Nanban chronicles

Shankar's Nanban, starring Vijay, Sathyaraj, Jiiva, Srikanth, S J Surya, Sathyan and Ileyana, is one of the most expected movies that is releasing in the beginning of 2012. Scheduled to be released for Pongal, Nanban is the remake of the Hindi blockbuster 3 Idiots, which was adapted from Chetan Bhagat's bestseller Five Point Someone. 

Here are a few tidbits from the making of Nanban:

Shankar happened to watch 3 Idiots when there was a break between the shooting of Endhiran. He was so bowled over by it that he immediately decided to remake it.

Harris has made the harmony singers sing with water in their mouth for a song in Nanban. 

Jiiva is the whole source of entertainment on the sets of Nanban. However, upon the call 'shot ready' Jiiva transforms into the character. Jiiva is known for playing pranks on his colleagues, including Vijay.

Shankar's assistant directors swear that there is a good actor hiding inside Shankar. This is derived from the fact that Shankar acts out every scene to the actors perfectly.

Vijay's name is Panjavan Parivelu, Jiiva is Sevarkodi Senthil, Srikanth is Venkatram Krishnan, Ileyana is Ria and Sathyaraj is Virumandi Santhanam.

The song 'heart-la battery' is recorded with real people and their voices. Harris's this attempt is likely to bring accolades to him.

There are a lot of wisecrack dialogues in the movie. Sample this: What would have happened if AR Rahman's dad wanted him to be a cricketer and Sachin's father wanted him to be a musician?

• Happy Birthday Rajini, what a tough year it was!