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Buzz: Tear Jerking Faces Of 'Mantra' Team

Mantra' director Tulasi Ram and the producers Kalyan Ram and Ravi Prakash are seen with tears in eyes. Well, they are the tears of overwhelming happiness. They have made the film 'Mantra' by taking many pains. They invested and struggled big to bring it to theatres. Distributors didn't come forward and hence they have released it on their own holding some doubt. But the result is tremendously good with whopping collections. The openings are big and the sustenance is also impressive.

They have no money in hand to roll on trailers for three days before the release of the film. They released it just like that on Friday. But now they started showing trailers on small screen only from last evening as they got confident on their film.

Now the team is going to enjoy 100% returns on the film as there are no distributors amidst. Thanks to Charmy for pulling crowds.

Press Note: DON Prints Status & first report

Don prints will be arriving here on-time and we will have premier shows tomorrow as per schedule for more info/buy tickets online visit http://www.secondshows.com.

State City Location Name

California San Jose Indian Movie Center (IMC6)
California Los Angeles Laemmle Fallbrook 7
California Los Angeles Laguna Hills Mall Cinemas
California Los Angeles Naz 8 Cinema (Artesia)
Georgia Atlanta Peachtree Cinemas
Illinois Chicago Bloomingdale Court Theater
Indiana Indianapolis Georgetown 14 Cinemas
Maryland Virginia FunAsia P&G Wheaton Plaza 11
Michigan Detroit Novi Town Center 8
Minnesota Minneapolis Brookdale 8 Cinemas
North Carolina Cary Galaxy Cinema
New Jersey New Jersey Movie City Edison

DON's First Screening at Prasad Labs is carrying Extraordinary Report. It was screened yesterday to the Hero Nagarjuna, Producer, Director and their close associates.

'Tollywood Don' Akkineni Nagarjuna's first reaction was " This was the what I felt when I watched SHIVA first copy"

People, who watched the movie along with the Unit members rated it as as Top class Action flick on Indian screen.

Even the people, who worked for the finishing touches (a day before) felt awestruck by seeing at some exhilarating scenes. They felt like watching Hollywood movie.

This talk spread like a wildfire allover the state. All the theaters screening DON weared new look by dawn.

Abhishek praised in Aamir Khan’s Movie

There is a sequence in Aamir Khan’s upcoming Taare Zameen Par in which Abhishek Bachchan is praised as one of the hottest stars of the country.

The reference is made in terms of him being one of the most successful stars and how he has created Dhoom, overcoming the reading difficulties that he had during childhood (dyslexia). “Aamir Khan, who plays an art teacher in the film, points to a photograph of Abhishek Bachchan and tells a kid, Aap toh inko jaante hain, inhe bhi padhne mein problem hota tha, lekin dekho aaj duniya mein Dhoom machaye hue hain. The entire class starts singing the song Dhoom Macha le after that,” says a source.

Chiru's fans now want him to work for unity

After pressing him for long to join politics, the fans club of mega star Chiranjeevi now demand that he work for the unity of the Telugu-speaking people not only in Andhra Pradesh but also all over the world. They equate him with former chief minister and Telugu Desam founder NT Rama Rao. The fans club feels that Rama Rao had brought unity among the Telugus by launching Telugu Desam. They want Chiranjeevi to work for the unity. However, the fans club this time did not specifically demand that Chiranjeevi join politics and thereby work for the unity of the Telugus.

Since Chiranjeevi himself did not announce his political intentions, the fans club too does not want to be dragged into the controversy. So in a subtle way it has come out with the demand and the need for unity among Telugus. The club is of the view that only Chiranjeevi will be able to bring about the much-needed unity among Telugus at this crucial juncture. The fans are hopeful that the film star will some day or the other, but before the next Assembly elections, announce his intentions to join politics or launch his own political organisation.

Exclusive Savval Movie Posters

Venkatesh's 'Chintakayala Ravi' Opens New Trend

Title trends go on in different styles in Tollywood. Many assume that there are no new titles to give nomenclature for new films. At the same time some innovative heads are bringing out something new all the time. The fresh title that is bringing laughs for everyone is 'Chintakayala Ravi' that is going to be the nomenclature for Venlatesh's new film in the production of Nallamalupu Bujji. Initially it was gossiped that Bujji is going to give the title for this film starting with letter 'L' (like Lakshmi and Lakshyam). But now that is ruled out. Bujji is not serious on that 'L concept and came out with this new funny title 'Chintakayla Ravi'.

Now the point is the new trend would start this way basing on the 'sur names'. Telugu surnames sound funny for Telugu people itself. The titles with cast elements like 'Reddy', 'Chowdhary', 'Sastry' and 'Nayudu' have already seen light and proved to be on beaten track. Now the titles will be with surnames if this Chintakayala Ravi proves successful. Irrespective of that a new trend seems to have opened to title the films with surnames in them.

We may see the titles like 'Chinta Gantayya', 'Ganta Guruvayya', 'Gurava Obulesu', 'Obula Venkanna', 'Venka Timmanna…' etc down the line!! Yes, just kidding the phenomenon!

Chiru talk delays Jagan's daily plan!!

Heard that the proposed Telugu daily "Saakshi" to be launched by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, is likely to be delayed further.

Initially, it was proposed to launch the daily on Sankranti; later it was rescheduled to February 21. Now, reports from inside indicate that it might get postponed further up to Ugadi. Everything in the management planning is being kept as a closely guarded secret and even the journalists taken on rolls have no clue as to why things are getting delayed. The daily was supposed to sponsor the international film festival in Hyderabad, but Jagan backed out on the ground that he doesnot want to get the title exposed to the public till the last moment.

According to sources, Jagan has developed second thoughts of launching the daily, after his advisors confirming the news about the proposed plans of Megastar Chiranjeevi to launch a new political party. It would bring major changes in the political strategies of the Chief Minister and so do the media plans of Jagan. He has to take a conscious political stand, in the event of Chiru's plans to entry. So, he asked Saakshi editors to wait for some more time, till a concrete picture emerges on Chiru's political plans. If everything works out well for Jagan, he might release full page advertisements in all the major dailies some time in the month of January declaring the launch date, sources say.

Reel Buzz: Secret Business Model Of Moser Baer

Moser Baer is now conquering the VCD and DVD market slowly. The company emerged as a big tool to fight piracy. The USP of this brand is that it sells DVDs at Rs 34 and VCDs at Rs 28. But there is a business reason for Moser Baer for starting this phenomenon.

Moser Baer is basically a CD manufacturing company that is running on more expensive machinery. As the formats are changing with advancing technology, Moser Baer is eager to do break-even on the machinery. Hence instead of selling the empty CDs to video companies, it has ventured itself into the business by taking the rights of films and pushing them into market on their CDs. As the manufacturing of CDs is in its hands, that costs very minimal.

But majority of hit film rights are in the hands of doyens in this business like Volga and Shalimar. But the end consumers are happy with the prices of Moser Baer and are purchasing many VCDs and DVDs although some films are not hits or never heard of by them. Some fast moving VCDs and DVDs on Moser Baer are 'Padamati Sandhya Ragam' (high quality DVD just at Rs 34/-), 'Seeta Kokachiluka' (VCD at Rs 28) and Kamal Hasan's silent movie, 'Pushpak' (DVD at Rs 34/-).

Screen Buzz: Anushka Offering 'Honey'!

Apart from Yoga, Ansushka is after another health secret. She has not only practiced Yoga, she campaigned and taught it. She has become a much sought-after coach on Yoga for most of the heroes. Now she has another 'sweet' thing to share with them. That's nothing but 'honey'. She is taking Bread with honey. But Anushka is not the first heroine to campaign for this diet. It was Ileana, who would lace honey on thin slices and ask heroes to have them on sets very often. Anushka simply aped this habit to woo young heroes, people in the industry say.

Rumors: Nag's Property Worth Above Rs 10,000 Cr

Nagarjuna is the big man in the industry now who is richer than many. He wasn't into direct Real Estate at any time like Murali Mohan. But he procured a few lands in his own range and now his total property is worth Rs 10,000 Cr and above.

Only at Nanakram Guda he has a sprawling 300 acres of land. Each acre costs Rs 30 Cr now. That way he has Rs 9000 Cr only there. Apart from this he has many assets those are countless. He is now planning to start another News Channel that runs on 24 hours.

And that is to safeguard his properties by keeping media in his hands. Already he is going active with MAA TV.

Nagarjuna's property is worth those many crores without including ANR's property. Annapurna Studio land and Annapurna 7 acres land is not included in Nagarjuna's Rs 10000 Cr property list. Estimation says that Nagarjuna is richer than Ramoji Rao and richer than any film personality in Tollywood!!!!

Rumors: Puri To Make A Film For Rakshita!

Director Puri Jagannath's fascination for heroine Rakshitha of 'Idiot' fame is everlasting. She got married and settled down with her husband Krishna Reddy in Bangalore long ago.

The wedlock didn't stop Puri from calling on her at regular intervals. Whenever he goes to Bangalore, he stays in her residence as a guest.

She wants to resume her career in acting now. Puri is getting ready a suitable script for her, it is reliably learnt.

Good, Bad and Ugly in Tollywood-2007 Of US-Box Office

Tollywood-2007 has seen worst performers, worse ones and average ones at the American box office. Majority of exhibitors and distributors have bitten mud by investing big and recovering nothing. The only films those bagged better collections than remaining ones are:

Happy Days
Dhee
Yama Donga
Adavari Matalaku Ardhaley Veruley and
Sivaji

Although the above films brought profitable returns for buyers they are not up to the mark. The above films bagged bigger profits as they are made with variety in subject and proved hits.

Apart from this, the films those were bought with big expectations have brought big loss for all exhibitors and distributors. The biggest mistake done by distributors is buying films for bigger amounts. The films those were bought with bigger price looking at the artificial hype created by producers had toppled miserably. The major loss makers for both distributors and exhibitors are:

Sainikudu
Tulasi
Atidhi
Chirutha
Sankardada Zindabad
Dubai Seenu
Viyalavari Kayyalu
Classmates
Takkari
Allare Allari
Munna and
Aata

And there is another level of films those were bought but not released in USA. The best example in this category is 'Vijaya Dasami'. This film proved a big flop both in USA and at home. Assuming a financial risk, the film wasn't released in USA even though after buying. That way, the loss was minimized.

This is the plight of Tollywood in 2007 in USA. Distributors and Exhibitors are being requested by many experienced people to be sane in this business and not get carried away by the words of hype from producers. Let us wish lessons were learnt from 2007 and our overseas buyers play safe game in 2008.

Screen Talk: Nag & Lawrence return with Don

After almost a year since his last release, Nagarjuna’s is all set to rock the industry with another Christmas release, according to the grapevine Nagarjuna plays a double role and in one of the roles he is portrayed as a modern “robin hood” it will be exciting to see if he plays the villain too, this movie is all about the eternal fight between good and bad and according to Lawrence the story has been told in a never before fashion involving special sequences, elaborate sets and expensive computer graphics. Well the movie is two days away and will be entertaining to see what it is all about.

Another interesting find for the industry is in the form of Lawrence directing the music though it is not the first time a director has composed music for a movie Lawrence has done a wonderful job of compiling the music, in his long list of talents he is also playing the role of Nagarjuna’s brother which is supposed to be a crucial support role. It will be interesting to see his performance.

Nagarjuna’s recent hits have all been Christmas releases and optimistically this will not be any different. Nagarjuna has been a true versatile actor of recent times it is amazing to see him in various roles right from acting as eccentric male chauvinist to portraying annamaya he has done it with aplomb. Let’s hope that Don brings out the best in him.

Vijayanand Movies bags 'Mantra' overseas rights

Vijayanand Movies has acquired the theatrical and dvd rights for worldwide.

Charmee acted mantra had got very good reviews worldwide and Charmee is back with another "anukokunda oka roju" proving her caliber better this time. The movie is based on suspense thriller which keeps everyone thinking about what will happen in the next scene in the movie plot. The music is already a big hit with couple of songs like "MAHA MAHA" is already a big chartbuster on all the radio channels.

The movie got very good reviews with all the websites read by the telugu people across worldwide.

These films, produced by Ravi Prakash & Kalyan Ram on the Gen Next Movies, are great youngsters who put their heart in producing a great movie in Tollywood history. The director OSHO Tulasi ram has proved his caliber by directing a movie which can be equaled to the likes of Ram Gopal Varma movies. Story deserves a special mention in this film. Story of the film is compact and the storyline is unpredictable laced with suspense.

Though it is a first venture for us, it promises to bring quality south Indian and Bollywood films into worldwide markets, going forward. Exhibitors may contact Madhu or Rupesh for more information regarding screening MANTRA in their respective cities or countries.

Our Special Thanks Ravi Prakash, Kalyan Ram, Tulasi ram

For Trade enquiries please Contact

Madhu Rayapati 270-779-1542
Rupesh Mamidi 602-373-4892
Mantramovie@gmail.com

Photo Feature: Can You Guess This 'Beautiful Mom'?

Can you identify the beautiful mother in this pic. We give you a clue. The child in the pic is the top gun in Bollywood who has been the darling of many hearts. Yes, that today's Bollywood diva has resemblances in features with this yesteryears' mother! Did you get?

This is the photograph of the daughter in law of Bollywood Big B and her mother taken about 32 years back.

Nallamalupu's 'Friendship' With Sexy Heroine

Nallamalupu Bujji, the young producer holds good 'friendship' with yoga teacher Anushka. The friendship developed during the shooting of the film 'Lakshyam' and now he is again giving a chance for her in the film that is going to be made with Venkatesh in lead role.

The film is going to start in the month of February as per the sources. Nallamalupu Bujji has been successful with his films 'Lakshmi' and 'Lakshyam' and hence he wants to unite the hero and heroine of the two films respectively to make another hit. On parallel lines he is also making the film with Siddhartha in lead role. Further details of the project are yet to be known.

The titles of the both the films would obviously be given with the words starting with letter 'L'.

Reel Talk: Amitabh, Shah Rukh to clash as 'Don'

Mumbai (IANS) It looks like the senior and junior Don, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, will battle it out at the box office.

While Farhan Akhtar prepares to plunge into a sequel to his 2006 hit "Don - The Chase Begins Again", with Shah Rukh in the lead, the family of Nariman Irani, who made the original "Don" in 1978 with Amitabh Bachchan, is all set to do their own take on the film with the Big B again.

Speaking on the subject for the first time, the Big B told IANS: "Yes, they (Nariman Irani's family) met me some time back. I'm yet to hear the script."

However, Farhan seems to be completely in the dark regarding this parallel project.

"I've no idea of this. We've very close relations with the Irani family. We've been very clear with each other. When they gave us the rights for remaking 'Don' they gave us the right to exploit the movie for the next three-four years. We had even told them we might be doing a sequel. And they were really cool about it.

"They didn't seem interested in going back and doing anything 'Don' related. From the outset they've been straight with us. I don't think they'd just go around announcing another movie."

But with the Iranis having approached Amitabh, a clash of creative interest between the two Dons featuring the Big B and Shah Rukh seems inevitable.

Cinema Stills Dec 20, 2007

Telugu Film News Dec 19, 2007

Okka Magadu music on 21 December

Bala Krishna’s latest film Okka Magadu in the direction of YVS Chowdary will be launched at a public function held at Cyber Gardens (beside Shilpa Kala Vedika) on the night of 21 December. Shooting of the film is complete on 6 of December. Postproduction work is going on now. Mani Sharma composed seven songs. Anushka, Priyanka Kothari (Nisha Kothari) and Simran play female leads. Okka Magadu will release on 11 January 2008.

Swagatam shooting complete

Shooting of Jagapati Babu’s latest film Swagatam was completed yesterday. They shot a remix version of ‘Piya Tu Ab To Aaja’ on Jagapati Babu and Anushka at a set erected in the floor of Rama Krishna Horticulture studios. Dasarath (Santosham fame) directs this film. Anushka and Bhumika Chawla play female leads. RP Patnaik composes music and Aditya Ram produces this film.

Don and Anasuya this week

Nagarjuna’s much awaited film Don in the direction of Lawrence will be releasing on 20th of this month all over the world. Anushka plays female lead. Lawrence made his debut as music director with this film. Lawrence is also playing a vital role in this film. Ravi Babu’s suspense thriller ‘Anasuya’ will be releasing on 21 December. Bhumika Chawla plays female lead. Ankita and Nikhita play other important characters.

Mee Sreyobhilashi on 28 December

Mee Sreyobhilashi which is expected to release on 22 December is shifted to 28 December due to unavailability of theaters. CC Reddy is releasing the film throughout AP using Suresh Movie distributors. Rajendra Prasad plays the title role. Eeswar Reddy directed this film.

Hero Likes NTR and Krishna than His Father

Many assume that Nagarjuna would say the name of his father when asked to name his favorite actor. But he said other way.

"Many assume that I like only my father's films. Than my father's films, I like NTR's and Krishna's films. I used to love the cowboy style films of Krishna when I was in teens", said Nagarjuna.

He also added saying, "Acting with my father in Sree Ramadasu is an overwhelming moment for me".

He shared his likes saying, "I love the song Telusa Manasa.. from 'Criminal' very much. Mahesh Bhatt asked me to look into the song aspect as he was completely ignorant about Telugu. I acted in that song with complete freedom. I also like the songs 'Om Namaha…' and 'Amani Padave..' from Geetanjali".

When asked how he feels when the artistes introduced by him grow well in the Industry, he said, "I feel very happy. That proves to be highly satisfied. Ram Gopal Varma is one example for that. And Sandeep Chowta is another. I have seen Sandeep Chowta in a Bangalore live concert and pulled him for 'Chandralekha'. Now I have given chance for Hemachander, the young singer after liking his voice".

Unlike before, Nagarjuna is appearing frequently in interviews after taking the ownership of MAA. Well, that's a part of publicity for his newly releasing film 'Don' as well.

Mahatma, Aishwarya top Google search lists

Social networking website Orkut is the most sought after site in India, Sania Mirza tops among sport stars, Mahatma Gandhi is the most searched political leader and Aishwarya Rai the most sought after actor, says an annual Google Zeitgeist report for India in the most popular queries of 2007.

The Google Zeitgeist, which means spirit of the times, is calculated by looking at the aggregation of the most popular and fast-rising search queries submitted to Google by Indian users.

The report also shows that among male actors, Salman Khan is the favourite, but is on number two position after Aishwarya. Shah Rukh Khan, who delivered the two biggest hits of the year - Chak De! India and Om Shanti Om - is on fifth position.

Actresses dominate the list of Bollywood celebrities and newcomer Deepika Padukone has earned a spot in the top 10.

"In compiling the 2007 year-end Google Zeitgeist(tm), we studied the aggregation of billions of search queries people from India conducted on Google. We should note that no individual searcher's information was part of this analysis," says the report.

This year, Hollywood film Spiderman was the most visited movie site.

According the report, the most searched tourist destination is Kerala followed by Singapore.