Archives for March 2017

NAGA CHAITANYA TO MAKE TAMIL DEBUT

Telugu actor Naga Chaitanya will be teaming up with director Karthick Naren for his upcoming Tamil horror thriller Naragasooran, thereby marking his debut in the Tamil film industry. Naga Chaitanya is said to be on board. It’s going to be a dual hero subject and the team is in talks with Arvind Swami too. Karthick had met Arvind recently but they are yet to officially announce anything. Although Chaitanya made a special appearance in Gautham Vasudev Menon’s 2010 Tamil romantic drama Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, this project will feature him in a full – length role. The team is yet to take a call on whether they can make it as a Tamil – Telugu bilingual or not. The regular shooting is likely to commence in mid – Jun, 2017.

BALAKRISHNA CAUGHT IN A DILEMMA

Nandamuri Balakrishna is yet to take a call on his next film. Balakrishna thought of doing Raithu with Krishna Vamsi, but that project is put on hold for the moment. Khaidi No. 150 dealing with the same theme of the struggles of farmers seems to be the reason for putting Raithu on hold. Balakrishna has decided to do movies with different themes post Gautamiputra Satakarni and that is the reason why he is taking time for his next film. He is yet to find a right script that is good enough to follow up GPSK. Directors like Sriwass & Vinayak have reportedly approached NBK, but he is not in a mood to take up a masala potboiler at this point. Mass masala movies have always been great fodder for Balakrishna and it will get extremely tough for him to find scripts if he stays away from doing commercial films. Interestingly, new age directors are still not approaching the veteran star in spite of being aware of Balakrishna’s willingness to do content driven films.

CHIRANJEEVI TO LAUNCH “UYYALAVADA”

Megastar Chiranjeevi is all set to launch his next movie in the month of Apr, 2017 with much fanfare. Since he has cancelled the success celebrations of Khaidi No 150, fans are disappointed. To please them, he said he would hold the launch of his next movie in a big way. Although director Surender Reddy is still penning the final touches to the script of Uyyalavada Narasimha Reddy”, the megastar has reportedly to decide to launch the movie in Apr, 2017 only. His plan is to release the movie for Sankranthi 2018. So, the regular shoot should commence from May, 2017 itself to meet the deadline. The movie will also be made with a whopping Rs 80 Cr budget. Surender Reddy is trying to rope in a big Bollywood cinematographer. Graphical team of Magadheera will be working on the movie.

LOCATION TROUBLE FOR RAM CHARAN

Ram Charan & director Sukumar’s period love drama was launched with much fanfare last month. Samantha was also selected as the main heroine in the last minute replacing Anupama Parameswaran. The movie was to commence its regular shoot from 15th Feb, 2017. But still it has not started. Perhaps director Sukumar is finding hard to get a right locale for the movie. He wants to shoot major part of the movie in lush green village atmosphere. Pollachi in Tamilnadu has been chosen but the director later felt that the locales of Pollachi are not virgin. They have been explored in many movies. So, he is now exploring some villages in Karnataka & Kerala. The location not only should be lush with greenery but it should also be ideal for shoot for Ram Charan without any trouble. 70% of the movie will be shot here. So, once the right locale is fixed, Ram Charan will be joining the shoot. The team is hoping to select 1 locale by end of this month and begin the movie from Mar, 2017.

ILEANA DOES THE “MACARENA” DANCE

Ileana D’Cruz recently stated that she couldn’t find a “corny” photograph for Valentine’s Day and instead ended up doing the “Macarena” dance with her best friend. Ileana shared a black & white video of herself along with her friend on Instagram. The 2 friends can be seen sporting unicorn onsies. “I tried to find a corny photo of me holding a heart up or something, but I didn’t have any so I decided on this video instead, of my bestie and I dancing to the “Macarena” in onesies, of course. She’s gonna kill me after she sees this Happy Valentine’s Day to you!” Ileana captioned the video. On the work front, Ileana will be seen in Anees Bazmee’s upcoming film Mubarakan. The film also stars Anil Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor & Athiya Shetty. The film is all set to hit the screens on 28th Jul, 2017.

NAGARJUNA TO ENACT THE ROLE OF A MENTALIST

After playing an ardent devotee of Lord Balaji in his Telugu release Om Namo Venkatesaya, Akkineni Nagarjuna will be playing a mentalist in horror – thriller Raju Gari Gadhi 2. It seems his character has been designed in such a way that it will be a treat for his fans. He enacts the role of a mentalist. He will be seen riding a fancy bike in the film. He will be in a very different avatar and, contrary to rumors, he is not playing an extended cameo. Being directed by Ohmkar, the film is a sequel to his own 2015 sleeper hit Raju Gari Gadhi. The sequel also stars Seerat Kapoor, Samantha Ruth Prabhu & Shakalaka Shankar. That apart Samantha & Nagarjuna are not paired together. They’re not playing a couple. Also, Samantha is not playing the ghost…….She will be seen in a very emotional role. Nagarjuna will commence shooting in Mar, 2017. The film is being produced by PVP Cinema & has music by S. S. Thaman.

NENU LOCAL JOINS 1 MILLION DOLLARS CLUB

Nenu Local has finally joined the club of 1 million dollars movies. The movie got bookings of $45k through mobile ticket offers. The film already grossed $960k by end of 2nd Mon. So, it has now officially joined the club of Telugu movies that grossed more than 1 million dollars at USA Box –Office turnstiles. Nani starrer was released on 3rd Feb, 2017 and took about $750 opening weekend gross but it has slowed down its run later. And now finally has touched the 1 million dollars mark. This is 3rd movie for Nani to have achieved this mark. Rajamouli directed Eega was his 1st ever 1 million dollars movie. Maruthi’s Bhale Bhale Magadivoy is his biggest hit till date as the movie grossed about $1.4 million. So, the distributors of Nenu Local have now entered into a break – even zone.

VIJAY ANTONY CREATING RIPPLES

Vijay Antony of Bichagadu fame is all set to entertain us as Yaman for this Shivaratri. Telugu version trailer of this film has been receiving good response on YouTube. The trailer has clocked over 5 lakh views in 3 days. This is no mean feat for a low budget Tamil dubbed film. Yaman is a political thriller directed by Jeeva Shankar who previously made Nakili with Vijay Antony. Although Vijay Antony’s last film Bethaludu didn’t live up to the expectations, buyers are now hoping that he would recreate the magic of Bichagadu as Yaman. Trailer of Yaman is very interesting and definitely creates curiosity around it. Vijay Antony is known for picking interesting scripts and switching genres. He looks massy & powerful in the attire of a politician. Mia George played the female lead in this film and the rest of the star cast mostly consists of debutante actors. Vijay Antony also is the music composer for this film.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE FOR PAWAN’S STAR POWER

Katamarayudu is red hot in the Tollywood trade at the moment. Business circles didn’t show much interest in the movie until the teaser was out. But everything has changed in the span of 30 seconds as the teaser turned out to be an instant hit on the internet. Clocking over 7.2 Million views, Katamarayudu is the most liked Telugu film teaser on the video sharing website, YouTube. The look & the feel of the film is superb in the teaser that buyers are betting huge on Katamarayudu now. The distribution rights of this film are selling like hot cake everywhere. Nizam rights were bought by Nithin & Asian Films for a whopping Rs. 20 crore & Ceded rights were bagged for Rs. 12 crore. Uttarandhra region was sold for Rs. 8.3 crore & Guntur rights for Rs. 6.5 crore. East & West Godavari districts distribution rights were bagged for 5.5 crore & 4.85 crore respectively. Overseas deal is likely to be closed for Rs. 12 crore out of which Rs. 2 crore is refundable. So Katamarayudu should make around Rs. 85 crore from the theatricals to be a successful venture. Who would have guessed that the remake of a Tamil film that was already dubbed in Telugu will create such a sensation in the Tollywood market? It is sheer power of the power star!

AMY JACKSON’S PHONE HACKED

Amy Jackson, currently filming her scenes in Rajinikanth’s 2.0, recently discovered that personal pictures taken on her phone had made their way online. The photos, which were of her & a friend and were taken in London recently, are believed to have been accessed at a mobile store in Mumbai airport where Amy took her phone to be checked and where it was allegedly hacked. Amy recently said that she will go to the cops once she flies out of Chennai. She was shocked when this happened. She feels that this isn’t a trivial matter and has to be taken up seriously. She avers, “I will register a complaint with the cybercrime cell in London and ensure the hackers are taken to task. Cyber safety is the need of the hour,” Amy, whose hometown is London, realised her phone had been hacked when pictures auto – saved in her iCloud account were published online. “It was on 7th Feb, 2017 when 2 pictures with her best friend having dinner appeared online that she realised her phone was hacked. She went to the service centre because she wasn’t able to log in.

ADAH’S IDEA OF A PERFECT MATCH!!!

Adah Sharma recently stated that her Mr. Right would be a food gourmet & an animal lover, but most of all, a person who remains happy & spreads happiness. “With time, my requirement of a perfect match has changed. Now I realise that I like those people who are happy & not insecure. I enjoy the company of someone who loves animals, likes my bad jokes, likes food & loves to work. Basically, I like those people who stay & keep others happy & don’t crib,” Adah averred. On Valentine’s Day, she has no specific plans. “All the people who are in my life are the ones I love. I love being with them all the time. So I was with my family & friends.” “I live my life with love & passion. Whatever I do, I do it with full of love, even If it is just dressing up for an occasion,” she said. Adah, who will be seen next in the film Commando 2, concluded by averring: “As actors, we make these movies for the audience. Therefore, we are waiting to see the audience response. I feel so special when I read the comments of the audience because people who have not even met us, they shower us with so much love.”

PRABHAS’ 150 CR MOVIE LAUNCHED

The much – awaited #Prabhas19, the new film of Prabhas was launched in the simplest way possible. Without any hungama, the team held its pooja ceremony early morning recently. Prabhas, director Sujeeth, producers Vamsi, Pramod and few of the team’s friends attended the launch. The film will be made with a whopping Rs 150 Crore budget. Madhie, the trusted cinematographer of UV Creations who worked for Run Raja Run, and Mirchi, will be handling the camera. Kenny Beats, who worked for Hollywood movie Transformers, will be filming biggest ever action episode in Tollywood’s history with estimated budget of Rs 25 Cr. The entire action sequence will be shot in Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Prabhas will be presented in a never – before – seen avatar. Director Sujeeth said he would promise all the fans of Prabhas anna that they would get the best entertainment.

NITHIN BAGS PK’S RIGHTS

Pawan Kalyan’s diehard fan & actor Nithin has bagged the Nizam distribution rights of Katamarayudu. Nithin made it official that Asian Movies & Shreshth Movies will be distributing Katamarayudu across Telangana state. “THRILLED to announce that Asian films n sreshth movies wil b distributing POWERSTAR’S KAATAMARAYUDU for Nizam area,” tweeted Nithin. This news is exciting for Pawan Kalyan fans as Nithin previously distributed Attarintiki Daredi for Nizam that went on to become an industry hit. Meanwhile, Pawan Kalyan is co – producing a movie with Nithin in the lead role. Looks like the bonding between Pawan & Nithin is growing stronger by the day. Katamarayudu is slated for 29th Mar, 2017 release. The film’s teaser has clocked nearly 7 Million views on YouTube in 1 week!!!

VENKATESH’S GURU FOR SUMMER

Victory Venkatesh has played many versatile characters over the years but for the 1st time ever, he is going to be seen in a sports drama. The movie is Guru and Venkatesh will be seen in the role of a hard hitting boxing coach. The film has completed its shoot & post – production. Guru has been directed by the National Award winning Sudha Kongara, who has worked with the maestro Mani Ratnam for 7 years, before taking up direction herself. The movie is a gritty & realistic sports drama with strong emotions. Ritika Singh & Mumtaz Sorcar will be sharing the screen with Venkatesh in this movie. Ritika Singh is a real life mixed martial arts expert who represented India at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games. She has recently won a National Award as well as a Filmfare Award for Best Debut for the movie Irudhu Suttru. Mumtaz Sorcar is the daughter of the legendary magician, P. C. Sorkar. A special lyrical video from the film titled “Aye Sakkanodu” will be released on 17th Feb, 2017. The audio album of the film will be released in the 1st week of Mar, 2017. Guru is aiming for a summer release and the exact release date will be announced soon. Sashikant of Y Not Studios is producing the movie & Santosh Narayanan is composing the music.

MAHESH GEARING UP FOR A MONTH LONG SHOOT

Mahesh Babu & his team will be leaving for Diu, the Union Territory & Mumbai for the filming of final action sequences from next week. As the summer season is slowly setting in, Mahesh will have to sweat out more for this movie in these locales where humidity is high. Murugadoss is said to have planned a month long grueling schedule. Murugadoss & cameraman Santosh Sivan have planned to shoot key action episodes – shoot out between terrorists & Counter Terrorist Squad – in Mumbai & Diu. Mahesh Babu is playing the role of an intelligence officer who works in the wing of Counter Terrorism. Once this lengthy episode gets done, only 2 songs will be remained to shoot in Hyderabad. Mahesh Babu is now taking enough rest before heading for this new schedule.

ALLU ARJUN GOES FOR BOLLYWOOD MUSIC DIRECTOR

Recently, Pritam (A & R Venture Jam 8) bagged Ravi Teja – starrer Touch Chesi Choodu. The same music director & his talent pool are now all set to compose for the film of no less a star than Allu Arjun!!! Bunny’s next with writer – turned – director Vakkantham Vamsi reportedly has Pritam on board. After working with the likes of S S Thaman & Devi Sri Prasad, it’s interesting that the Stylish Star has gone for the Bollywood talent. In recent times, Pritam was associated with such names as Dangal, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Dilwale & Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. In 2013, Pritam had won the Filmfare award for Barfi and most recently, for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.