New Producer for Kamal's 'VETTAIYADU VILAYADU'

Chennai,Oct 31 The producer of Kamal Hassan-Jothika starrer "Vettaiyadu Vilayadu' has changed.

The film was to have been produced by Roja Combine's Kaja Moideen, but he has now bowed out. He has handed over the project to "Seventh Channel" Manickam Narayanan.

The puja for the film was performed in Chennai a couple of months ago. But the project did not take off as producer Kaja Moideen attempted to commit suicide for some inexplicable reasons. He survived after medical treatment.

After Moideen recovered, he along with Kamal Hassan, Sathyajothi Tyagarajan and director Goutham Menon held a press conference at Kamal Hassan's office and declared that the project had not been dropped and that the film would be made soon as planned.

Subsequently, Kaja Moideen has decided to opt out and hand it over to "Seventh Channel" Narayanan. He has taken over the entire project from Kaja Moideen.

A popular figure in film and television circles , Narayanan has produced films with Karthik, Vijay and Sarath Kumar. His company "Seventh Channel", one of the earliest to enter the small screen entertainment field, has made a number of award winning TV programmes.

In an interview, Narayanan said he was happy to do a film starring Kamal Hassan, and he has been his friend for 20 years. But he did not get any opportunity to work with the actor. "When Kaja Moideen approached me, I was hesitant as the project involved a huge investment."

Describing director Goutham Menon as "very talented", Narayanan said he would 'deliver the goods'.

Kamal Hassan has also expressed happiness that the project has gone to the 'right person'. "Narayanan is a person who will come out with flying colours," Kamal added.

The shooting of the film commenced in New York last week. Kamal, Jothika and 20 crew membes are camping there. Among them are director Goutham Menon, cameraman Ravi Varma and music director Haris Jayaraj. Kamal will celebrate his birthday on Nov.7 in New York with the crew.