22nd December 2003

Producers to float a TV channel
AP Film Producers Counsel has met today to discuss about the TPC (Telugu Producers Channel), which they are planning to launch very soon. A corpus fund of 25 crores would be generated by allocating shares to whoever applied to be a member of it. The minimum amount a member (all the members in film industry and associated 24 crafts and also fans of heroes) can invest is Rs. 1000/- and the maximum amount is Rs 10,00,000/-. In case of over-subscription, the shares would be allotted on pro-rata basis. A team of highly qualified professionals would be hired. The latest equipment would be purchased. It is also learnt that no film software would be given to other Telugu channels anymore and all the cooperation would be given to TPC only. More details later.

Smitha Madhav in Gona Ganna Reddy?
As per the rumor mills, Smitha Madhav - who made her debut as 'Seeta' in Guna Sekhar's Bala Ramayanam - is expected to be launched as heroine in Guna Sekhar's Magnum Opus in planning - Gona Ganna Reddy. Smitha Madhav is an accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer and a Carnatic musician. She is also pursuing her degree in law. NTR is expected to play the lead role in Gona Ganna Reddy.

11th December 2003

Serendipity series
Looks like the Telugu film industry is stuck with the Serendipity syndrome. In a span of two months we have already seen two films - Okariki Okaru and Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu - loosely based on the script of Hollywood film 'Serendipity'. As if the two films are not enough, there is another film that is coming on the same concept of destiny. That is none but 'Love Today' starring Uday Kiran and Divya Khosla. As per the grapevine of Film Nagar, Love Today deals with a ticket Uday gets by dropping a coin into a fortune telling machine. We have to wait and see if Serendipity syndrome stuck with 'Love Today' or not till the release of the film.

Bellamkonda treats scribes
We reported in Andhrawala audio function article about the heinous treatment given to scribes who traveled all the way from Hyderabad to Nimmakur and finally did not get to cover the event because of the mismanagement by the producer. When the scribes were returning in despair from Pamarru to Vijayawada, a cell phone rang in the scribes bus. Bellamkonda Suresh spoke to the scribes and informed them that it was his birthday day on 5th December 2003. He came to know about the sorry plight of the scribes and declared that he is going to celebrate his birthday in grand style in Vijayawada. He booked 5 rooms in Hotel Ilapuram on that night for press people and ordered unlimited booze and food of various varieties. All the journalists thanked Bellamkonda Suresh for a noble gesture after they returned back to Hyderabad.

Shakeela's caravan
Shakeela was recently in news for her spending habits. The filmi celebrities have the habit of putting all their personal bills on producers account. But Shakeela did something that should be appreciated by one all. She is a compulsive smoker. And she smokes packets of cigarettes everyday. She noticed that her co-stars in sets are becoming little uncomfortable with her smoking. Hence she hired a a/c caravan for a price of Rs. 6000/- a day and attended the shooting. She used to go to her caravan and have a free smoke so that nobody else in the sets get affected by it. One should appreciate Shakeela's concern about the people working around her. This happened during the shooting of 'Sreeramachandrulu' film.

8th December 2003

Andhrawala function crowds used for climax?
A few excellent aerial shots of crowds were taken during the audio function of NTR's Andhrawala by the cinematographer Shyam K Naidu. It is reliably learnt that these aerial shots are going to be used for the climax of 'Andhrawala' film which demands a huge gathering of public crowds. And the aerial shots taken on 5th December are said to be simply breath-taking.

Who is Andhrawala?
Its confirmed that NTR's Andhrawala would be having NTR playing double role as father (who comes in flashback) and son. And it is father who plays the role of Andhrawala. That's the reason why 'Dildarwala' word is used in lyrics of 'Nai Re Nai Re' song in stead of 'Andhrawala', because this song was pictured on son NTR in the film. A powerful song was also picturised that on father NTR in the film in the style of Singamalai (of Simhadri).

NTR fascination for elder heroines
Looks like it has become a sentiment for NTR to have a elder heroine in his films right from Allari Ramudu. Nagma, Rambha and Ramya Krishna played special roles in NTR's last three films Allari Ramudu, Naga and Simhadri respectively. Now its reliably learnt that another senior heroine Sanghvi is playing a vital role in 'Andhrawala'. Incidentally, all these heroines worked with Bala Krishna in their heydays.

24th November 2003

They come in pairs
The father-son duo of Vijayendra Prasad and SS Rajamouli seems to be becoming the hottest property in the tinsel town after stupendous success of NTR's Simhadri. When called by Vijayabapineedu for giving a storyline for his film with Chiranjeevi, this duo seems to have asked for a whopping amount of 2 and half crores. And Raja Mouli being the hottest director in Tollywood, the producer is said to have decided to hire him (along with his father) for his long-delayed venture with Chiranjeevi as hero. Incidentally VV Vinayak - director of Tagore - directed a film with NTR and Nitin before getting an offer to direct Chiranjeevi. Raja Mouli also worked with NTR and is currently working with Nitin before directing Chiranjeevi.

Andhrawala as Madarasi?
When our producers and heroes have kept their bugging devices in Chennai for unreleased films with good buzz, reverse seems to be happening for NTR's Andhrawala. Even before the shooting of this film is completed, KS Rama Rao bagged the Kannada rights of this film and remaking it with Shivraj Kumar and Anita in main leads. The latest buzz is that a few Chennai producers are hunting Vikram for his dates to remake this film as 'Madarasi' in Tamil. It's a great achievement for NTR and Puri Jagan to create such a kind of euphoria in film industry about their 1st Jan release 'Andhrawala'. NTR's Student No.1 was already remade in Tamil. Simhadri is being remade now with Vijay as hero. Looks like NTR is having tremendous remake value for his films.

Uday Kiran's cell story
An NRI from London has recently returned to India for a short trip. He wanted to buy a prepaid card his cell phone. When he activated the number that is given to him. He immediately started getting calls from various strangers, mainly girls. All of them started saying that they are Uday Kiran's fans. Then he realized that the same number was used by Uday Kiran in the past and that number was published in a few film diaries. He is getting 70-80 calls a day, mostly from girls. Don't you feel the similarities between this story and the story of 'Shivamani-Sheik Imam'?

10th November 2003

Is Chinni Krishna fading away?
Star script writer Chinni Krishna who gave stories to three consecutive blockbusters - Narasimah Naidu, Indra and Gangotri - seems to be fading away now. Most of his projects are shifting other story writers. He is supposed to provide story for Samba. But, its GS Rao who is providing story to NTR's Samba. He is expected to direct Vyjayanti's film with Venky as hero. But is it rumored that YVS Chowdary might direct the Venkatesh's film in Vyjayanthi banner. Chinni Krishna is supposed to provide story for B Gopal - NTR film to be produced by Chengala Venkata Rao. But the plan of the unit is otherwise. Looks like Chinni Krishna is losing his projects slowly but steady. Its time for him to buck up and prove his versatility.

Sky rocketing remunerations
The remunerations of successful artists/technicians are skyrocketing. As per the unconfirmed sources, Ravi Teja - who is branded as the minimum guarantee hero with innumerable successive hits - is charging 2 crores per film. Sri Hari - who is lagging in success rate - is still charging 40 lakhs a film. Jagapati Babu is said to have charged a crore for his film to be remade from Malayalam film 'Chronicle Bachelors'. Just entered Genelia is charging 15 lakhs a film. NTR has become the second highest paid hero after Chiranjeevi in Telugu film industry today. Hero Srikanth is having at least 5 projects in hand all the time and he is charging at least half a crore per film as he is branded as the safe hero. Our producers who often criticize about sky-rocketing remuneration tend to make quick buck if they could get a chance to make a film with any of these heroes without mincing a word.

Andhra Jyothy daily in films
The newspaper Andhra Jyothy has become film industry's favorite news paper over the period of time. All the latest hit films like Tagore, Shivamani and Veede, Andhra Jyothi newspaper is shown as the newspaper that carries sensational news. Andhrajyothi's aggressive marketing is helping it to become the most preferred newspaper to show in films.

30th October 2003

Kareena charged 2.25 crores for a Telugu film
As per the unconfirmed sources, a producer went to Mumbai to rope in Kareena Kapoor as heroine for the most happening young mass star in Telugu film industry. And she asked for 2.25 crores as remuneration. Flabbergasted by this, the producer decided cast a heroine who is with in the reach of his budget.

Mamatha replaced in Vidyardhi
Mamatha Zhaveri, who was roped in to play the female lead against Ramesh (son of RB Chowdary) in Vidyardhi film, is out of the project now. She worked for a few TV commercials and is working in a couple of Tamil film. The producer RB Chowdary is looking for a replacement.

Indo-Pak backdrop for a Telugu film
A Telugu film that is being currently made by a star director with all new cast is having the backdrop of Indo-Pak. Hero plays the role of a Hindu boy. Heroine plays the role of a Muslim girl with Pakistan origin. This director - who has been successful in his love film so far is attempting a intra-religion film that borders on patriotism with strong elements of teenage love for the first time. Lets wish him a good success.

28th October 2003

Puri Jagan's right remedy
After watching the double positive of 'Shivamani', Nagarjuna felt that entertainment in form of comedy is missing in the second half. Puri Jagan conceptualized the comedy track of MS Narayana comprising of 'Shiek Imam' overnight. Next day, he took the call sheet of MS Narayana and wrapped up the entire episode of MS Narayana in just 3 hours. This suggestion turned out to be a factor of great relief in second half of the film. At the same time, it also shows the Puri Jagan's flexibility of inserting scenes on the fly without objecting the basic flow of the film.

56-days shoot for Nagarjuna
Puri Jagan has mastered the art of making the movie with minimum resources and there by producing the maximum results. Nagarjuna gave 56 days worth call sheets for this film. Generally, most of the Nagarjuna's films these days does take 80-90 days of his callsheets. But for this film, Puri Jagan took only 56 days call sheets of Nagarjuna.

Inspired by Message-in-a-bottle
In our gossip, we mentioned in the past that Puri Jagan got inspired by reading a novel to make 'Shivamani 98480 22338'. Actually, the basic storyline of Rakshita finding message-in-a-bottle followed by she going to Kerala to investigate is inspired by the basic theme of 'Message-in-a-bottle'. Later on that famous novel was made in to a Hollywood flick called 'Message in a bottle' in 1999 featuring Kevin Costner as the hero.

20th October 2003

Doctorate to Paruchuri Gopala Krishna?
Veteran Telugu film script writer Paruchuri Gopala Krishna is likely to be awarded doctorate in this week. This doctorate is not going to be a honorary one. But, its going to be in recognition to the PhD work he has done for the past few years over Telugu cinema. He has recently submitted his work and as per the unconfirmed reports, Paruchuri Gopala Krishna would be given doctorate in a few days.

Prabhas in VV Vinayak's film?
As per the unconfirmed reports, Prabhas would be starring in VV Vinayak's project. This project is likely to start after NTR's Samba is completed. Owner of a noted residential school in Guntur would be making his entry into Telugu film industry as a producer through this film.

Where is Gajala?
Actress Gajala seems to be fading out of Telugu films now. Her last film as fulltime actress was 'Janaki Weds Sriram'. She is currently having just one project in her hand. That's too a special song in Suresh Productions latest flick 'Malliswari' with Venkatesh and Katrina Kaif in the main leads.

9th October 2003

3 crores remuneration for Nagarjuna
Now a days, Nagarjuna is taking Nziam territory rights as remuneration for his films. It is reliably learnt that Shivamani's rights for Nizam are worth at least 3 crores of rupees. Bhagawan and Danayya presented Shivamani as Puri Jagan himself produced it. It is rumored that the share of Bhagawan and Danayya is 33% as remaining 66% goes to Puri Jagan. There is enormous positive buzz and euphoria around this film, which slated for Diwali 2003 release.

Burgeoning set budget for Guna Sekhar
When Gunasekhar made Bala Ramayanam, he constructed various Durbar sets with high budget. The Calcutta street set for 'Choodalani Vundi' was erected with a record budget at that time. He also had a huge unfinished railway bridge set for Mrigaraju. The Charminar set cost 2 crores for the producer MS Raju for Okkadu film. And now the Madhura Meenakshi Temple cost around 4 crores to construct. By looking at the increasing range budget for sets and Guna Sekhar's taste for selecting different and rare backdrops, a big producer jocularly commented what would be the budget of the set if Guna Sekhar chooses China Wall as the backdrop. Whatever the cost of these sets, one should agree to it that Guna Sekhar gives value for the money by making the best use of sets in his film as backdrops.

Page 3 heroes
There are a few smalltime heroes who appear less on silver screen, but more on the page 3 of local editions of English news papers that features photos of celebrities parties. These heroes are currently being referred as Page 3 heroes in Film Nagar.

5th October 2003

Puri to direct Balayya?
Bala Krishna who always followed a set of rules and a set of directors seems to be changing his style and experimenting a bit for the past one year. He acted in the direction of VV Vinayak, who got a good name of technical director. He is currently acting in Jayant's film. He is also giving break to a debutant Swarna Subba Rao. Now its realiably learnt that he would be acting in the direction of Puri Jagan very soon. And the man who made this combination possible is none but Chanti Addala, who produced Pavitra Prema and Krishna Babu with Balayya in the past.

Chiru to cut down public appearance
Chiranjeevi is said to have decided to cut down his public appearances based on the experiences he had in the recent past. When he made public appearance in Rajahmundry and Tirupati, the crowds went berserk and the situation got out of police's control. And the killing of his fans in Tagore tickets stampede and alleged suicide attempts by the fans who could not procure tickets was the final lid.

Tamil remakes are in
Its hard to see the projects that were meant for somebody are slipping out and reaching top heroes. It happened for Ramana (made as Tagore with Chiranjeevi), Saamy (being made as Lakshmi Narasimha with Bala Krishna) and Kakha Kakha (to be made with Venkatesh as hero). All these three projects were either confirmed for Raja Sekhar in Telugu or slipped out of his hand in the last minute. Hence, this time Raja Sekhar bought the rights of a Tamil film under production by paying a hefty sum of 81 lakhs for remake rights. It is also learnt that bigtime Tamil producers are including a slot of 1 crore as Telugu remake rights as their future earnings. Is Telugu film industry going back to the days where our heroes would be waiting for the preview shows to happen in Chennai so that they could pluck the hottest flick right away?

22nd September 2003

NTR in nela class
NTR - who is currently creating storm at the box office with his blockbuster Simhadri - watched Simhadri in nela class of Sandhya 70mm for second show around 5 days back. To keep his identity anonymous, he wore a monkey cap. He went to theater to study how crowds are reacting the scenes in his film and which kinds of scenes are most liked by the masses. NTR has set all his priorities right. He knows that nela class is the one that crowns the mass stars. Incidentally, Bhumika watched Simhadri film by wearing a burka on the release day one in Sandhya 70mm.

VN Aditya to direct Chiranjeevi film
VN Aditya was first roped in by Vijaya Bapineedu to direct his film with Chiranjeevi as hero. But later on B Gopal was confirmed for that project and VN Aditya was shifted to Anjana banner to direct the remake Malayalam comedy flick 'Bramhachari' in Telugu. Later on that project was also abolished and KS Ravi Kumar is roped in to direct Anjana banner film with Chiranjeevi as hero for the story provided by Posani Krishna Murali. Now VN Aditya is back in Vijaya Bapineedu's film. This film would go to floors very soon. Director VN Aditya is getting married on 31st of October 2003.

Bala Krishna to do Nartanasala?
As per the latest gossip that's making rounds in film nagar, Bala Krishna is keen on acting in the remake of yesteryear's classic 'Nartanasala' in his own direction. It is also reliably learnt that another popular hero from Nandamuri dynasty would be roped in to play an important character in this film. If this gossip becomes true, it would be a real treat for the movie lovers of Telugu cinema to see one of the best classics remade with modern technique on a grandeur scale.

17th September 2003

Suresh Babu elected?
As per the unconfirmed news, D Suresh Babu would be elected unanimously as the president of AP Film Producer Counsel Association that's going to held on 21st September. Aswini Dutt and Arjuna Raju would be unanimously elected as vice presidents. Sravanthi Ravi Kishore would be unanimously elected as treasurer. However there would be contest for the posts of general secretaries and joint secretaries.

Call me Shilpa Anand
When you refer to Shilpa Shivanand with that name, she usually gets peeved. She quickly request you to refer her as Shilpa Anand. The history goes like this. Her father's name is Siva Anand. Hence people call him as Sivanand. His elder daughter's name is Sonal Anand and younger daughter'a name is Silpa Anand. Sonal Anand changed her name to Sakshi Anand and entered. The journalists started calling her Shilpa Sivanand as her father is Sivanand. Since Sakshi is established as heroine, when her sister Shilpa Anand enter the people, they attributed Sivanand to Shilpa too.

Age phobia for character artists
Its understandable if a hero - however elder he is - refuses to reveal his year of birth. But few character artists who generally play the elder roles (father and grand father) in films did not reveal their year of birth. This happened when the writers of a Telugu film book went to get the bio data of a few character artists.

13th September 2003

Sachin's awe for Chiranjeevi
Sachin Tendulkar is the superstar of Cricket who has unlimited hardcore fans all over the world irrespective of caste, creed and nationality. He is the most adulated star in the international cricket arena and its not new for him to see mobs going crazy over celebrities. But here is an incident that awed even Sachin Tendulker. Sachin and Chiranjeevi were traveling in the same car from airport to the cricket stadium and crowds were all over the roads to get a glimpse of megastar Chiranjeevi. In one particular incident, one elderly women fell on the front bonnet of the car while trying to get a close glimpse of Chiranjeevi and refused to leave. The situation is so tensed that even Chiranjeevi could not step out of the car to meet that lady, because the entire mob would surround him and it would delay their presence at cricket match. Tendulkar seems to have given a compliment to Chiranjeevi that he is seeing such a lovable and hardcore fan following for any star for the first time.

Tammareddy's remark on anchors
Its becoming a pain to attend the audio functions in film industry because of the blabbering anchors do on the stage. That blabbering went to the new heights in the audio function of 'Backpocket' because of a couple of women anchors. When invited by them to the stage, Tammareddy said that in the earlier days guests who were invited for the function used to blabber a lot, hence they introduced the anchors so that they take care of boring blabbering conduct the function the way it is meant to be. And now a days, the anchors bore audience in such a way that the crowds would be waiting for the minute when the function is going to end. After Tammareddy's smirk, the anchors quickened their pace and completed the function quickly.

7th September 2003

Prabhas film inspired by Hindi flick Barsat
It is reliably learnt that the basic storyline of Prabhas film in the direction of B Gopal is inspired by Hindi flick Barsat starring Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna (a debut film for both of these stars). Like Barsat, this film too has forest backdrop. Prabhas and Arti Agarwal are playing the roles of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna. We have to wait and see if this gossip - that is making rounds in Film Nagar - is true or not.

6th September 2003

Hinglish film by KRR
K Raghavendra Rao who introduced his son Surya Prakash through Usha Kiron Movies last year with 'Neetho' film has decided to produce his son's 2nd film. This film is going to be a Hinglish (English + Hindi or Telugu) film titled Morning Raaga. Mahesh Dattani - of Bangalore - would be directing this flick. Shabana Azmi and Perizad Zorabian (Bollywood Calling fame) are playing other important characters. Shooting of this film would take place in and around Rajahmundry town.

Bin Laden inspired Aithe
While speaking to idlebrain.com, Chandra Sekhar Yeleti - director Aithe film - said that it was Bin Laden who inspired him to make 'Aithe'. When America was attacked on 11 September 2001, the USA government put millions of dollars as prize money on the head of Bin Laden. We have the bad guys kidnapping good guys and asking for ransom. How about the good guys kidnapping bad guys and asking for prize money from government? This idea has lead to the basic story conceptualization of 'Aithe'. The basic story of Aithe is all about how a few needy youngsters kidnap a bad guy and ask police for the prize money.

Fun time for NTR
NTR is having fun now a days as he has only one film under production. 15 days would be spent for shooting of 'Andhrawala' and remaining 15 days for story sittings and fun. He is moving around with his youth hero friends like Tarun and Uday Kiran in his free time. NTR has become more cautious in selecting storylines and is making sure that his future films would satisfy the skyrocketed expectations created by his latest blockbuster Simhadri. It is also reliably learnt that his next film 'Samba' might be starting on 28th of October.

4th September 2003

Jaya Prada in troubled waters
Jaya Prada seems to be going through rough weather. Recently her husband Srikanth Nahata underwent a liver transplant operation in Chennai. 2 days later the donor expired, which circulated controversial rumors spreading around. She owns the Jaya Prada theater in Chennai and she purchased two of the latest bloopers - Johnny and Palnati Brahmanaidu - at an exorbitant price and lost quite a bit of money. She is not in good books of Chandra Babu Naidu either. Its also rumored that she is planning to join Congress for better mileage in politics. But she has her arch-rival Renuka Chowdary sitting pretty on the top of women's wing in Congress. We need to wait and watch the fun!

Tamil flops and Telugu hits
The talk of Boys in Tamil film industry is not encouraging as the trade pundits out there written it off as a flop. But in Telugu, this film is doing really well. Same is the case with Vasantham as well. The Tamil version 'Priyamaana Thozi' (Madhavan, Jyothika & Sreedevi) has bit the dust as Telugu version 'Vasantham' went on to become a big hit. Shankar and Vikraman - the Tamil directors - directed these films. There is another bilingual film 'Naani' starring Mahesh and Amisha Patel that's coming up. Tamil film director SJ Suryah is directing this film. We need to wait and watch if this trend gets extended to Naani as well.

SVK's pellam voorelithe?
Here is one example of how embarrassing it would be if you have a suggestive title for your film. Director SV Krishna happened to be the guest of the audio function of 'Neetho Vasta'. In that function the MD of Surya music said the following thing innocuously - SV Krishna Reddy pellam voorelithe memantha maa studio lo recording chesukunnamu' (we recorded music when SV Krishna Reddy's wife went to some town). There was continuous giggling for next 5 minutes in the venue of Taj Residency. This is one of the side effects when you have suggestive titles. And guess what? Title of SV Krishna Reddy's next film is 'Pellamtho Panenti?'. Its better for SV Krishna Reddy to stop 'pellam' titles before somebody comments something like 'SV Krishna Reddy Pellamtho panenti?'. We guess he got wiser by now, title of his film with Jagapati Babu is 'Athade Oka Sainyam'.

2nd September 2003

Streaking costs a crore
An expense of Rs. 1 crore for running nude in a public place! Interesting? Its true! There is a scene in 'Boys' film in which hero Siddardh disrobes his cloths and runs naked in a public road to impress the heroine Genelia. The producer, AM Ratnam hired the Mount Road - the busiest road in Chennai -between 2 am to 6 am for 15 days and he hired thousands of junior artists and hundreds of vehicles to simulate the real effect. All this exercise cost the producer one crore. This is what happens if one tries to streak on public road instead of Australian cricket grounds.

31st August 2003

Director inspired by a porn flick
A Malayalam director was watching a porn flick one night and suddenly he got an idea. He called up his assistants and asked them to have a closer look at what was going on the screen. The assistants could not see anything special except for the filth that is shown in porn flick. The next day the director had to shoot an interrogation scene with a Malayalam superstar. He recollected that porn flick and used those camera angles in the interrogation scenes. The film was released and it became a big hit. And the camera work for those particular interrogation scenes were appreciated because of the unusual camera 'angles' applied. Only the director knows the real secret of it!

7 crore speak
When a film was released the other day, we noticed a couple of young directors discussing about something outside Sathyam theater in Ameerpet. We heard some passers-by commenting that '7 crores are speaking' (Yedu kotlu matladukuntunnai). Incidentally those two directors made their directorial debut on the same day in the last month and their films bit the dust and the combined budget for those two films was 7 crores. Costly directors! Is it not?

27th August 2003

V for Vishnu
A for Apple, B for Bat …………. V for Vishnu. This is the gist of the trailer followed by everybody showing V sign to a guy walking all over. This is the content of the second trailer of Vishnu that is being aired since 25th August onwards. The sign of V for Vishnu seems to have caught up with the crowds already. When Vishnu was traveling in his sleek black Sonata car (Numbered 1), he found a middle aged lady traveling in a maruti car showing him the sign of V. This happened just 4 hours after the trailers were put on air. Manchu Vishnu Vardhan Babu seems to be getting everything right as the audio release date is approaching. Mohan Babu who is known for his rich musical taste made sure that best of the songs were scored for Vishnu by the Devdas music director Ismail Durbar. Audio of this film would be released on 29th of August at Annapurna Studios. The film is tentatively slated for 28th September release.

Boys craze all over
Shankar's sixth film 'Boys's is having tremendous craze all over that makes even the biggest hero feel jealous about. The advance booking for all the theaters are closed for the first three days after release. The record at Prasad's multiplex is that the tickets for 3 days (fri, sat, sun) were sold in just 2 hours. We have to wait and see if Shankar satisfies the hungry crowds with his film Boys or not on 29th of August.

25th August 2003

Dial S for Super Cop
Do you know about two striking similarities among the films Simhachalam (Srihari), Seetayya (Hari Krishna), Shivamani (Nagarjuna) and Swamy (Bala Krishna)? All these films start with the letter S. And hero in these 4 films is a super cop! We have two of these films already released. When we get 4 films dealing with the similar subject, there is a probability getting few scenes and episodes repeated in the films. We already have the same scene of super cop shifting the police station where the villain gets a throughly roughed up repeated in films of Simhachalam and Seetayya. Nagarjuna's Shivamani is releasing for Vajaya Dasami 2003 and Balakrishna's Swamy is releasing for Sankranthi 2004.

Teja Vs MAA cold war
If you think we are referring to the director Teja and Movie Artists Association (MAA) in this gossip item, you are mistaken. We are talking about two Telugu TV channels Teja and MAA. This cold war is regarding the cricket match that is going to take place between the telugu film celebrities and cricket stars on 7th of September 2003. MAA TV grabbed the telecast rights. As MAA TV is airing the promotions of Sachin and Chiranjeevi expressing their pleasure working together, Teja TV news bulletin concentrated more on showing the protests made by Vijayawada citizens for losing the opportunity to host the cricket match.

Innovative Boys trailer
AM Ratnam - the producer of BOYS film - has come up with an innovative trailer that elucidates the experiencing the film on a pirated VHS tape and watching the same film on a big 70mm screen with DTS effect. The trailer starts with a small window that shows the Boys song in a mutilated format. After sometime, the screen gets bigger and the trailer is shown in the full view with crystal clear quality and precise sound effect. Then the moviemaker asks the audience which way they prefer watching the film! The film Boys would be releasing on 29th August 2003 in various languages of South India.

Namitha to shake a leg with NTR
Namitha is one of the most ardent fans of NTR for his histrionics and dancing capabilities. And its been her long cherished wish of dancing with NTR. Though she did not get an opportunity to dance with him on the screen, she would be shaking her leg with NTR in the 50 days functions to be celebrated to Dubai and Kuwait on 4th and 5th of September respectively. She is looking forward to dance to the song 'Cheekulu' song from Simhadri along with NTR in that 50 days function!!

20th August 2003

Anchored in USA
A famous TV anchor - who was in the news recently for a few allegations that she was kidnapped - is found in USA. She has recently gone to USA to participate in live shows and has not returned back since then. One wonders what she is doing out there leaving her regular profession of anchoring aside!

IT raid on a director
It is reliably learnt that Income Tax department has raided a director turned producer a couple of weeks back. He is producing and directing a high profile mass film currently! Any guesses?

19th August 2003

Blondes cost a bomb
You must have watched the presence of blondes in the recent Telugu films because script needs it. For example, a part of Santosham's foreign indoor shoot was held in India. For shoots like that they needed blondes as props to have nativity. Do you know how much a blonde charges for a shoot in India (though they act as mere props and junior artists)? They do charge Rs. 2500/- per head per day (and most of them need to be called from Bangalore city). All they have to do is to sit in the background and feign as if they are sipping coffee or walking around. If a Telugu junior artist does the same, all he/she gets paid for is just Rs 250/- to Rs 300/- per day. Blonds does cost a bomb. Is it not?

Fill up my bank account says an actor
Abhi - the guy who is scared of the imposition given by his pop in 'Aithe' film - is portraying the character of a sophisticated rich youngster in Sravanthi Arts banner film. One fine day, he met Sravanthi Ravi Kishore and casually asked that 'Sir, I am not getting the feel of being a rich youngster. Why don't you put in some money in my bank account so that I really feel that I am a rich guy'. The producer Sravanthi Ravi Kishore is at a loss of words for some time though it's a small prank played by Abhi!

12th August 2003

Teja lost 3 crores in Nijam
Teja has arranged a pressmeet today to clarify the controversial statement he has given which projected the leaders of APFIEF as drunkards. While speaking to press on that occasion, he said that he is conducting interviews for the cast of 'Jai' film. He also said that he is arranging food and other amenities to the aspirants. He questioned the press to show any other person in industry who cares for the people. Then a scribe asked him, if the film becomes a hit he would get benefited by a big margin and the money he is spending for interviews and other amenities would be of no value compared to the profits Teja get. Then Teja shot back in a humorous way by saying that who says that I am making profits in the film. 'Nijam ki moodu kotla bokka' (I lost 3 crores in Nijam). Looks like Teja has finally admitted in press that Nijam is a loss making venture for Teja.

10th August 2003

Manjula's hubby acts in Naani
Sanjay Swaroop - the executive producer of Mahesh Babu's starrer Naani and also the husband of Mahesh Babu's sister Manjula - is making his debut as an actor with the film Naani. He is playing the father of the hero character in this film. Devyani is paired up with him in Naani. Click on this photo to see it yourself.

Amnesic heroines
There are three heroines in Telugu film industry who are conveniently ignoring their past and pretending themselves to be fresh and debut heroines. These heroines are …

Silpa Sivanand: The actress who was involved in a row with Mohan Babu recently claims that she is a debut heroine in Telugu. But it's a fact that she made her debut in Telugu with a C grade film titled 'Bejawada Police Station' by pairing opposite Keshav (a non-entity). Photo gallery: Bejawada police station

Mahi: The actress who is pretending that she is making debut through Aditya Birla's maiden venture 'Tapana' has acted in a forgettable Telugu film called Ramana, directed by Sivanageswara Rao. Photo gallery: Ramana

Charmi: She is acting with Srikanth in GSK Arts film currently. But she made her debut through a flop film called 'Nee thone vuntaanu', which is directed by Bheemineni Srinivasa Rao. This 'Nee thone vuntanu' is a free-make of Hollywood flick 'Return to me'. Photo gallery: Nee thodu kaavali

Teja is hit back
Teja has accused the leaders of APFIEF as drunkards in the meeting held yesterday. Today the leaders of APFIEF branded Teja as the maverick director who beats up his actors. They also said that Teja paid the penalty for his acts two times. They produced a bounced check given by Teja to association when he paid penalty in one of those occasions.

6th August 2003

RP loses Nagarjuna's film
Whenever RP Patnaik visits west, he loses a project. When he visited Canada last year, he lost the project of Nagarjuna's Manmadhudu to Devi Sri Prasad as he was not available for recording at that time. This time he went to USA for live concerts and made himself unavailable for the music sittings of Nagarjuna's film in the direction of VN Aditya. Now he is replaced by music director MM Keeravani.

USA centers used as fill-up centers for records
The frenzy of records and number of centers is on. And the producers set a target for the same. Simhadri's producer aimed at 200 centers in 25 days and he added lots of centers from USA to fill up the slots. Likewise, the producer of Vasantham aimed at 171 centers for 35 days list. And he added 18 centers from USA as 35 days centers that included cities like Fremont, Boston, Atlanta, New York, Milwaukee, Houston, Louisiana, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Portland, Seattle, Columbus, Austin, Bloomington Cincinnati, Louisville etc.

Istagosti - the in thing
An old movie promotional tool called 'Istagosti' is brought back in to the limelight recently. It all started with Kabirdas film. There are many cultural organizations in the city and they take the initiative and conduct a 'istagosti' where learned people say good things about the movie praising the cast and crew. The same program would be telecasted as a 30-minute capsule in all TV channels. With in a week after Kabirdas's Istagosti, a cultural organization named 'Abhinandana' organized another 'istagosti' to appreciate 'Sambaram' film.

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