TeLuGu HaNgOuT

‘Oye’ starring Siddharth and Shamili is getting ready to hit screens this summer. Anand, an associate of Bhaskar in ‘Bommarillu’ and of few Bollywood projects, debuts as a director with ‘Oye’. The studious child who played in ‘Anjali’ won several accolades and awards for her performance, Shamili debuts as a heroine. DVV Danayya produces the film on Universal Media banner.

Based on one more love story, the film is the romantic love that blossoms between the youngsters and how they get together in the end past all hurdles. Siddharth is on track with a list of youthful love subjects with ‘Nuvvostanante Nenodantana’, ‘Bommarillu’ with ‘Konchem Istam Konchem Kastam’ being the latest. Shamili bagged the National Award for the Best Child Artist in ‘Anjali’ and audiences are yet to see her performance as a heroine.

The film which has completed about forty percent of the talkie portions will get released this summer 2009

Aditya Productions, the production house of popular industrialist Konda Krishnam Raju is one of the famed companies in Tollywood. Famous for extravagant movies made, the first production itself was a high budget flick titled 'Vijayendra Varma' starring Balarkrishna in the cast. Then, 'Sri Ramadasu' came as their production no. 2 casting Nagarjuna, directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. After a short gap, the maker has announced the company's pipelined films for 2009.

Konda Krishnam Raju addressing the media people shared the news that Aditya Movies will make two films this year and related additional info about the forthcoming films.

The first film goes to the floors on 5th May. Based on an offbeat story this will be directed by a debutant maker. The schedules in the month of May will be continued for seventy days, in the rural areas of Tiruchur district in Kerala. The lead cast will comprise of popular stars while the heroine will be a new entrant from Telugu native. The plot is about a unique village and their unfamiliar, funny custom which will be new for the film goers. The film is a parody to be made as an end-to-end entertainer. Gautham Raju does the editing work. More details on the cast and crew will be announced soon.

The second production is a big budget film featuring a star hero. This production no. 4 of Aditya begins in the month of November. As of now, we are yet to finalize the other details about this film, concluded Krishnam Raju.

Dr. Rajasekhar is quite busy in the works of his upcoming release ‘Satyameva Jayathe’ directed by Jeevitha. In complete contrast to the cop story comes, ‘Naa Style Veru’ starring Rajasekhar and Bhumika in the lead cast, directed by G. Ram Prasad and produced by Maganti Gopinath on Disira Productions banner. The entire talkie portions had been completed in the schedules with an exception of two songs. Presently, dubbing work is being carried out.

According to the director, ‘Naa Style Veru’ is based on a fresh story line which is about a person who lives carefree in his own style. His attitude towards life and people changes drastically, when a girl comes into his life and the incidents that follow carry the story ahead. Characters have been portrayed different from the usual and the protagonist’s charm will be new on screen.

Rajasekhar in a completely fresh attire and style will sure woo the viewers, say the crew.

Andhra Pradesh Government announced the recipients for 2007 NTR and Raghupathi Venkaiah awards. Popular artist, writer, director and producer Dr. Dasari Narayana Rao will receive the NTR National Award for 2007 and popular producer Tammareddy Krishna Murthy will receive the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for 2007. The selection committee formed by the three member guild of judges appointed by the state government comprising of Balaiah, ArjunRaju and GiriBabu has made the final selections for these honorary awards.

Government of Andhra Pradesh is presenting the NTR award to Dasari Rao for his outstanding contribution for over four decades in different facets of cinema as an actor, writer, lyricist, director and producer. He had also served as a journalist, an administrator in APFCC along with various other organizations related to cinema and also a politician.

Raghupathi Venkaiah award honors Tammareddy Krishna Murthy for his services as a social worker. Although he shot to fame as a popular producer with the hits produced on his Ravindra Art Pictures banner, he is an ardent philanthropist. A profound thinker compassionate about people and an atheist, industry people feels he truly deserves it.

During the upcoming Nandi Awards function, the NTR Award recipient will be felicitated with 5 lakhs in cash, a memento and citation. The Raghupathi Venkaiah awardee will be honored with 50 thousands in cash, a Golden Nandi, a Gold Medal and citation.

President of MAA Murali Mohan and the Secretary of MAA Ahuthi Prasad expressed their happiness over the news. NTR made a visit to Dasari’s residence to express his wishes personall

When producers and makers shooed away the young talent rebuffing him saying that he have a not-so-charming face nor a good voice, neither one of them knew he will be the future star and they will be in the queue for his dates. With senior stars choosy about their projects with just one or two per year, Jagapathi Babu is on an acting spree.

‘Siddham’ starring Jagapathi Babu in the lead directed by JD Chakravarthy gets released today. On the occasion, he shared his views about plunging of current trend and his projects. Jagapathi Babu clearly stated that he is not into entering politics or production in the future. Even though movie stars are nowadays showing keen interest in politics, he said that he is not knowledgeable enough to be a politician and doesn’t know business strategies to be a producer.

With many cop stories coming our way, Jagapathi Babu about his ‘Siddham’ says, ‘it is not the regular police story but more about a cop’s mindset before and after encounters.’

After being in the industry for over twenty years playing myriad roles, Jagapathi Babu is happy about the way his career shaped up on his 42nd birthday today

‘Sontha Vuru’ starring Raja of ‘Anand’ and Theertha in the main cast is directed by P. Sunil Kumar Reddy. The film is produced by Kishori Basireddy and Ravindra Babu on Shravya Films banner. A press meet was organized at the company’s office to relate the news about the movie’s release date on February end.

Actor Raja said, “I am very happy and excited to be a part of this project because this will be my first release in 2009. For the first time, sans any hero image I have underplayed the character in a fresh script and I am eager to know what audiences feel about it. By seeing the characters and plot, people can relate themselves to the feel on screen associated with their nativity. Even though the film is based on a native village, the director has made it to suit global standards. Theertha is an alumnus of Film Institue, Pune and a talented actress. Comprising of many senior artists, I hope audiences will like the film based on a good script.”

Director Sunil Kumar speaking about the movie said that it’s an emotional drama which has a storyline depicting that albeit us being urban residents our root cause goes to the native rurality.

Producer Ravindra Babu announced that efforts are on to release the film by the end of this month. Heroine Theertha expressed her gratitude to the makers for offering her the role, and said that this will be her first film after passing out of the film institute.

Road to Oscars - 9 days to go

It's just nine days to go for the Academy Awards. AR Rahman seems to be inching closer and closer to grasp the coveted trophy in his cusp hands.

He returned to Chennai after receiving the BAFTA award in London for his musical score in the film 'Slumdog Millionaire'.

When asked about the award, Rahman said, "The Golden Globe was from the United States and the BAFTA was from the United Kingdom. Both are equally prestigious awards and I am honored to be a recipient."

Queried on the possibility of receiving the Oscar Award, Rahman said, "I do not have any expectations, but if it comes it will be a moment to cherish."

Looking back at events and honors that came his way, Rahman looks certain to win the award.

Interestingly, Rahman, who started his career introduced by director Mani Ratnam, also owes it to veteran director K Balachander. Rahman's maiden venture 'Roja' was produced by Balachander. Similarly, Rahman was chosen to do music for the Rajini starrer 'Muthu', which again was produced by Kavithalaya.

NTR is on a tight schedule with his latest film under the direction of VV Vinayak shaping up fast. Co-starring is the star of latest controversies, Nayanthara. She was reported to have swooned in the sets while filming with NTR which made news in the recent past.

After completing VV Vinayak’s film, NTR has signed up to work with director Vamsi Paidipalli of ‘Munna’. ‘Munna’ starring Prabhas and Ileana was a runaway hit which showered limelight on Vamsi. ‘Dil’ Raju produces the film said to be on a grand budget.

Before this proposal, ‘Dil’ Raju had plans to start a film titled ‘Andhravala’ starring NTR. But, for unsaid reasons, the project didn’t go to the floors. A determined producer was waiting for the right time and has finally managed to bring in Tarak for Sri Venkateswara Creations banner.

With the coming of NTR, Raju and Vamsi under roof, expectations have already started surmounting the pipelined project.

The critically acclaimed film ‘A Wednesday’ directed by Neeraj Pandey in Hindi has captivated interest from Kamal Haasan, and he has made plans to remake the film in Telugu and Tamil. At First, Mamooty was under consideration for the role played by Anupham Kher but recent reports have confirmed Mohanlal will be taking up his place.

Based on the terrorist activities in India, ‘A Wednesday’ with a brilliantly executed storyline and an impressive star cast like Nasseruddin Shah, Anupam Kher in the lead, made waves amongst the audience.

The film won 3 Star Screen Awards for Best Story and Best Debut Director for Neeraj Pandey.

Kamal Haasan’s production house Rajkamal Films International and UTV Pictures will be making this as a joint venture. The distribution rights for the Telugu version is still for the take and a strong contention is on to bag the rights

Frames Entertainments stepped into production with their maiden venture ‘Yamagola Malli Modalaindi’ which had a lukewarm response. Producer Rajasekhar of Frames is now making a film starring Ajay and Charmme in the lead.

Director of ‘Sattha’, Pavan is making this film which has been officially titled ‘Sayyata’ now. The popular and most sought after heroine in the industry, Charmme is a busy bee in tinsel town.

She will be receiving her first Nandi Award for the Best Actress 2007, for the film ‘Mantra’. She is all elated to be honored with such a prestigious award in her earlier career. The award ceremony will be held on 14th February.

‘Billa’, the stylish, extravagant movie of this year is fast shaping up in earnest. Starring Prabhas, Anushka in the lead cast, Meher Ramesh is directing the film. Senior star Krishnam Raju enacts the prominent role of a senior police officer while Namitha is also a part of the cast.

Anushka after ‘Arundhathi’ is taking up the serious role of a vengeance ridden girl in ‘Billa’. Even though the script demands more scope for glamour, she is also keen to leave her mark intact. At present, she is undergoing a rigorous training to master the martial arts of China. Our Indian Michelle Yeoh might be the rare heroine to learn fighting besides male actors.

Filled with exuberant joy of ‘Arundhathi’ success, Anushka says, ‘I look stylish in the film. My costumes are unique and riveting’.

For now, she is a popular star in Tollywood and yet to make it big in Tamil cinema. With Shriya becoming a mass heroine in Tamil, Anushka is not far behind as ‘Arundhathi’ gets dubbed in the languages shortly.

Nagachaithanya, son of Nagarjuna is debuting as a hero sharing screen space with yesteryear actress Radha’s heroine, Karthika in the yet to be titled film. Maker with the ‘Midas’ touch, ‘Dil’ Raju is producing this big budget film on Sri Venkateswara Creations banner. Director Vasu Varma is making the film which is being shot within India and some foreign locales.

The crew was camping in Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad completing most of important schedules. The upcoming schedule will start from 15th of this month at Hyderabad once again.

Actor Vikram exhibited his talents in hit films like ‘Sethu’, ‘Sivaputhrudu’ and ‘Aparchithudu’ which were widely liked by Telugu audience. His association with big time directors Bala and Shankar resulted in stupendous hits. ‘Mazaa’ directed by Rockline Venkatesh promoted him as a commercial hero.

With ‘Mallanna’ directed by Susi Ganesan fast shaping up, expectations are at a high rise among filmgoers and industry people. Made in Telugu and Tamil simultaneously, the film is being produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu on V Creations banner.

Kamal Haasan in his magnum opus ‘Dasavatharam’ did ten different characters and wooed the masses. Competing with the actor, Vikram is said to be appearing with 12 different getups in ‘Mallanna’. Based on the economic difference that prevails in the society, the story is based on the robinhood style of amassing riches from the wealthy and helping the poor.

‘Mallanna’ is in the making for almost two years now and let’s see how far it copes up with the expectation level.

Nagarjuna’s last ‘King’ directed by Sreenu Vaitla swooped box office records and became a notable hit. D Sivaprasad Reddy produced the film on Kamakshi Kalaa Movies banner. The film has successfully completed 50 days of screening and is briskly progressing towards the 100 day mark.

Earlier, he announced that he will refrain himself from signing up films for 2009. As Nag Chaithanya entered the industry, Nagarjuna wished to be his side and support him. But, rejuvenated by King’s success, Nagarjuna has already signed up for a film to be produced by Kamakshi Kalaa Movies. Impressed with the one liner narrated by young director Parashuram, Nagarjuna selected him for his next film. With few corrections to be made, Parashuram is building up the script to suit the taste of Nag’s fans.

Rumor mills worked over time revealing the news that after okaying a subject told by one more young filmmaker, Nagarjuna has lined up the film for his next after Parashuram’s. The director had earlier worked for Mahesh Babu’s films and is now busy preparing the script in detail.

Official confirmation is yet to be unveiled but this could be the clue for us to predict whether Nag might work under the direction of this unnamed debut director

Cast: Siddharth, Tamanna, Prakash Raj, Ramya Krishna, Nazar, Brahmanandam, Venumadhav, Raghubabu and others.
Credits -Music: Shankar - Ehsaan-Loy, Rating: 9 out of 10
Cinematography: Vijay K Chakravarthy
Editing: Srikara Prasad
Screenplay Deepak Raj and Vikram Siri
Art: China
Dialogurs: Abburi Ravi
Presents: Baby Bhavya
Producer: Nallamalupu Srinivas (Bujji)
Story and Direction:Kishore Kumar
Banner: Lakshmi Narasimha Productions
These days, parents are realising that they should behave like friends

with children. Many films are coming with this concept. After a big hit like 'Bommarillu' where Sidhartha played loverboy role and Prakash Raj playing a caring father, Kishore Kumar penned a good story. At a time when the present generation directors are going for action, faction and college backdrop stories, this story which was penned with the director's individual idea was proved a big hit giving a hint that a thought that comes from a brilliant mind would definitely attract the audiences. Moreover, the perfection in portraying the family sentiments on the screen would touch the hearts of audiences like the film 'KIKK'.

Siddhu (Siddarth) is the son of a big industrialist called Prakash Varma (Prakashraj). His mother Rajyalaxmi (Ramyakrishna) is a lecturer in a college. Siddhu's parents, though married after loving each other, separate during his childhood due to some internal differences. Siddhu completes his MBA but moves quite irresponsibly, as he wants to enjoy life and he did not take up anything seriously. He is a jovial guy and flirt with girls, though he is a good boy. Gita (Tamanna) is the only daughter of a landlord called Subrahmanyam (Nazar) in a village. She reaches the city for college education. First she did not take Siddhu seriously, though he is her common friend. But she realises his greatness and helping nature and starts befriending with him. Their friendship turns into Love and Siddhu stops flirting with girls and sincerely start loving Gita. Once Gita goes to her native place with her father and Siddhu realises that he can't live without her and goes to her village and proposes to her directly and Gita takes him to his father. However, Subrahmanyam did not agree their alliance as Siddhu's parents were separated. In his opinion, Siddhu could not be a good husband as his parents were separated and he wants his daughter to live with a complete family of father-in-law, mother-in-law and husband. Siddhu agrees to unite his parents and then take the hand of Gita. He makes several attempts to join his mother with father and vice-versa but all his attempts prove futile. At one stage, he realises that they will never shed their egos and are firm on their individual opinions. So, he goes straight to Subrahmanyam and admits that his is not a perfect family and he is not eligible to be a good husband. He agrees to sacrifice his love. But, by the time, Siddhu returns home, his parents realise their mistakes and unite with each other. This helps the union of the young couple Siddhu and Gita and there is a happy ending to their love story.

Siddhartha proved that he is second to none in maintaining the lover boy image. He appeared quite smart and young in the film with a smart personality. His body language, histrionics, perfect comedy timing, perfect presentation of feelings during sentiment scenes, everything remained a highlight of the movie. In fact, he did not act but lived in the role and represented the present generation youth. Tamanna too appeared gorgeous in all kinds of outfits. She turned a synonym to the present day young girls besides maintaining a family girl image. She played the perfect girl-next door kind of role. She emoted well in sentiment scenes and is chirpy in love scenes. Prakash Raj once again proved that he could be a perfect combination for Siddhartha in a father's role. He excelled in the role, which is like an extension of his roles in films like 'Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi and Bommarillu'. Ramyakrishna, who was promoted from heroine to mother's roles after marriage gave a good performance. Especially her role was moulded in a respectable and honourable way. Nazar also did a good job in a couple of scenes. Comedy by Brahmanandam as Gachibowli Diwakar is hilarious while Venumadhav tickled the funny bone with his routine comedy.

Once again it was proved that new talents could bring out more interesting and inspiring films. Especially, a delicate love story, in addition to the portrayal of human and family relationships were perfectly presented on the screen by debutant director Dolly. He literally succeeded in taking the audiences into the film with him. He chose to use the first half to attract youth and the second half to attract the family audiences. No doubt he succeeded in touching the hearts of all classes of audiences.