Trisha rebuts ?Gilli?-fed gossip

[movie22]

Popular Tamil-Telugu heroine Trisha has had to rebut several rumours at the same time.

In an interview with the mass-circulation Tamil weekly Kumudam, the actress attributed the rumours to the phenomenal success of "Gilli", starring her and Vijay.

The first and the most predictable rumour was about her relations with Vijay. "We are just friends," was her equally predictable reply. She added that the source of the rumour was a joint party in a big Chennai hotel to celebrate Vijay?s success in "Gilli" and her own birthday.

Another rumour was that she had driven her father out of her home, as she found it infra dig to live with a man working at a hotel. On the contrary, she said, she was proud of her father Krishnan holding a good post in Benz Park Hotel. Her mother too is working as an executive with Apollo Tubes.

A third rumour, also hotly denied by Trisha, was that she attempted suicide. A fourth, and obviously false, rumour was that she had actually died!

No easy dates from Ganesha

"It was difficult to get call sheets from Pillaiyar (Hindu god Ganesha)!" A.V.M. Saravanan - whose initials are part of the lexicon of Indian cinema - said talking of the mid-seventies.

At that time, films not only in Tamil but also Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam used to be made in Chennai studios.

The vast AVM studio complex had a small Pillaiyar temple where muhurtas, or auspicious film launch ceremonies, were held.

Saravanan said whether or not a film was shot in the AVM studios, the small temple was the place for all southern Indian films to start - in the belief that it would ensure a problem-free shoot and box-office success.

Sometimes there would be three to four muhurtas a day conducted at the temple in the AVM studio, old-timers here recall. No wonder it was hard getting a date from the god!

The Sivaji tooth relic

On Sivaji Ganesan?s third death anniversary last week, one man remembered the actor with an anecdote. This was Sivaji Ganesan?s dentist, Janakiraman.

He recalled that in 1968, the legendary Sivaji visited him for the first time. The actor had an acute toothache. So much so that Janakiraman had to pull out one tooth.

But instead of throwing it into the wastebasket, the doctor preserved it. Today Sivaji?s tooth has been his prized possession.

And, of course, Janakiraman too became a favourite dentist with the Tamil film industry.