This Year's South Side Biggie

Endhiran with Superstar Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, which had a super successful music release in Malaysia and one in Mumbai. A.R. Rahman's robotic tunes, his elder daughter Khatija Rahman's song with the stalwart singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and her illustrious daddy, and its number one position on the iTunes world music chart make for a hugely anticipated Tamil movie offering. When Rajinikanth's Sivaji came out, they closed down a few Hollywood film screens in London to accommodate it, and its per screen average was double that of Sanjay Leela Bansali's Saawariya! The 'Superstar' as he is known to his legions of fans, commands loyalty in obscure places for Indian cinema, like Japan and he was named one of South Asia's most influential by Asiaweek.

A.R. Rahman Takes on the West

Armed with talented singers like Hariharan, Alphons Joseph, Blaaze and Grammy winning Vijay Prakash (who sang "Jai Ho," which was also done by the Pussycat Dolls, via our friends at Desi Hits Universal), A.R. Rahman literally rocked out London's O2 Arena, considered one of the world's best music venues. A.R. Rahman has a set of dates in the U.S. and Canada, so don't miss the spectacular shows, with gorgeous dancers like Jonathan 'Legacy' Perez from Street Dance 3D and 14 year old Malachi. A.R. Rahman's Michael Jackson tribute will bring a tear to your eyes, as he was due to work with MJ not long after the sad news of his passing. A.R. Rahman's Telugu film music for Komaram Puli is also on everyone's lips, with massive music sales across the world. Catch him in a city near you in September - more details at http://www.arrahmanlive.com.

London Becomes a South Side Destination

With all of Bollywood spending summer in London, the shooting of Shahrukh Khan's Ra.One, for example and Akshay Kumar's Patiala House, it is second home to the Bachchans and many of the Khans. London also became home to the films Chikku Bukku and Super, two South films in two different languages, Tamil and Kannada, respectively. The hot stars of Chikku Bukku, Arya and Shriya Sharan (Sivaji, Awaarapan, The Other End of the Line) and their crews took over some of the best locales in and around London. Fans flocked to catch a glimpse and the film is a much awaited Tamil romantic comedy. Having been on the set for a few days and helping with the casting, I can reveal that the songs look great, as I had a private screening just for me. I also popped by the set of Kannada movie Super, with one of its top stars, Upendra, who is self directing the film, that Tulip Joshi also stars in - catch glimpses of Leicester Square and Hammersmith in this film.

International Wave

We have a few of the hottest ladies in show business, who come from far and wide and have that elusive Southern connection;  the gorgeous Canadian half Tamil half Chinese Khasi Karen David with her summer banger, "Hypnotize," which is taking over the airwaves. Singaporean Tamils Kash & Krissy, make their Tamil debuts with A.R. Rahman's Endhiran and Puli, while also making fabulous tunes of their own and touring Canada. The controversial Tamil rapper M.I.A. is always in the headlines, especially with her remarks and her new album Maya aka / \ / \ / \ Y / \. Then there is the stunningly talented singer, songwriter, actress daughter of Kamal Haasan, Shruti Haasan, who is acting in the new AR Murugadoss (Ghajini) movie (7aam Arivu - 7th sense) with hottie Surya, and making lots of amazing music. Last but not least, Freida Pinto, the Mangalorean beauty who was introduced to cinema by Danny Boyle in the Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA winning Slumdog Millionaire and is now in the new Woody Allen movie, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. Also catch her in Miral by acclaimed director Julian Schnabel, the prequel to Planet of the Apes and Tarsem Singh's Immortals. 

Phew - wasn't that all absolutely fabulous and having you want more of what's going on down South? Like the success of the South Side Show on DH, here's for many more South Side columns. Leave your comments and let's enjoy the crossover! God bless.

Intro to AO

Ashanti OMkar is a London based multi-media persona, whose work in the publishing and broadcasting fields has gained her a huge fanbase the world over. She works with publications like BBC publishing Cineword magazine and Canada's Anokhi. She comes from a corporate background (Consultancy at places like Oracle, Hilton Group, Pepsi) and transitioned into media in 2003. She has since interviewed the likes of A.R. Rahman, Amitabh, Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan, as well as Tamil stars like Vikram, Hariharan, Simbu and Madhavan, musicians like Jay Sean, Anoushka Shankar, Nitin Sawhney, and actresses like  Asin, Freida Pinto, Preity Zinta, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone. She has also interviewed mainstream artists like Sean Paul and John Legend. She also compères, co-curates, and leads Q&A's at places like the London Mela, BAFTA, Sadlers Wells, Rich Mix, O2 and talent showcases.