Half-Yearly Report Of Tollywood-2008

Half of 2008 is over. So it's time to release half yearly report for Tollywood. 'Krishna' proves to be block buster hit of this year that ruled box office tremendously. Brahmanadam's role stood as highlight in the film and made it a big commercial entertainer.

'Gamyam' also stands out to be a topper as it was liked by all segments of audiences. The film deserves special medal as it was made by debutant director Jagarlamudi Radha Krishna (Krish) who shot to fame instantly. The film bagged such a success that Krish got the offer to direct big hero Venkatesh successively. The budget of the film was also within in the limits and hence the appreciation is inevitable in the parameters of economics as well.

And next follows the film 'Bathukamma' although restricted to the appreciation of a small segment of AP audiences. The film was liked by Telengana audiences prominently and for the budget it incurred, it deserves commendation considering the collections.

Jalsa also proved to be a success with the collections it made. 'Bommana Brothers Chandana Sisters' stood as an average flick among mass comedy entertainers. Kantri and Parugu did average show at the end. Swagatham and Bhale Dongalu turned down at box office against to expectations. Bujjigadu could have done better at least with post-release publicity. Kalidasu got just average talk after lots of campaigning. Indeed Sushanth could make his presence felt on Tollywood screen with his hard work. Now the film 'Ready' is running well and the fresh trade reports say it is another block buster 'Hit' in this year.

Out of about 60 films released till now this year, not even 10 films could prove to be hits.

'Pandurangadu', the much expected devotional film bagged criticism by audiences stating 'eroticism dominated devotion'. Even the collections are not up to the expectations. Neelakanta's Mister Medhavi could get some good talk but the collections didn't match the expectations. Biggest experimental failures are RP Patnaik's 'Andamaina Mansulo', MS Raju's remake flick 'Vaana', Jonnaviththula's 'Somberi' and Marudhuri Raja's 'Adhyaksha'. And the biggest disappointment of this year is 'Okka Magadu'.

Film	Status
Apadamokkulavaadu	Flop
Okka Magadu	Flop
Krishna	Hit
Pourudu	Average
Vaana	Flop
Swagatham	Flop
Mister Medhavi	Flop
Krishnarjuna	Flop
Sudarakanda	Flop
Visakha Express	Flop
Ontari	Average
Andamaina Mansulo	Flop
Idi Sangathi	Flop
Nee Sukhame Ne Korukunna	Flop
Bathukamma	Hit
Gamyam	Hit
Mangatayaru Tiffin Center	Flop
Nagaram	Flop
Bhadradri	Flop
Atadista	Flop
Jalsa	Hit
Somberi	Flop
Adhyaksha	Flop
Premabhishekam	Flop
Gita	Flop
Bhale Dongalu	Flop
Kalidasu	Average
Bommana Brothers Chandana Sisters	Average
Michael Madana Kamaraju	Flop
Donga Sachchinollu	Flop
Parugu	Average
Kantri	Average
Bujjigadu	Average
Paardhu	Flop
Pandurangadu	Hit
Dasavataram	Hit
Ready	Hit
Victory	-yet to be declared-
Gorintaku	-yet to be declare

ILEANA'S New Film With V N ADITYA

Well controversy never ceases to surround ILEANA. She just needs to be away for a little while for a fresh bout of speculations to start. The latest bout of rumours though kicked up quite a storm when a website reported she had attempted suicide. But her manager quickly got into the act and issued a note declaring that Ileana was hale and hearty, holidaying in Goa. Talk about a holiday huh! Guess we can never have enough of pretty women. But here is some gup about her next film. Apparently the actress has been in negotiations with the producers to star in a V N ADITYA film. NITIN will be playing the lead in the film. Sources say that the actress has given her approval and once they decide upon some fine details they will make a public announcement.

Bhuma offers 30 Cr to CHIRU

As per the grapevine going on, former TDP Mp of Kurnool: Bhuma Nagi Reddy has offered Megastar Chiranjeevi a huge amount of 3 Crores as advance!

As reported earlier: Bhuma Nagi Reddy and his wife-Ex MLA: Sobha Nagi Reddy have resigned the TDP party earlier last week. This happened to be a huge blow to Chandra Babu Naidu and especially to TDP in Nandyala LokSabha segment. As per the reports, Bhuma Nagi Reddy had some succesfull talks with Chiranjeevi and has agreed to join his new party. He seems to have requested for 7 to 10 MLA seats in Rayalaseema and have paid a whopping amount of 30 Crores as advance.

We've to wait and see if Chiranjeevi welcomes factionists into his yet-to-be declared political party.

Kajal & Sraddha in AARYA-2

After getting good breaks with Chandamama & Godava, beautiful KAAJAL & SRADDHA has bagged lead roles in AARYA's sequel

Aarya created sensation few years back and made Allu Arjun an house hold name. Sukumar has made his debut as director with that film. Later, he went on to make JAGADAM with Ram and the film has bombed at Box-Office though Sukumar received good appreciation for the technical values and novelty.

Now, he is making the sequel to Aarya and with Allu Arjun doing the role of Aarya again. Aarya-2 has already started it's shoot and getting ready for Sankranti-2009 release! Devi Sri Prasad scores music for this sequel. Kaajal Agarwal (Lakshmi Kalyanam, Chandamama & Pourudu fame) and Sraddha Aarya (Godava fame) are playing the female leads in this Aarya-2.

PULI : NIKITHA ANAND REPLACES HANSIKA

Pawan's Puli shoot is progressing at Chilukur Balaji temple, Hyderabad. Now the latest news about the film is that the heroine Hansika is replaced by another Bollywood girl Nikitha Anand.

Nikita Anand won the Femina Miss India Universe title in 2003. She has since been engaged in a variety of modeling , compering and advertising assignments. She has appeared in "Life Mein Kabhie Kabhie". "Dil Dosti Etc" is her debut film as a lead actress.

FOUR HEROINES OPPOSITE PRABHAS "RAJU"

Gopikrishna Movies banner of Krishnam Raju is coming up with a film titled Raju. Prabhas will play the title role and Krishnam Raju will be playing the vital role in the film. As for the inside sources, Four heroines will be roped to play female leads opposite Prabhas. The film will go on floors from August.

The director and other details will be announced very soon.

On the other hand, Prabhas will also do a film for Director Raja (son of editor Mohan). Trisha will be the heroine and Editor Mohan will produce the film. This film will go on floors after Raju completes its shoot.

100 CRORES IN 3 WEEKS - DASAVATHAARAM COLLECTIONS

Dasavatharam has grossed US $14,683,762 at the end of the third week after it hit the silver screens worldwide. However, the amount does not include the collections made in North America and from certain parts of India.

After learning more about the Butterfly Effect and Chaos Theory weaved into the storyline, the audience seemed to have understood Dasavatharam better. In fact, people have been thronging the theatres to watch the film yet again after learning about these theories. It is inferred that if the present trend continues, Dasavatharam could easily be on its way to becoming one of the highest grossing South Indian movies around the globe.

In Chennai city alone (not including the suburbs) it has grossed about Rs. 6.5 crores. With the collection details for the fourth week expected soon, the trade analysts have estimated the world wide collections to go beyond Rs. 100 crores in less than three weeks time

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Amitabh to act in Marmayogi

The latest update on Kamal Hassan's yet to be launched big budget movie Marmayogi is Bollywood Superstar Amitabh Bachchan's acceptance to do a meaty role in this movie. It has been confirmed that Marmayogi will have veteran Bollywood actress Hema Malini playing a prominent role. Now Kamal Hassan is trying to rope in the legendary actor for an interesting role.

It can be recalled that plans were on to rope in the Big B for the Rajini starrer Shivaji. However he declined the offer. But he always disclosed his wish to play a full length Tamil film at once in his life. According to sources, Amitabh is yet to react for Kamal's offer but the latter is very much hopeful in getting his dates.

Gopichand and Anushka in action-romance entertainer

Upcoming villain-turned-action hero, Gopichand has been paired with Anushka and Poonam Kaur in a yet-to-be-totled film, being produced by V Anada Prasad under the banner of Bhavya Creations. Cameraman Shiva is making his debut as director with this film.

At present, climax scenes are being composed by fight-master Selva at a location near Bourampet village in the outskirts of Hyderabad. Later the shoot shifts to Kolkata. Songs will be picturised in Hyderabad and Switzerland.

This film is being flaunted as an action-romance- mass-entertainment film. Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Ali, Ajay, Raghubabu, Krishnabhagavan, MS Narayana, Saratbabu, Malladi Raghava, SubbarayaSarma and others are in the cast.

While the story and screenplay is by the director Shiva, dialogues have been written by Ratnam. Lyrics are by Bhaskarabhatla, Ananth Sriram and Jogayya Sastry; Music by Manisarma. Camera is handled by Vetrivel and editing is by Marthand K Venkatesh.

JD’s Homam getting finishing touches

Homam, starring Jagapatibabu and Mamata Mohandas, is being directed by JD Chakravarthy and produced by Kirankumar Koneru under the banner of Shreya Productions.

JD Chakravarthy plays an interesting cameo in the film, which has shares of an antagonist. Sakshi Sivanand did an item number. The acclaimed actor-director of Bollywood, Mahesh Manjrekar plays the role of villain.

Lyrics are penned by Suddala Ashokteja and the tunes are composed by Bollywood music director Nithin Raikwar . While cinematography is taken care of by Bharani K Dharan, editing is done by Bhanodaya.

The shooting of the film is almost complete. Only one song has to be canned featuring the hero and the heroine. The post production works are being carried on at a brisk pace.

Homam is being planned for an August 2008 release.

Allu Arjun: 'I am in love'

Megastar Chiranjeevi has a fan following and ardent support at home only. It is none other than his own nephew Allu Arjun who has promised his support to the yet to be launched political party. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Arjun said that he extends his support to the party without expecting any gains in the form of party posts. He said that since he was a child he had been a great fan of Chiranjeevi.

He announced to the media that he was in love and he would reveal the name of the girl soon.

The launching of political party is in full swing as per the activities of the camp. According to sources the camp has sent one lakh SMS to people to know their opinion on the Telangana issue. A decision on the Telangana issue would be taken only after that, they said.

Only Big Movie This Month Kathanayakudu'

This month, the screens in Andhra Pradesh were a bit quiet without much noise not due to lack of audience but the fact there was not one big banner release this month. However, there is news coming in that this scarcity may just be fulfilled at the last day of the month and that too in a very big way.

It is heard that superstar Rajinikanth is all set to arrive with his 'Kathanayakudu' wherein he has paired up with the hot beauty Nayantara and also has Mamta Mohandas in a meaty bit. There is also the presence of 'Manly Star' Jagapathi Babu along with Meena as the other lead and the date is said to be the 31st of this month.

However, there is another version which is saying that the movie could well be hitting the screens on the first of this month. If that happens then July will go dry but August will make up for it with some heavy duty biggies coming. You will know the real dates very soon but for now, enjoy the lesser known bannered flicks with the second rung of talented stars and have fun.

Asin, Shriya And Genelia Rise On Bollywood

This year, Bollywood earnings have gone south, and south stars Asin, Shriya Saran and Genelia D'Souza have gone to Bollywood! While the sun still rises in the east, Bollywood female stars have started to rise in the south.

This year, Bollywood earnings have gone south, and south stars Asin, Shriya Saran and Genelia D'Souza have gone to Bollywood! While the sun still rises in the east, Bollywood female stars have started to rise in the south.

Genelia D'Souza

Genelia D'Souza, 20, the youngest of the there southern lasses, has made an impressive comeback to Bollywood with Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, after a lack luster performance weeks earlier in Mere Baap Pehle Aap.

Mumbai born and brought up, Genelia started her film career as a 15-year-old in Tujhe Meri Kasam (2003), along with Ritesh Deshmukh. Her next release the same year was the Tamil film Boys, directed by south heavyweight Shankar. It was a huge success, which prompted Genelia to take a break from Bollywood and establish herself firmly as a star in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films.

Genelia returned to Bollywood with Masti (2004), which top lined Ajay Devgan and Vivek Oberoi; and then again this year with Mere Baap Pahle Aap, before making it good with Jaane Tu…

Despite her young age, Genelia is now firmly established in Bollywood and equally firmly grounded in life. She is wary of skin show and wants to do films that families can enjoy.

"It's not that I will not wear short skirts or do kissing scenes, but the fine line between vulgarity and being glamorous must not be breached," she says.

Her upcoming films include Rumi Jaffery's Life Partner with Govinda, Fardeen Khan, Tusshar Kapoor, and Prachi Desai; and Anees Bazmee's It's My Life with Harman Baweja and Nana Patekar.

Asin

Dasavatharam star Asin, 26, is set to make her Bollywood debut with Ghajini, opposite Aamir Khan. Asin also tarred in the Tamil and Telugu versions of Ghajini earlier.

Asin, 22, is a Malayalee who was born and brought up in Cochin. She has now settled in Chennai.

Even before the release of Ghajini, Asin has been signed up for two more Bollywood films.

Aise Ko Taisa directed by Priyadarshan with co-stars Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal; and London Dreams directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah with co-stars Ajay Devgan, Lara Dutta, Salman Khan and Urmila Matondkar.

In London Dreams, Asin plays a South Indian musician in London. Explaining his choice of Asin for the role, Vipul Shah says, "I needed a proper South Indian girl speaking accented Hindi. I also required a face not seen in Bollywood. At the same time, I needed an actress, not just a looker who could sing and dance."

Shriya Saran

Shriya, 25, who was born and brought up in a Hindi speaking family, is best known for her Tamil super hit Sivaji (2007), top lining Rajnikanth. Like Genelia, she made her Bollywood debut with Tujhe Meri Kasam, and went on to act in Awarapan (2007).

She will be next seen in Apoorva Lakhia's Mission Istanbul, a taut thriller, top lining Vivek Oberoi and Zayed Khan. Shriya plays a TV journalist in the film set for release on July 25.

"The scribe is someone like Barkha Dutt…one who is there on the spot where the action is," Shriya explains.

Shriya's forthcoming films include Ek - The Power Of One directed by Sangeeth Sivan with co-stars Bobby Deol, Chunky Pandey and Nana Patekar.

Interestingly, none of the three stars plan to work in Bollywood exclusively.

"I don't know why people say Hindi film actress, Tamil film star and Telugu film artiste," wonders Shriya.

"I prefer to term them all as Indian films the language does not matter as long as the role has substance. Why not simply say an Indian film actress?" she asks!

Gopichand in Eetaram films

Hero Gopichand is doing a film once again for the Eetaram films banner. He acted in the film 'Yagnam' under the same banner and the film was a blockbuster hit.

The trio of producer Pokuri Babu Rao, director Ravikumar Choudhary and hero Gopichand are coming back together for a new film.

The shooting will commence from august. The details about the star cast and technicians will be announced shortly.