Cable Raja on duty from Today! Posted on Saturday, July 10, 2010 |

Simbu is turning into a cable guy for his new film Vaanam, the shooting for which commenced yesterday in the city.

It has taken Kollywood by surprise as he was to start shooting for Poda Podi in London from the first week of July. In an exclusive interview to CT, Simbu says, “Yes, I have started shooting for Vaanam, which is the remake of the critically-lauded Telugu hit Vedam.”

Vedam, said to be a path-breaking film in Telugu, had Allu Arjun, Manoj Manchu (actor Mohan Babu’s son), Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpai, Anushka and Lekha Washington in the lead. The film follows the pattern set by Mexican director Alejandro Gonsalez Inarritu’s classic Amores Perros (2000) in style, a multiple storytelling format where all the stories converge in the climax.

Simbu felt that the Telugu film would be a viable proposition in Tamil too. Says the star, “I was impressed by it, especially Allu Arjun’s characterisation. After VTV, I thought this role will be ideal as the character has mass appeal. At the same time, multiplex audiences will also love it. I also wanted to do something as my other projects were getting delayed due to various factors and it is almost 145 days since I shot for a film.”

However, the grapevine has it that Simbu is doing the film only because he is smitten by Anushka. Vaanam gives him an opportunity to work with the elusive actress. Simbu smiles, “I have always said that I’m a big fan of Anushka and would love to work with her. I took up the film as the script is good. The A team of technicians from Kollywood — Yuvan Shankar Raja, Antony and Nirav Shah — are working on this project. Also, one of the producers is my friend Ganesh of VTV fame.”

The star has given continuous dates to director Krish till the end of the month to complete his part in the film. And the big news is that there will be a mass kuthu song (not there in the original version) picturised on Simbu and Anushka. The movie will be a ‘quickie’ and release of Diwali. Post Vaanam, the hero will leave for the shoot of Poda Podi and start work on Lingusamy’s film in September.