Akshay, Katrina and Vipul in another skirt controversy?

It seem like Vipul Shah's latest project, Singh Is Kinng, featuring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, has once again managed to get into a similar skirt controversy as their last one. Just to recall, Vipul Shah's last project, Namastey London, had got into a controversy at the Ajmer Dargah (shrine) and as a result he had to remove the objectionable scene featuring Katrina in a short skirt. And it appears that a similar thing has happened, though at a different venue. Once again its Katrina's skirt that has been objected to, this time in Egypt!

As per the director of Singh Is Kinng, Anees Bazmee, while shooting with Akshay and Katrina in front of a pyramid, even before the first shot was canned, the police had reached the spot. The cops told the cast and crew that it was forbidden to shoot in a skirt at that particular place. It was only after the intervention of Bazmee and others that the matter was resolved.

Here is hoping that this particular skirt controversy too spells good omen for Vipul's latest, just like Namastey London and Singh Is Kinng turns out to be an even bigger success!

Krishnavamsi-Tarun combo confirmed

Shooting of a film in the combination of Krishnavamsi and Tarun was formally launched with puja activities.

After the release of 'Chandamama', Krishnavamsi took up this project produced by Sunkara Madhumurali on the banner of Sri Kartikeya Creations.

The regular shooting of the film is likely to begin from May 25. The heroine would be selected during these days.

In fact, Krishnavamsi was expected to do a film 'Jendapai Kapiraju' with Vishnu as hero.

However, there were some differences of opinion between the producer Mohanbabu and the director Krishnavamsi and the latter opted out of that project.

Incidentally, Krishnavamsi is doing the same subject now with Tarun.

The latter is feeling very excited for grabbing an opportunity to work with a creative director like Krishnavamsi, but he would realize how hard it will be to work with Krishnavamsi.

Ramcharan evinces interest to work with Karunakaran

Ramcharan expressed his wish to play under the direction of Karunakaran. Though a Tamilian, A Kaunakaran, stayed back in Telugu films for the past several years.

Moreover, he is very close to the families of Mega Brothers. In fact, it was Karunakaran who gave a big hit like 'Tholiprema' in his career. Unfortunately, none of his films that came later proved hit at Box Office. Despite that, he earned name as a good director and he continued to get opportunities.

Though he brought out 'Happy' with Allu Arjun, it failed to give happiness to its buyers.

Presently Karunakaran is busy with 'Ullasamgaa… Utsahamgaa…' whose audio was released recently. If everything goes well, a film in their combination is likely in 2009.

Teja to introduce Sirivennela's son as hero

Sons of heroes, producers, directors and comedians continued to test their luck as heroes. It seems that the turn of sons of lyricists had come now.

Raja, son of popular lyricist Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, showed interest in making an appearance on the screen as hero. It is reliably learnt that Teja had come forward to produce and direct his debut film.

Teja had introduced several upcoming heroes including Udaykiran, Nithin, Navadeep and the son of Raviraja Pinisetty, in his direction.

Now, he had decided to introduce Raja. It may be mentioned here that Teja had conducted a talent test for his forthcoming film to select the male and female leads.

Though Raja did not attend the talent test, he was able to grab the opportunity. 'Keka' was the title under consideration of the film.

Though Suresh Productions joined hands with Teja in producing the film, Sureshbabu changed his mind and parted ways recently.

PC Sriram is the cinematographer.

Parugu Movie Review Telugu Movie Reviews

Parugu Movie Review

Story
Neelakanta (Prakash Raj) is a powerful man in his village who doesn’t believe in love marriages. He has two daughters. His elder daughter Subbalakshmi (Poonam Bajwa) elopes with a guy called Babu from a lower class on the night of her arranged marriage. Neelakanta men kidnap all the friends of Babu. Krishna (Allu Arjun) – a happy go lucky guy from Hyderabad – is one among them. Krishna likes a girl called Meena (Sheila) who happens to be the younger daughter of Neelakanta. The rest of the story is all about whether Krishna elopes with Meena or convinces Neelakanta to marry her.

Artists Performance
Allu Arjun: Allu Arjun is pretty excellent in the first half as the characterization in the first half is vibrant and needs loads of energy. He carried the entire first half on his shoulders. His steps in 'elagelaga' song are really cool. He excelled in the emotional scenes in the second half.

Others: Sheila is average in the film. A better looking girl would have added value to the film. Her character is also poorly etched. The comedy by friends gang is good, especially that of Sunil. Prakash Raj is good as the possessive father of girls. Sahaja Nati Jayasudha is pretty good as usual in the limited role given to her as the lovely mother of hero. Poonam Bajwa is adequate. Subbaraju is good.

Technical Departments:
Story - screenplay - direction: The basic story line is an interesting one. The way director penned screenplay in the first half is good. The interval block is nice. But it is extremely difficult to write screenplay for the second half and director seems to have faltered in the second half. There is ambiguity and a bit of confusion towards the climax and director settled for a tweaked version of DDLJ climax. Direction of the film is good in the first half. But he could not effectively translate the emotions on the screen in the second half. Bhaskar should have worked more on the characterizations. There is no individuality to the character of heroine as she behaves just the way hero wants her to. The characterization of Prakash Raj character is bit confusing in the second half.

Music: Music by Mani Sharma is good. Mani Sharma gave Hollywood texture to the background music (especially the instruments used). Picturization of the songs is pretty good. Allu Arjun's costumes would have been taken care of in 'parugulu teeyake pasidaana' song though the song is supposed to be whacky. The steps Allu Arjun did for 'elagelaga' are excellent.
Other departments: There is not much scope for witty dialogues in the film. But BVS Ravi managed to tickle your funny bones in the first half. Some of the dialogues are natural. Cinematography by Vijay K Chakravarthy is good. The graphics work done to the film should have been better. Artwork by Anand Sai is appropriate. Editing is adequate. Production values by Dil Raju are excellent.

Analysis: First half is good and entertaining with nice ambiance. The movie's tempo goes down as soon as the gang shifts to Hyderabad in the second half. The climax of the film appears little hesitant and ambiguous. The plus points of the film are energetic performance by Allu Arjun and well made first half. On the flip side, the emotions in the second half don't work and the movie lacks soul. We have to wait and see how this film fares at box office.

Cast: Allu Arjun, Sheila, Prakash Raj, Poonam Bajwa, Jayasudha, Subbaraju, Jayaprakash Reddy, Sunil, Chitram Seenu, Srinivasa Reddy, Jeeva, Ragini, Delhi Rajeswari etc

Dialogues: BVS Ravi

Music: Mani Sharma

Cinematography: Vijay K. Chakravarthy

Art: Anand Sai

Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh

Lyrics: Sirivennela, Ananth Sriram, Chandrabose

Co-Producers: Sirish-Laxman

Presenter: Smt. Anitha

Producer: Raju

Story, Screenplay & Direction: Bhaskar

Release date: 1 Mayl 2008

Kranti Movie Review Telugu Movie Reviews

Kranti Movie Review

Story
Kranti (NTR) is an orphan who attracts the attention of the local don Seshu (Asish Vidyardhi) who in turn reports to the kingpin PR (Prakash Raj) who is based in Hong Kong. Kranti attracts the attention of PR in no time and climbs up the ladder. Then they fall out due to some differences. Later it is revealed that Kranti is not an orphan, but the son of PR himself. The rest of the story is all about whether Kranti reconciles with his father or takes revenge on him.
Artists Performance

NTR: NTR is looking ultra glamorous with light beard in the film. NTR is superb in the role of Kantri. He dances exceptionally well in all the songs and his steps in Vayassunami and I go crazy songs are awesome. His dialogue delivery in the film has the perfect mix of mass and class orientation. He could perform the stunts stylishly due to agile body.

Others: Hansika is cute and sexy as the female lead. But she needs work on expressions in certain scenes. Tanishaa comes in the second half and has a limited role to play. Prakash Raj looks fresh with a new hair-do. Kota is entertaining as the father. The comedy done by Ali and Krishna Bhagawan does stand out. Asish Vidyardhi, Murali Sharma, Sayaji Shinde, Subbaraju are adequate. Sunil and Brahmanandam have separate comedy tracks.

Technical Departments:
Story - screenplay - direction: The story of the film has the shades of Pokiri in the mafia aspect. But there is a nice twist in the film that is revealed towards climax. Direction of the film by Mehar Ramesh is good in parts. He could able to stuff all elements in the first half and could narrate it in a crisp way. The aggression of hero shown in Hong Kong episodes is conceived well. But the tempo goes down in the second half as there is no conflict angle in the film once father and son unite. The screenplay in the second half would have been better. And the climax of the film appears dragged once the main twist of the film is revealed. On a whole, Mehar Ramesh holds promise to become a good director if he works on the holistic perspective of the script.

Dialogues: Dialogues are neat. There are sharp one-liners like – ‘Nenu taggindi weight. Head weight kaadu’, ‘slim aina slum kurradi laga vunnadu’, “idi zoo. Lopala kellandi. Janthuvulaki manchi timepass avutundi’ etc. There is also a dialogue that goes like ‘ee state lo rakta sambandham lekunda andaru anna ani pilichevaadu okkade. Aayana swargamlo vunnaru. Tarvatha anna ani pilipinchukune vaadu inka ikkada puttaledu.’ There are a couple of dialogues referring to Cycle too.

Other departments: Music by Mani Sharma is good. All the songs are well choreographed. 123 Kantri, Vayassunami and I go crazy are treat to eyes with NTR making very difficult steps appear so easy. Fights composed are good (especially the ones shot in Hong Kong). Cinematography by Samir Reddy is an asset. Editing is neat. Special effects done for this film are good. Having a 3-d animated character developed using motion capture on NTR done by Pixelloid is a unique and an appreciable experiment. Production values by Vyjayanthi banner are grand.

Analysis: The first half of the film is good. The tempo goes down in the second half. The twist towards climax is interesting. But the fights that follow appear extended. The plus points of the film are NTR’s energizing performance (dialogues, dances and emotions) and the first half. On the flip side, the conflict aspect in the second half should have been taken care of. We have to wait and see how NTR is going to unleash his mass magnetic power on the movie lovers with this commercial flick this summer!

Banner: Vyjayanthi movies

Cast: NTR, Hansika motwani, Tanishaa, Prakash Raj, Asish Vidyardhi, Murali Sharma, Sayaji Shinde, Subbaraju, Mukesh Rushi, Kota, Dharmavarapu, Sunil, Ali, MS Narayana, Krishna Bhagawan,Pingpong etc

Music: Mani Sharma

Cinematography: Samir Reddy

Art: AS Prakash

Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh

Stunts: Stun Siva Producer: C Aswini Dutt

Story, Screenplay, Dialogues & Direction: Mehar Ramesh

Release date: 9 May 2008

Sneha in Rajinikanth's next film

Actress Sneha is upbeat. She is thrilled and joyous to have shared the screen in ‘Kuselan’ with Rajinikanth.

The actress, who carved a niche for herself doing homely roles, had acted with all heroes in Tamil cinema including Kamal Haasan, Ajitj, Vikram, Suriya and Vijay. She was waiting for an opportunity to be part of the Rajinikanth film.

Her long-pending desire is now fulfilled with ‘Kuselan’, a remake of Malayalam hit ‘Katha Parayumbol’. She plays an actress herself in the movie in a cameo. What more she appears in a song with Rajinikanth.

“My dream ambition is now fulfilled”, she says. Directed by P Vasu, the movie features Pasupathy, Vadivelu, Meena and Nayantara in the cast.

Latest Raviteja's film

Two directors, two music directors for Raviteja's film

Shooting of Raviteja's latest flick, produced by D Suresh Babu on the banner of Suresh Productions is progressing smoothly.

It may be mentioned here that the shooting was delayed due to the unfortunate death of a junior artiste due to drowning in Godavari during the film shooting.

The film is being directed by Udayashankar of 'Kalisundam Raa' fame. Like 'Krishnavamsi' assisting in dance direction for some of the films, it is learnt that Ravibabu had come forward to direct some songs in this film.

It may be mentioned here that the songs on Ravibabu's films like 'Allari' are distinct from routine.

Likewise, Radhakrishnan scored tunes for the lyrics, while Manisharma is providing the background score.

The film is evoking good expectations, with a massive combination of two directors, to music directors, big banner and successful hero.

Telugu movie 'Chandamama' in Tamil

The hit film 'Chandamama' staring Navdeep, Kajal Agarwal, Siva Balaji and Sindhu Menon is now being remade in Tamil. The well known production houseAVM is producing the film.

The film directed by Krishna Vamsi has been tentatively titled as 'A AA E EE'.

While Siva Balaji and Navdeep have been retained, the heroines have been changed. Mounika (Maa Alludu very good fame) and Saranya Marie will be the female leads.

Prabhu will play Nagbabu's role and Sabhapathi will be the director. Vijay Antony will score the music.

‘Dasavatharam’ censorship certificate

More troubles for ‘Dasavatharam’

The Madras High Court has ordered notice on a writ petition seeking a direction to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to remove scenes which offended the sentiments of Hindus in the Tamil film ‘Dasavatharam’ while issuing the censorship certificate.

In its petition, the International Sri Vaishnava Dharma Samrakshanaa Society, represented by its president, Swami Govinda Ramanuja Dasa, said the title ‘Dasavatharam’ was a ruse to criticize Hinduism. It lured Hindus. However, offensive scenes such as clash between Saivites and Vaishnavites formed the theme of the story.

The trailer of the film, telecast on 1 May in Kalaignar TV showed scenes that offended the sentiments of Hindus, particularly Vaishnavites. Vaishnavism preached non-violence, tolerance and humility.

The petitioner submitted that his grievance was restricted to the role played by the actor as Sri Ramanujar and the connected scenes of violence.

Venkatesh's 'Jaya Krishna Mukunda Murari'

Venkatesh's next film would be 'Jaya Krishna Mukunda Murari'

Victory Venkatesh is one such artiste who kept himself away from a particular image. He used to chose the subject alternatively. After doing an action films, he used to switch over to a family kind of soft role to avoid that image.

Moreover, he is particular in choosing the title of the film in a different way, like 'Tulasi, Aadavari Maatalaku Ardhale Verule and Lakshmi'.

When we take a look at the entire filmography of Venkatesh, there are vary few flops and almost all his films were hits. The number of films in his career is very few, when compared to his contemporaries. But the success ratio is undoubtedly more in his career.

Presently he is very busy shooting 'Chintakayala Ravi' in the US. After the completion of this film, he agreed to play hero in a film with another different title, 'Jaya Krishna Mukunda Murari', to be directed by Jagarlamudi Radhakrishna Murthy @ Krish of 'Gamyam'-fame.

Though the director got several offers after the silent success through 'Gamyam', he came to the conclusion to direct Venkatesh.

Star producer Aswanidutt is likely to produce the film on the banner of Vyjayanti Movies.

NTR's Kuchipudi dance in 'Kantri'

It is well aware that Young Tiger NT Rama Rao learnt the classical dance during his childhood even before he made his debut as child artiste in 'Bala Ramayanam' directed by Gunasekhar. He also gave several stage performances as a dancer.

In fact, this had helped him a lot in excelling in dance sequences. Though he was bulky, he was able to show good ease in dances. Among all his contemporaries, he earned a distinction in dances. In his recent film 'Yamadonga' also, he performed excellently in dances.

After shedding a lot of weight, it has become further easy to flex his body. So far, NTR played as a mass hero and he could not get an opportunity to show his talent in classical dance.

Now Meher Ramesh had decided to unveil the unexplored talents of NTR. He insisted for a classical tune and made the lyricist to pen a beautiful song for 'Kantri'.
The audiences could watch the Kuchipudi dance talent in NTR in 'Kantri'. The song was choreographed under the direction of Prem Rakshit at Ramoji Film City.

Speaking on the occasion, NTR expressed his wish to play in a film with classical dances in the backdrop on the lines of 'Sagara Sangamam'.

Let us wait and watch who would be the present generation 'K Viswanath'. Hansika and Tanisha are playing the female lead in 'Kantri' which is slated for release on May 9.

Trivikram-Mahesh combo begins shoot

Shooting of a film with Maheshbabu as hero and Trisha as heroine produced by Singanamala Ramesh under the direction of popular writer cum director Trivikram Srinivas was launched at Padmalaya Studios in Hyderabad on April 30.

Super Star Krishna, Vijayanirmala attended the function as guests. It is worth mentioning here that the combination of Trivikram, Mahesh and Trisha in 'Athadu' had achieved a big hit.

Hence the film is evoking high expectations. The regular shooting of the film is likely to begin in June.

Dasari Narayana Rao

Dasari to concentrate only on films

Dasari Narayana Rao lost his job as a union minster recently. He has since stopped talking about politics. Dasari now wants to work for the rest of his life making films.

He has decided to make films in a big way once again.

Dasari also said that the entry off big corporate into films was welcome but they re hurting the small producers very much.

He urged all the small producers to come together and face this issue jointly. Dasari also announced that he would take up the problems of theater owners to the attention of the chief minister.

Mallika Sherawat in the ‘Dasavatharam’ audio function

No action against Mallika

The Chennai police have decided not to take any legal action against Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat.

This consensus was reached due to the consultations that the police had with the lawyers who made it clear that ‘how to dress’ being a personal matter, no legal provision exists for moral policing.

Mallika Sherawat was in the news again following a complaint from Hindu Makkal Katchy leader Kaniraj, who alleged that she wore revealing dress in the ‘Dasavatharam’ audio release function.

The complaint alleged that her dress code was not only obscene but also not suited the Tamil culture. She was in the stage along with the Tamil Nadu Chief minister M Karunanidhi, action hero Jackie Chan, Amitabh Bachchan , Mammootty and Kamal Haasan.

Last month a similar complaint was made against actress Shreya Sharan when she attended the success celebration of ‘Sivaji’.

But Shreya was quick enough to tender an apology to escape scat free.

Dasavatharam Highlights

'Dasavatharam' – Special Features

Even before the news that Sony BMG taken the music rights of ‘Dasavatharam’ could die down, here comes more news about this mega-budget movie.

By now we are all aware that Kamal Haasan will be appearing in ten different makeovers in this film, and one of them will be like a famous Sardarji singer. A few more pictures have been released, one of which shows the ‘Ulaga Nayagan’ jumping in the air in a Sardarji makeover. The makeup is too good that it fits Kamal like a glove.

The producer of this flick Oscar Ravichandran has spent around 50 crores in the making of ‘Dasavadharam’. It is confirmed that ‘Dasavatharam’ will hit theatres on April 10, 2008. The film is a tri-lingual as it is being shot in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. Kamal has dubbed in Hindi and Tamil, and with regards to Telugu, play back singer S.P. Balasubramaniyam is dubbing for the actor.

Highlights:

‘Dasavadharam’ will see the release of 1000 prints. There are lots of highlights as far as this film is concerned. It will see the comeback of actress Jayapradha in Tamil after a hiatus. The actress has a special appearance in this film. The film also stars yester year comedian Nagesh, Napolean, R. Sunderrajan, Ramesh Khanna, M. S. Baskar, K. R. Vijaya and Rekha.

The music launch of ‘Dasavatharam’ will take place towards the end of March from Nehru indoor stadium, Chennai. Hollywood actor, Jackie Chan, will be the Chief Guest and will release the audio. The music launch will be a star studded one with hi-fi film celebrities like Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Mammootty, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwariya Rai Bachchan, and Telugu Star Venkatesh gracing the music launch.

With so much hype on ‘Dasavatharam’ hitting the stands on a daily basis, we hope this film will satiate the desires of all the fans.

Mohanbabu as a Muni (seer)

Mohanbabu as a seer

Veteran artiste Mohanbabu is making a special appearance as a Muni (seer) in Pandurangadu, directed by K. Raghavendra Rao and produced by K. Krishna Mohan under RK Film Associates banner starring Balakrishna, Sneha and Tabu.

Even in Annamayya, Mohanbabu did a cameo as Salva Narasimha Rayalu. Though Mohanbabu appears only in one scene in Pandurangadu, it remains a key role as the entire film depends on that scene.


Mohanbabu is known for his voice modulation that conveys much more than most actors.

Mahesh Babu and Mohan Babu in Varudu

Mahesh Babu and Mohan Babu together?

Mohan Babu, who ahs acted in over 500 films, has played every character from hero to villain and every other shade in between. He was the perfect Yama in Yamadonga, the epitome of the powerful king of death.

Mohan Babu’s portrayal of Yama was one of the main reasons for the movie’s success. Reports suggest that Mohan Babu charged close to one crore for this role.

Again Mohan Babu is featured in a pivotal role in Bujjigadu Made in Chennai, starring Prabhas and Trisha, for which the music album was released last Friday by Rajinikant in Chennai.

Very soon, according to rumours, the two Babus – Mahesh Babu and Mohan Babu – might be seen in the same movie together. Mahesh Babu’s next film, tentatively titled Varudu, will be directed by Trivikram. Check this space for more news!