Mithran Jawahar started his career on a high note. Remaking his mentor Selvaraghavan’s only Telugu film ‘Aadavari Matalaku Arthale Verule’ in Tamil as ‘Yaaradi Nee Mohini’ starring Dhanush, Selvaraghavan’s brother, Jawahar benefitted from the solid and nuanced screenplay. Jawahar has since remained in the rom-com lane, his other film of note being another Dhanush starrer ‘Uthamaputhiran’, a riotous sequence of laughs which bolstered Jawahar’s reputation for comedy. However, I was not a fan of Jawahar’s ‘Kutty’, causing some apprehension entering this film. 

The Commonwealth Games, a multi-sport event which takes place every four years, landed in Birmingham for 2022, a UK city well-known for its diverse population with many communities with roots in the Commonwealth. The city’s South Asian cultures were represented in the games’ opening and closing ceremonies, and for the first time in the history of the games, Tamil representation also gained pride of place at the closing ceremony with an upbeat Kuthu folk dance.

The dance entitled ‘Dia Dia Dole’ was choreographed and performed by French Tamil dancer Usha Jey, and Swiss Tamil dancers Janusha and Mithuja.

It's a terrible sign when the interval card rolls up and you let out a sign of exasperation, realising there’s another hour and fifteen minutes to sit through. The film opens with the usual cocktail for Tamil commercial ventures: the hero enters to an action block (in this instance, a wrestling match) followed by a song where his strength, bravura and good nature are praised, and soon after we are introduced to the romantic interest.

The annual festival, Thiruvizha, of the iconic Nallur Kandasamy Kovil in Jaffna began today with the ceremony for hoisting of the deity's flag.

Kollywood superstar Dhanush released a trailer for his latest film ‘Captain Miller’ this week, racking up millions of views within hours as it generated worldwide buzz.

The eagerly anticipated film, which sees Dhanush in the starring role and is directed by Arun Matheswaran, caught the attention of many with its swashbuckling visuals and familiarly powerful title.

Captain Miller is also the name of LTTE’s first Black Tiger.

On Friday, hundreds of Tamils arrived in New York for the 35th annual Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (FeTNA) summit. FeTNA is an umbrella organization of over sixty different member Tamil Sangams from across North America, which has been meeting annually since its inception in 1987.

Locals in Mannar held an event to celebrate the revolutionary Tamil poet Subramani Bharathi, fondly known as Bharathiyar, last week in a show that celebrated Tamil culture, dance and literature.

Hindu, Catholic and Muslim leaders were invited to the event, alongside local politicians.

The Tamil Academic Journal (TAJ), the first Tamil diaspora led academic journal, has published its first issue under the title “Tamil Resistance in the Twenty-First Century” online.

(Photo of TAJ Conference at Kingston University July 6th 2019)

^Jaffna

Despite Sri Lanka’s ongoing economic crisis, the Tamil New Year, which falls on the first day of the month of Chithirai in the Tamil calendar, was celebrated across the North-East earlier today.

With some referring to the April festival as an exclusively Hindu and sanskritised holiday, there is debate among Tamil communities as to whether the day truly represents a Tamil New Year.

Oscar-winning musical composer A R Rahman posted an ode to the Tamil language on his social media accounts last week, in a powerful message that seemingly hit back an Indian minister’s remarks on how Hindi should be used across the country.

Rahman shared an illustration of “Thamizhanangu” of “Goddess Tamil” on his Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.