"Can I be assured a pension?"

Kamal Hassan is not only known for his versatile roles but also for the way he adroitly slips into his charecters by costumes and impressive make up. In the city, for the two day FICC-Media and entertainment business conclave in his stint its Chairman, Kamal looks a million bucks in his black suit busy moderating discussions, making new friends, adressing different sessions and giving media interviews, talking about taxes and markets- to sum up he does what he is best at- multi tasking. Kamal who talks passionately about his corporate avatar as chairman informs that one of the biggest tasks ahead of him is to convince the state governments to revise the entertainment tax bills and frame better laws to secure the entertainment sector in the country.

"FICCI, the organisation I am representing now has been working since several decades and brought 'industry' status to the entertainment sector in the country. This organisation gave me a platform to advocate the issues plaguing the industry. Several state governments have slashed the entertainment taxes owing to our request. If this entertainment tax is legislated without a few modifications and revisions, there could be a Rs 5,000 crore black market in show business in the country and many might stop making movies.This will lead to hoarding of money like in old days and so we are asking the governments to revise them and legislate entetainment taxes in the format that is acceptable to us.Besides, the governments shouldn't control the ticket prices in theatres because it is business and should let us free to decide the prices for ourselves. In the two day conclave we discussed human resources, employment, convergence of different media and losely knit laws that are affecting the entertainment sector in the country"he says in a true corporate style.

"Indian film makers shouldn't crave for Oscar awards. Oscar is an American standard.We should be giving away awards to American actors. We have to enhance the quality of cinema and have our own standard of movies. We have to create a higher standard than Oscar awards and I hope to see a day when Hollywood movie makers take pride in winning an Indian award " he adds.

The actor is agrresively campaigning the need for more film schools in the country which he feels will bring out more 'professional' actors and technicians.

"Every profession, be it engineers, doctors or lawyers has training schools and so should actors and other technicians have. There is a need to document the old cinema and its making to be able to teach the young aspirants. In Hollywood, we see even a make up artiste graduate from a professional school. A film school will make the aspiring actors and technicians familiarise them to the demands of this profession well before they start working and it enhances the quality of cinema for sure" he opines.

On one hand, film pandits urge the need to reduce the budgets of film making and on the other hand stars like Rajnikanth make films whose budgets run into hundreds of crores.Where does Kamal stand on this?

"Rajni's Robot is successful not because of the content, but due to marketing strategy and saleable star.We can't generalise Robot's budget to everyone.Huge budget films are good as long as there is content in the movie and is marketed well. Robot would have been a better success if it had content to supplement the marketing" he says candidly.


Kamal who is looking forward to the release of his next Tamil film 'Manmadham Ambu' starring Trisha and Madhavan for which he even penned two songs says he will continue to experiment with his roles as long as he can.He says he will soon act in a straight Telugu film again.

"Every night I dream something in my sleep. I have a lot of dream roles and will continue to do something different. My urge to do versatile roles is a continuous process. If there is an exciting script, I will act in a staright Telugu film. I might do one soon." Hassan quips. While the producers and directors have been demanding a cut in remuneration of stars citing it as reason for high movie budgets, will the actor reduce his remuneration?

"I will reduce my remuneration if I am assured I will get a pension after my retirement.We are paid the fee in tandem with our market. If we don't earn those kind of revenues, will producers pay us such remuneration? Not all actors get paid as much remuneration. It is all in demand and supply" Kamal concludes.

Kalyan Ram faces the ire of BITS-PILANI alumni

Actor Nandamuri Kalyan Ram whose recent movie Kalyanram Kathi was a box office dud has more to worry. Graduates and alumni of BITS-Pilani are angry on him for his statement in a local TV channel interview that he got into BITS-Pilani years ago , thanks to the recccomendation of his grandfather N T Rama Rao, the then Chief Minister.

He goofed up further by saying that he finished his 10+1 and 10+2 in BITS-Pilani. The video of this interview is now popular on youtube with youngsters laughing at the actor. Facebook and twitter are flooded with jokes on his statement. BITS graduates claim that reccomendations don't work in BITS and there is nothing called management quota in the institute.They also remind that BITS-Pilani doesn't offer 10+2 at all and demand the actor to apologise for making such remarks that lower the image of their institution.

Students say he never went to BITS and has no clue of how the institution works. A few of them are even posting his wikipedia to show he wasn't even old enough to get into BITS when his grandfather even passed away. Poor Kalyanram should have watched his words and got the sequence of events right before flaunting his BITS association.

"I will not waste my time clarifying about Siddharth"

In the city to witness the trailer of her upcoming film 'Anaganaga Oo Dheerudu', a fantasy film directed by veteran director K Raghavendar Rao's son Prakash Kovelamudi under Walt Disney production, Shruti Haasan is clearly excited. The first look of this film in which Shruti plays Priya, a gyspy fortune teller has got rave reviews. Shruti says the initial response to the trailers of this movie which happens to be her debut as actress in Telugu is more than what she could have asked for.

"Though I acted in this movie, I didn't watch the trailers until now. I just watched it with everyone else and I am equally shocked and it surpasses my expectation. I read the script and liked it immediately when I was offered this film. I am a great fan of graphic novels and since the movie was being directed by Prakash who has the lineage of his father K Raghavendar Rao and stars Siddharth and Laxmi Manchu in the film, I knew this was something special. My charecter has lot of transitions and versatile. Every charecter in this film has prominence and scope to perform.No charecter in this film is big or small and I am so happy to have been a part of a cinema that the country can be proud of" she says with eyes filled with excitement.


Did she research on the charecter or fortune tellers before she went on sets?

"I am not a method actor. I know my dad is and Siddharth who is my costar in this film too is methodical and do a lot of research. But I didn't do any on fortune tellers.I think if you have a good charecter, script, director and co-star, it becomes easy to give a performance the charecter demands and takes you to a different world. I am spontaneous. The outfits and the sets bring in that feel subconciously on ou minds."

This movie will mark her entry into Kollywood too as this movie will be dubbed into Tamil.She claims that as long as money is spent well and film makers give value for money, big budget films do well.

" There are lot of movies on which money is spent but when you watch it you don't know where the money went in the visuals.I believe any business is ready for those who are going to push the boundaries and show business is no exception. It is a visual splendour and family entertainer. If I was asked where I would put my money, I would do that on movies like this"

The film with powerful visual effects, fantasy charecters, wizards and witchcrafter charecters, she says makes for an exciting viewing pan India as good movies don't transcend language barriers.

"Cinema is a powerful medium and when I watch Japaneese or French movies, I dont understand the lines yet understand the story.Movies are like music and they don't need language to understand.This film more so is visually stimulating and exciting which is an advantage. Besides, God bless subtitles."


Rumours are rife that she is seeing her co-star Siddharth and are found going around publlicly in the city too often. Is there something more than it meets the eye?

"It is a part and parcel of our job and I take it with a pinch of salt. Siddharth is a very dear friend of mine.For people to speculate on our relationship, I wouldn't want to waste my time on clarifying on it when I am so happy with the trailers of the film."
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Krishnudu to act in 'Dusvidaniya' remake

Chubby star Krishnudu has been roped in to play the lead in Telugu remake of 'Dusvidaniya' which is titled 'Chandrudu' in Telugu. The movie will be directed by a debutant Satyam and will star actress Kalyani in a role. Sources say the film will go on floors soon and will hit the screens only in Summer next year. Since the actor is busy shooting for five other films, the shooting will start once his current commitments are over.

A part of the movie is likely to be shot in Japan. "I have signed this film and we will start shooting for it soon. Dusvidaniya is a thought provoking cinema with a wonderful potrayal of human emotions. I am looking forward to this film" Krishnudu said.

"Krishnudu has a innocent face which makes him apt for the role. The lead charecter of the film needs to evoke sympathy from the audience and he perfectly fits the role" a film maker opined.The Hindi version of the film directed by Shashant Shah , won critical acclaim for the story line and performances by actors Vinay Pathak and Rajat Kapoor.

Sharwanand to do Murugadoss film!!

Actor Sharwanand who did two films this year 'Prasthanam' and 'Andari Banduvaya' in Telugu, both of which won accolades from critics for his performance has hit the jackpot. Sources confirm that he has signed a movie with ace director Murugadoss for a Tamil film. Murugadoss directed movies like Ghajini, Stalin and was writer for blockbuster film 'Tagore'. Filmnagar sources tell us that Murugadoss liked the performance of Sharwa in 'Prasthanam' which got selected for Indian Panorama in the recent Goa Film Festival and hence signed a movie with him recently.

The maverick director is penning the script for this film which will go on floors from the next week. This flick will later be dubbed into Telugu too and is being jointly produced by Murugadoss and 20thcentury Fox.

Ramcharan Tej hits out at Sakshi TV

Chiranjeevi's son Ram Charan Tej who usually doesn't lose his cool surprised everyone by hitting out at news channel Sakshi TV, for giving his latest film 'Orange' a bad review.
Charan's latest film 'Orange' didn't farewell at the box office thanks to the story not many understood. The TV channel telecast a programme against the movie and its making which didn't go well with the star. Cherry and his fans were up in arms against it. He tweeted, "I live by my rules. I really don't care what is spread by a few idiotic channels like Sakshi.I have done a true charecter in Orange and I love it'.

Charan's tweet drew the ire of scribes and its associations who condemned his stand.Meanwhile, the issue got political as Charan's dad Chiranjeevi is the chief of Prajarajyam Party and Sakshi tv is owned by Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. Charan's fans attributed that since Y S Jagan is angry with Chiru for supporting the latest CM Kirankumar Reddy, his channel targetted his son Charan's movie '

"I hope to make dad proud"

In Tollywood where Telugu girls are hard to find , Laxmi Manchu, daughter of actor Mohanbabu has made her mark. Theatre personaility, TV Show host , producer and now an actress, Laxmi Manchu is a woman who is surely as versatile as her father is.Her debut film 'Anaganaga Oo Dheerudu' a bi-lingual Walt Disney production in which she plays evil queen charecter named 'Irendri', is up for release next month.

On Saturday when the trailers of the movie were screened for a select few film personalities in the city, there were introduced to a powerful performer hidden all these years in Laxmi. She says she is happy to have done a negative shade charecter, something her dad also started off with. "I told the Prakash Kovelamudi the director of this film, that I will be happy the day parents threaten their children to show them 'Irendri''s picture if they don't have their food. I put my blood and sweat on this film in the last one year.

Movies are all about charecters and I am blessed to have got this role.My dad started off with villain charecters in films.I was waiting for a good role and this happened to be that.Whenever I had doubt in the dialogue modulation, I called my dad and he would write it down and call me back in 20 minutes to explain the diction, draw a line at places and pauses for me. I hope the movie is successful enough for audience to call me 'Irendri' after watching me in it" Laxmi reveals that she watched Disney films like Narnia and 101 Dalmatians to get the feel of the movie before she played her charecter. Though she has done stage and TV shows in US and back in the city, she confesses that this movie makes her nervous as being the daughter of Mohanbabu, audience start judging and drawing comparisions.

"I worked with Oscar winning actors in Hollywood when I was in Los Angles.But I never felt so nervous as I am feeling now. This is my hometown and the industry where my dad and brothers mad it big. There will be judgements and comparisions drawn between them and me. I hope I make my dad proud. I watched a few Walt Disney films like Chronicles of Narnia to observe the negative charecters and added my touch to it. It took three hours to get the make up done every day and the costumes were so heavy. I underwent a lot of hardships doing this 'evil queen' charecter and when I saw the trailers, all the pain vanished " she says with eyes filled with excitement.

Though many star sons enter the film industry, star daughters don't act in movies at all. Ask her if her debut will inspire daughters too to get into films?" I really hope so. Superstar Krishna's daughter Manjula and Supriya from Akkineni family did movies but they faced a dark side of a few not wanting them to act. I respect the fact that they still did movies and they did pave the way for me to debut today and I hope it would inspire more to enter the industry" "I am also frustrated with the fact that Telugu girls don't enter the film industry . I don't know why. Half the job is done for producers like me, if I find a Telugu girl to do a role in the film" she adds.

A student of theatre and acting from US, Laxmi is of the opinion that it is high time Tollywood starts making movies for 'entertainment' and not second guessing what audience and fans want. "I grew up watching fights and dances and love our movies the way they are. But I think we should start making movies keeping 'entertainment' in mind and not the fans. We need to add different genres of movies in Telugu. Most actors seem to be second guessing what their fans want. How will they know if they accept it or not unless they try.?'

Laxmi is gearing up for the second season of her talk show 'Prema Tho Mee Laxmi' in a regional TV now. She is brining in politicians on her show this time as against actors in the first season. Quizz her why she wants politicians on her show now? "I wanted to make the show different from the previous ones. It is not about their political campaigns or ideologies. It is about their will power, strength and greatness as human beings. I have interviewed a lot of actors in the first season so included politiicians this time. The show will soon go on air" Manchu quips. This producer turned actress who made 'Jhummandi Nadham' recently with her younger brother

Manchu Manoj in the lead is gearing up to produce another movie titled 'Ookodathara Ullikkipadthara' with him. Rumours are rife that she is soon going to act in a Bollywood. "I will let out the details of Bollywood plans once it is finalised.For now, it is Christmas and holiday season coming up and I am all set to celebrate my year of work" Laxmi signs off.