31st March 2006

Two Mayabazaars under production
We have two films with same title under production now. National award winning Indraganti Mohana Krishna is directing Mayabazaar with Raja and Bhumika Chawla in the main leads on Satyam Entertainments banner. Singeetam Srinivasa Rao is directing an animation film titled Mayabazaar. This 100-minutes film is being simultaneously made in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and English. Around 200 animators are working for this project simultaneously in Hyderabad and Mumbai. We have to wait and see who registered the title ‘Mayabazaar’ at AP Film Chamber and Commerce first.

AR Rehman concert in Michigan
AR Rahman is performing in Michigan and Ohio on 15th April and 22nd April respectively. It is a performance with 150 artists. This is the largest ensemble that Rahman had ever worked with. All the proceeds are going to a fund for artistic and cultural exchange between the students of Eastern Michigan University and India. And Rahman is not taking a penny for the show!! Click here for more details.

Surya promotes Pepsi in AP
The Ghazani film has taken Surya close to the Telugu film lovers. Surya is signed as brand ambassador for Pepsi in AP and Tamilnadu. Instead of taking any Telugu hero, the Pepsi marketing think tank has roped Tamil star Surya in to do Telugu commercial of Pepsi.

Screen 5 opened in PVR Cinemas
The screen 5 that is recently opening in PVR cinemas is the biggest multiplex screen in Hyderabad with the seating capacity of 416 seats. This screen gives the best ambiance and luxury.

29th March 2006

Sri Ramadasu previewed
Sri Ramadasu film was previewed on the night of 27th night to the unit members. This film was again previewed to family of Nagarjuna and the unit members today afternoon at Prasad Labs. There is tremendous positive buzz about this film. Sri Ramadasu will hit the marquee on 30th of March as Ugadi special.

Rama Naidu’s Sri Krishna 2006
D Rama Naidu’s latest film in the direction of popular story writer Vijayendra Prasad is titled as ‘Sri Krishna 2006’. Srikanth, Venu and Gowri Mumjal play main leads as Brahmanandam plays a vital role. Sri Lekha provides music. Shooting of the film will be completed by 15th April. ‘Atha Manchu Sakunamule’ was the title considered earlier for this film.

The Legend of Zorro as Musugu Donga
Dubbing King B Subramanyam is dubbing another Hollywood flick in Telugu. The Legend of Zorro (2005) is going to be released as Musugu Donga. This film stars Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones as the main leads. Martin Campbell directed this film. Musugu Donga will be released in the month of April.

28th March 2006

Mullapudi dialogues for Hanuman
Hanuman - world class Hindi animation film - was released in Hindi last year. This film went on to become a huge success in multiplex segment. The DVD of Hanuman is also selling like hotcakes. Hyderabad Innovatives banner is dubbing this film in Telugu. Popular writer Mullapudi Venkata Ramana is penning dialogues for the Telugu version.

Dasari’s Aadivaram Adavallaku Selavu
Raja Vannemreddy who directed Kshemamga Velli Labhamga Randi is going to direct a film titled Aadivaram Adavallaku Selavu. Dasari Narayana Rao is going to produce this film on Siri Media Pvt Ltd banner. This film will sport seven pairs. Shooting of this film will start in the month of April.

Oka V Chitram audio released
Audio of Teja’s latest film Oka V Chitram film is directly launched in to the market. Both CD’s and audiocassettes are available on the racks of music stores. This film introduces Sri Murali as music director. Siva Ganesh (Nelluri Nerajana fame) penned all the lyrics. Female singer Soumya rendered voice to all the songs. Madhura entertainment bought audio rights.

27th March 2006

Sri Ramadasu special preview at Prasadz
Prasadz is organizing special preview of Nagarjuna’s devotional epic Sri Ramadasu on 30th March at 7 pm and 10 pm. The tickets are priced at Rs. 300/- each per the ticket and all the proceedings of these shows will go to charity. The tickets are available at leading stores like Walden.

Ram clashes with Sri Ramadasu
It’s pretty ironic if we look at the titles of the films that are releasing on 30th of March. Sri Ramadasu sports big names like Nagarjuna and Sri Ramadasu where Ram has budding star Nitin and upcoming director N Shankar. Ram is a social action film where as Sri Ramadasu is a devotional historic flick. 30th of March is a holiday because it falls on festival day of Ugadi.

Venkatesh on launching spree
Venkatesh is seen as guest in at least four high profile functions held in the last week. He launched the audios of Pournami and Premante Inthe on 22nd of this month. He also launched Munna and Satyagrahi on 25th of this month. The recent success of Lakshmi has made him the man in demand. Added to that his next film after Lakshmi is yet to be launched. It is speculated that Yogi (Oka Raju Oka Rani fame) will direct Venkatesh’s next starrer penned by Akula Siva for Suresh Productions banner. Venkatesh is also likely to spend his summer holidays in USA.

26th March 2006

Dukkipati Madhusudhan Rao is no more
Renown veteran producer Dukkipati Madhusudan Rao expired today morning at Hyderabad. He established the successful Annapurna Pictures banner and produced great films like Donga Ramudu, Thodi Kodallu, Mangalya Balam, Iddaru Mitrudu, Chaduvukunna Ammailu, Velugu Needalu, Dr. Chakravarthy, Atma Gowravam, Sudigundalu, Athmiyulu etc. He was born on 27 July 1917 in Peyyuru (Krishna district). He was awarded the prestigious Raghupati Venkaiah award by the state government for his outstanding contribution to Telugu cinema in 1993. Idlebrain.com expresses deepest condolences to the family members of Dukkipati Madhusudhan Rao. May his soul rest in peace!

25th March 2006

Pawan Kalyan makes fans happy
Pawan Kalyan personally invited important fans to attend the launch of his second directorial venture ‘Satyagrahi’. He spoke very eloquently about films (Bangaram and Satyagrahi) and fans (who he called as brothers). After the function is over, he met fans and posed photographs with them. Pawan Kalyan’s fans felt really happy the way he treated them.

Prabhas prefers original stunts
For the climax of Pournami, producer MS Raju hired few fighters from Thailand who are supposed to act as duplicates to Prabhas in risky stunt sequences. But Prabhas preferred to do it on his own by not allowing duplicates take over him. Peter Heins composed stunts for Pournami. This information was revealed by Rahul Dev in a press conference today.

Another anchor complains against parents
After Udaya Bhanu’s episode, it’s Deepti’s turn to complain about parents of harassment. She fell in love with a guy called Rahul and both of them entered the wedlock against wishes of her parents. She asked satellite media to help her out as her parents are harassing her with threats.

23rd March 2006

Chiranjeevi felicitation on 9 April
Telugu film industry is going to officially felicitate Chiranjeevi for getting the Padma Bhushan Award at a high profile event organized on the night of 9th April. Telugu film chamber, Telugu film producers counsel, MAA (Movie Artists Association) and all other related official associations are participating in this event.

Pawan Kalyan’s Satyagrahi on 25 March
Pawan Kalyan is going to direct and act in a film titled ‘Satyagrahi’ soon. AM Ratnam who produced Kushi and Bangaram with Pawan Kalyan is going to produce this film. This film boasts of best technical team that includes AR Rehman (music) and PC Sreeram (cinematography). Muhurat of this film is going to be held in grand style in 2nd floor of Annapurna studios on the morning of 25th of March with celebrities gracing this occasion.

Munna’s launch on 25 March
Dil Raju’s next venture with Prabhas as hero will be launched on 25 March. Ileana is the heroine. Vamsi who worked in direction departments for films like Varsham, Badra, Mass etc is going to make his debut as director with Munna film. Harris Jayaraj scores music.

P Vasu to direct Manoj
P Vasu (Chandramukhi fame) is going to direct Manoj’s 3rd film. Mohan Babu will produce this film in Sri Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures banner. This film will be launched in July/August and would be released in the last week of November 2006. P Vasu provided story and screenplay to Mohan Babu’s blockbuster Assembly Rowdy. P Vasu’s Chandramukhi with Rajnikant went onto become a huge blockbuster in the last year.

Muthyala Subbaiah to direct Mohan Babu
Muthyala Subbaiah - the specialist of sentiment films - is going to direct Mohan Babu very soon. Mohan Babu will act and produce this film on his home banner Sree Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures. Muthyala Subbaiah directed Mohan Babu for films like Maa Inti Katha and Soggadi Pellam in the past.

Ram on Nitin’s birthday
Nitin’s latest film Ram is all set to release on 30th of March on the birthday of Nitin. Incidentally 30th March also happens to be the Ugadi (Telugu new year festival). Genelia and Hrishita Bhatt are playing female leads. Music by Yuan Shankar Raja got good feedback. N Shankar (Jayam Manaderaa fame) directs this film.

Bommarillu and Munna in overseas by RK
RK Film Distributors bagged the overseas theatrical screening and home video rights for Dil Raju’s next two projects Bommarillu and Munna. Bommarillu has Siddardha (NVNV fame) and Genelia in the main leads. Munna sports Prabhas and Ileana. For trade queries you may contact Rama at 00353-857319917 ([email protected]) or [email protected] Raj : 9866515051.

22nd March 2006

Pokiri shooting progress
Prince Mahesh Babu’s summer release venture Pokiri is nearing completion and is all set for a theatrical release on the last week of April. Shooting of Pokiri started in a low profile in the month of November and shoot part is going to be completed by second week of April. Editing work is in progress at Padmalaya Studios. Prince Mahesh Babu and Illeana are in Bangkok and Phuket island for 2 songs shooting. Entire talkie part is completed except for a couple of songs.

Party on 24th March
Ravi Babu’s latest film Party is all set to release on 24th of this March. Allari Naresh, Shashank and Madhu Sharma play female leads in this film. Chakri provided music. This film is expected to be a urbane comedy with software industry as the background. Ravi Babu is releasing this film with limited prints in order to cater to the city crowds.

Kota justifies his comment on villains
Kota recently commented that Telugu film industry is getting spoiled by the villains being imported from other languages. He also heard comments made on his remarks that goes like even Kota worked as villain in other languages. Kota Srinivasa Rao justified his comments today by saying that he proved his mettle as an actor in his home turf before getting into other languages. He said that he welcomes established and proved Bollywood actors like Paresh Rawal, Nana Patekar, Naseeruddin etc in Telugu, but not the actors who failed in Bollywood.

Ram in overseas by Sesharam
Overseas screening and DVD rights for Nitin’s latest film Ram are bagged by Sesharam Entertainments. Yuan Shankar Raja provided music. Genelia is paired up with Nitin after the success of Sye. Hrishita Bhatt is playing another heroine. N Shankar (Jayam Manade Raa fame) directed this film. Ram is expected to release on 30th of March. For trade enquiries you may contact Sridhar 614-738-0343 or Marreddy 408-836-0367.

19th March 2006

It’s Mohan Babu’s birthday today
Veteran hero Mohan Babu is celebrating his birthday today (20th March) at the premises of Sree Vidya Niketan Educational Institutions near Tirupati. Minister for Finance and Health K Rosaiah is gracing the birthday function of Mohan Babu today, which also happens to be the annual day celebrations of Vidya Niketan. Idlebrain.com wishes Mohan Babu a happy birthday on this occasion.

Dasari retains Rajyasabha seat
Dasari gets his second term approval from Congress and filed his nomination yesterday morning. Dasari currently holds the central ministry of Coal. There were speculations earlier that his Rajya Sabha term would not get extended. Dasari silenced all his critics by getting a nod from the high command now.

Brahmanandam’s respect
Brahmanandam is undoubtedly the numero uno comedian in Telugu film industry today. But the success has never gone into his head and he shows tremendous respect for his elders. This fact was evident when he stood up during the entire speech of 75-year old veteran comedian Padmanabham. (checkout photo here)

16th March 2006

Ranam director to direct Ravi Teja
Popular choreographer Amma Rajasekhar who proved himself to be a competent director with Ranam film is all set to direct Ravi Teja very soon. This film will be produced Bhogavally Prasad who delivered the blockbuster Chatrapati recently. MM Keeravani will compose music. Nayana Tara is expected to play the female lead in this film.

Gollapudi award to Indraganti
Gollapudi Srinivas National Award for the year 2005 was bagged by Mohana Krishna Indraganti for his film Grahanam. This award carries a cash prize of 1.5 lakhs and a memento. This year’s awardee was chosen from 15 nominations of various directors from various languages in India. The jury consisted of Smt Gowri Ramnarayanan, Singeetam Srinivasa Rao and Sri Kalyana Raman. Mohana Krishna has been a journalist and document filmmaker, having obtained his masters in fine arts from the York University in Toronto.

Rakshita to enter wedlock
Film actress Rakshita (Idiot fame) is going enter into wedlock with Kannada hero Prem Kumar. Rakshita officially got engaged to Prem Kumar on 16th of March.

15th March 2006

Bangaram audio for a cause
Audio of Pawan Kalyan’s Bangaram will be released on 16th March at Sunetra Blind School, Hyderabad. Vidya Sagar composed music. The audio will be available on the racks on 17th of this month. Aditya music bought audio rights.

Pournami audio on 22nd March
Audio of Pournami - MS Raju’s latest offing with Prabhas as hero in the direction of Prabhudeva - will be released precisely at 10:31 am on 22nd of this month. Devi Sri Prasad is expected to start his second inning with this film. There has been considerable gap for Devi Sri Prasad in Telugu now. Maruthi Music is releasing the audio.

Annamayya as Tirupati Sree Balaji
Annamayya film is being dubbed in Hindi now with the title ‘Tirupati Sree Balaji’. The dubbing work is already complete and audio release is due. Producer Doraswamy Raju is planning to hold a huge audio function at Tirupati shrine very soon. Incidentally, audio of Annamayya holds the record for highest sales in Telugu music industry till date.

14th March 2006

Jana Reddy as guest for Veerabhada
Home Minister of AP Jana Reddy will be gracing the audio launch of Bala Krishna’s latest film Veerabhadra as chief guest. This function will take place on 17th of this month at People Plaza, Necklace road amidst thousands of Balakrishna fans. Mani Sharma scored music and Supreme music bought the audio rights. AS Ravi Kumar Chowdary directed this film. Veerabhadra will be releasing in the month of April.

Taraka Ratna shines in cricket
Tollywood cricket team captained by Tarun won over Kollywood team led by Abbas in Sharjah on 10th March 2006. Kollywood team scored 190 runs. Tollywood cricket team chased this score easily. Thanks to splendid batting by Taraka Ratna who scored 85 runs which include several sixers.

Mulla Kireetam songs exhibited
Songs of ‘Mulla Kireetam’ (a film on Jesus) were screened today. Raja Reddy directed this film which is due for the release on 17th March. He thanked Hari Krishna for helping him use Ramakrishna Horticulture Studios free of cost. The profits generated through this film would be donated for kids who suffer for heart ailments. N Nirmala Reddy produces this film on Subhodaya Art pictures banner.

12th March 2006

Bangaram audio on 17th March
Audio of Pawan Kalyan’s summer flick Bangaram will be in market on 17th March. Audio rights of this film are grabbed by Aditya music. Vidya Sagar scores music for this film. Dharani is the director. Meera Chopra plays female lead as Reema Sen dons a vital role. This film will be released in the month of April.

Ramana Gogula’s music to Prabhas
Ramana Gogula who provided chartbuster music for the Sankranthi blockbuster Lakshmi is going to score again for VV Vinayak for his next film with Prabhas as hero. This film is going to be produced by P Ravindranath Reddy (Kadapa Mayor) on Eeswari Films banner. This film will go to floors on 7th April 2006.

RP & Chandra Siddardha release Pulakintha audio
RP Patnaik and Chandra Siddardha released the audio of Pulakintha and gave the first cassette to Meghana Naidu at a function arranged in Seventh Heaven, Punjagutta on 12th March. Hindi film Hawas is being dubbed in Telugu as Pulakintha. This film will hit theaters very soon.

Sesharam grabs Lakshmi DVD rights
Sesharam Entertainemnts, the leading USA distribution company, holds the DVD rights of this year's biggest blockbuster, Laxmi. This Venkatesh starrer is successfully running in Andhra Pradesh and overseas territories. Sesharam is proud to announce that it holds the DVD rights of one of the finest films of this year apart from Laxmi. They also have DVD rights of Ram Gopal Varma produced Shock and Kokila with them. For trade enquiries please contact. Venkat - 678-867-9664 , Sridhar Kesani - 614-738-0343

Sri Ramadasu and Pornami in Asia Pacific
Ramark Group combined with ATMD has bagged the theatrical screening to two of the most anticipated films for year 2006 – ‘Sri Ramadasu & Pournami’ for Asia Pacific. Ramark Group with ATMD are proud to distribute ‘Sri Ramadasu’ and advised that this is the first time they are working together in bringing to the Telugus across Asia Pacific a film of such great cultural importance. This film is for all the old and young generations alike, in fact even more so for the entire families. ‘Sri Ramadasu’ is slated for Mar 30th release and ‘Pournami’ is slated for Apr 20th release through out the world.

10th March 2006

Pokiri audio on 2nd April
Audio of Mahesh Babu’s summer special Pokiri is going to release on 2nd April. The unit would move to Europe (Austria, Italy and Germany) to can two songs on Mahesh Babu and Ileana. Climax of this film is currently being shot in Chennai. Puri Jagan produces and directs this film. Manjula presents this film. Pokiri is all set to release on 28th of April.

AS Ravi Kumar Chowdary film for Sunku
As per the sources of idlebrain.com, AS Ravi Kumar Chowdary who is currently directing Bala Krishna’s Veerabhadra would be directing a film for the leading Telugu film financier Sunku Ramesh Babu. A leading hero is expected to act in this venture.

Mohit as Shiva 2006
Mohit is currently acting in a film titled Shiva 2006 in RGV’s Factory banner. Ram Gopal Varma is directing this film after Sarkar. This film is expected to be simultaneously released in Telugu with Mohit. Kona Venkat pens the Telugu version. This film will be released in the month of May.

Rohan returns as Bala
Rohan who made his debut as hero with ‘Relax’ film in the last year is currently acting in his second project Bala with the screen name Bala. PV Ramesh Raju - a businessman from Bangalore - produces this film. Chandana Ramesh (of Chandana Brothers) presents this film. Govind Varaha who worked as an associate for Karunakar and Kahir is directing this film. Shooting of 80% of the movie is complete. Shilpa is doing femal lead. Valisha scores music.

7th March 2006

Lawrence in Anandi Arts
Speaking to idlebrain.com, Lawrence said that his next venture is going to be produced in Telugu and Tamil by Anandi Arts. Lawrence and another popular Telugu film hero would play male leads in this Lawrence directed film. This film will go to floors in the month of May. Lawrence is having a Telugu mass title for this project. His next project after this film is going to be Don with Nagarjuna as hero.

Jagapati Babu as villain?
As per the sources of idlebrain.com, it is rumored that Jagapati Babu has agreed to play the role of main villain in Ideaz banner film with Shashank as hero. He is yet to enter the film sets. Jagapati Babu is currently doing Brahmastram as hero in the direction of Soorya Kiran.

Deepak Cinema goes Hollywood
Theater business is dull these days, unless you are in the right place. With multiplexes taking over film business and Narayanaguda getting second preference, Deepak theater in Narayanaguda is going to change its profile from the next week. This theater would exhibit all latest films of Hollywood now.

SYY on 10th March
Sambhavami Yuge Yuge film, which was ready for the release few months back is going to finally releasing on 10th of March. This film introduces all new faces and new technicians. The music scored by Anil has become ultra popular. This film introduces Anji, Koutilya, Raj, Jack, Srijana, Neeraja and Sitara as main leads. Illusions banner produced this film.

4th March 2006

Reception for Chiranjeevi Fans
Chiranjeevi will be throwing a party to his fans at a function arranged in Cyber Gardens, Madapur at 11:30 am on March 5th. Chiranjeevi personally sent out invitations to 5000 fans across AP. The entire family of Chiranjeevi is expected to grace the occasion with the newly wed couple. Two functions halls are been booked in Cyber Gardens for this occasion and each hall can accomodate 2500 people.

Exams fever for Telugu films
Examinations for 10th class and intermediate are on this month and it forced Telugu filmmakers to reschedule their releases to April. There are no major or important film releases this month. The ongoing test series between India and England is also acting as another deterrent. The month of April will witness series of most expected high budget films.

Rajendra Prasad’s next film details
G Nageswara Reddy who directed youth flicks like 6 Teens, Girl Friend and Good Boy in the past is going to direct a film with Rajendra Prasad as hero. Paidi Babu who produced Good Boy is going to produce this flick. This film is expected to go to floors on 15th of March 2006.

3rd March 2006

Nagarjuna as Don
Nagarjuna’s next film is going to be made by the combination that produced Nenunnanu (VN Aditya and Siva Prasad Reddy). After shooting of this film, the magical combination of Nagarjuna are Lawrence is going to repeated. Lawrence has prepared a variety subject to Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna is going to play the title role of Don. Lawrence has got habituated to keeping titles in English. This film is expected to be launched in September/October of this year.

MS Narayana back in action
Comedy actor MS Narayana made his debut as director by introducing his son Vikram as hero a couple of years back. That film failed at box office. MS Narayana is going to give another shot at direction by directing another film soon. This film will have Sivaji, Raja and Vikram (MS Narayana’s son) in the main leads. This film is going to be produced N Surya Prakasa Rao on SP Creations banner.

Lyricists turning into dialogue writers
A couple of years back, lyricist Kulasekhar penned dialogues for Venkatesh’s Gharshana. In this year two of the lyricists are going to be introduced as dialogue writers. Bhaskarabhatla Ravi Kumar is making his debut as dialogue writer with Jagapati Babu’s Brahmastram. Sai Sri Harsha is making debut with Kodi Rama Krishna’s Dongodi Pelli. We have to wait and see what is there in store for them.

1st March 2006

Nayana Tara and Poonam with Nagarjuna
Nayana Tara who proved to be the lucky mascot with three consecutive Telugu hits (Chandramukhi, Ghazani and Lakshmi) is doing the role of main heroine in Nagarjuna’s next film in the direction of VN Aditya. Poonam Bajwa who made her debut with Modati Cinema is playing the second female lead. Shooting of this film is expected to start on 16th of March. Kalyani Malik provides music. D Siva Prasad Reddy who recent produced blockbuster Nenunnanu in the combination of Nagarjuna and VN Aditya is going to produce this film.

Lakshmi 50 days function on 12th March
Venkatesh’s Sankranthi blockbuster Lakshmi completed 50 days in 215 centers. To celebrate this moment, producer Nallamalupu Bujji is going to arrange a grand 50 days function at Sri CVR Reddy College grounds in Eluru on 12th March at 6 pm.

Style in Tamil as Lakshyam
Telugu hit flick Style is being dubbed in Tamil as Lakshyam. A separate comedy track (for Dharmavarapu comedy thread) is going to be added with Tamil artists. The Nagarjuna’s fight is going to be replaced by a cameo of popular Tamil star. The actors under consideration for this role are Vijay, Vijaykant, Arath Kumar and Arjun. Climax of the film involving Chiranjeevi would be kept intact for Tamil version. Lakshyam is going to be released for May 2006 on LARSCO banner.

Devadasu completes 50 in 75 centers
YVS Chowdary’s Devadasu is completing 50 days in 75 centers. Producer and director YVS Chowdary arranged a press meet today to thank the audience. He said that Devadasu film was made in USA with minimal cost and maximum output. Music director Chakri said that the scenes of the film inspired him to give his best rerecording. Dialogue writer Chintapally Ramana said that Ram has given an inspiring performance. Hero Ram said that dialogues and music in addition to YVS’s taking helped a lot to the film’s success.

Siva Nageswara Rao’s ‘Photo’
Comedy director (of Money and Pattukondi Chooddam fame) is going to produce and direct a romantic thriller titled Photo. This film will introduce new faces in the lead roles. Siva Nageswara Rao’s last film was Mrs. & Mr. Sailaja Krishna Murthy.

Mani Shankar’s 5-minute film for Bush
Popular Hyderabadi film director Mani Shankar is doing a 5-minute short film on Andhra Pradesh for the state government which intends to show it to George Bush when he visits Hyderabad this week.