IIT-JEE. But before the achievement had sunk in, two grooming centres were vying to lay their hands on him.
The first, Sri Chaitanya, claimed it had taught Ankit. The other, Narayana, also went to town saying it had given the topper lessons.
But the son of an NTPC engineer showed he had great presence of mind, too. He said he had studied the course material of both institutes.
Metro on time
The Mumbai Metro is on track with work orders for the project likely to be handed out by the end of June.
The assurance came from chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh at a meeting of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission held earlier this week.
Engineering and civil work designs for the project have been completed. A company has been set up to take the plan from paper to the ground. Work will start in October.
Bids from firms interested in building the second corridor of the project are expected to be invited on June 7.
mumbai: This June, get ready to soil your hands! Bilmat Zeramicz is organising Hands in Clay, a pottery course for beginners. Basic hand- building and wheel techniques, along with some glazing, will be taught. The venue is 73 Nagindas Master Road, Fort, Mumbai. Call 22652091/22653310.
