The pooja and kick off event of Vijay’s
Velayudham, held today, was as much as a
family event as it was a fan event. Fans
from 30 districts in Tamil Nadu thronged
the Madras University Centenary Hall in
Chepauk to get a glimpse of Vijay and to
participate in the commencement of the movie.
The dais saw the Velayudham team present
with their families: Vijay, Jeyam Raja,
Aaskar Sridhar attended the event with their
spouses along with S A Chandrasekhar, Shoba
Chandrasekhar, Editor Mohan, Vijay Anthony,
Genelia and Hansika Motwani.
The event started after a baton that travelled
across Tamil Nadu and brought to the event
by fans, was handed over to Vijay. At 10.05,
the auspicious time, Pooja was held and
a bound script was handed by Sridhar, S
A Chandrasekhar and Editor Mohan to Vijay.
A teaser trailer, shot during the photo
sessions, was also shown to the hollering
fans. A title song of sorts, composed by
Vijay Anthony, was played time and again
during the event making the fans scream
their lungs out.
Hansika and Genelia were the first ones
to speak at the event, who said that they
are happy to associate with the team. After
which Vijay Anthony addressed the audience,
who also revealed that he was bowled over
by the story even as it was narrated to
him by Jeyam Raja. “I realized the
edge-of-the-seat experience when I heard
the story,” he said. He assured that
the movie would be a runaway hit in 2011
and it would be an out and out entertainer
with all commercial ingredients thrown in.
An ecstatic Raja said it is the happiest
day in his life. “I’m lucky
to have associated with producer Aascar
Ravichandran. I’m happy that the chief
guests for this event are the fans. They
are the judges and I assure them that Velayudham
would be the best movie in Vijay’s
career,” he declared. A book, titled
Saadanai Naayaganin Sarithira Padivugal,
written by Vijay’s PRO for more than
a decade P T Selvakumar was also released
at the event. This book traces the life
of Vijay from his childhood days to Velayudham
and includes photos and snippets collected
from various points of his life.
Vijay was all praise for producer Aascar
Ravichandran and revealed that it was Ravi’s
idea to have fans participate in the pooja
of Velayudham. “My films usually do
not have grand launch events. However, Aascar
wanted it to be so but I was skeptical about
it. I told him not to bring any international
stars like Jackie Chan like he did for Dasavatharam
launch. That is when he suggested this idea
to include fans in the launch,” he
said. “I am glad to have done this
since I’m where I’m because
of my fans,” he stated emotionally.
He went on to assure that the movie would
be a good entertainer and appealed his fans
to support the movie like they do for his
other movies.
On a lighter note, about the heroines,
he said that Hansika Motwani is like Kushboo
from 16 Vayadinile. On Genelia, he stated
that they share a rapport since he knows
her owing to their earlier association.
All the fans, who were selected to attend
the event, received a gift hamper with a
Velayudham Tshirt. They were also served
with Biriyani and refreshments to go along
with it.
