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Noted director J. Mahendran passes away
Noted film director J. Mahendran, 79, passed away early on Tuesday morning, following a brief hospitalisation. His son John Mahendran confirmed his passing on social media.
He was admitted to Apollo Hospitals on March 27, after he became sick following a dialysis session. He was on a ventilator, according to hospital sources, but was discharged on Monday.
Mahendran has directed several memorable films including Mullum Malarum, Johnny and Nenjathai Killadhey. He was recently seen in Vijay Sethupathi’s Seethakaathi, the Rajinikanth-starrer Petta and Boomerang, starring Atharvaa Murali that released earlier this month.
Renowned for his writing, he is also a part of the Blue Ocean FIlm and Television Academy(BOFTA) in Chennai where he heads the filmmaking and direction course.
Mahendran’s remains will be laid at his home from 10 a.m. where the public can pay their respects. The funeral is set to be held at 5 pm.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M.K. Stalin tweeted out his condolences. “Director Mahendran was a hero among the directors of the Tamil film world. He was multifaceted – a writer, he made realistic films and an actor as well and his passing away is a great loss,” he said.
Speaking to PTI, the filmmaker’s long time associate and producer G. Dhananjayan said Mahendran redefined the Tamil cinema at a time when it was dominated by the trend of delivering lengthy dialogues.
“He brought the touch of realism into Tamil cinema and it made people connect more to his movies. Mahendran is the forefather of realistic Tamil cinema,” Dhananjayan added.
Filmmaker A.R. Murugadoss took to Twitter to pay homage to the director.
“It is deeply saddening to hear the demise of one of the pioneer filmmaker #Mahendran sir. You and your films live forever in our hearts sir. Rest in peace,” he wrote.’
(With inputs from PTI)
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Movies / The Hindu Net Desk / April 02nd, 2019
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Chennai musician duo to pay tribute to the Ustad Bismillah Khan Saheb in his own tunes
Krishna Ballesh of Tansen Academy was about 13 years old when I first performed in front of Ustad Bismillah Khan Saheb.
Chennai :
“I was about 13 years old when I first performed in front of Ustad Bismillah Khan Saheb. The memories are still fresh — I got his blessings and played the shehnai in Raag Madhuvanti for about 30 minutes. I even have a video recording of the moment. We at Tansen are extremely happy to celebrate his birth anniversary by doing what he loved — playing the shehnai and promoting Hindustani classical music,” says Krishna Ballesh of Tansen Academy, ahead of Guru Samarpan, a tribute concert to commemorate the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna recipient Ustad Bismillah Khan. The concert is curated by Tansen Academy in association with Lasya — The Culture hub.
It will feature shehnai maestro S Ballesh and his son Krishna Ballesh. “My father was Ustad’s senior disciple. He accompanied him on several occasions and has received worldwide acclaim for his illustrious career. Eventually, I also became his disciple, ” says Krishna who trains about 500 students in his academy in Chennai.
The duo, along with a group of talented musicians will stage a Hindustani classical shehnai recital, laced with some of Khan’s hit Shehnai renditions in film music. They plan to take the celebrations to other cities.
(Guru Samarpan will take place today from 6.30 pm at Lasya’s Janaki Ammal Auditorium, APL Global School Campus, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam. For details, call 9787574158)
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express Features / March 30th, 2019
Smart fence from Erode to avert human-elephant conflict in Nepal
It was developed by a team of researchers from Bannari Amman Institute of Technology
A team of researchers from Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, has installed a smart fence for early elephant warning at Parsa Wildlife Reserve in Nepal.
The team headed by Sanjoy Deb, and comprising R. Ramkumar and L. Rajasekar, designed and developed the system with active support from the college management. The long range LASER-based smart fence has already been installed at two places in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve.
Since crop raiding by elephants was a major issue in areas located near Parsa Wildlife Reserve in Nepal, the fence was installed there in collaboration with the Nepal Biodiversity Research and Conservation Centre, a NGO based in Nepal. The team visited Nepal recently and installed the fence near the reserve area.
The team members said that the system was specially designed with minimum electronic components. Local team members in Nepal have been provided training in maintaining the system.
They said that the team was now working on improving its features and cost minimisation to make it a true global solution.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Staff Reporter / Erode – March 27th, 2019