"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.

Prakash Raj and Pony Verma register their wedding in Hyderabad

Actor Prakash Raj who recently married Bollywood choreographer Pony Verma after a prolonged battle in courts for divorce with his first wife, registered his second marriage in Hyderabad on Thursday. Pony's name in the marriage certificate was registered as 'Reshmi Verma'. Pony and Prakash are in the city for the past few days.

The couple got married in August this year and hosted a grand reception for their friends from film industry in Mumbai. Though the reasons for them registering their wedding in Hyderabad are yet to be known, realiable sources confirm that the couple which is shuttling between Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad for work is planning to make Hyderabad its home very soon.

"Prakash Raj has produced the phone bills of a house in Madhapur", informed a source close to the actor.

" I don't believe in celebrations"

An A- league actor of Tollywood who is one of the big four not to have been caught in the image trap, 'Victory' Venkatesh is always in happy frame of mind. In his 25th year of career as an actor, Venkatesh is all geared up to set the screen on fire with his suspense thriller 'Nagavalli' a sequel to blockbuster film 'Chandramukhi' in which superstar Rajnikanth was the hero.With five heroines in the film, and the Kannada version of the movie being a superhit, Venkatesh is confident, the movie will be a hit here.

"When I saw the Kannada version of the film, I decided, I will do it. Since the past two years, I was searching for scripts like Sherlock Holmes stories. I found this movie and thought it suits our sensibilities. Once I decided to do this movie, I met superstar Rajnikanth. He told me to be myself and natural. He asked me not to get influenced by any actor who has done this film before in other languages. I was just myself and this movie will be full of surprises, twists and is a thrilling experience to watch" the actor says confidently. While the rest of the actors in the country would have screamed from the top of the roof on completing 25 illustrious years of stardom, Venkatesh reveals that he doesn't believe in celebrating occassions for the sake of it.

"I celebrate every moment of my life. I can't fathom that a moment or a day in my life is better than the other ones. I am not the celebrating type.I live life this moment and don't plan anything. I am happy I entered the 25th year of acting. I have learnt that discipline an sincierity go a long way in succeeding in this profession. There is always a scope for betterment in an actor's career and I have learnt to take both success and flops in the same stride. These many years of working have made me realise that we can only put in our effort towards our work but the result is not in our control. I don't credit for where I am today. It is just that I happened to be in the right time at right place. " he says slipping into his favourite topic, spirituality.

While the filmdom's superstar is one of the rare actors in the industry who has been consistent in doing films irrespective of their box office fates, he is of the opinion that actors of the current breed need to do more movies in an year to understand what genre of films work for them. "After being an actor for 25 years like me and many others, it is fare enough to do one or two films an year. But younger actors need to do more movies in an year which is only when they will realise which genre works for them. If they don't try at all, how will they know if the audience like them in those roles?" he questions.

Looking back at how the industry economics have changed ever since he debuted as an actor, Venkatesh says now, the stars have to be very careful in chosing films as the budgets are high and losses are huge if the movie bombs. "Earlier, we used to do films easily as they were of low budgets and even if it flopped, it was a soft blow. But now, we got to estimate the commercial viability of the project before giving them a nod because a flop can lead to losses leading to crores of rupees. There aren't great scripts coming our way too. Industry will start making better cinema if we have new bunch of directors and writers entering the showbizz here." says the actor who lists ' Dharmachakram', 'Prema', 'Ganesh', 'Chanti' as few of his best films.

A star who dedicates his Sundays to meditation and spirituality, Venkatesh thanks his fans, media , family and friends for helping him sail through 25 years of film career.

"My dad Ramanaidu taught us simple living and kept us grounded. He works hard even at this stage and keeps reading scripts. He breathes cinema every moment. He is immensely concerned about the industry and the people working in it. My brother Suresh Babu is a business man who is adept at the economics of this industry. I am glad he took care of this business and is a good friend of mine. If he wouldn''t have taken care of this business, I would have had to take it up. In a way he paved the way for me to be a star. My fans too stood by me all through and so I am dedicating a song for them in 'Nagavalli'. he concludes.

Minissha enters Tollywood!!

Minissha Lamba whose career in Bollywood doesn't seem lucrative has now signed a Telugu movie titled 'Contract'.Last seen in 'Well done Abba' which didn't do well at the box office, Minissha seems to have decided to try her luck in South where imports are always welcome.

Being directed by Sameer, the triangular love story will have Minissha romancing Arjun and J D Chakravarthy. Sources say the first schedule of the shooting for this movie is complete and is likely to be released in Telugu and Tamil. in February next year. We hear that Mallika Sherawat whose 'Hiss' tanked recently will also do an item number in this movie.

Nagababu accusess Genny of blackmail

Chiranjeevi's younger brother and producer of 'Orange' who stirred off a controversy by calling Tollywood directors 'Viruses' who are leading the producers to bankruptcy, dropped another bomb shell on Wednesday. He said that the heroine of the film Genelia and her mom threatened to walk out of the movie if he didn't pay them Rs 10 lakh extra. He revealed that while the movie was being shot in Australia, the schedule got extended for a week and when Genny and her mom got to know of this, they demanded him to shell out more if he wanted Genny to come for the shoot.

"We went to Australia for shooting 'Orange'. Our schedule got extended for a week due to technical problems. When Genelia's mom got to know that, she demanded me to pay Rs 10 lakh extra. She threatened to walk out of the movie if she is not paid extra.I had to pay her or cancel the shoot there and come back. I had no option but to shell out money. This is just an example to show how the producers in the industry are suffering " he said expressing his grief to a TV channel.

Vishnu to enter Tamil industry

Actor Vishnu Manchu is soon going to cross Andhra border and enter Tamil film industry. His upcoming film 'Vastadu Naa Raju' will release in Tamil too. Interestingly, the actor himself is producing this film through his production house 24 frames factory. Since he is well versed in Tamil, he plans to shoot a few scenes in Chennai and surroundings for the movie to suit Tamil market. Sources say since the heroine of the film is Taapsee who is already acted in Tamil starring next to Dhanush, the audience will be able to connect to her.

The movie is being directed by Hemanth Madhukar, whose Hindi film 'Flat' won critical acclaim recently. Vasthadu Naa Raju is gearing up for release next month.

'Politics is my first priority" says Smriti Irani

She ruled small screen for almost a decade with her tear jerking super mega serial 'Kyon Ki Saas Bhi Kabhu Bahu Thi' that became a phenomena in Indian Television. The most popular Indian Bahu Tulsi alias Smriti Irani has now entered filmdom and is doing a role in Telugu movie 'Jai Bholo Telangana'. Television to cinema could be a natural progression but what brings her to Telugu films and that too a movie on the formation of a seperate state?

"I was reccomended to the director of this movie N Shankar by a journalist. Shankar was looking for a neutral face to play a charecter of a woman who has lost a lot due to agitations. I heard the script and gave my nod immediately. For me, as long as the script is interesting, language doesn't matter. Infact, I just did a Bengali movie in which I play a woman who completes all her responsibilities towards her family and goes in pursuit of her own dreams. In Hindi, I got offers for mainstream cinema but were similar to my image in 'Kyon Ki..' which is why I rejected all of them." Irani reveals.


Smriti who has done an impressive research on Telangana and the sentiments in the region for her current movie assures that this cinema doesn't take sides for any particular region.However, she opines that the agitation for seperate state is genuine wish of the people in the region.

"Cinema doesn't take sides. If it does, it won't be successful. My mom worked in Vizag for sometime and I am aware of the agitations in the state. I have spoken to the people in the interiors of this region like Karimnagar, Warangal et al and realised that this agitation is genuine wish of people in grass root levels and not intellectual.The demand for seperate state is close their hearts" observes Irani who plans to tour the state on behalf of her party sometime soon.

Surprisingly, in both her Bengali and Telugu films, Smriti plays a old woman's charecter. Doesn't her de-glam image bother her?

"I played much older woman than I am playing now in 'Kyon Ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'. I am confident person and my on screen look doesn't matter to me"


Smriti who started her own TV production company is now producing Gujarati plays.She runs an NGO, and heads the Women's wing of BJP. Smriti confesses that her first love among all the different things she is doing now is her stint as politician as it gave her a chance to explore the remotest parts of this country and be a solution maker.

"I like be a politician because it took me to places where there isn't even transport facility. I saw the length and breadth of this country.Life is very rosy in the cities but equally tough in rural. My political life taught me a lot . I decided to take sanyas from acting in TV serials for the next two years because politics is a responsibility. I am heading the morcha of one of the biggest political parties in India.When my party needs me, I can't say I am busy shooting and can't come. For now politics is my priority" she says.

While she quite enjoys being a mother, Irani feels multi-tasking comes naturally to Indian women. She attributes her hassle free career to supportive joint family.

"My family has a history of working women. It is a joint family and so kids are taken care of even if I am travelling 25 days in a month.Our family knows how to balance work and family time quite well"

Irani is a confident woman who had to struggle immensely to be where she is today. She says she will never go out of work as she can always pick her threads up from where she left in TV. Despite the influx of reality and game shows, she believes Indian TV audience have not shifted their loyalty from family drama soap operas.

"Kyon Ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' was a decade worth of magic. It was a phenomena in this country. Even after so many years, the highest TRPs of most successful TV shows are lesser than the lowest ratings 'Kyon Ki' ever got. It is tough for any programme to break the record of retaining the highest ratings for one decade. TV audience in India have not changed much because human emotions are limited. When I am unemployed, I know I can go back to TV. I will never go out of work. My goal in life is to be better than yesterday in terms of work" she says signing off.

Salman now owns the B'wood cricket team!!

Bollywood studman Salman Khan who in the pinnacle of his career now thanks to the box office hits of 'Wanted' and 'Dabanng' is all set to own a cricket team. No, he is not investing in IPL but in CCL, the Celebrity cricket league where Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood, Mollywood and Sandalwood will have a team for each and stars from each of these film industries will play against the other.

Reliable sources confirmed that Sohail Khan entertainment has already agreed to own the Bollywood team and Salman will lead the Bollywood star brigade which is likely to include Sohail,Arbaz, Suniel Shetty, Sonu Sood et al.The official announcement of Salman owning a team will be out next week and the star is said to have given a written agreement to purchase the Bollywood star cricket team already. Confirmed news is that while there will be bidding for the franchisees of other film industries, Bollywood team is reserved for Salman and it is not up for auction.

"The firm is registered in Sohail's name but Salman is grouping his friends in B-town to be a part of this star cricket team.Salman loves the game and plays with his brothers and friends quite often. He will announce his ownership of the team next week" said a source from Bollywood who is close to the actor.

While Tamil film industry, Kannada and Malayalam film actors associations have already agreed to send their actors to the CCL matches, Tollywood's Movie Artistes' Association is yet to give a writen consent on sending Telugu actors to these matches filled with glitz and glamour.Even as T-wood's MAA is yet to give its nod to its stars,
actors Kajal Agarwal, Mumait Khan, Junior NTR are being approached by corporate companies to form a consortium to be the T'wood's franchisee.


"We were approached by a few to invest in CCL which will start soon. We are yet to finalise the details. Kajal is shooting and is busy. Once she is back,we will take a final call on our investment in CCL" said Vinay Agarwal, mother of actress Kajal.

Tollywood's favourite item girl Mumait Khan who recently started her own entertainment firm Sugarcandy entertainment pvt limited was also consulted for investments into CCL. The actress who is busy hosting Southern carnival stage shows soon too says she will think over it.

"I have just started my firm and I am exploring all oppurtunities in entertainment industry including this CCL. We are starting off with stage shows now. I am in touch with a few friends who are interested in CCL. Will take a deciscion soon" Mumait said.

A litle birdie tells us that a corporate firm has even contacted Junior NTR to join them in being the franchisee to bid for Tollywood team and the actor is seriously considering trying his luck. Talks are on between Chiranjeevi and Daggubati family to come together to form a franchisee too.


While Kannada actor Sudeep is already declared the captain of Kannada actors team, Tamil superstars Suriya or Vijay are likely to be the captains of Kollywood team.
Yesteryear actress Radika Sarathkumar who operates the Raadan pictures is investing in CCL.

"A lot of actors are excited about investing in CCL and being a part of it. We will announce the names next week. A few actors might come together and bid for the team and a few are tying up with corporates to bid for Tollywood team.The franchisee will get 100 per cent of the ticket collections of the matches held in home ground, 7.5 per cent of ad revenue from TV broadcast. The bidding begins at Rs 25 crore for a 10 year ownership of the team.We will be officially launching it in Mumbai next week and the matches will be held between star teams in January" confirmed Vishnu vardhan Induri, co-founder CCL Pvt Ltd.

With Salman entering the stadium and south stars coming together to invest in the franchisees, CCL is surely going to unfold crickentertainment giving IPL a run for its viewership.

Stars avoid clubbing after drug menace!!

Tollywood's young brigade of stars maintained a perfect blend of work and pleasure by shooting all day and let their hair down by night at city's night clubs untiil not so long ago. Ever since actor Raviteja's brothers Raghu and Bharat were caught by the city police red handed buying drugs followed by hour long discussions on news channels and pages of news print spent on accusing the actor community of being drug addicts, most young stars are avoiding clubbing in the city like plague.Once ferocious party animals Allu Arjun, Navdeep, Raja, Subbaraju, Sharwanand, Mumait Khan, Rana et al are now barely seen in night clubs. While party goers fume at lack of glam quotient in night clubs, stars prefer to stay aloof than be branded as 'bad boy' or 'drug' user.

"I have good friends in Tollywood and make it a point to catch up with them whenever I am in the city. But ever since the night clubs have come under scanner for allegedly being hubs for drug usage, I am avoiding them.The news reports of all stars being the same was uncalled for. To avoid being branded, most of my actor friends don't party at clubs any more. I also feel that if we are seen partying too much in our hometown, we are not taken seriously" says actress Sanjana an avid party animal candidly.

Yet another actor seconds Sanjana on condition of anomyity,

"I wasn't in the city when the whole drug issue hit the headlines. But even abroad, I heard about it and there too people were asking me if it is true that all Telugu actors are into drugs. To my horror, anyone who is even remotely seen partying was branded as a drug user. I thought it is not good to be seen clubbing as that image created by news stories hasn't faded away yet" .


Worse, a few night clubs in the city are raided post midnight by police, narcotics officials and more to check for any drug users.The stars say though they are 'clean', there is always a chance of being entangled in unwanted trouble despite their innocence. When an actor called for a party recently at a night club over the weekend, hardly any of his T' wood buddies turned up, thanks to fear of being branded as drug user or bad boy.That apart, most heroes in the industry come from powerful film families and wouldn't like to see their son's rising film career flicker due to 'party boy' image.

"Ever since Bharat and Raghu were caught, actors are being branded as people with no values which is sad. Any generalisation is not true. But many actors think it is better to avoid clubbing than being 'branded' as party animal. I am not clubbing often in the city because most of my friends in the industry don't club as frequently as before" admits Mumait Khan who is a self proclaimed party animal.


"It was raining stars in our night clubs before. But ever since the episode, we hardly see them in our club.Ocassionally one or two actors drop in over the weekends but it is nothing like how they use to turn up earlier" says co-promoter of a popular night club.

While night clubs are strict no-no with stars now, house parties are a hit big time among young T'wood junta. They are proving to be strong alternative party zones to them. Gather at a star's place or a director's office post shoot and party all night is T'wood's newest party format.Safer, the actors now don't feel the need to worry as there are no papparazies eyeing them or onlookers judging them for sipping a glass of wine. Young stars are huddling in their friends places which they say ensures them their exclusivity.

"I wasn't in the town luckily when actor's names were flashed in TV channels randomly alleging them of being involved in drugs. That episode has changed our partying venue from regular night clubs to other places. It is good to be partying in friend's places or decent restraunts were the murky act of shady people don't damage our image. I continue to party because I know I am clean" says Bindu Madhavi, actress who hits the dance floor regularly.


With newer venues proving safer and hassle free, T'wood's party stars are sure to give night clubs a skip for a really long time now.

Yoga works wonders for Shwetha and Hansika!

Shwetha Basu Prasad, the 'Makdi' girl who sizzled in T-town and turned a star overnight with blockbuster hits like'Kotha Bangaru Lokam' and 'Ride' vanished from the city overnight. The actress who went into hibernation post her last movie 'Kalavarking' had tongues waging in the industry with everyone speculating on her where abouts.

Shewtha had put on lots of weight and looked like an 'overgrown' child when she was last seen in the city.The actress who came back recently for a promotional event was stunning after loosing oodles of weight. Sources say Swetha lost 8 kilos in two months thanks to 'hot' yoga. Before you get any ideas, we will simplify what it is for you. The actress is believed to have taken a crash course in hot yoga back in Mumbai where she spent hours in a yoga studio with a room temperature of 45 degrees celcius in it that burnt all her excess fat and gave her a perfect body shape.

"I performed differnt postures in 45 degrees temperature and it burnt my fats faster than usual." the actress now says flaunting her slimer body.Ditto with Hansika Motwani who has lost several kilos of weight to shed her 'chubby' girl image through 'hot' yoga.Hansika who now has no movies in her kitty from Tollywood is hell bent on losing more weight to bag roles.

T'wood on 'topical' cinema mode

Run a research on a controversial personality or take up a story line that it 'it' topic now , weave a script and present it on celluloid to make the movie a 'minimum guarentee success'. The denizens of Tollywood showbiz are now tuned into topical cinema mode busy searching for long forgotten heroes of real life or inspirational movements that occured moons years ago, making it the most obvious trend in the film industry.

After RGV whose flickering career breathed a sigh with good openings for his biopic Raktacharitra-I, Nagarjuna who is craving for a hit since two years is gearing up to do a movie titled 'Rajanna' on anti-Razaakar movement in Telangana.His ready to release film 'Gaganam' is said to be mirroring the events that happened during the Khandahar flight hijack incident a few years ago. Kalyanram's recent movie 'Kathi' is one of the movies that was made on Tollywood's favourite topic-factionism. With Telangana tide rising all time high, director N Shankar is making 'Jai Bolo Telangana' on the need for seperate statehood and managed to rope in actor Jagapathi Babu for a role in it.Pawan Kalyan is swearing by the life of Jesus Christ for his next and Balaji telefilms will soon shoot a film on the real life story of yesteryear starlet Silk Smitha who commiitted suicide a few years ago in Chennai.


T-town film makers are of the opinion that movies with 'topics' that are fresh and 'in' vogue generate curiosity among audience which works magic at the box office.The classic example of this theory is they say 'Raktacharitra-I' that opened to housefuls in the state even as it was a flop in Hindi. The movie managed to impress audience in the state due to their 'connect' to the story and a curiosity factor.


"Though the audience know the real life story on the faction fued between the two families in Anantapur district, they still came to the theatres to see how RGV projected it on screen. They wanted to know if there is something more in this film about the fued that they didn't know of.If the film makers manage to sustain that public interest on the topic throughout the movie, it will do well" says Rajkumar, co-producer of 'Raktacharitra' who is hoping an equally good response from movie goers to the second part of the film hitting the screens soon.


T-town movie makers have also a rare distinction of aping the scripts that were recent blockbusters. With Raktacharitra turning out to be a success, no prizes for guessing what story lines are in demand in the industry now. A truckload of controversies that give enough free publicity cocktailed with eager audience is enough to get break even openings, directors think.


"For topical cinema, one doesn't have to invest much on publicity. The script evokes controversy or outcry from some sections of society which will grab public attention anyway." Jaya, film maker says candidly.

"Varma's next movie 'Katha-Screenplay-Darsakathvam-Appalraju' is also topical. It deals with an amatuer film makers woes in Tollywood. Such topics grab public attention faster than the cliched four fights, six songs love stories with predictable storylines.The topical cinema needs to be treated well failing which it might backfire" Sreedhar Reddy, director opines.

Ace film maker Deva Katta too is now believed to be working on script that is inspired from the real life conflict between the various trade unions in Vijayawada which will go on floors from next month.Directors say that since audience come to theatres for entertainment, it is also imperative for directors to capsule these topical scripts with a few commercial 'elements' to make it work at the box office.They remind films of director Krishna Vamsi, Shankar who chose topics like terrorism, corruption, patriotism, Naxalism and made it work at the box office before.

"My movie is on a topic that every one now talks about. Everyone knows I am making a film now because it has Telangana in its title.I have dealt with topics like factionism, naxalism et al before which did commercially well.Topical cinema is evergreen if it is treated well without being too preachy. It should be sugar coated with a few commercial aspects to do well" says N Shankar, director of 'Jai Bolo Telangana'.

If another hardhitting topical cinema does well at the box office in Tollywood, this genre is bound to stand as challenging opposition to the gravity defying commercial movies.

Saibaba's birthday forces RGV to postpone release of RC2

Ram Gopal Varma who managed to rake in moolah in Raktacharitra-I thanks to reel load of controversies the movie evoked seems to avoid them like plague in Raktacharitra-II. Though the trailers of part-II that were screened in the climax of Part-I declared that the movie will release on November 19th, Varma has postponed the release to December 3rd now. Sources close to the Varma tell us that since Godman Satya Sai Baba's birthday falls on Nov 23rd which is just four days after the release, RGV decided not to release his film on Nov 19.

Raktacharitra-II as the title suggests is filled with scenes of blood as it deals with the faction fued between the families of Paritala Ravi and Maddhelacheruvu Suri in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. Incidentally, since Satya Sai Baba's ashram 'Prashanti Nilayam' at Puttaparthi is also in the same district, Varma has decided to postpone the release of the film to avoid any untoward disturbance to Baba and his devotees on his birthday in his district.

"The second part of Raktacharitra has very high expectations because the story in this part is more recent occurence that the first part. Besides, Tamil Superstar Suriya is acting in this part. The people in Anantapur are polarised between the two faction groups and if the story of the movie doesn't suit their affiliation towards their group, they might turn violent. This is surely going to disturb the birthday celebrations of Satyasai Baba as his ashram is in the same district" said a source on condition of anonymity.

When contacted, the co-producer of the film Raj Kumar admitted that Baba's birthday is one of the factors for postponment of the release, the others being the release of Ramcharan Tej's 'Orange' in the same week and post-production work of the movie.

"A few have brought to our notice that the release of RC-II is closer to the date of Baba's birthday.Besides, Ramcharan's 'Orange' is releasing in the same week which will leave us with fewer theatres to release our film. Since Charan's 'Magadheera' was a blockbuster, it is obvious that exhibitors are keen to screen his film. Also the post-production work of Raktacharitra-II is still in progress. The sum of all these factors forced us to delay the release of our film." Rajkumar said.

Ileana angry with RGV!!

Who doesn't like praises? And more so actresses. But Tollywood actress Ileana doesn't even when it came from popular film maker Ram Gopal Varma. RGV tweeted a week ago that Ileana is a brilliant actress and would like to make a movie with her.

He went ahead and praised her beauty. Though she wouldn't have minded until there, RGV also tweeted that Ileana is parallel to legendry actress Vyjayanti Mala Bali. This comparison drew severe ire from movie buffs following RGV on twitter. While a few replied saying Ileana can't act to save her life while others termed it a blasphemy and insult to legendry Vyjayanti Mala for comparing her to Ileana. Many jaw dropped and smirked at the tweet.

A few think it was RGV's way of provoking public ire and humiliating Ileana. The actress now feels humiliated at RGV's way of making people lash out on her acting skills.She is believed to have expressed her unhappiness to RGV on being compared to veteran actress that defamed her.

Nayanatara to play Sita!!

Actress Nayanatara who hits the headlines more often for her affair with actor-director Prabhu Deva has signed a mythological cinema 'Sri Rama Rajyam' in which she plays godess Sita. Nayan who has always played glam doll roles running around tress and damsel in distress charecters for the first time will play a charecter in a mythological movie. Sources say actor Balakrishna will play the lead role of that of Lord Sri Rama and the movie will be directed by veteran film maker Bapu.


Industry sources confirm that the movie is just a remake of blockbuster movie 'Luva Kusa' in which Balakrishna's father N T Rama Rao played the charecter of Lord Srirama and actress Anjali devi played the Sita's charecter.


However, many film makers in Tollywood are grimacing at Nayanatara being chosen to play Godess Sita's charecter, a role that was immortalised by veteran actress Anjali Devi.

"Nayan can't even render her own dialogues in Telugu. Godess Sita's charecter will have a lots of dialogues and poetic recitals. Wonder how she fits the charecter?" laughed a director on condition of anonymity. Well looks like Nayanatara has lots more to worry about now apart from the legal battles over her affair with Prabhu Deva.

After 'Duryodhana', Srikanth titles his next 'Dushyasana'

Whats with actor Srikanth and Kaurvaas? Yes you heard it right. The actor who played the lead in a movie titled 'Operation Duryodhana' with Posani Krishna Murali as director now is playing the lead in a movie titled 'Dushyasana(brother of Duryodhana) with the same director.Sources from film nagar tell us that the movie is all set to go on floors this week and has political overtones like 'Operation Duryodhana'.

Actress Sanjana is playing the lead next to Srikanth.

"This film has political overtones with powerful dialogues. Since Duryodhana's name was already used for the first film, the director thought his brother Dushyasana's name will fit the movie" said a source.

Interestingly, the movie with Duryodhana as the title was a huge controversy when it released three years ago with Telangana rashtra samithi raising objections to anti Telangana dialogues in the film.The controversy worked at the box office in the movie's favour earning the movie makers huge money.Perhaps Srikanth hopes to rake up controversies with 'Dushyasana' as the title this time.

Sneha Ullal missing from Hyderabad.

What one expects to happen to an actress after her movie breaks box office records? Get more offers, scream from the top of the roof on the success, be the most sought after brand ambassador for dozens of products and hog the limelight.But all these didn't happen to Sneha Ullal. The damsel who was imported from Mumbai after her movie 'Lucky struggled to survive in Tollywood suddenly vanished from the city six months ago after her last movie 'Simha' with Balakrishna was a blockbuster hit. Filmnagar sources say Sneha increased her remuneration phenomenally after the hit which is why she has no offers in T-town. Sneha shifted her base back to Mumbai as producers are not willing to pay her more than Rs 35 lakh.

"Sneha wanted to settle down in Hyderabad and was even in search of a nice place to buy. She even bought furniture for her place.After 'Simha' became a hit, she increased her remuneration thinking producers will pay her since her movie is a hit. Contrary to her expectations, she didn't get any roles.Dissapointed, she decided to go back to Mumbai and try her luck" said a close aide of the actress.

She is now relegated to item numbers and cameos in T'wood.

She is however believed to be telling her friends that she wanted to take a 'break' from Tollywood after the phenomenal success of 'Simha' which is why she hasn't signed anything as yet. The actress was in the town this week for a promotional do sporting the tee of Salman's 'Being human'. Now, one wonders if she really took Salman's cause seriously or is just trying to flaunt her friendship with him to lure producers here.

Shraddha says no to second leads

After Madhur Bhandarkar's Dil To Bacha Hai Ji happened to her,Shraddha refuses to accept second lead roles in Tollywood now. Shraddha who has done nine films in Telugu had to confine herself to second lead charecters where hero dumps her for a senior heroine or heroine's friend et al. Ever since her Hindi film' Lahore' won critical acclaim and national award and she bagged a role in Madhur's film, Shraddha is strict no-no to second leads in T'wood.She is overwhelmed at Madhur's movie and can't stop raving about it. She played a role in Venkatesh's 'Nagavalli' which has five heroines and that hereafter she will not act in a movie as second lead at all.


"I am playing a lead role in Bollywood movie and it will be stupid on my part to take up second leads in Tollywood. I am not going to accept any blink and miss roles or second leads anymore. I will do only main lead in Telugu hereafter" she declares.

The actress reportedly plays an RJ who wants to be an actress in Madhur's film. She is all excited about the movie's first trailers that will be out next month and the movie that will hit the screens in January.

Mohanbabu tweets!!

What does one do when one completes 35 years of debut into film industry? Cut cakes, throw a party, get falicitated, do charity or at best launch ones own postal stamp by the government. It wouldn't be Mohanbabu if he did any of those. The actor and former MP joined twitter on eve of completing 35 years in the industry raising quite a few eyebrows in Filmnagar.Mohanbabu is known for his powerful punch dialogues on screen and he often uses them even in his real life which make for great entertainment. He has openly challenged the dominance of Chiranjeevi in Tollywood and also against Telangana activists in the city. With his entry into twitter, he has become the senior most artiste from Tollywood to be tweeting. Though the first few tweets on @themohanbabu were non controversial, his strong likes and dislikes, his opinions on industry, heroes and actors is bound to be sensational.

Sources say though he considered several titles for his twitter debut , he decided to go with his name. We hear, his staff assists him put up his opinions on ongoing issues, his life, cinema, his children and film industry politics.

His daughter and actress Laxmi Manchu, daughter in law Viranica Manchu were overwhelmed with his deciscion start tweeting and tweeted a welcome to him. Industry expects a few sensational revealations, fights, accusations and past experiences from him now that he has a platform.

Shekhar's talent hunt

A role in Shekhar Kammula's movie is considered a sure shot ticket to stardom in Telugu cinema.His 'Happydays' that released with fresh faces three years ago made the actors in the film stars overnight.The director who then made 'Leader' which was a blockbuster is now on a fresh face hunt for his upcoming project 'Life is beautiful'.Shekhar has come up with hoardings, tied up with radio stations and is touring colleges in search of the 'faces' for his next movie, something he did for Happydays too.Rubbishing the claims that this is to create buzz for the movie, he says, this is an honest search for the six lead pair for the movie."My next movie needs young fresh faces.They needn't be one of those six pack boys and size zero girls who are usually wanted in films.Any outgoing, energetic youngster can log on to our web site http://www.amigoscreations.com/ and send in their pictures to me. If I feel they suit the charecters in my film, they will be in. I am not looking at this as a forum to create buzz for the movie. In our state which is still obsessed with engineering and medicine kind of careers, it is still difficult to get youngsters into showbizz and this is an honest attempt to search for such fresh faces" Shekhar claims.

With Shekhar Kammula being a brand himself, why not work with established stars in the industry?Is it easier to work with freshers than the known actors?"The script demands fresh faces with no other image.If I cast the same team of Happy days, it will be called its sequel.And the actors now have a certain image that doesn't suit the charecters and hence the fresh face.In 'Leader', I worked with seasoned actors like Suhasini, Kota Srinivasa Rao et al. They give us so many variations for a shot and we can chose what we want from it.At the same time, it is tough to get the freshers to be camera friendly and train them.Everything has its pros and cons.It is just that the script of Life is beautiful demands new faces and hence the search" he clarifies. The ace director whose filmogrpahy has all blockbuster hits and is now a mascot of urban Telugu cinema is not bothered about him being branded as a director who makes cinema for urban youngsters. He says the acceptance of urban cinema is increasing since there are mutliplexes coming up everywhere.

"It is not a concious effort to make cinema for certain audience. I just write the script and make movies. For me cinema is not business equation, it is my passion and a medium to tell a story.I don't do cinema for number games or for monetary satisifaction. When I made 'Anand' my audience were say 15 lakh people and then Happydays was watched by about 1 crore audience.I can clearly see the increase in the number of audience for my movies which means there is an increasing acceptance of urban cinema.Besides, the number of multiplexes are also on the rise.'Urban' stories are not concious deciscion at all. It just happens" Shekhar's movies are a genre Telugu cinema has never seen before. His films don't have murderous villains or cliched comedy tracks.They have no gravity defying fights or vulgur romance.Will we ever get to see a typical mass masala film from Shekhar?"I don't do movies which patronise heroes where the audience see the hero more than the charecter.I will certainly do action movies in the future with an established star" he assures.

With no flops in his career and all his movies being box office hits, expectations are huge on his films.Shekhar says he keeps the pressure factor at bay since he makes movies for the love of the medium than to be number one in the industry."Success doesn't get to my head since I know that audiences tastes keep changing and there is no guarentee for success of my films.So far my movies didn't fail.There is pressure on me but since I make cinema for passion and not for business, I don't let it affect me" the director concludes.

Allu Arjun to wed Telangana girl

Actor Allu Arjun is reportedly all set to tie knot with K Sneha Reddy, the daughter of K C Shekhar Reddy, chairman of SCIENT engineering college in Ibrahimpatnam. Sources from Allu family confirmed that the talks were on between them and Mr Reddy's family for the past one month. Public relations manager of Allu family "We have been talking to them since the past one month. The couple were seeing each other for more than an year now" confirmed a source in the family on condition of anonymity. Interestingly the actor had told just six months ago that he will marry a girl chosen by his parents and that they want him to get married soon.


The Allu family has agreed to Arjun's deciscion to marry Sneha but sources say that the girl's parents have an issue over the alliance which is why things are getting delayed. Mr K C Shekhar Reddy, the father of Sneha however, said that they have not taken any deciscion on the proposal yet."TV news channels have no other news. They have been telecasting about this as if everything is confirmed. We are from an agricultural family from Nalgonda district in Telangana and they are from film industry which are totally different . The proposal has come from Allu family but we haven't taken the deciscion on this yet. There are many marriage proposals to my daughter and this if one of them.It is shocking to see TV channels report that my daughter is going to get engaged to him even as things are not finalised" Mr Reddy told this correspondent.


However, news channels and a few film websites have even reported that Allu Arjun and Sneha would get married in the engineering college premises owned by Mr Reddy in another two months.Shekhar Reddy's family hails from Nagarjuna Sagar in Nalgonda district and has been operating SCIENT educational society in Ibrahimpatnam since 2001.


His daughter Sneha Reddy is also the director( academic and planning) of the college. She finished her B.Tech in electronics and communication engineering and MS in computer science from US.

Mumait ropes in actresses for her 'Southern Carnival'

Tollywood's favourite Item girl Mumait Khan who even played lead charecters in a few movies is all set to start a new entertainment firm. The actress is teaming up ten actresses from South Indian film industries to go on a whirlwind tour across South to give stage performances.Similar to the concept of 'unfogettable concerts' where Big B toured the world with his son and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai, Mumait has managed to convince her star friends from the South to tour cities to give stage shows. Sources said Reema Sen, Mamta Mohandas, Bindu Madhavi,music director Devi Sri Prasad known for his stage shows are likely to be roped in. A source close to the actress tells us that Mumait Khan will also launch her entertainment firm which will produce the shows for these shows titled 'Southern Carnival' .This is the first time, actresses in such number from South will tour together to perform on one stage. "There will be shows in ten cities in the next few months. To begin with there will be a show at cricket stadium in Vizag and Vijayawada starting next month.

The two and a half hour live show will be telecast on TV later. Since Mumait is from Mumbai and even big stars like Amitabh and Aishwarya take up stage show tours worldwide, she decided to adopt it here" said a source close to the actress. When contacted, Mumait admitted that she is launching her own entertainment firm and says she is doing so to start the culture of stage shows and in the future even produce movies and TV shows through her firm."I have decided to start my own entertainment firm 'Sugarcandy Entertainment Pvt Ltd' which will produce these shows. I started off as a stand by dancer in movies and now I have a huge fan base.I want to start my own entertainment firm to give opputunities to artistes like me with talent." Mumait confirms.

Sources confirmed that Mumait who is currently shooting for 'Nenu Naa Raakshasi' with Rana and Ileana in the lead, has grand plans to launch her firm and the Southern Carnival on a grandscale and is throwing a launch party to her Tollywood buddies in the city next week.

Actors to start Celebrity cricket league

The IPL tournament may have played bogeyman as it emptied theatres but film stars, producers and showbiz people left scared of losing audiences to the cricket craze are taking the beast by the horns. Come January and actors across Bollywood, Tollywood, the Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam film industries are set to give IPL a run for its money. Reliable sources confirm that the film industries are coming together to form the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL).
Raadan pictures, Sprint Telefilms and a few corporate bodies will make up CCL Pvt Limited with city based Vishnu Induri as the co-founder. CCL will have five teams — one each for Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood, Mollywood and Sandalwood with teams of actors representing their respective industries playing the CCL T-20 challenge.
By the first week of December, there will be a bidding for franchises to own these celeb teams. Of the bidding amount, 60 percent will go towards the fees of the actors association of each film industry, who will ensure their actors play in the matches.
The rest of the amount will go as remuneration to the ‘star’ cricketers.
Sources say, unlike in IPL, there will no auction of players as it might hurt the ‘egos’ of the stars. Franchises will choose their team in concordance with the actor associations. They also suggest that the Kannada film artistes’ association and Tamil Nadigar Sangham have already agreed to send their actors for the CCL. In Bollywood a big superstar is planning to take on the responsibility of getting the stars together and even purchasing the Bollywood team. The Tollywood and Kollywood Movie Artistes’ Associations have yet to confirm their participation.
Vishnu Induri the co-founder of CCL confirmed the inception of Celebrity Cricket League Pvt Ltd, “I’ve had this plan a long while and with the success of IPL, we decided to form Celebrity Cricket League. We will soon be making an official announcement.”
Industry sources say, the actors will not have a problem with the match schedules as the matches will only be held on six days a year.
“Cinema and cricket are the two most powerful religions in India and the combo will work magic. It will help actors expand their market as people from across the country will watch these matches,” said a source.
Once the bidding is done in December and star players from the five industries are confirmed, the matches will take place and also be telecast on regional channels and a national channel too.
Of the money got through bidding, 40 per cent will go towards expenses and the rest will go towards remuneration of stars and as fee to the actors associations.
Actor Ambarish, president of the Kannada actors association has confirmed the participation of Kannada and Tamil stars. “Once we get the confirmation from Tollywood and Kollywood, we will start the bidding process” informed Mr Srinivas Moorthy, director, CCL Pvt Ltd told this correspondent.
With actors coming together to play cricket from most powerful film industries in the country, it is sure to be bigger hits than their movies themselves.

News channels mockered in cinema!!

The sudden rise of TV media and 24/7 news channels has not just revolutionised the broadcasting scenario in the country, but also given a host of ideas to our filmmakers who are making movies with the TV media as a base. The way news is reported and hyped, the craving for TRPs and the pressure and vulnerabilities of the TV crew, all lend themselves to perfect script material for our writers and directors.

Be it Rann, Peepli live or several Telugu movies which have had spoofs on the TV media — news channels and their programmes are being spoofed in cinema. From RGV to Aamir Khan, everyone now seems to want to pick on the TV media. “Osama Bin Laden, Google, mobile phones and round the clock news channels were the biggest impact makers on our lives in the last decade. The way these channels function make for great humour and since people watch news, they relate to this subject. Which is why Ram Gopal Varma was fascinated with the idea of making a movie on them,” says Madhu Manthena, the producer of Rann.

Tollywood made an early debut into comedy skits with live shows on TV channels that are satires on news programmes. Comedians Venu and Venky frequently perform the Kukatpally lo Kukka — a skit on how news channels make a hue and cry about a dog’s tail.” Our act on how a TV reporter makes a hue and cry over a dog’s crooked tail was very well received. People attributed it to a few channels,” says comedian Venu.

Movies like Sainikudu, Pokiri and Neninthe had comedians playing reporters eager to get scoops. Ravi Teja played a TV reporter in Aanjaneyulu that released a few months ago. Sources say an upcoming film starring Vishnu Manchu and Taapsee too has a spoof on TV media. Tollywood’s ace director Puri Jagannath who is popular for his comic sub-plots on news channels in his movies wanted to make a movie on the same subject, but not many actors were willing. Sources claim that Ram Gopal Varma’s Telugu movie after a gap of 12 years, Katha-Screenplay-Direction-Appal Raju has a comic track against news channels.

Film critic P Sarath Kumar opines that the over-reporting of TV channels is giving directors a chance to pick on them. “Directors want to settle scores with the paparazzi. Both are equally powerful media and to pick on one another is not a very healthy situation,” Sarath says.

Heroes caught in 'image' trap

This year has been better for Tollywood than last year, but producers have suffered greater losses this year. Sources from the industry confirm that Singanamala Ramesh, who produced Komaram Puli starring Pawan Kalyan, and Khaleja starring Mahesh Babu, both box office duds, left the producer with a loss of Rs 30 crore!

Nagarjuna’s Kedi went unnoticed, and Venkatesh’s Namo Venkatesha managed to break even with difficulty. Producers who mortgaged all their property to make movies with Mahesh Babu and Pawan Kalyan, who haven’t had releases for the past three years, are in deep debt now.
Directors attribute poor story lines, over confidence and the ‘image’ trap of the stars as reasons for such big flops. The industry has lost `100 crore on big star movies this year. Pawan Kalyan’s movie cost Rs35 crore and barely managed to collect Rs15 crore and Mahesh Babu’s Khaleja with a budget of `40 crore couldn’t collect more than `25 crore. Big stars in Tollywood are taking years to churn out clichéd, unwatchable, predictable movies costing exorbitant amounts that lead to bankruptcy of the producers when they fail to make good.

Of the 83 movies that hit the screens this year, three were hits and six managed to break even, which is not a great success ratio, say film experts. While Simha, Maryadaramanna, Yem Maya Chesave , Darling, and Betting Bangarraju were hits, films such as Jhummandi Nadham, Leader, and Bindaas managed to break even. Dubbed movies such as Robot, Yuganiki Okkadu, Yamudu and Awara raked in more moolah than the big movies of Tollywood.

“Story lines are very weak and there is nothing new in these films. Big stars are not accessible to innovative new directors and only agree to do films with directors who are their close friends. This is costing the producer a bomb and the movies are bombing at the box office,” says director Jaya.Junior NTR, who recently released Brindavanam, which only barely managed to break even thanks to lack of competition, said that he wants to do a different kind of cinema to avoid being caught in the image trap but he can’t come out of that trap.“I will only do movies that suit an image. I can’t step out of it completely. I will try to do innovative roles only within the boundaries of my image,” NTR says, a sentiment typical of the big heroes of Tollywood who won’t try innovative movies. Sources say that these actors are mislead by their coteries to guess what their fans want. This traps them in an image that is proving to be Tollywood’s bane. Unlike the Tamil film industry, which is open to innovation, Telugu heroes refuse to do out-of-the-box movies.

“Producers are being taken for a ride by a few heroes and directors. Producers blindly believe in top heroes and top directors and spend crores on their movies. The output is a movie with a predictable plot and no value for money. Why will the audience come to such films?” says Sreedhar Reddy, director of Snehageetham.Though many industry personalities share the opinion that Tollywood is bleeding due to excess hero-domination and lack of creativity, they shy away from going on record to say so for fear of the consequences in an industry where sycophancy rules.

Tollywood's fight for survival

“If the president of Telugu Film Producers Council doesn’t sign the unanimous resolution, we will all sit for an indefinite hunger strike” reads an SMS sent in bulk to thousands of people in showbiz, media and anyone who is even remotely associated with Tollywood.
It is a sign of the struggle going on in the film producers’ council. The Telugu film industry is currently divided into two groups: one is the A-league film makers who own a huge number of theatres and have half-a-dozen actors in their family, and the other is small movie makers who make films on a budget of less than Rs 5 crore and struggle to get theatres to screen their films. The fight between these two groups in the Telugu Film Producers’ Council led to the resignation of Mr Shyam Prasad Reddy, the president of the Council on October 14.


Trouble had been brewing in the council for long but it broke into the open when the council unanimously passed a resolution a month ago, requesting the government to reduce ticket prices of theatres, cut shooting location charges by 75 per cent, make it mandatory for theatres to screen small budget movies for at least 16 weeks and restrict screening of dubbed movies to 50 theatres in the state.


However, the president of the council, Mr Reddy, did not sign the resolution giving rise to allegations that he was partial to big film makers who own theatres, and was ultimately forced to quit.
“All producers unanimously passed the resolution to restrict dubbing movie releases; English movies can’t be dubbed and entertainment tax should be increased on dubbed movies. Mr Reddy didn’t sign the resolution or send it to the government. He couldn’t walk the tight rope between the small movie makers and A-league film makers and so he resigned,” said a producer on condition of anonymity.


Allegations of acting like a ‘mafia’ by holding hundreds of theatres for themselves and charging exorbitant rents have been levied against Suresh Babu, Allu Aravind et al. The principal demand of small budget movie makers is that theatre rents are too high, amounting to roughly Rs 350 crore every year, which is 40 per cent of the box office collection, leaving very little for the producers themselves. Small movie makers allege that the resolution has not been sent to the government because most of the theatres are owned by a few big names in Tollywood who want things to continue as they are. To make matters worse, the president of the Film Producers’ Council ordered that members should not talk to the media on these issues, and if they do, they will be suspended from the council for six months.



Irked by the threat of suspension, the small budget movie makers started a ‘Save Telugu film industry’— campaign with a blog on the alleged atrocities of big film makers and the bulk sms campaign asking people to save the industry.
“It is shocking to ask small producers not to talk to the media. Power in the Telugu Film Producers’ Council, which has over 600 members, is vested in the hands of a few. Ever since the multiplexes raised ticket prices from Rs 100 to Rs 150, these big shots want to increase ticket prices in stand-alone theatres, too, from Rs 50 to Rs 75, which will kill small budget cinema. They suspended me because I spoke to the media about the ‘mafia’ in the film industry. A few families in the industry are destroying it and so we started the campaign against them,” Mr Nattikumar, joint secretary of the council, told the media.


“We want the theatres to follow a revenue-sharing percentage system on the tickets sold per show in the place of the rental system. We are also being blackmailed by a few big film producers to stop our demands. The council failed to protect the interests of small movie makers,” says Jaya, a director who is actively fighting to fulfil the demands of small movie makers.
It is also being held against the Producers’ Council that it did not intervene in the controversy over the title of the film Khaleja though small time producer Vijayabhaskar Reddy had registered the title much before Mahesh Babu poached it for his film. The top film makers rubbish all these allegations.

Daggubati Suresh Babu, who has taken hundreds of theatres on lease and is said to be charging high rents for the past several years, claims that it is not big versus small movie makers, but successful versus unsuccessful movie makers in Tollywood.
“The rents of theatres in the state are lower than in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. If these film makers make unwatchable movies and accuse us of acting like a mafia and charging high rents, it is baseless. We are charging `10 per ticket in theatres for 20 per cent of the seats as per government norms. What is the harm in increasing the rates of tickets for other sections in the theatre? These are allegations being made by unsuccessful movie makers against successful ones. None of the producers alleging lack of theatres or losses due to high rents have ever made a sensible and watchable film,” declares Suresh Babu.


With actors confined to their work and a leadership crisis in the industry, Tollywood is out on the streets waging a war with itself in the name of ‘survival’.

Plastic hero on experimental mode!!

Fans call him fantastic, detractors say he’s plastic but seven years (and some cosmetic surgeries) after his debut, you have to admit, Allu Arjun has a niche. A commercially viable star, Bunny as he is fondly called, just starred in Vedam, touted to shatter the typical commercial Telugu formula. Arjun says he acted in this multi-starrer hoping to create a new facet to parallel Telugu cinema, “Last year, all the Tamil hits didn’t follow the typical four-fights-five-songs formula. My heart will always beat for commercial cinema but there is a need for T’wood to create a new segment to create new audiences. Bollywood had Om Shanti Om and A Wednesday and both were hits. It’s imperative to foster that sort of movie making culture in Tollywood.”

His popularity in Malayalam had him christened ‘Mallu Arjun’. Apparently, he’s set his sights on the Tamil film industry. He nods, “I am talking to Tamil filmmakers. I would like to be popular in all the South Indian languages.”

In an attempt to focus on the quality of his films, Bunny is working in only two films a year. He reinvents himself for each film and while he’s currently learning martial arts from Vietnamese experts, he has also been practising the art of lip-locking if his last three films are anything to go by. Inspired by Kamal Haasan? “Every kiss in my movie is justified,” he chuckles, “All the lip-locks were imperative, the story wouldn’t have taken a new turn if the heroine kissed me on the cheek!”
Despite being the senior actor, Arjun maintains that his cousin (and Chiranjeevi’s son) Ram Charan Tej will always be number one to his number two. “I know I’m not the best dancer or actor and there are many who are more talented. I am what I am today because Chiranjeevi supported me. There is no competition between Charan and me. My position will remain after Charan” he says in filmy style.

refutes rumours of ego hassles with Manchu Manoj on Vedam (apparently forcing Manoj to be credited as a ‘special appearance’), “I don’t have an attitude at all. Manoj and I have no issues; we gave interviews together. I did Vedam to break the perception that heroes clash during multi-starrers.”

Rumoured to be getting hitched soon, Arjun confesses that the lookout for his bride is on, “Because my parents and I are looking for all the same qualities in a girl, I am sure we will find my bride soon. Marriages don't work on deadlines and I will get married when I get a suitable girl.”

T'wood's 'Red' renaissance

If there is one thing Tollywood film makers are good at it is taking ‘inspiration’ from elsewhere. Telugu cinema is not only inspired by stories, locations and songs, but also by technical advancement in the Tamil film industry too. Lately it has become obsessed with the ‘Red’ digital camera with over a half a dozen movies using it, saving on the cost of film stock. This freedom from the worry of processing, developing and scanning the film to digital format is the reason many film makers and stars are purchasing these cameras. Kamal Haasan was one of the first actors in the South to have a Red camera and shot Eenadu with it last year. In Tollywood, RGV’s Raktacharitra, Nagarjuna’s Gaganam, Siddharth’s 180 and Telugu NRI movie Karma, which all release this season, were shot on Red. Film makers say the industry's latest obsession comes from the fact that the cost of production decreases by 40 per cent if shot digitally. Dil Raju, producer of Gaganam says that, “For new film makers who shoot with a lot of retakes, it saves immense cost on film. For a big budget movie, shooting on digital saves more than Rs 75 lakh.”

“My Hindi movie Shor is being shot on Red and we saved a lot of money on the production,” says actor Sundeep Kishan, who co-stars with Tusshar Kapoor and Senthil Ramamurthy in the film. “When digital still cameras came, people said they won't work but they are everywhere today. Soon, Red cameras will take over the industry. A small budget movie can save Rs. 30 lakh easily shooting with this camera and a quality movie can be made in Rs 1 crore since the film cost is saved.”Besides cost, shooting on digital formats saves the time, since the time taken to process and scan the film stock is saved. Actor Vishnu Manchu, whose upcoming movie will have all the commercial elements, acknowledges the decrease in the cost of making a movie if shot with Red, but says he bought four of them as the future of film making and film projectors is digital.

"The cameras with film will live for another four years at the best. The film projectors are going digital and so we tried this new camera. People couldn't tell the difference between the conventional film camera and this digital camera when I showed them the test shots," he says.Critics who watched Raktacharitra are all in admiration for the cinematography and declare that there isn't much difference in the quality even though this film was completely shot on digital. With the Red renaissance beginning, the industry is surely in for a major cinematographic change in the near future.