To be produced by Walt Disney, 19 Steps is an Indo-Japanese film starring Kamal Hassan, and Japanese superstar Tadanobu Asano.

19 Steps, that will go into production in April 2009, will be released in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Japanese.

The story, set in the 9th century, is about a Samurai warrior (Tadanobu Asano) trying to learn Kalaripayattu, Kerala’s ancient martial arts form, from a Kalaripayattu guru (Kamal Hassan).

Asin Thotumakkal will star in 19 Steps with Kamal Hassan

Asin plays a Malayali princess who falls for Tadanobu Asano.

Asin has said that she will learn Kalaripayattu for 19 Steps.

19 Steps will be released in 2010.

Asin who made her debut in Sathyan Anthikkad’s Narendra Makan Jayakanthan Vaka (2001), hit the big time with Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi (2003).

Asin also won the Filmfare Award for the Best Telugu Actress for Narendra Makan Jayakanthan Vaka.

She then acted in movies like Lakshmi Narasimha, M. Kumaran son of Mahalakshmi, Chakram, and Ullam Ketkumae.

The biggest hit of her career  has been the blockbuster Ghajini, both the Tamil version (2005) and the Hindi version (2008). She won the South Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the first and the 2009 Filmfare Best Hindi Debu Award for the latter.

Asin’s  next movie is Vipul Shah’s London Dreams with Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan.

Kamal Hassan will play a Kalaripayattu guru in 19 Steps

Kamal Hassan’s last movie was Dasavathaaram, in which he teamed up with Asin. In Dasavathaaram, Kamal Hassan plays ten different roles.  The movie was directed by K.S. Ravi Kumar.

Kamal Hassan’s first movie Kalathur Kannamma won him the National Award for Best Child Artiste.

Since then, has won three National awards for Best Actor, for Moondram Pirai (1982), Nayagan (1987), and Indian (1996).  He has also won Filmfare Best Tamil actor awards for Apoorva Raagangal (1975), 16 Vayathinile (1977), Sagara Sangamam (1983), Thevar Magan (1992), and Hey Ram (2000).

He also won the Filmfare Best Kannada actor for Pushpak (1988).

Aamir Khan's GQ cover photo. Pic credit: GQ

Timed perfectly with the release of his upcoming film, Ghajini, the December 2008 edition of GQ India carried an interview with Aamir Khan, conducted by contributing editor Karan Johar. The intro line on the cover says Aamir: On why divorce was good for him and why maybe he should keep his mouth shut.

Che Kurian, editor of GQ India, said, “Aamir Khan doesn’t appear on many magazine covers. The fact that he has chosen to work with GQ is a testament to the magazine’s 50-year old reputation as a publication featuring and read by intelligent, successful men.”

Meanwhile, the sexy Jiah Khan, who also stars in Ghajini along with Aamir Khan and Asin, has also appeared on the cover of Maxim India’s December 2008 edition.

Knowing Aamir Khan’s marketing skills, he must have given the association much thought, and a major reason for giving the interview would be publicity for his movie Ghajini. Not that he needs to do much for publicity.

There is nothing in terms of marketing initiatives that have not been covered for Ghajini, be it the teaser trailers, photos of his new look(s), and, of course, internet marketing. We were one of the first to do a story on Aamir’s marketing abilities just after he started his Lagaan blog.

Aamir has been sweetening the media for some time now. In 2007, Aamir apologized to the media and said that he would now be more amenable in the future. For a long time, Aamir Khan has been in a cold war with the media right after Rangeela, when the fall-out between Ram Gopal Varma and Aamir Khan became a source of intense media speculation. After the debacle of Mela, Aamir Khan was written off by the press. It was only after the success of Lagaan that Aamir’s relationship with the press improved.

For Ghajini, Aamir has added a section for the press where mediapersons can upload their photographs and details, which will help Aamir place the journalists when he meets them. Aamir Khan will also add personal notes to each journo, and provide an information kit to those who register on the official website of Ghajini.

With the kind of money ploughed into the movie’s publicity, Aamir Khan should be able to capture a remarkable opening for Ghajini, when it is released on December 25, 2008.

Ghajini is written and directed by AR Murugadass who also directed the Tamil remake of Memento. Asin, who starred in the Tamil movie,  is part of the Hindi version along with actress Jiah Khan.

Ghajini was initially scheduled to be released on Diwali, on October 28, 2008  but was postponed to December 25, 2008, due to Aamir’s leg injury.

Asin Thottumkal

The buzz in the industry is that Asin has got too big for her boots. Apparently, she has been throwing tantrums on the sets of Vipul Shah’s London Dreams, but that has not stopped Kollywood and Bollywood from clamoring after her. Asin, though, has been turning down Bollywood offers till the release of Ghajini, in December 2008.

Salman Khan and Asin on the sets of London Dreams

Reportedly, Asin is been paid Rs 1.5 crores for London Dreams, and has been offered Rs 2 crores for Vettaikaran, opposite Vijay.

Asin

The 23-year old Asin made her debut in Sathyan Anthikkad’s Narendra Makan Jayakanthan Vaka in 2001. Then came the 2003 Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi, for which she won the Filmfare Best Telugu Actress award. In 2005, Asin won the South Filmfare best actress award for Ghajini.

Asin is now one of the hottest actresses in South India apart from Meera Jasmine and Nayanthara.

Before entering movies, Asin was a model and entrepreneur in Chennai.

Asin and Kamal Hassan in Dasavatharam

The year 2008 has been very lucky for the South Indian actress. Asin’s last movie, the Kamal Hassan starrer Dasavatharam, was one of the biggest hits in South Indian movies ever. In July 2008, Asin featured on the cover of Vogue India.

Asin on Vogue India cover

Rumors say that Asin will star with Kamal Hassan in a $50-million Walt Disney and Bharat Bala Productions flick 19 Steps. The movie will be based on Kerala’s traditional martial art Kalaripayattu.

19 Steps will revolve around a veteran Kalaripayattu expert (Kamal Hassan) who trains a young Japanese man (Tadanobu Asano) in the popular martial art form. Asin plays a Malayali princess who falls in love with the Japanese boy.

Her forthcoming movie Ghajini with Aamir Khan is one of the most anticipated movies of 2008.

Asin as Kalpana in Ghajini

The story of Ghajini revolves around a rich tycoon Sanjay (Aamir Khan) who is in love with a model and activist Kalpana (Asin Thottumkal). As part of her activist work, Asin comes across a child trafficking gang, and is bumped off by the gang because she knew too much about them. Sanjay is hit on the head in the scuffle when Asin is killed and subsequently, he suffers from short term memory loss.

He can remember events for only 15 minutes. Sanjay sets out to avenge Kalpana’s death. Ghajini also stars Jiah Khan as a psychology student and Riaz Khan as a cop.