Veteran director Bapu passes away

Veteran director Bapu is no more. He passed away on August 31 after battling illness for the past few weeks. Born in 1933, Bapu's original name was Satthiraju Lakshmi Narayana and he grew up in Narsapur, West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. He began his career as a cartoonist and quickly rose to fame. Thereafter, he dabbled in painting, writing for several years and his work, especially his depiction of Ramayana and the 'Bapu Bomma' series left an indelible impression on Telugu population across the world.

When he was 14, he first collaborated with his longtime friend, Late Mullapudi Venkataramana and over the span of nearly seven decades, the duo created several literary works which enthralled several generations. Later, they continued their collaboration into films and their works like Sampoorna Ramayanam, Ramanjaneya Yuddham and Seeta Kalyanam were hailed as classics.

Bapu is also a receipient of multiple awards and honours including Padma Shri, two National Awards for Muthyala Muggu and Mr Pellam respectively, apart from two Filmfare awards and a Lifetime Achievement award for his contribution to cinema. His last major work was Balakrishna, Nayanthara starrer Sri Ramarajyam, which released in 2011.

source : toi

Best and worst of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at Cannes so far...

The Cannes Film Festival is famous in India more for the red carpet hits and misses by the likes of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor and more recently Vidya Balan. While the Indian media leaves no stone un-turned to scrutinize India's beautiful representatives to the festival in the French Riviera, we bring you the best and worst of the woman who has made many appearances at the Cannes over the years. Read on to know about the yay and nay hairstyles and outfits of Ash at Cannes.

Cannes 2014: THE GOOD- She is back and how! Aishwarya Rai Bachchan showed the world she's totally worth it when she finally stepped onto the Cannes red carpet this time. Ash glittered in a gold Roberto Cavalli off-shoulder dress as she stepped out on the red carpet for the premiere of 'Two Days, One Night'. With her hair in a left loose and a dash of bold red lip colour that did all the talking, Ash surely looked like a goddess! With constant speculations about what she will wear and how she will look, Aishwarya silenced her critics as she sizzled on the red carpet.

Ram Charan gifted Lance Cruiser V8 to Chiranjeevi

Ram Charan gifted Toyato Lance Cruiser V8 to Chiranjeevi on his birthday. The car is priced around Rs.1.25 crores. It is a known news that Ram Charan had presented a Rolls Royce car to Chiranjeevi a few years ago. Chiranjeevi along with his wife went to Nepal on his birthday for participating in few pujas in a temple. Ram Charan has given a clear assurance to the fans and well wishers of Chiranjeevi regarding the official announcement of 150th movie within 1 Month at Chiranjeevi birthday celebrations at CCT.

Chiranjeevi 150th film announcement within 1 Month

Mega Power Star Ram Charan ,Varun Tej, Sai Dharma Tej and Allu Aravind attended the birthday celebrations of Mega Star Chiranjeevi as the Chief Guests.The event was celebrated at Chiranjeevi Blood Bank and fans will be attending in big numbers. Chiranjeevi along with his wife went to Nepal on his birthday for participating in few pujas in a temple. Ram Charan has given a clear assurance to the fans and well wishers of Chiranjeevi regarding the official announcement of 150th movie within 1 Month. Ram Charan said “My assurance to fans is that it willn’t have a heroism, something like holding a sword in hand, thigh slapping and royal moutache. We aren’t aiming any record, but just wanted to make a meaningful flick which remains as a good product in Telugu cinema forever. An official announcement will be made within 1 month,” reveals Cherry.

source : cb

Chiranjeevi's birthday pics go viral : HAPPY BIRTH DAY TO CHIRANJEEVI

The latest birthday stills of Megastar Chiranjeevi were trending online among Telugu movie lovers. Reactions like "Style ga pose ivvalsina avasaram ledu.. in-built style untadi body lo ..chiru :thumb:,"(There is no need to make an effort to look stylish. He has style inbuilt in his body) "Chiranjeevi New Pics super Asalu :)," kept pouring in as the Mega fans went ga ga over the photo shoot.

 

It's Chiranjeevi's birthday today and speculations about the Megastar's 150th film began doing the rounds as well. Buzz is that Chiru will be making his comeback with a total mass entertainer and that this is the actor's look for the film. It does look like the actor has lost weight and is getting back in shape for a second innings. We will have to wait and see if an announcement indeed comes today . It will give the fans of the actor a new reason to celebrate.

     MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY "MEGASTAR CHIRANJEEVI"

SOURCE : TOI

Shruti Haasan’s ‘Bablu’ saves her life : Tevar

Are you wondering who is Bablu? Well, it is none other than Arjun Kapoor.

 

Shruti Haasan was recently shooting an item song for Arjun's Tevar when she took a fondness for him. She finds Arjun to be very simple and sweet and was adamant about nicknaming him Bablu. Throughout the shoot, she called him 'Bablu' occasionally shifting to 'Pawam' in Tamil. On Sunday, they were dancing with real horses around them, when one of the horses that had his face towards Shruti, all of a sudden decided to turn his back against her, almost about to kick her, when Bablu saw this and pushed her away in full filmi style, saving her from getting hurt.

source : toi

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani costliest movie ever?

                                                 Ranveer Singh and  Deepika Padukone

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani seems to have all the makings of an epic: leading Bollywood stars and a budget to match it.

According to a leading daily, the film has a budget of a whopping Rs.210 crore and this makes the film the costliest ever made here.

The film will be recreating a portion of Maratha history with the actors - Ranveer, Deepika and Priyanka Chopra - dressing head-to-toe in fabrics similar to those used in the time of Bajirao Peshwa, adds the report.

It is this need to be as authentic as possible that could be behind the film's big budget. And if Devdas with a budget of Rs.65 crore was a preview, then Bajirao Mastani promises to be a game changer.

source : in

Creature 3D not a horror movie, says Bipasha Basu

Bipasha Basu has spooked the audience by acting in horror films "Raaz" and "Aatma". But she says her forthcoming film "Creature 3D" does not belong to the genre.

"It's the first Indian creature film and that was the most exciting part... also being done by Vikram Bhatt is great," she said.

"I really didn't know where we were going to head. We shot the entire film and it was completely on the basis of trust, Now 'Creature' has been made and it's looking exciting.

"Anybody who thinks it's a horror film doesn't have the right information. It's a film like "Jurassic Park" or "Anaconda". It's action-oriented and adventurous film," she said.

Also starring Imran Abbas, it is produced under the banner of T-Series and is slated to release Sep 12.


source : in

Rajinikanth makes Bollywood's Rohit Shetty faint

While many top actors want to work with director Rohit Shetty, he says that he wishes to director Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth. "I had the fortune of meeting Rajini Sir in Hyderabad just recently. I went to visit him on his set and he was about to go for a shot. But when he heard I had come to see him, he walked across to me; greeted me and said, 'Rohit, I love your work. I'm a great fan.' I was about to faint. I kept telling myself, this is Rajinikanth Sir, who according to me, is the biggest star in the universe. Yet he was so humble. He had no hang-ups about walking across to me and paying me a compliment. I spent half an hour with him and it was such a fabulous experience. I kept marvelling about how grounded he is. I'm nothing in front of him, yet he made me feel so special," he gushes.

The Bollywood director reveals that he had also taken pictures with the Superstar but director KS Ravikumar requested him not to put them up online as they might reveal information on Rajinikanth's role in Lingaa.

Quiz him if he will consider making a bilingual film if he gets to work with Rajinikanth, and he laughs, "My films have already become bilingual. When everyone saw Chennai Express, they said it was a bilingual. But I am proud that Chennai Express is the highest grossing Hindi film down south. Likewise, the Singham films have a fair share of Marathi in them. My detractors are only accusing me of blowing up cars. What they have not realised is that my films have the potential to cross language barriers. New avenues have opened for Hindi films and I'm proud and happy about it. Coming back to the original question, I would love to do a bilingual film sometime soon.

source : toi

I'm intuitive about picking roles, says Kajal

As much as one would like to decode Kajal Agarwal's secret to success, the actress credits her accomplishment to the appreciation she gets from the audience. "Nothing comes close to the adrenaline rush that I get when people appreciate my work. Not even money," she says. Ask her if there's any truth in rumours about how much she charges per film, and pat comes the reply, "I work really hard on every project and all I can say is that I get paid what I deserve."
This year,Kajal will be seen in Ram Charan's upcoming film,which is the fourth time the two are working together and another film where she teams up with NTR Jr under Puri Jagannadh's baton. Is there a secret behind how she has been able to repeat combinations with almost all the big stars? "There's no secret. I am quite intuitive about picking roles and right from the beginning of my career, I've played characters which I'm comfortable with," she confesses, adding, "My role in Krishna Vamsi's film is full of life and I had a wonderful time working with him and Charan."
A few days ago, she raised a few eyebrows when she signed Sudhir Mishra's next film, and we hear that her role has shades of grey. "I've never done anything like this in my career and I'm a big fan of Sudhir Mishra's work. He was looking for someone who had an innocent face and who didn't have a stereotype attached to her. In the film, I play the role of a girl who is smart, her life is under control, but there's a grey streak to the character," she reveals.
While she's certainly on top of the game as far as her career is concerned, Kajal confesses that her personal life is quite boring. "Work is a lot more fun," she laughs. Prod her further if she's in love or if marriage is on the cards any time soon, now that her younger sister is already married, and she says, "Oh no! I did like someone back in college, but love is too big a word. I believe you have to know someone for a long time to be in love. Marriage is not on my mind. My work is my first priority."

source : toi

A decade of Manchu Manoj in Tollywood

Time flies and how? Exactly ten years ago, on this very day (August 6) actor Manchu Manoj made his debut in Tollywood with the film Donga Dongadi playing the lead role. The actor had earlier starred as a child artiste in his dad Mohan Babu's films like Major Chandrakanth, Punyabhoomi Na Desam, Adavilo Anna and Khaidigaru. It's been a long an event journey for the actor who has earned the tag Rocking Star.

"10years as a hero and 27years as a child artist :) I thank my Family, Friends and Fans for supporting me throughout:):) love u all:)," posted Manchu Manoj who has acted in 14 Tollywood films so far. "I am very happy with my career. I'm not the type to plan much. Initially, after completing every movie, I would travel a lot to the US to visit my sister Lakshmi. Now that she's here, the number of films I'm doing is increasing too," he says Manoj when asked about his filmography.

He is presently shooting for his next film Current Theega. Rakul Preet Singh is playing the lead in the movie which also has Sunny Leone in a guest role.

source : toi

Suriya's 'Sikander' Audio Launch

The audio launch of Suriya-Samantha's much-awaited "Sikander" (Telugu dubbed version of Tamil film "Anjaan") is all set to take place on Thursday (31 July) at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad.

The audio launch function is likely to be a grand event with the presence of "Sikander" (aka "Sikinder") cast and crew, including Suriya, Samantha, music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja and director Lingusamy.