Balakrishna joins Mahadeva Naidu sets

After completing the shooting of his mythological film Sri Rama Rajyam, veteran actor Balakrishna has joined the sets of Mahadeva Naidu in Hyderabad. Presently, the unit is canning the action sequences on Balakrishna and others under the supervision of fight masters Ram-Lakshman.

Meanwhile, sources said that the title Mahadeva Naidu is yet to be confirmed and the makers are also considering Adhinaikudu as its title.

Directed by Paruchuri Murali and produced by M.L. Kumar Chowdary under the banner of Sree Keerthi Combines, the film has three heroines: Lakshmi Rai, Charmi and Saloni. Music is by Kalyan Malik.

Prabhas' hat trick film with Kajal?

Reportedly Kajal Aggarwal has been offered the female lead opposite Tollywood hunk Prabhas in his proposed film under the direction of S.S. Rajamouli.

If she accepts, this would be the third film by the Prabhas-Kajal Aggarwal duo. Earlier, they paired in the successful Darling and Mr. Perfect. This untitled film is produced by K. Raghavendra Rao and will hit the floors in November.

Prabhas is presently busy with the shooting of director Lawrence Raghavendra's action thriller Rebel. Thaman is scoring the music for Rebel, starring Anushka and Deeksha Seth as the heroines.

Rajinikanth visits Baba's cave: Vijay TV exclusive

On August 28, 2011 (Sunday) at 11 a.m.,Vijay TV is all set to air an interesting show on Superstar Rajnikanth’s visit to Baba's cave. Titled 'Superstarudan Oru Himalaya Payanam', it will take viewers to Rajni's visit to the mysterious Baba's cave (in the Himalayas) post the success of Enthiran. It is a well-known fact that Superstar is a regular visitor to the Himalayas to meditate and rejuvenate his mind.

The show will also feature footages of the beautiful Himalayan ranges. Superstar is accompanied by his best friend who will be narrating some interesting anecdotes throughout the show.

So get ready to watch the mystical journey of our Superstar on August 28, 2011!

Sonu Sood rejects Gabbar Singh

 




Sonu Sood, who was approached by the makers of Pawan Kalyan starrer Gabbar Singh (Telugu) to reprise his role Chedi Singh in Salman Khan's super hit Bollywood film Dabangg, has turned down the offer!

Though the reasons in declining the offer are yet to be known, reports claim that the 38-year-old actor opted out of the project due to date issues. Interestingly, he is currently playing the same role in Osthi, the Tamil version of Dabangg.

Meanwhile, the makers of Gabbar Singh have started searching for a suitable face for the villain's role. Sources say that they are planning to rope in Prakashraj to reprise the role played by Sonu Sood in the original. Directed by Harish Shankar, Gabbar Singh stars Pawan Kalyan and Shruti Haasan in the lead.

Sudeep with Allu Arjun

After playing a small character in Ram Gopal Varma's Rakta Charitra and a full-fledged role as a villain in S.S. Rajamouli's Eega, popular Kannada actor Sudeep has been signed to play a vital role in his third Telugu film to be directed by Trivikram Srinivas with Allu Arjun and Ileana in the lead roles.

Hinting about the project, the Kannada star wrote a social networking site: "Hd a discussion wth Trivikram(dir:Athadu/Khaleja) regdn a project.Grt guy.Nice feelin to hv Grt directrs frm othr languages,approachin me." This untitled film is produced by D.V.V. Danaiah under the banner of Universal Media.

Ravi Teja's new film launched

Crazy Star Ravi Teja's next film under the direction of Sowryam and Sankham fame Shiva was launched on August 18 at producer Boorugapalli Siva Ramakrishna's office in Hyderabad. Nagamuneswari is presenting this untitled mass entertainer under the banner of Sri Venkateswara Entertainment.

Speaking at the film launch, Ravi Teja said: "Shiva is a sensible director. He knows the mass pulse of the audience. The story which he narrated was very inspiring. I am very happy that I am going to do a good film under Burugupalli Sivarama Krishna’s film banner."

Vijay Anthoni is composing the music. Editing is by Gowtham Raju, art by A.S. Prakash and story by Shiva and Adinarayana. The film has Rajendra Prasad, Brahmanandam, Ali, M.S. Narayana, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Raghubabu, Shiyaji Shinde and Vennela Kishore in other roles.

Mugguru, Urumi releasing today

Manasantha Nuvve fame V.N. Aditya’s Mugguru, starring young heroes Navdeep, Rahul and Srinivas Avasarala and Urumi, the Telugu dubbed version of super hit Prithviraj-Prabhu Deva-Genelia starrer in the same title (Malayalam), are releasing on Friday (August 19).

Mugguru, with the tagline 'Maha Mayagallu', recently got a 'U' certificate and is said to be a full length comedy entertainer. Shot in Karmachedu, Malaysia and Vizag, it is produced by D. Rama Naidu under the banner of Suresh Productions. Shraddha Das, Sanjjannaa and Sowmya are the heroines.

Urumi, presented by Shoba Rani under the banner of SVR Media, is releasing in over 300 theatres. Directed by ace cinematographer-turned-director Santosh Sivan, it is a historical epic set in the backdrop of 16th century in Kerala. The film has eight songs composed by Deepak Dev.

Shareef Zuberi files suit against RGV

Popular producer Shareef Zuberi has filed a suit in Mumbai City Civil Court, seeking a direction to restrain director-producer Ram Gopal Varma from releasing his forthcoming flick Not A Love Story (reportedly based on the murder of TV executive Neeraj Grover), stating that the film is a copy of his under-production film Love Affair based on a similar plot.

Zuberi, who claimed that he had registered the script with the Film Writers' Association, alleged that RGV had copied the story idea. Zuberi also claimed that his film is 70% complete and would be ready for release in the next 45 days.

The producer said he had already spent Rs. 70 lakhs on the venture and was shocked to see in newspapers that RGV was releasing a film based on the same subject.

Zuberi urged the court to restrain RGV from releasing the movie, until he compensates him for the losses suffered by him; in the alternative, he prayed that RGV be asked to release the film only after Zuberi's Love Affair is released in theatres.

Poolarangadu launched

Comedian-turned-hero Sunil’s next film Poolarangadu was launched on August 18 at Annapoorna Studios in Hyderabad in the presence of Tollywood celebrities director Rajamouli, V.V. Vinayak, Sukumar, Dev Katta and Bellamkonda Suresh.

Director Rajamouli clapped the board for the muhurat shot, featuring Sunil and heroine Isha Chawla, while director Sukumar switched on the camera and V.V. Vinayak directed the first shot. The regular shooting will start soon.

Poolarangadu is directed by Veerabadhram Chowdhary and produced by Atchi Reddy under the banner of Max India Productions. Anup Rubens is scoring the music. Prasad Murella is handling the camera and Sridhar of Aha Naa Pellanta fame is penning the dialogues.

Jr. NTR-Sreenu Vytla film updates

Young Tiger Jr. NTR is all set to do a film under the direction of Sreenu Vytla for the first time!

While the arrangements are being made to commence the shooting shortly, Jr. NTR said in a press note that this good action entertainer film will commence after the completion of his film under the direction of Boyapati Sreenu.

"This is my first film with director Sreenu Vytla and the movie story is very inspiring. This good action entertainer film will start after completion of my under shoot film under Boyapati Sreenu's direction,” Jr. NTR said.

Sreenu Vytla said: "I feel excited to direct Jr. NTR and he is also excited after listening to the story. The film is going to attract all types of audience. After my current project Dookudu, I will start the new project with NTR." The film is produced by actor-turned-producer Ganesh Babu under the banner of Parameswara Arts.

MAA to ban outside actors?

In a bid to safeguard the interests of thousands of artistes in Andhra Pradesh, the Movie Artistes’ Association (MAA) is likely to ban actors from other language film industries. Notably, nearly 8 to 10 leading actors and actresses in Tollywood are from Bollywood, Kollywood and Mollywood.

"We are going to hold talks with producers to hire more Telugu actors, since our motto is to safeguard the interests of Telugu artistes," actor and MAA vice president Sivakrishna was quoted as saying.

"The bone of contention of 600-odd Telugu artistes is that dream merchants are violating the permissible limit of female leads, villains and other key characters and roping in other language actors even for cameo roles. In the process, they are depriving hundreds of Telugu artistes,” O. Kalyan, ex-chief of the Cine Workers' Union, said.

Meanwhile, Bollywood star Sonu Sood, who appears in Tollywood films, argued that it’s unfair to ban actors, since many actors from the South are working in Bollywood and vice versa. "Talent and popularity of a particular actor should be the criterion that counts,” he reasoned. Producer Suresh Babu is of the opinion that it’s not easy to implement such stipulations.

Dookudu audio released

The audio of Prince Mahesh Babu's latest action-packed romantic entertainer Dookudu, directed by Sreenu Vytla with Samantha as the heroine, was released in grand style on August 18 amidst celebrities and hundreds of fans.


Rajamouli released the audio CD and handed it over to Sukumar in the presence of Dil Raju, Brahmanandam, Namratha, Samantha, Sudheer Babu and others.

Speaking on the occasion, Prince Mahesh said: “This is the first time ever in my career that an audio function is organized for my film. I feel it not as an audio release function but a 100 days function. Like everyone, even I am excited and eagerly waiting for its release. The film will be released in September."

Dookudu is produced by Anil Sunkara, Achanta Gopinath and Achanta Ram under the banner of 14 Reels Entertainment. Krishna Productions is presenting it. Music is by Thaman and cinematography is by Prasad Murella.