Dookudu RR outstanding?

Prince Mahesh Babu’s Dookudu is showing all the right signs of a potential blockbuster. The audio has already received a terrific response and the promos have created quite a buzz.
Now the talk from the industry is that the re-recording work of the first half of Dookudu is complete and the output is terrific. Thaman has reportedly done a superb job with the background score and sound effects.
This was also confirmed by Prince Mahesh babu himself. The usually reclusive Superstar sang praises of his music director on twitter “Jus hada word with my director….accordin to him the 1st half rr is outstanding:)all praise 4 thamann….:) Thanx thamann:)hope d 2nd half is even better:):)” is what Mahesh had to say.
The movie is getting ready for a September 23rd release and Mahesh Babu has Samantha playing the female lead in this movie directed by Sreenu Vaitla.

Bodyguard: Venkatesh under pressure...!!!

Salman Khan's Bodyguard is releasing in about 120 screens across Andhra Pradesh setting new record for a Hindi film. In Hyderabad city alone, 52 screens were reserved for the film that is hitting the screens on Ramzan - August 31, 2011.

This is very bad news for Venkatesh. For he's also doing a film with the same name and same story in Telugu that will hit the screens in October. If more and more people see the Hindi version, collections for his Telugu film will be affected badly. Both Salman'sBodyguard and Venkatesh's Ganga The Bodyguard are official remakes of Malayalam hit movie titled Bodyguard. 

Normally, Hindi films don't get wide release in Andhra Pradesh but the festival weekend (Ramzan and Vinayaka Chaviti) and craze for Salman Khan after the stupendous success of Dabangg and Ready , plus no major releases in Telugu made the distributors of this Salman starrer to release aggressively. 

When asked about this, Venkatesh recently replied to the media that he is not worried about Salman's film. "We have loyal audiences for Telugu films. Even if Salman film becomes big hit here, we need not worry," he said. 

Ram Charan to be engaged at Domakonda Fort?

Buzz is that Domakonda Fort, one of the most beautiful forts in Telangana region, will be the venue for Ram Charan's engagement ceremony with Upasana Kamineni. The fort is situated in Nizambad district and is just 100 kms away from Hyderabad.

The fort is believed to be built in18th Century and it follows Western architecture style though influences of Asif Jahis can also be found.

The palace now belongs to Umapathi Kamineni, grandfather of Upasana. 

EXCL :: VIDYA BALAN in "DIRTY PICTURE" ***LATEST***

POSTER of the DAY --- THE HUNT...!!!

Ram Charan buys Hyderabad Polo Club...!!!

Ram Charan Teja, who loves to do horse riding and playing Polo game, bought the prestigious Hyderabad Polo and Riding Club, situated in Aziz nagar village on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Now the club has.  been rechristened as RCT Hyderabad Polo and Riding Club.

The club and its team will participate in National tournaments in October.

Remember, in Magadheera, the horse riding sequences and action fights on horseback were shot on Ram Charan without a double, as the star is a professional horse-rider.

Ajay as Pawan Kalyan's brother...!!!

It is a big break for actor Ajay. From playing bad guys to doing lead roles to doing important roles in big projects, actor Ajay has come a long way. Currently, he has several big films in Telugu on hand but the one film that he is looking forward to is Pawan Kalyan's Gabbar Singh , remake of Hindi blockbuster Dabangg.

For he will be playing all important role of Pawan Kalyan's brother in the movie. In the original Arbaaz Khan did the role and he won good praise. So Ajay is extremely happy as the role has landed in his lap.

Gabbar Singh commences its regular shoot from Sep 9th. It is directed by Harish Shankar.

Mahesh happy with Taman...!!!

Mahesh Babu's Dookudu is getting ready for release in the third week of September (most probably on September 23rd). Currently the film is finishing off its remaining part of the shoot. Mahesh Babu is happy with the response to the film's music scored by Taman as the songs are topping the chart busters. He has all praises for the music director.

He tweeted: "Just had a word with my director. According to him, the first half recording is outstanding. All praise for Taman."  He also hoped that Taman would come with equally good background score for the rest of the movie.

No wonder than that Mahesh has suggested Taman's name to his next film - The Businessman.

Siddharth, Amala Paul to pair up soon?

Siddharth has signed a new Tamil film which has been titled as Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi (How to mess up in love). Balaji Mohan is going to direct this film. If the buzz is to be believed, Amala Paul is going to be paired up with Siddharth in this film. Y NOT Studios is going to produce the film in Tamil. We hear that the film is actually based on a hugely popular short film of the same name, directed by Balaji. Popular cinematographer, Nirav Shah is going to work on this film and Thaman is going to compose the music. The film is a love story set in a college backdrop.

Currently, Siddharth is acting in Oh My Friend and David Dhawan’s remake of Chashme Baddoor and another English film ‘Winds of Change’ will hit the screens next year. On the other hand, Amala Paul will soon be seen in Bezawada opposite Naga Chaitanya.

Mani Rathnam, Kamal Haasan join Akkineni’s ISFM...!!!

After roping in Prakash Raj to head the acting course at International School of Film+Media, Nagarjuna has roped in two more stalwarts – Mani Rathnam and Kamal Haasan on to the advisory committee. Mani Rathnam is going to be the academic advisor for Direction course and Kamal Haasan for acting course. According to the film school’s newsletter, the two will be providing guidance into our curriculum, recommending guest faculty and possibly taking classes when they visit Hyderabad. This is indeed great news for aspiring students to learn about cinema from the best in the business.

Chiranjeevi’s 150th film confirmed!...!!!

Megastar Chiranjeevi fans, rejoice. Chiranjeevi has just confirmed that he would be acting in a new movie that would be produced by his son Ram Charan.

The actor made the announcement in the 100 days function of Rangam, held at Tirupathi. R.B. Chowdhary held the function to celebrate his son Jiva’s success.

Chiranjeevi made the sensational announcement at the event and said that he was getting back into movies because of his brother Nagababu’s wish.

No other details of the film were revealed and more news will be available in the coming days regarding the cast and crew of the movie. Puri Jagannath was in the race earlier to be the director of Chiranjeevi’s 150th film but no mention has been made of that fact now.

Dussehra Box Office Bonanza...!!!

Telugu movie lovers are in for a massive bonanza this Dussehra. There are some heavyweight movies in the fray and they are all vying for the Vijayadasami Box Office glory. Nandamuri Balakrishna, Mahesh Babu, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, NTR and Naga Chaitanya are all hitting the screens during the holiday season and its a literal movie festival for fans.

Here are the release dates of the Dussehra offerings:

S.No	Movie Name	Release Date	Cast
1	Sri Rama Rajyam	September 16	Nandamuri Balakrishna
2	Dookudu	September 23	Mahesh Babu
3	Rajanna	September 30	Akkineni Nagarjuna
4	Oosaravelli	October 6	NTR
5	Bodyguard	October 14	Venkatesh
6	Bejawada	October 21	Naga Chaitanya

Annapurna Studios Latest Venture "ISFM" ... Classes commencing this September

After the launch of Ramoji Academy of Film Technology (RAFT), here is another Film and Media Institute launched by the Annapurna Studios Private Limited. Named as International School of Film and Media (ISFM), the institute is promoted by Dadasaheb Phalke Award Winner and noted actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. The ISFM will offer various courses related to Film and Media studies. Mr. Kurt Inderbitzin was appointed as the CEO of the institute. The institute is located in the premises of the Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad. Following are details of course, selection procedd and application procedure for the ISFM:

International School of Film and Media offer various short term courses from the year 2011-12. Admissions will be open from 1st July 2011 for short term courses in film-making. The courses will have small class sizes and limited number of seats. The institute also offer degree programs. Admission to Degree programmes will be opened in the next six months to a year.

The faculty of the institute will comprise of media personalities, film makers and industry professionals. Programs are designed to suit the candidates with +2 / intermediate, Degree and Technical qualifications. The institute is yet to launch its official website. For more details of the programs, please call: Hanmer MSL, Pinky Agnihotri / Shilpa Yalamanchilli; Phone: 9394511181 / 9885074533.

The International School of Film and Media is also promising to offer world-class learning experience by combining government recognized degrees with the known best practices of education. The institute will also tie up with other reputed international film schools, and offer student and faculty exchange programs apart from international opportunities for aspiring students.

Tollywood threatened?

Recently, producer Suresh Babu had raised a hue and cry about how Hollywood films are affecting Tollywood's box office revenues. 

And now, the Telugu film industry is busy battling a new threat - dubbed films. Veteran filmmaker Ramanaidu's recent outburst at a filmi event that dubbed films should be banned as they are eating into the profits of the Telugu film industry has virtually divided the industry into two camps. "The 700-odd producers in the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce are locked in a tussle over the issue which is not likely to be resolved as there are equal numbers for and against banning dubbed films," says Chamber president Suresh Babu. 

While some like Vijender Reddy, President Andhra Pradesh Exhibitors Association and veteran filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao are of the view that a ban is not the solution and that Tollywood needs to pull up its socks first, there are others like Suresh Babu who point out that "there are issues that need to be addressed, although a ban is not necessarily the solution". 
For starters, Telugu films are treated unfairly in Tamil Nadu with a 50 per cent tax on dubbed Telugu films (it is 25 per cent tax here for dubbed Tamil films). In Karnataka, although there is no government ban, there is a 'people's ban' as a result of which Telugu films are released in Karnataka, but the dubbed versions in Kannada don't. Suresh Babu points out that if other states take 'pride' in protecting their film industry it's time for some 'Telugu pride', while adding that a free economy is what we need. "Telugu films should get a fair deal outside the state," he says. 

Suresh Babu also advocates a certain time gap for the release of dubbed films so that they do not clash with the release of local films. However, Vijender Reddy thinks the issue needs to be dealt with differently. "Dubbed films have been an integral part of our film industry for the last 10 years. Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of theatres in the South. From 3,500 theaters a couple of years ago, we are now reduced to 2,500. Many theatres had to shut down because the number of Tollywood films and dubbed movies put together weren't enough since there were far too many theaters than there were films . In this scenario, even if a ban on dubbed films is imposed I'm certain that 'secret screenings' will become a reality as people who are stripped off their source of livelihood will take desperate measures," he says. 
Plus, the government can't lose out on the taxes that dubbed films bring, Vijender adds. "The state benefits from these taxes. The only care we need to take is to see that dubbed films are not passed off as Telugu films! Also many of the producers of these dubbed films are Telugu people themselves, so what's this whole issue that smacks of regionalism? 

Suresh Babu also reveals that the stalemate in the Chamber over the 'ban dubbed films' issue is because exhibitors want the dubbed films to run as it is their livelihood and also of the vendors and other support personnel who work in theatres. 

While the issue is yet to reach a resolution, one thing is clear - Tollywood needs to get its success formula right. Vijender Reddy sums up the whole issue saying, "All this bitterness is because in the past two years, Tollywood had been churning out flop after flop. A few good hits and people will forget all about the threat posed by dubbed films." 

BOx office 
Telugu films 
Ala Modalaindi (` 9 cr) 
Mirapakai (` 20 cr) 
100% Love (` 20 cr) 
Seema Tapakai (` 7 cr) 
Mr Perfect (` 23 cr) 

Dubbed films 
Rangam (` 10 cr) 
Vaadu Veedu (` 4 cr) 
Kanchana (` 8 cr) 
Naa Peru Shiva (Hit)

I'm not out of work: Priya Mani...!!!

For over half a year, Priya Mani has only been talking about three to four films, most of which she had committed to in the year gone by. But quiz her if that is an indication that reports of her and several other senior female actors being jobless are true and she sees red. 

"That is absurd. How can I or any other actor be jobless when each of us has several films in hand and continue to get offers, while filmmakers wait patiently for our dates? I, for instance, have four films in hand at the moment, Kshetram, Vishnuvardhana, Lakshmi and Kho Kho," states the actor. 

Remind her that these are the projects that she's been talking about for the longest time and she retorts, "There's nothing that I can do when projects I commit to get unduly delayed. Kshetram should have been completed a long time ago, but soon after I was signed up for it, there was an indefinite strike call in Tollywood. In the process, I got an unexpected holiday for a few months, but the film's shoot got pushed. When such unforeseen issues crop up, it becomes impossible for an actor to sign new projects, as you are unsure as to when you can allot dates to that project," says Priya, adding, "I have another week's work left on Kshetram, after which I will take off to Bangkokfor the songs of the Shivanna-starrer Lakshmi. Once I am back from that schedule, I will travel across Karnataka for Kho Kho. I am also told I have three to four days work left on Vishnuvardhana. Hopefully by October, I would have completed all my pending commitments and should be free to take up new work." 

So are there any offers that she is keen to sign up for? "Yes. But I have to first figure out how to schedule my dates before I sign on the dotted line for any of these films," she says. Does that mean that Bollywood is not on the horizon? The question is met with laughter. "I'm not saying anything at this point. But well, I am looking at working there. That doesn't mean that getting a Hindi film is a priority. I am taking my time to figure out what I want to do there. An actor like me can't just take up anything coming my way for the sake of being in the limelight or remaining in circulation," says Priya, who's currently in Hyderabad, winding up Kshetram. 

And these days, she adds, staying away from home is rather painful for her. There's a new man in her life and she's missing him when she's on outdoor shoots. "The new man in my life is my pet dog Mocha. My dad did not allow me to keep a pet at home all these days. Finally, he's relented and I'm loving each moment I spend with Mocha," says Priya.

Launch of the 'grand son-in-law'...!!!

It was an initiation of sorts for actor Ram Charan Tej into Upasana Kamineni's family as the actor made his first public appearance with Prathap C Reddy, the founder and Sangita Reddy, MD of the hospital group. 

The actor, who even cheerfully took the 'Apollo' oath, went on to cement relationships with "Prathap thatha" and "Sangita aunty". However, it was quite disappointing to see his soon-to-be- fiancee, Upasana, missing at the event. While Sangita introduced Charan as the "new member of the Apollo family", Prathap went a step ahead, welcoming his "grand son-in-law". 

Charan on his part floored the crowd as he greeted them in Telugu, English and Malayalam. "Ninety-three per cent of the staff here is from Kerala," stated the actor who obviously had done his homework well. A beaming Charan went on... "I feel honored to be here and be part of the Go Green initiative. I can be a doctor, nurse or paramedic in a movie, but I cannot do it in real life. So, my contribution for the cause is to spread awareness for this initiative across the state. Coming from a filmi family, I now have to adjust myself to be part of a larger and much bigger health care family." 

Recalling his family's 30-year association with founder Prathap C Reddy, Charan said, "The love and affection showered on me by Prathap thatha has filled the void left by my grandparents."

RGV’s latest heroine...!!!

Madhu Shalini makes her B'wood debut with Amitabh Bachchan in Ram Gopal Verma'sDepartment 

Talking about her role in Ram Gopal Verma's flick, Madhu says, "I play a gangster who works for the mafia. It is very bold and dynamic and a complete contrast to my earlier roles." Says the elated actress, "Ramu sir had seen my pictures and called me for an audition in Mumbai. And he approved me after my very first audition!" 

Now, she says that she's looking forward to working with veterans like the Big B and Sanjay Dutt. "It is quite a dream come true for me having seen them on screen since I was a kid and now getting a chance to work with them," she quips. 

She reveals that she will start shooting for the film from September 1 and will share screen space with Sanjay Dutt. 

"I don't know if I will also be acting alongside Bachchan sir," she adds.

PIC OF THE DAY --- Aishwarya Rai...!!!

Tapsee in love with an actor in real life...!!!

Buzz is that Tapsee has fallen for the charms of a handsome young actor. According to Chennai press, she is reportedly dating Tamil budding actor Mahat Raghavendra. They have been spotted together at Mahat's house and upmarket pubs in Chennai, hanging out with common friends. They are, in fact, helping each other out to grow professionally.

Tapsee is currently acting in Telugu with Gopichand in a film titled Mogudu.

Upendra in Aadi Shankara...!!!

Aadi Shankara is the movie that is being directed by noted devotional writer J.K.Bharavi. The movie is springing lots of surprises regarding its cast. King Nagarjuna has already given his approval for a crucial guest appearance in the movie. Now we are hearing that Kannada star Upendra is also going to be seen in the movie.

Upendra is going to play the role of ‘Amaruka Maharaja’, a role which is close to his image and body language, say sources. The movie has Koushik Babu, Dr. Srihari, Saikumar, Prakash Raj, Suma, Jayaprada and Roja in key roles. The movie is being made on Global Peace Creators banner.

Sources say that discussions are on with another two leading heroes and the news may be announced soon. The music for this devotional flick is being scored by Nag Srivathsa.