Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan, who had recently announced his foray into electoral politics, is expected to meet the Election Commission officials to register his party's name and symbol.

The 63-year-old actor has sought a meeting with EC authorities either tomorrow or the day after. The Election Commission is yet to confirm the appointment.

Also, Mr. Haasan is expected to begin his Nalai Namadhe campaign from the residence of former President and Bharat Ratna, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in Rameswaram from February 21. He would announce the name of his new party on that day.
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Tamil superstar Rajinikanth has extended his wishes to actor Kamal Haasan for announcing his political debut.

"I wish him all the best," said the 67-year-old.

On that note, Haasan, on Tuesday, announced that he will undertake a state-wide tour of Tamil Nadu from February 21 and will also announce the name of his political party and its ideology at the beginning of his journey.

He further announced that the tour will be undertaken in multiple phases. On this tour, which will be flagged off from his hometown of Ramanathapuram, the 'Dasavatharam' actor will be proceeding to the districts of Madurai, Dindigul and Sivagangai, where he will be interacting with locals.

On a related note, Haasan, earlier in September, had said he would be willing to work with Rajinikanth, if the superstar decided to enter politics. Earlier on Wednesday, actor R Madhavan also extended his support to Kamal Haasan for his entry in politics.  

After announcing his foray into politics on Tuesday, actor Kamal Haasan on Thursday said the meaning of the term ‘Dravidian’ should not be restricted to Tamil Nadu alone. He said the term should also include other southern states in order to receive a better deal from the Centre.

According to a report in NDTV, the megastar’s well-admired column in ‘Ananda Vikatan’ magazine was a caustic observation of the Centre’s tax collection procedure.

“I feel of late, sharing of taxes with states is not done well. Tamil Nadu is the second largest tax contributor. It's fine to develop northern states with it. That's how even in families we help an unemployed sibling. But the gullible contributor should not be left to starve," Haasan wrote.

The actor further argued in his piece that a celebration of ‘Dravidian’ all across South India would bring an end to discrimination and help them “speak in chorus with Delhi.”

Haasan, in his column, explicitly hinted at the gulf in the state’s political scenario after the death of former chief minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa. The leadership crisis within the party, even after sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran came to power in December, underlines Tamil Nadu’s fight toward stability.

The megastar’s take on ‘Dravidian’ doesn’t only encompass the common welfare of all southern states but also renders other torchbearers of the ideology concerned as regressive, the NDTV report said.

The actor’s Thursday column said he would start his political tour --- a “journey of discovery to understand people’s needs and aspirations” --- on February 21 from ex-president Abdul Kalam’s hometown, Rameswaram.

Haasan said, though limited but he has had inspiring exchanges with Kalam. “Like Kalam, I too have a dream for a good Tamil Nadu,” the actor added. He also said how a single man fails to capture power but the people together don’t and hence people should be elevated first.

Haasan’s political debut coincides with Thalaivar Rajinikanth’s entry into politics. Rajinikanth, on Wednesday, wished Kamal Haasan luck for his maiden endeavour.

Coimbatore: A supporter of rebel AIADMK leader, TTV Dhinakaran has moved a Coimbatore court against actor Kamal Hassan for his controversial remarks on the recently concluded R.K.Nagar bypolls to the State Assembly. 

According to sources, Elangovan a resident of Ganapathy-Maniyakarampalayam has filed a petition against Kamal Hassan, in which he had reportedly mentioned that the actor had said in a recent interview to a Tamil magazine voters had begged from a thief  to poll their valuable votes for TTV Dinakaran in the recent Assembly byelection held for R.K. Nagar constituency. 

The film is believed to be the remake of a French film.

Vikram, last seen on screen in action-thriller Irumugan, didn’t have a single release in 2017 even though he was shooting for three projects – Sketch, Dhruva Natchathiram and Saamy Square, the highly anticipated sequel to his 2003 blockbuster Saamy.The year also saw his daughter get married and that kept him out action for a brief while.

He was also busy putting together the perfect launch pad for his son Dhruv, who is making his acting debut with Varma, the Tamil remake of Arjun Reddy. Awaiting the release of Sketch on January 12, it is believed that Vikram has signed a new project in Kamal Haasan’s production Raaj Kamal Films and the film will be helmed by Rajesh M Selva.
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According to a Times of India report, the film will be a remake of a French flick. “The team had originally planned to announce this project on January 1, but since Vikram's father passed away on December 31, they have put off the announcement as a mark of respect to the actor.”

The regular shooting will commence soon. Currently busy wrapping up Saamy Square, in which he returns as the foul-mouthed cop, Vikram will also finish the leftover portion of Gautham Menon’s Dhruva Natchathiram, in which he plays a secret agent out for revenge.

Vikram is expected to commence shooting for Selva’s project from the summer of this year and will hopefully wrap this up by year-end. If everything goes as planned, Vikram might have three releases this year.

There are also rumours that Dhruva Natchathiram is being planned as a trilogy. The film’s talkie portion should be completed by next month. The next four months will be spent on post-production and the film will release as planned later this year. The film was shot in key locations outside India, especially in Europe and the US. Originally planned with Suriya, who opted out after a fall out with Gautham Menon, Vikram was roped in as his replacement.

Chennai: 2017 was politically tumultuous for Tamil Nadu keeping the ruling AIADMK busy in putting its house in order as it faced storm after storm post-Jayalalithaa and the year also saw cinema veterans Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan hinting at entering public life.
'Resort politics' came to dominate the headlines even as a new dispensation under Chief Minister K Palanisamy took over following a rebellion by his predecessor O Panneerselvam against V K Sasikala in February.

In winds of change, TTV Dhinakaran, who was initially appointed AIADMK deputy chief by his aunt Sasikala, was now struggling to stay afloat with dwindling legislators' support and the challenge of a unified AIADMK.

Sensing the vacuum, Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan dropped adequate hints of a political plunge, keeping alive a tradition of cinema stars graduating to politics.

Former chief ministers -- the late C N Annadurai, M G Ramachandran (MGR) and Jayalalithaa -- besides other actors like S S Rajendran, Sarath Kumar and D Napolean have forayed into politics for successful careers.

According to Rajinikant, the "system is rotten" as he asked his fans to "prepare for a war".
Haasan, in particular, went ballistic against the ruling AIADMK on corruption, throwing regular barbs against the government, with the ministers criticising him.

A self-declared rationalist, he courted controversy when he hit out at what he called Hindu extremism.

Ailing DMK chief M Karunanidhi, now in his 90s, too is not a novice to Tamil Nadu filmdom, having been a successful script-writer.

The demise of Jayalalithaa in December last year found its echo during the entire 2017, with the state government constituting a one-man commission to inquire into the circumstances and situation leading to her hospitalisation in September 22 and death on December 5, 2016.
The internal churning in the ruling AIADMK dominated the headlines, starting in February.
What seemed to have been a smooth ascension to power for Sasikala came a cropper with Panneerselvam throwing a spanner in the works.

Having elected the AIADMK chief last December, the decks were cleared for elevation of Jayalalithaa's close confidante as chief minister, when Sasikala was elected AIADMK's Legislature Party leader on February 5.

However, the then chief minister Panneerselvam had misgivings.

Jayalalithaa's 'Man Friday' and now deputy chief minister Panneerselvam made a sensational claim two days later that he was forced to make way for Sasikala's elevation. He sat on meditation at the memorial of Jayalalithaa in Marina beach, sowing the first seeds of a revolt against Sasikala.

Panneerselvam's rebellion virtually set the cat among the pigeons, as an otherwise tight knit and disciplined AIADMK saw the first split in its ranks, decades after the death of its founder, MGR, in 1987.

The party was then divided between Jayalalithaa and V N Janaki, MGR's widow, before the former united it and brought it under the 'two leaves' symbol.

With an imminent trust vote staring at her party, Sasikala lodged her MLAs at a resort at nearby Koovathur for days together in February, earning the label 'resort politics'.

Sasikala herself made repeated trips to keep the morale of her legislators high. In the meantime, she also met then governor Ch Vidysagar Rao and staked claim to form the government.

However, the Supreme Court, which had reserved judgement in the Rs 66.66 crore disproportionate assets cases in which Jayalalithaa was the main accused, convicted Sasikala, dashing her hopes of leading the state.
The apex court awarded her a four-year jail term, which she is currently serving in Bengaluru.

As a parting shot, Sasikala brought back her relatives Dhinakaran and S Venkatesh into AIADMK, making Dhinakaran her deputy and in-charge of affairs.

The two were among Sasikala's relatives who were expelled by Jayalalithaa in 2011. Then Sasikala loyalist Palanisamy was elected Legislature Party leader, becoming the second chief minister of the state in less than two months after Panneerselvam, who took over following the demise of Jayalalithaa in December 2016.

Meanwhile, the two camps led by Panneerselvam and the chief minister continued to face-off, even as the ruling faction fielded Dhinakaran in the April 12 bypoll to RK Nagar, earlier held by Jayalalithaa, which was later cancelled.

The Election Commission rescinded the poll following complaints of money power. However, things soon took an unexpected turn when Palanisamy revolted against Dhinakaran, with a section of the state cabinet announcing sidelining the former MP.

Panneerselvam and Palanisamy merged their respective factions after many rounds of talks in August, a move that further agitated the Dhinakaran camp.

The very next day, 19 MLAs supporting the beleaguered leader revolted against the chief minister, later prompting their disqualification as legislators by Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal. One MLA later switched over to the ruling
camp.

The patch-up between Panneerselvam and Palanisamy saw the former becoming deputy chief minister in the government.

Later, a general council of the unified AIADMK sacked Sasikala as interim general secretary and annulled all appointments made by her, effectively targeting Dhinakaran.

The camp got a shot in its arm when the Election Commission awarded the 'two leaves' symbol to it.

Now, Dhinakaran is fighting the December 21 bypoll to RK Nagar as an independent.​

Akshay Kumar's Padman and Kamal Haasan's Vishwaroopam 2 will clash at the box office on Republic Day 2018.

Akshay Kumar's Padman might have avoided box-office clash with Rajinikanth's 2.0, but Khiladi Kumar will now lock horns with Kamal Haasan on Republic Day 2018.

Kamal's Vishwaroopam 2 has been in the making for a long time, but the shooting was put on hold for some time due to his other work commitments. And now the actor has resumed the shooting of the film. The last schedule of the film is being shot in Chennai.
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Trade Analyst Ramesh Bala took to Twitter to share the news and wrote, "Ulaganayagan @ikamalhaasan has resumed Vishwaroopam2's final leg of shoot in #Chennai recently. Movie will release for #RepublicDay2018. Trailer will release sometime in Dec."

Chennai: Claiming that actor Kamal Haasan is seeking “cheap publicity,” which cannot be accepted, state fisheries minister and AIADMK senior D. Jayakumar warned that his government will not hesitate to take legal action against the actor if he continued to level “baseless charges against the government.”
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Flaying the actor for making “unsubstantiated charges” the minister said though there were many avenues in a democracy like Vigilance and Anti Corruption or the courts, through which the actor could have raised the issue if at all there was any merit in his accusations, he chose to spew baseless allegations against the government.

“His intention appears to be clear… I had asked him to substantiate his charges, three months ago but he is yet to react to it. We will not hesitate to take action against him if he continues to make baseless allegations against the government”, Mr Jayakumar told reporters here on Monday.

The minister’s comments are lined to the actor’s tweet on Sunday night, in which he said, “It is a crime for the government to indulge in looting, and the act to go unchecked is also a crime.”

“The bell has rung. Criminals shouldn't rule, people and democracy should immediately act. People should become judges. Let’s wake up. I request”, the veteran actor who is set to launch his own political party said.
Jayakumar claimed that “Kamal is the only person who asked money from his followers to start a political party. And this has become obvious as to who is operating him from behind.”

He recalled that the actor had stated that he would run out of Tamil Nadu (when protests by Muslims erupted against his film 'Vishwaroopam') when former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was alive.

"Kamal is trying to seek cheap publicity by criticising the government. He is living in imaginary world like his character in the movie 'Guna.' His intentions are not acceptable", Mr. Jayakumar said and warned "we add salt to our food" - indicating the government would not be a silent spectator to his remarks.

'Let us wake up and arise,' says the actor to the people of Tamil Nadu and asks them to turn judges.

Chennai: Veteran actor Kamal Haasan, who has been in news for his expected debut in politics, has attacked Tamil Nadu's ruling party AIADMK over last week's income tax raids at properties linked to VK Sasikala, her family members, and at former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence in Chennai.
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"Theft by a government is a crime. Not proving after unravelling, isn't it a crime too?" Haasan tweeted.
"Examination bell has gone. Criminals should not rule...People should turn judges. Let us wake up and arise. People should act. People should get the republic (state) function," he added.

The Income Tax (I-T) department is said to have unearthed 1,430 crore unaccounted income from raids last week.

On Friday night, I-T officials conducted searches at the Poes Garden residence of Amma, who died in December 2016. They reportedly seized a laptop, a desktop and six pen drives from the office of Jayalalithaa's secretary and two rooms used by Sasikala, when she lived with the former chief minister.
Sasikala, who is serving a four-year jail sentence in the Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets case, was sidelined by the AIADMK when Chief Minister E Palanisamy shook hands with O Panneerselvam and took over the party.

Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran blamed the raids on Palanisamy and Deputy Chief Minister Panneerselvam.
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Haasan has been mulling to launch his own political party. All eyes and ears were on Haasan's big birthday announcement on November 7 but the actor quashed all hopes and did not announce his party. Instead, he announced the soon-to-be-launched whistelblower app, "maiyamwhistle", which the public and his fans could use to expose wrongdoings and shortcomings of the government.