Sivakasi
Cast: Vijay, Asin, Geetha
Director: Perarasu.

Only a few days to go for Diwali and Eid, and firework stores have sprung up around Chennai. Posters advertising the fireworks have also sprung up, all featuring actors on them. Which is not surprising. After all, the small town Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu is synonymous with fireworks. It is from here that they are sent across India.

Sivakasi is also the title of the biggest Diwali/ Eid release this year.

Makes sense, then, that the film's hero Vijay adorns all cracker wrappers and posters in Tamil Nadu.
Vijay hopes to score a hat trick. The Vijay-Perarasu (director) combination created fireworks before, with Thirupatchi. If that film had the brother-sister sentiment, Sivakasi tries to work on the mother-son angle.




Majaa
Cast: Vikram, Asin, Manivannan, Pasupathy
Director: Shafi

Vikram's last film Anniyan was one of the biggest hits of 2005. Majaa, his next, is a remake of the blockbuster Malayalam hit Thommanum Makkalum with Rajan P Dev playing Thomman the thief and Mammootty and Lal (not to be confused with Mohanlal) taking on the roles of his sons.

It is a fun film, with lots of action. Apparently, Vikram fell in love with the film the minute he saw it, and wanted to remake it in Tamil. Hence, Majaa. The director of the original, Shafi, has directed the remake as well.

Thommanum Makalum's posters showed the father and his sons. The Tamil version, however, has only the pictures of the hero and heroine -- Vikram and Asin. Yes, there is a father, played by Manivannan, and two sons -- Vikram and Pasupathy.




Tavamai Tavamirundu
Cast: Cheran, Padmapriya
Director: Cheran

Cheran has just returned from collecting the National Award for his last film Autograph, which was loved by the masses and critics alike.

While expectations for his next film ride high, TT will be released only if it gets out of the legal mess it is currently mired in.



Kasturiman
Cast: Meera Jasmine, Prasanna
Director: Lohitadas

Like Majaa, Kasturiman is a remake of a Malayalam film. Unlike the other Diwali releases, the protagonist is a young college girl who works hard to help her lover realise his dream of becoming an IAS officer.

Meera Jasmine, in the lead role, gave a sterling performance in the Malayalam original. She plays the lead in the Tamil version too, with Prasanna donning the role of Kunchacko Boban in the original.

This is award-winning director Lohitadas' first outing in Tamil.


Athu Oru Kana Kaalam
Cast: Dhanush, Priya Mani
Director: Balu Mahendra

Though there are only a few days leading to the festive releases, it hasn't been confirmed if Balu Mahendra's Athu Oru Kana Kaalam will be released next week.

Mahendra signed Dhanush years ago after the success of Kadhal Kondein.

Unfortunately, Dhanush couldn't maintain the promise he showed in his first three films. Now, when this love story is ready to hit the screen, Dhanush is at the nadir of his career, making the film more important to him than anybody else.
The film made headlines earlier when police asked filmmakers to remove hoardings depicting Dhanush and heroine Priya Mani in a tight embrace.