With Madana, well known Kannada film actor and producer Jai Jagadish makes his debut as a director. The film stars Audithya and Mumbai-based Sameeksha (both in the picture).

Sania, who has done a couple of Tamil and Malayalam films, will also play an important role.

Jai Jagadish admits the film is inspired by the Tamil film Manmadhan, starring Silambarasan and Jyothika. "I have the remake rights," he says, "but I have made a few changes to cater to the Kannada audience. I can assure you my debut as director will have great technical work and good performances."

Curiously, he was quiet about the film until recently. "I did the shooting quietly because Audithya's films Ambi and Mohini 9886788888 were about to be released. Now that they are out, I have begun promoting my film," he says.

The story and screenplay of Manmadhan were written by Silambarasan himself, who amazed everyone by his mastery of the art. The suspense, plot twists, Simbu's performance and Yuvan Shankar Raja's music were other highlights. Simbu also managed to get cameos by Mandira Bedi [Images] and Yana Gupta [Images]. It was with this film that Yuvan literally arrived on the Tamil music scene, and he will also score the music for Madana.

Text: R G Vijayasarathy