Pongal 2001, like every year, has a feast of heroes: Ajith, Vijay, Prashanth, Surya, Murali and Manoj.
Seniors Vijaykanth, Satyaraj and Sharat Kumar.

And the heroines: Devyani, Meena, Roja, Mumtaz, Laila, Shalini (who is no longer acting), Ramya Krishnan and Sanghavi. No Jyotika and Simran, though, this year.

On the music scene, expect to hear Ilaiyaraja, both sons Kartik and Yuvan Shankar, Deva and S A Rajkumar.

This Pongal, three Malayalam directors will try their luck on the Tamil BO -- Shaji Kailash, Kamal and Siddique.

There are the newcomers, Murugadass and Parameshwar (aka Jegan). As also veteran Bharathiraja and Sundar C.

Here's a peek into the harvest fare: