Tollywood

Srihari, Rajasekhar's Poru started

2008-08-19T08:00:00.001-07:00

Srihari's Poru in the direction of Amma Rajasekhar is started today with much fanfare at Savela Function Hall in Yusufguda on Friday. Congress MP Mukesh Gowd gave the clap while Bhogavalli Prasad switched on the camera. First shot was pictured on Srihari as he was saying 'nannu namminavallevvaru mosapolede.. nammaka mosapoyaru.. thammudu.. nuvvu nannu nammavu.. antha manche jaruguthundi'.

Talking about the film, Srihari said that the director did lot of home work. 'Photo session itself is done in a novel way. He has a good understanding of the film making. I am sure this will stand as a milestone in my career. Regular shooting of the film will start in September', said Srihari.

Director Rajasekhar said that the film is about sympathy war. 'What war and sympathy on who should be seen on the screen. Srihari will appear in three getups. This is an emotional movie. I worked on 2 years for the script. Srinivas Yadav, producer of Bheebatsam, is producing the film', said Rajasekhar.

Mani Sharma composed music and Bharani will handle camera. Ghilli Rajasekhar is roped in for fights.

Salute Movie Review

2008-08-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

Vishal, Nayana Tara starring Salute, directed by Rajasekhar and produced by Vikram Krishna, does not stand up to the expectations. The trailors and promo assure a good movie but the film turns out to be filled with illogical sequences, unnecessary songs and half a dozen fights. Most disappointing factor in the film is how there is no link between scenes.

Satyam (Vishal) is a sincere police office who goes by the book. Law is above all for him. He handles a case of three murders of political leaders. He is astonished to know that the murderer is none other than his role model ex-cop Pratap Rudra (Upendra). Pratap Rudra challenges that he is doing the role of cops while Cops are sticking to the books. Satyam experiences a bad taste after arresting the goons and they walk out free. Does Satyam still stand by the law and book or does he take the law into his hands to eradicate the evil?

Vishal is perfect in his role. His physique gave him all the more macho look. His body language, styles etc aptly suited his role. Nayana Tara is pretty much restricted to songs. Even though she had plenty of scenes, none of them really contribute. Mayuri Sudha played mother to Vishal. She did not have much scope either. Ravi Kale is good in the negative role. Ali, Brahmanandam, jeeva, Thanikella Bharani, Hema and others are content in their roles. But the highlight is Upendra, who did a good job as ex-cop. the scenes between Upendra and vishal came out very well.

This is the first film for debut director Rajasekhar. Even though story is old, the point brought in is good. However, screenplay is not tight. To fill up the gap, several unnecessary and unrelated scenes are added. Also, songs pop at the wrong time. First half of the film tests the patience. Second half turns decent after the entry of Upendra. When the film falls into a serious track, hero remembers heroine and pops a song. The songs are not that great to watch either.

Music and background done by Harris Jayraj are content. Shashank Vennelakanti's dialogs are typical translations. Dialogs like Demudu chattam okkate.. demudu chachipodu.. chattam chachipodu is just an example. Cinematography by R.D.Rajasekhar is good. Editing by Anthony could have been better. Actions scenes composed by Stunt Siva are good. In fact, he should be appreciated for bringing in some novelty in every fight. Because the film is filled with fights, if they did not impress, the film would have turned out a squib. Production values are good and the feel is seen on the screen.

Overall, Salute might be a big film so far for Vishal but might not impress the audience. Vishal, Nayana Tara glamor, fights and second half are good.

Sowryam title for Gopichand's film

2008-08-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

Bhavya Creations film starring Gopichand and Anushka is titled Souryam. Cinematographer Siva is making debut as director while Anand Prasad is the producer. The character is tailor made for Gopichand and will surely be loved by his fans, said the makers. Talking about the film, Gopichand said that the film will be on the lines of his previous hit films Ranam, Yagnam, Andhrudu , Lakshyam etc. Mani Sharma composed music for this film. 3 songs are left in balance to be pictured. Makers are planning to release the film in September.

5 Lakh award to survive Phoonk alone

2008-08-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

Ramgopal Varma, who is never tired in making probable spinechillers, is gearing up with his Phoonk and he is here in Hyderabad to promote his film. He talked to the press at PVR Cinema on Sunday. Taking questions from media, he compared his attempts of making scary movies to that of Vikram Bethal. 'Bethal will climb the tree when he is satisfied', said Ramgopal Varma.

He confesses that he was heavily inspired by Yendamuri's Tulasidalam which he read during his college days. 'Phoonk is loosely based on the novel but the treatment is different. The narration revolves around one girl. What I tried to show is the fight between belief and non-belief, science and faith. I am not endorsing that one should believe it or not. It is just a film. It is up to the audience to decide if they want to go for it or not', said Ramgopal Varma.

The producer of the film, Azam Khan, announced 5 lakhs remuneration for any one who can dare to watch the film alone and survive through it. 'That is all part of the promotion', says Ramgopal Varma. The film is shaping up to release on 22nd of the month in Hindi.

Pooja held for Arya-2 launch

2008-08-10T06:43:00.000-07:00

It is already known that Aditya Arts production banner is planning Arya-2 in the combination of Allu Arjun and Sukumar. Pooja ceremony was held for the film on Friday at Vinayaka temple in Ramanaidu studios. Ramcharan Teja, Allu Aravind, Dhil Raju, K.L.Narayana attended the event. Bhogavalli Prasad presents the film while Aditya Babu is the producer. Kajal is the heroine in the film while Navadeep plays a special role.

Rajnikant gets ready to shoot Robot

2008-08-10T06:42:00.001-07:00

Tamil superstar Rajnikant is likely to leave for the US shortly to join the US-based production team of his Rs.1.5 billion (approximately $35.5 million) venture "Robot", said publicists.
"Robot" will be a sci-fi movie and stars Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai in the female lead. She has already reported for the photo-shoot schedule. It is being directed by Shankar whose last offering with Rajnikant "Sivaji - The Boss" broke all box-office records, publicists added.
The movie will be simultaneously produced in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and two other Indian languages besides being later dubbed into English, Japanese and Malay. After Rajnikant agrees to the final script, shooting will commence from August 15.
The extravaganza is being jointly produced by London-based Ayngaran International and Eros Entertainment, said a statement.
While Rajnikant's "Kuselan" is schedule for July 31 release, he has almost completed his daughter Saundarya's Ocher Studios' Rs.2 billion (approximately $50 million) animated production which has live shots of the superstar.

Kathanayakudu Movie Review

2008-08-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

Kadhanayakudu is based on Malayalam hit film Katha Parayambol. Even though the film released with good hype with associated entities – Rajani Kanth, P.Vasu, Aswini Dutt, Jagapati Babu; the film ends up as one of the several films that dealt with friendship. That is all can be said about the film. Friendship is a fresh subject anytime. What went wrong is the kind of screenplay and non-related sequences. Narration is what disappoints in this film.

Balu (Jagapati Babu) runs a hair salon. He is married to Sridevi (Meena) and has 2 kids. With his outdated equipment and salon, Balu has a tough time making the ends meet. To that extent, even his assistant Kanta Rao (Sunil) opens a modern salon next to his and that makes his life all the more difficult. That is when the story takes a turn with superstar Ashok Kumar (Rajani Kanth) entering the town for shooting of a film. The entire village knows that Ashok Kumar is childhood friend of Balu. The villagers start pestering Balu to see Ashok Kumar once. Balu, shy by nature, is hesitant to go to Ashok Kumar fearing rejection. This brings lot of troubles in his life to the extent that even his kids insult him. So did Balu finally go and see Ashok Kumar? Did Ashok Kumar realize who Balu is? See it on the screen.

Rajani Kanth is as usual in his role. There is nothing new that one can write about a proven actor and star. However, it is worth mentioned that Rajani Kanth is excellent in the final 20 minutes of the film. Jagapati babu is impressive in his role. Meena, who came in a noted film after a gap, is very impressive and will score big. Nayana Tara is limited to songs. In fact, she has only two dialogs in the entire film. One dialog she utters through out is ‘Hello Sir Good Morning’ and the second dialog is a dialog on film sets.

Prabhu, Nilagal Ravi, Vijay Chander got limited scope to do. Sunil’s character overdoes the comedy part. Dharmavarapu, Ali, Brahmanandam, Duvvasi Kohan etc are in the cast but comedy is not impressive. Mamata Mohandas appears in a miniscule role.

In the cast, there are only four characters well established or the story revolves around. The rest are all dummy characters.

Srinivasan gave the story. Even though the story is old, there is always a freshness attached with the friendship element. the issue comes with the screenplay and narration. They disappoint. No novelty in scenes or sequences, comedy that falls flat, predictable narration pull down the film. In fact, some scenes are confusing. Songs pop up randomly. Even taking wise, there is no freshness. Even though P.Vasu and Rajani Kanth go with a great track record, P.Vasu could not deliver the same in this film.

If there is anything to talk about in the film, it is the last 20 minutes of the film that is very touching. Even though it is predictable ending, it is narrated with balanced composition.

Music by G.V.Prakash is content. There is a shade of Enigma in the background score. Editing could have been crisp. Cinematography by Aravind Krishnan is very good. Dialogs by Marudhuri Raja are good but very good in some sequences.

Overall, the film might disappoint those who expect a Rajani style film.

TRS stir against Padmalaya

2008-07-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

Activists of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) led by its leaders Harish Rao and Ramalinga Reddy stormed the premises of Padmalaya Studios, owned by Telugu superstar Krishna's family. They alleged that YSR government gave back the land to the studio management as the Congress government is keen on using the family for the party campaigning. They demanded that the government should immediately take back the land which the studios had sold out to a private party. When the leaders said they would take over the land and distribute it to the poor, there prevailed tension and the police took them into custody.

Baladoor movie on Aug 14

2008-07-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

Baladhoor, starring Ravi Teja and Anushka, on Suresh Productions banner with Uday Shankar directing it will be releasing worldwide on August 14th. Tri Color Movies is releasing the film overseas with 14 prints. The audio with music scored by KM Radhakrishna was released yesterday and is declared an instant chartbuster. After Vikramarkudu, the lead pair has come to repeat their performance in Baladhoor.

Rajni watches Kathanayakudu

2008-07-31T07:50:00.000-07:00

The preview of Kathanayakudu, Rajnikanth's bilingual movie, was held at Adlabs theatre, Hyderabad this evening. The preview started at 4.00 p.m. Rajnikanth, producer (Telugu version) Ashwini Dutt, Jagapati Babu, K Raghavendra Rao and Rama Naidu are among those attended the show. The film is releasing tomorrow all over the world with 1200 prints.

Yasho Sagar with Sekhar Kammula?

2008-07-30T09:16:00.003-07:00

Sekhar Kammula is going to direct Yasho Sagar's next film, sources said. BC Somu, the hero's father will produce the flick on their home production Amrut Arts banner. Earlier, at a press meeting, the producer himself said he was interested to make a film with Sekhar Kammula. Further details are awaited. Currently, Yasho Sagar's debut film Ullasanga Utsahanga in the direction of Karunakaran is into its sixth day run today.

Gopichand's flick is Sowryam

2008-07-30T09:16:00.001-07:00

Gopichand-Anushka starrer on Bhavya Creations is titled Sowryam. It is produced by V. Anand Prasad in the direction Siva, a debutant. Producer said that the film is about the exploits of a daredevil youth who finally achieves a powerful goal. But for three songs, the film's shoot if finished. Songs will be canned in Swiss from Aug 10th and the film is planned to release in the second week of September. Gopichand is hopeful that the film would surpass the expectations of his previous films. Music is by Mani Sharma. Camera is handled by Vetrivel and dialogues are by M. Ratnam.

Party on Aug 22: Chiru to Aides

2008-07-30T09:14:00.000-07:00

The month-long ambiguity over the political entry of Chiranjeevi today received some clarity. He spoke to some journalists that his political party would be launched in the third week of August. The clear signals as per media reports: Chiranjeevi himself is said to have told his close aides that the party would be going public, between August 15 and 28, mostly projected on Aug 22, being the birthday of Chiru. After announcement of the party, a massive public meeting is planned at Dwaraka Tirumala, in West Godavari district, apart from whirlwind tours and road shows covering the state. However, Chiru circles took extra precautions not to jet out info with regard to the Party's name, flag, agenda and alliances. A big list 20 names are under scrutiny as of the party name. They also quoted Chiranjeevi as saying that he is confident of winning over 225 seats in the ensuing elections and he himself is ready to contest in anywhere in the 294 constituencies in the state. Youth segment is being given the lion's share in the party activities and in the selection of candidates and at the same time the elite and politically-experienced people would get their due prominence in the party, the circles added. Reports also said that Chiru wanted the journalists not to report his words, but the same got flashed continuously since late in the evening.

Ileana turns down Rajni's offer!

2008-07-27T04:47:00.000-07:00

Tollywood top actress Ileana has turned down the offer to be part of Rajnikant’s animation movie. Rajni’s daughter approached her but the clever actress has refused it as she was offered abysmal amount.

Moreover, it doesn’t add any mileage to her career by acting in animation film as the focus is completely on Rajni. Who cares which actress does that live action episode opposite him in an animation movie, a source close to Ileana said.

Now, it seems a small time actress from Tamil is doing that role.

Casting Call: Wanted new actors for Jattu

2008-07-27T04:41:00.000-07:00

If you nurture the dreams of becoming an actor, here is a good chance. A new director R V Ramakrishna is making a film titled Jattu. D Suryanarayana is producing it. The team is seeking new actors to play the lead roles in this good and offbeat movie. If you are young, beautiful and talented ..just ring in for your luck to become an actor.

55th Annual South FilmFare Awards 2008

2008-07-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

The stars descended in Chennai’s Nehru Indoor Stadium to celebrate the hard work the film fraternity had put in the year gone by. With Mohanlal holding the Malayalam film industry flag high, actors like Tabu, Venkatesh, Junior NTR and Nayantara kept the Telegu film fans ecstatic, the Kannada film industry was represented by Vijay and Rashmi and it was Khushboo leading the path for Tamil cinema along with Madhavan, Karthik and Suriya.

While Telegu Film Happy Days walked away with the highest honours of 6 awards, it was music maestro, AR Rahman who had much to cheer about. Although missing from the action, Rahman collected his 22nd Filmfare award for best music, which is a record.

Tamil superstars Suriya and Karthik celebrated a double whammy when their father Siva Kumar was honoured for his lifetime achievement award and Karthik took the coveted best actor award for his film, Paruthiveeran .

The best actor for a Malayalam film when to Mohanlal for his Paradesi . An emotional winner, Mohanlal said, “I consider Paradesi as a landmark in my filmi career.” Kannada actor Vijay collected the best actor award for Duniya while Telegu superstar Junior NTR for his Yamadonga . In his inimitable style, Junior NTR said, “I think these are blessings from my grandfather, who is looking after me from top.”

The South Filmfare awards always decides the fate of actresses and those who celebrated their success were Kannanda actress Rashmi for Duniya , Malayalam sensation Meena Jasmine for Orekadal and Tamil film’s current favourite Priyamani for Paruthiveeran . Celebrating her third best actress Filmfare award was Telegu’s Trisha. She received the award from none other than her co-star, Venkatesh. Trisha gushed, “I want to thank my fans, co-stars, director and most of all to the Telegu film industry for some of my best films till date.”

The night was made special by several dance acts. A riot of colour, vigorous dance movements to thumping music and excited shrieks of fans were seen and heard as dancing divas like Rambha, Divya, Hansika,Mamika, and Shreya Sarin and took the stage by storm. Adding to the variety was a classical dance act by Shobhana and Vineet, who planned their own choreography.

Also awarded for her contribution to Indian cinema was actress turned politician, Jaya Pradha.

But the night belonged to the dashing Maddy. As the anchor of the show, he was quick with his repartees, jubilant with the success of his friends and charming to his heroines. Getting special attention was the lissome Tabu, whom Maddy actually convinced to sing a line on stage.

Katrina Kaif, the sexiest woman as was declared by a popular fashion and style magazine, attended the event to add the Bollywood zing. A four hour spectacle that was special in its celebration of unity of four different film fraternities.

Brief Listings:

Best Film- Happy Days

Best Director- Shekar Kammuala

Best Music director- Mickey J Mayor- Happy Days

Best supporting actress- Sonia- Happy Days

Best Lyric writer- Vanamali- Happy Days

Best Playback singer (Male)- Kartik- Happy Days

Other Award winners include-

Best actor-NTR- Yamadonga

Best Heroine- Trisha - Aadavari Matalaki Ardhalu Verule

Asin to star opposite Salman in 'London Dreams'

2008-07-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

Tamil actress Asin will play the female lead opposite Bollywood icon Salman Khan in "London Dreams", publicists said here Friday.

The venture will be directed by Vipul Shah, publicists added.

Asin has acted as the female lead opposite Aamir Khan in “Ghajani", the remake of a Tamil film of the same name.

The actress is also tipped to play a major role in a Hollywood film, sources close to the actress added.

Nude video of Trisha Tamil Top Actress

2008-07-18T06:56:00.001-07:00

Sex controversies show no signs of ebbing. There's another controversy brewing with the revelation of a nude video clipping purportedly featuring a top south Indian actress.

A two-and-a-half-minute video clip of Tamil and Telugu film actress Trisha Krishnan taking a shower in the nude is reportedly doing the rounds on the Internet.

This comes in the wake of the contentious Kareena-Shahid kissing pictures published by a Mumbai tabloid and the raging controversy over a school boy making an MMS of his sex act with schoolmate and the clipping being sold on the Net and as VCDs.

According to tamil.galatta.com , Trisha, now in South Africa, was shocked to hear about the clip from her friend in the US.

"It was not me in the 2 1/2 minute bathing video clip and someone who wants to malign my name has done this on purpose," Trisha has been quoted as saying on the website.

Denying it was her daughter in the video clip, Trisha's mother Uma said, her daughter was not in the habit of taking bath in the shower and used only the bathtub, tamil.galatta.com reported.

Uma added that the body language of the girl in the clip was not Trisha's, nor were the jeans and t-shirt the girl removes just before her bath.

Trisha has reportedly filed a complaint with the Chennai Police Commissioner and the cyber crime section of Chennai has already started investigating.

"It is easy to trace the criminal once the IP address is found," the website has quoted the police officer investigating the case as saying.

Trisha has acted in Tamil blockbuster Saamy and also featured in commercials. Trisha is a former Miss Chennai and was also adjudged Miss Beautiful at Femina Miss India beauty pageant.

Puri's new film Neninthe

2008-07-18T06:49:00.000-07:00

Director Puri Jagannadh's new film titled Neninthe. Ravi Teja is the hero and a new mumbai girl Siya debut into Telugu. Puri introduced Asin to Telugu movie audience through Amma Nanna Oka Tamil Ammayi, now she is the top heroine in Tamil and now doing hindi movies. The official launch of Neninthe held recently and the regular film shot will start from July. Ravi Teja playing the role of an Assistant director in this film. Charki composing the music.

Chiranjeevi visited Hanuman temple in Film nagar with his wife and son Ramcharan.

Grandpa Chiranjeevi

2008-07-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

Actor Chiranjeevi got a new post even before starting a new party, it is Grand father post through his run away daughter Srija. Chiranjeevi's second daughter Sriija had run away with her lover Srish bharadwaj and married him last year. Now, Srijia delivered a baby girl. For the last one year there was no connection between Srija and her family members, but now, the new born baby able to bring her grand mother Sureka, Uncle Ram Charan Teja to the hospital.Our best wishes.

Film stars supporting Congress ?

2008-07-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

General election in Andhra pradesh is due by March 2009. Actor Chiranjeevi is in a mood to announce a new political party and it would be launched by August 15th. If Chiru start a party it would be against Congress as Chiru and his family people talking with Communist and caste leaders. Congress party getting the support of Film stars, and as per the sources Cong., would field popular film stars against Chiru in the election. Last month Actor Rajasekar and his wife actress Jeevitha met the CM and announced their support to the party. Yesterday, former MP Krishna met the CM and assured him that he will work for the victory of the party in the forthcoming election. Actor Krishna was elected as MP from Eluru in 1989. Krishna's son Mahesh babu, the No 1 hero of Telugu film industry would also be field against Chiranjeevi. In the meantime, CM YS Rajasekara reddy acting in a movie as CM.

Teja To Introduce Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry’s Son As Hero

2008-07-17T08:52:00.001-07:00

Sons of heroes, producers, directors and comedians continued to test their luck as heroes. It seems that the turn of sons of lyricists had come now.

Raja, son of popular lyricist Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, showed interest in making an appearance on the screen as hero. It is reliably learnt that Teja had come forward to produce and direct his debut film.

Teja had introduced several upcoming

ANUSHKA Marriage next year???

2008-07-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

Is it now wedding bells for the sexy yoga teacher turned heroine Anushka? Well, some reports say this. Anushka has now a couple of films in hand. But it is said that she is now ready to get the knot tied sometime next year.

The name of the groom has not yet been announced. But Film Nagar sources are mentioning the name of a cinematographer in this regard. The man in question is the dark.