Why 'Yamadonga' 50 Days Cancelled?

There are impressions that the 50 days function of 'Yama Donga' were cancelled although initially intended to perform in Guntur on 14th of this month. The reason is that once the 50 days celebrations are carried, people will understand that the tempo of the film has lost and hence the closing ceremony is done with the function. To avoid such impressions, Rajamouli and team are planning to perform the function only for 100 days.

But will the film sustain until then? Now itself, only 15-20 percent collections are being made. The new releases like Tulasi and Athidhi are lined up. Amidst all this, will this 'Yamadonga' run for 100 days?! Need to wait and see.

Meanwhile, we may not know if Rajamouli and team changes mind and celebrate 50 days function as planned. Apart from this, it is said by film circles that Yamadonga completed 50 day run in less than 200 theaters. But Rajamouli and team says that it ran in 400 centers. What is to be believed?

Press Note: Yama Donga 50days Gala in USA

Yama Donga has completed 50 days and the occasion was celebrated with lot of fanfare in Dallas, USA on October 6th, Saturday evening. Touring Talkies ( Hollywood Theaters), US distributor Raman Sanchula, and local NTR fans have arranged festivities like never before. On Saturday morning at 11:30 am, Ananda Lahari ( Popular telugu radio program on Radio Salaam Namaste 104.9 FM) has done a 50 days special on Yama Donga. NTR and Rajamouli came live on the program and shared the emotions with Dallas people. All the Radio station phone lines were jammed with calls during the program.

To celebrate the first 50 days continuous run for NTR overseas, a special show is scheduled for all the fans at 9:30 pm. About 320 people attended the show. The festivities started at 8:30 pm. The whole event was vibrant and colorful with NTR fans, kids, families, balloons, 50 days cake, whistles, specially decorated RV for Yama Donga, Yama Donga songs in background, Champagne. and photoflashes. About 200 TANTEX ( Telugu Association of North Texas) members who had a special screening of Yama Donga at 6 PM have also joined the celebrations. While Happy Days was going house full on the next screen, over 500 people have watched and enjoyed Yama Donga on Saturday celebrating 50 days.

It was a party time in Dallas for all Yama Donga fans!!

Will This Tamil 'Yamadonga' Materialize?

Grapevine says that 'Yamadonga' is going to be remade into Tamil with Vijay in lead. Vijay always eyes on hit films in Telugu and wishes to make them in Tamil. He is now thinking to do Yamadonga in Tamil. The concept of yama is not that popular in Tamil but the audience would certainly relish it there, says the sources. If everything goes well Vijay may do the film in the first half of 2008.

It is also said that Mamata Mohandas will be retained in the same role in Tamil as well. Well, why to leave Priyamani? Even she is a known Tamil actress who ruled the screen with the film 'Paruthi Veeran' there.

Let us wait and see how far it will materialize.

Yama Donga breaks Records In Dallas

3258 people have seen Yama Donga in the newly opened Touring Talkies/Hollywood Theaters. While there is a lot of hype going on about the up coming movies, Yama Donga has silently broken several records in Dallas.

1. Dallas market is becoming second market in USA with Yama Donga: 3258 attendence is equal to New jersey and very close second to Bay Area for Yama Donga. Typically Dallas telugu market is the 5th or 6th in ranking in United States. Dallas market on an average is around 33%-40% of Bay area and 40%-60% of new jersey. Virginia, Detroit, Chicago used to be bigger than Dallas. Dallas collections has crossed these 3 cities and and matching New jersey in collections. Means, Dallas market has expanded by almost 100%.

2.Second biggest attendence ever for any telugu move in Dallas: 3258 was achieved only second time in Dallas telugu movie market and the chase is still on.

3. NTR's highest ever : It is the highest ever for NTR. By comparison Rakhi got about 600 simhadri got about 950.

Factors that contributed:
Jr. NTR new look and Mass appeal
Jr. NTR Dances
Rajamouli Direction
Mohanbabu as Yama
Anna NTR Animation
Yama Lokam Sets
Series of heroines
over all Entertainment value
Distributor's support
Factors that has taken the movie collections to the next level:

Sensational movie watching experience in new movie theaters
Stadium seating
Dolby Digital sound
Perfect location( 635 & MacArthur Blvd)
Innovative ticket pricing
Number of shows (3 shows per day., every day., just like back home)
Promotion through Radio salaam Namaste on 104.9 FM
Websites promotion
While YamaDonga is a hit all over, it is a SUPER DUPER HIT in Dallas.

Watch for how much hyped Sekhar Kammula's Happy Days (Releasing on 28th September) is going to do in this theaters!!

Chit Chat with Cherry ( Yama Donga Producer )

Cherry who made his debut as a producer with Okkadunnadu is now jointly producing NTR - Rajamouli combination film Yamadonga along with Urmila Gangaraju. Cherry at Prasad Labs where the rerecording of Yamadonga is taking place. Here are the excerpts of Cherry's interview about Yamadonga -


Tell us about how Yamadonga project happened?
Rajamouli called us one day and said that he would be directing a film for us on his banner Viswamitra creations. He wanted us to be the producers of his first venture on Viswamitra banner. He established this banner to make his own films and also to encourage new talent. We worried initially because it is very difficult to come up with a storyline that justifies the hype created because it is coming from a combination that delivered record-breaking Simhadri.

Rajamouli then went on a holiday and returned with the subject of a socio-fantasy. The main thread is similar to that of Yamagola - hero going to hell and returning to the earth. But he added lot of different aspects to it. The treatment is going to be completely different.

I would like to thank Rajamouli for making the producer of this film. He observed my passion for movies and ambition to produce big ventures and offered this film to me.

Yamadonga is touted as the costliest film ever made in Andhra Pradesh. What cost it so much?

1. Yamalokam set: The Yamalokam set for this film is erected in the biggest studio floor in Asia situated in Ramoji Film City. The biggest set in RFC was erected for Vaaji song in Sivaji and it occupied only 60% of the floor. The Yamalokam set occupied the 100% of the floor. It took around 2 months and 300 simultaneous workers to erect the set. It also took the same amount of time to dismantle it. We used 15 generators at a time to light up with floor. It took 4 days to set the lighting to that floor. I would like to give the entire credit to the art director Anand Sai and the art department of RFC.

2. Other sets: Except for one song, all other songs are shot in indoor or outdoor sets. These sets are also designed in grand style.

3. Remunerations: This film sports actors like NTR and Mohan Babu. There are seven heroines (Priyamani, Mamata Mohandas, Navaneet Kaur, Preethi Jingyani, Archana, Rambha and Khushboo) in this film. The other character artists are of top standards. It costs a lot to get quality cast. Rajamouli is the highest paid director in Telugu film industry.

4. The making: Yamadonga is the costliest Telugu film ever done. The production of this film took on massive scale.

Tell us about the camera work?
Senthil Kumar used the best available equipment to shoot this film. Since Yamalokam set demands a great amount of lighting, we procured almost all available lighting equipment from Hyderanad movie infrastructure providers. We had to borrow some of the lighting equipment from Chennai too.

What is the response of the music?
Yamadonga is unarguably the biggest music album from the combination of NTR-Rajamouli-Keeravani. It is the biggest audio hit in the career of NTR. Generally music lovers like a few songs in any album. But Yamadonga album got unanimous appreciation for all songs including Yamalokam bit songs. Valli (Vel Records) has done a fabulous job of distributing the album to the remotest areas of AP. The recording quality of Cds and cassettes is also excellent. The special booklet given inside album is a big hit. I have seen parents buying multiple copies of audio because each kid wants to have one for himself.

What about rerecording?
Keeravani started the work on 2 July and will complete it on 7 August. It is taking over a month. Keeravani is immensely enjoying rerecording as it is a challenging task to work for a socio-fantasy. Rerecording will be highlight of the film.

Tell us about graphics in this film?
Graphics work plays a very vital role because it is a socio fantasy. We employed various e-fx companies. Adel Edeli - a renowned 3D animator from Iran - did the 3-D work for the exterior of Yamalokam. EFX studio did the major work (around 90%) of the graphics part. They have been working on the film from April to August. Rajamouli did online editing and made sure that graphics work is done simultaneously along with the shooting.

Tell us about working with Mohan Babu?
We had a terrific experience working with a senior actor like Mohan Babu. We heard a lot of things about his earlier that he is a short-tempered man. But we realized that he is a very cool person to work with. He is very punctual on sets and is extremely professional. He has no short temper and threw no tantrums. He is a very nice person.

There is lot of buzz about NTR dances in this film?
NTR's new look helped him a lot. His dances are amazing. There are only one or two heroes like Allu Arjun in Telugu film industry who can perform superb dances. He will become number one dancer in Telugu film industry with his steps in Nachore song. Only dance master could do such kinds of steps. NTR does not need any rehearsals for dances. But for the steps in Nachore, he had to undergo a few rehearsals. The steps are so complicated and unique. His weight reduction also helped him a big time.

What about the rumors that Prabhas did the role of Viswamitra in Yamadonga?
It is partly true. Prabhas did the role of Viswamitra. But not for Yamadonga film. When Rajamouli wanted to design the logo of Viswamitra Creations, he needed a model for Viswamitra photo. He requested Prabhas as his physique is very good. Prabhas obliged for a photo shoot. The designer cut the physique of Prabhas and inserted in the logo of Viswamitra creations logo.

How many days did it take to shoot?
We started the shooting on 2 January and completed it by the end of July. It took us 148 working days spread over a span of seven months. We exposed around 2 lakhs feet of negative. This is very less compared to the theme of socio-fantasy and the making standards. We shot most of the film indoors by erecting massive sets in Ramoji Film City, Annapurna studios and Rama Naidu studios (Nanakram Guda).

When is Yamadonga is going to be censored?
It will be done on 8 August.

How many prints it is releasing with?
We are planning for 350+ prints released all over the globe on 15 August.

What is the final outcome of your debut film Okkadunnadu?
It is a satisfactory film for me financially. I made some money. The distributors broke even. The film started off in a great style, but collections dropped after a few weeks. It was the biggest grosser for Gopichand at that time. It was a brave attempt to make such flicks and I got great kick doing that project.

What are your future projects?
I have 3 projects lined up with crazy combinations. I will announce the details once these are confirmed.