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.

TDP's ire forces RGV to cut NTR scenes

Controversial film-maker Ram Gopal Varma has agreed to delete scenes featuring a character similar to N.T. Rama Rao from his latest movie Rakta Charitra, after the former chief minister’s family and the Telugu Desam created uproar about his being portrayed as a person who endorsed murders.
The Telugu Desam chief, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, objected to the portrayal of NTR in the movie and others threatened to move court. Following this, RGV made a climb down and the co-producer of the movie, C. Kalyan, declared that the scenes to which the TD objected will be taken off immediately. The movie that hit the screens in three languages on Friday features Shatrughan Sinha, a thinly veiled portrait of NTR.

Vivek Oberoi promotes for RC week before his wedding

Just a week left for his wedding and Vivek Oberoi in his 'moustache' look is in the town busy promoting for his movie 'Raktacharitra' with RGV as the director.Eight years after the duo's movie 'Company' brought Vivek to limelight, he feels this movie now will go beyond the magic created by Company.

"It has been eight years since 'Company', my first movie released for which Ramu was the director. Ever since I have done 22 films and Ramu has directed many and we grew in this profession. This should obviously reflect that experience and cross the milestone created by Company, besides RC has far more wider emotional spectrum than Company" says the actor whose last few movies 'Prince', Kurbaan' et al bombed at the box office.

He maintains that there are very few films in his filmography which he is proud of and Paritala Ravi's charecter 'Pratap Ravi' in RC will certainly be one of them. Has he managed to read, research or visit Anantapur to know more about Ravi?"I went by what Ramu told me about Paritala. He was an extraordinary man who fought for the rights and justice of his people and went against the system. I watched his videos and pictures to learn his body language. I grew my moustache for the charecter and had to shave it off in between for promotion of Prince and grew it again after 45 days. Twirling my moustache has sort of become a habit for me now and am proud of the charecter I have played in this film. I had to shoot the movie in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil" Oberoi says with the confidence of bouncing back after series of flops. But what went wrong for Vivek in the last few films?

"Art is not a product which is even in all its occurences. All the paintaings of the popular painter or all the novels of the best writer may not be good. Cinema is another expression of art where a few charecters work and a few don't" he smiles. All set to tie knot to Priyanka Alwa in Bengaluru next week, the actor blushes talking about his fiance. He says Priyanka has brought stability into his life and she is 'home' for him now. Though he is not looking forward to a break immediately to go on a honeymoon as the second part of the Raktacharitra will release next month, he says this is a biggest test of his professionalism.

"Like Ramu ji said, I got married to Raktacharitra first and am fulfilling my committement towards it before I move on to my real life commitment.Marriage for me like for anyone else is the biggest milestone of my personal life. I wanted to enjoy every aspect of the marriage and the ceremonies but since it is sandwitched between the releases of two parts of Raktacharitra. It was difficult for me I am finding it to be the biggest test for my professionalism. Life for me has been a constant roller coaster ride and I have been like all other actors, under constant storm, evaluation, acceptance, rejection, judgement for my performances and opinions. Life of actor is brewing all the time for good, bad and ugly.Priyanka has brought stability and calm to me and is my home now. She is my partner, friend and is also my refugee." he talks with eyes filled with content as if he were reading a poem.

Vivek who was all praise for 'Magadheera' can't stop raving about the dedication and professionalism shown in Tollywood, something he says is absent in Bollywood.This Hyderabadi born actor who left the city at the age of three hopes the audience in the city and the state accept him in the role.

"When I was shooting for this movie near Charminar, huge crowd gathered to see the shooting and they were screaming 'Hyderabad ka shaer(tiger). I share a great relationship with AP. I had a home in Hyderabad and my aunt still lives in the city. I used to come to the city during my summer vacation. The love those bystanders gave me while shooting in old city was so genuine and I hope the rest of Andhra also shares the love and accepts me in the role" he hopes.

I want to be Number one in Tollywood

You will see a new NTR”. That’s what the actor says when asked about his upcoming film Brindavanam. NTR Junior sports an urbane look in the film, different from his earlier clichéd action movies and the actor, who completed a decade in Tollywood, says from now he will do something new in every film within the boundaries of his image. “I love movies like Kotha Bangaru Lokam and Bommarillu but I can’t do roles like that because I have an image of a commercial hero. I don’t want to be typecast, I want people to think I can be as versatile as my grandfather,” the actor says. Whether hits or flops, NTR has been doing movies for the last 10 years and he promises to continue doing so with at least three releases every year.

NTR rubbishes rumours about the release of Brindavanam being postponed to avoid competition from Mahesh Babu’s Khaleja. “Brindavanam censored on the 7th of this month and so couldn’t release it the next day due to technical issues and not to avoid competition.” In fact, there are even bets being taken in the market on which film will fare better, Mahesh’s Khaleja or NTR’s Brindavanam.

“For every movie release, we are rivals. I believe in number games. Every actor has his goals and there is nothing wrong in wanting to be number one. I will always work towards being the numero uno hero in Tollywood.”

The actor who is now engaged and is soon to get married, blushes while talking about his fiancée. “People scared me that life would change drastically post commitment but it fortunately didn’t. My fiancée is a sweet girl and lets me be what I am. The only change I find post-commitment is that I have to call her every day. My mom is the happiest person now. She was happy when her son became a successful star and is now glad that I’m going to marry someone both of us like. I wanted to marry someone who will be a good wife and a daughter-in-law. I am glad we found the girl.”

Will he take a break post marriage? “I am not getting married in December or anytime soon. We are yet to finalise the dates and it is not anytime before December this year. I will not take any break and my wedding won’t affect my work at all,” he says.
Last year, when the actor campaigned for TDP, political observers called him the future of the party and a potential candidate to lead the party in the future. Is politics his future career plan?

“I don’t live in the future. It is all destiny. For now I am a sincere worker of TDP. I don’t know what will happen the next minute. When I finished the campaign, I met with an accident and landed in hospital. Similarly, nothing is certain about the future. For me politics is a medium of service and not a means to get publicity or money. Let us see what destiny has in store for me,” he says.

Masala movies back in action!!

Six fights, four songs, a couple of tear-jerking emotional scenes and a clichéd storyline had always defined Indian cinema. Over the last few years, however, this genre of cinema had taken a hiatus as multiplex audiences had moved on to the “Karan Johar genre” of family drama in Bollywood and college and youth-oriented stories in Tollywood. But just when we thought Indian cinema had moved on from masala films, along came Dabangg and Robot that not only re-established the might of masala films but broke all records.


Film critics and trade analysts claim that audiences in stand-alone theatres had always remained loyal to masala flicks but filmmakers like Karan Johar had started targeting audiences abroad with storylines centred on NRI families.
“Ask any film buff and he will say that he wants entertainment and wants to forget his worries for sometime. The audience want to watch desi movies but for dollars, dirhams and pounds, our movie makers shifted their focus to NRI based stories. The viewers in stand-alone theatres couldn’t connect to it. It is like trying to force a guy who has had Indian thalis all his life to have a Russian dish. The box office revenues of Dabanng and Robot prove that moviegoers are tired of “NRI” movies and want desi cinema and that the genre is evergreen,” says Taran Adarsh, Bollywood trade expert.


“Stories that are ‘thought provoking’ and full of NRI issues are saturated now and it is masala that audiences now want,” adds Adarsh.


In Tollywood too, the Balakrishna starrer Simha was a blockbuster and resurrected the actor’s dwindling career. The movie had heavy dialogues, bloody scenes, sentiment, family drama, three heroines and an item song. Just what the audiences wanted.



Since Telugu cinema over the past five years had seen exponential growth in “youth oriented stories”, the success of Simha came as a pleasant surprise to many. “Commercial cinema with fights, songs, senti scenes and family drama are always a hit. It is just that we should treat the story well and make sure that there’s something for all audiences. In Simha, we didn’t have too many lengthy dialogues and it was a hit with young audience,” says Boyapati Srinu, director of Simha.
The sc-fi Robot was made with Rs 180 crore and it has reportedly raked in Rs 205 crore worldwide over this weekend alone. Theatre owners. They inform that the audience’s tastes change every six months. “When a masala movie clicks, its collections are several times higher than a hit movie with a ‘college’ story because unlike youth-based movies, a masala movie is watched by people of all ages,” says Vijandar Reddy, senior exhibitor and member of AP Film Exhibitors Association.


“Masala films are everlasting. With masala as the premise, the sensibilities of youth should be added for it to do wonders at the box office,” says director N. Shankar.

Robot mania hits Tollywood

It seems that filmmakers are suffering from an acute case of Robot-phobia. With the Rs180-cr Rajinikanth starrer Robot slated for release this Friday, the makers of Mahesh Babu’s Khaleja and Junior NTR’s Brindavanam have postponed the release of their much-awaited films by a week.
Pushing back the release dates might actually be a good business move as all the multiplexes showing Robot are already housefull for the first five days and tickets were sold out within an hour online.
While no where near the mega budget of Robot, Mahesh Babu’s new release after a three-year hiatus was made with a budget of Rs 45 crore and Junior NTR’s Brindavanam cost a whopping Rs 30 crore.

Thota Kanna Rao, the distributor who bought the Telugu rights of ' Robot' for Rs 27 crore, can’t stop mentioning the amount spent on making this movie at every promotional event. “Rajinikanth has universal appeal and the combo of him with A.R. Rahman and Shankar makes my investment safe. We are releasing it in 500 theatres. There were so many rumours of a lukewarm response but in eight hours, 50 theatres confirmed that they would screen the movie. There are enough reasons for it to be a blockbuster,” he says.

“We are distributing Robot in the Nizam area and learnt that tickets were sold out almost immediately for the first five days. Even if other movies release in the second week, we are sure collections won’t drop as the state government has declared Dussehra holidays from October 8,” says P. Srinivas Rao, general manager of Multidimension Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

Makers of Mahesh Babu’s 'Khaleja' are, however, not so confident. The producers of this movie Singanamalai Ramesh and C. Kalyan, who burnt their fingers with the recent Pawan Kalyan-starrer Komaram Puli, are hoping that Khaleja will save them from further debts. Puli was made with a budget of Rs 40 crore and barely managed to collect Rs 15 crore. Industry sources say that the producers have even mortgaged their properties for Khaleja and are praying that it will be a hit that will bail them out.

Even the usually reclusive Mahesh Babu is aggressively marketed the film with whirlwind visits to radio stations, chatting with fans and tweeting with a vengeance.
“Ours is a big budget movie which will release in 500 theatres. We are banking on the movie for its story and hope audiences will help us break even. Recently, Puli bombed at the box office though it was Pawan Kalyan’s release after so many years. However, we are sure ' Khaleja' will do better not because it is Mahesh’s release after years but because the movie itself is appealing,” says C. Kalyan.

Junior NTR’s 'Brindavanam' too is releasing in the second week of October. The actor reportedly charged Rs 8 crore for the movie that also stars Kajal Agarwal and Samantha. With a budget of Rs 30 crore, most of which went in paying hefty fees to the actors, it will be a wonder if producer Dil Raju manages to break even especially taking into account that the movie’s audio and trailers have failed to evoke much interest.

“Junior NTR will be seen by his fans in a new avatar in this movie. It is a blend of class and mass characters. All I hope is that it will be a hit for the actor in his career,” says Dil Raju, not dwelling further on finances.
But till Khaleja and Brindavanam releases, it is going to be Boom Boom Robot da Robot da... all the way.

Nityananda Swamy inspires T'wood charecters

Poking fun at the notorious Swami Nityananda has now become a popular pastime as he is being turned into the butt of jokes in Tollywood flicks. The sexual adventures of Swami Nityananda and actress Ranjitha, after being this year’s most sensational piece of news, are now a sought-after ingredient for slapstick comedy in Telugu cinema.

While actor Rajendra Prasad is playing the lead in Ayyare with a humorous Nityananda ‘look’, comedians in Telugu movies are having a rollicking time spoofing Nityananda by playing fake babas in movies.

Comedian Venumadhav played a broad caricature of Nityananda, Papaji Baba, in Snehageetham, to giggling audiences. Now filmmaker Sudarshan Rao is making a movie, Babala Bhagotham on how absolute nobodies turn into saints overnight.
Filmmakers say all this is being lapped up because audiences love spoofs, especially those on ‘naughty’ swamis like Nityananda.
Explains Snehageetham director Sreedhar Reddy, “Audiences enjoy spoofs on popular personalities. In our movie, the comedian Venu Madhav takes sanyas after all his career plans fail. Nityananda’s incident was widely known due to all the news reports and so the sooner we cash in on his popularity for comedy, the better!”
Actor Rajendra Prasad’s hilarious Nityananda avatar in Ayyare is already the talk of the town.

Its director says that he zeroed in on the final look for the actor after a series of photo-shoots and that the ‘Nityananda curiosity’ will surely work box office wonders for them.
“We tried 12 different looks for the actor. But this Nityananda look was the best. It adds to the curiosity-value too. Politicians and powerful people pray to him. It deals with the psychological aspect of Bhakti and instant babas,” says Ayyare director Sagar Chandra.

The movie is slated for release in December and stars Sivaji along with Rajendra Prasad. Actress Kalyani is likely to play the heroine. The films is packed with punchy dialogues like — ‘It is not khaki uniform or khadi uniform that’s ruling the country but the kashayam (saffron attire) that administers the nation.’

Filmmaker Sudarshan Rao is co-directing Babala Bhagotham with the Nityananda incident as the backdrop. “The movie shows how swamis like Nityananda betray the public’s faith in them. Our intention is to ask the audience not to blindly believe any so-called holy man who gives them ash. The film will show how the actress got close to the baba, how he absconded, and how the cops eventually found him,” says Sudharshan Rao.