TELUGU
Anthamanamanchike
Rajendraprasad on comeback bid
Producer Kishore Rahi’s forthcoming film Anthamanamanchike which is currently in its post production stages, will be released in October. Recently a function was held to release the audio through HMV at Prashant Guest house. This hilarious film is hailed as a comeback film of Rajendraprasad who has acted in more than 200 films. Rachana and Ashasaini are paired opposite him with Kishore Rati in a cameo.

“An ambitious girl marries Rajendraprasad assuming that he is rich but when she comes to know the truth, she wants to divorce him. And whether she leaves him or not is the basic storyline,” disclosed director Veeru who has also composed music for the film adding, “Though slightly serious, we would be narrating it in an entertaining manner and all artistes have put in good performance.”

Producer Kishore Rathi said, “The film has come out very well. I think it is better than what Veeru has narrated to me. Most of the songs would be situational and our confidence has doubled after seeing the rushes”.

Jayam Mandera
Venkatesh in an actioner
After a record-breaking hit, Kalisumdam Raa, Suresh Productions next film Jayam Manadera, starring Venkatesh and Soundarya, is ready for release expect for song sequences.

Venkatesh who is going through the best phase of his career spanning 45 films has delivered eight hits in a row. Interestingly he has donned varied characters in all the films.

Producer Suresh claimed that this time they would be catering to the masses with action, romance and emotional performances after a big gap. Director Shankar who has made revolutionary films like Encounter and Sriramulaya has woven a script around the Rayalaseema backdrop and has sketched ‘dual’ roles for Venkatesh. Written Paruchuri Bros claimed that the script revolves around power, emotion and romance with entertainment values. When this correspondent visited the sets erected at Annapoorna and Ramanaidu Studios, scenes were being canned on Venkatesh and Soundarya.

Venkatesh said, “It would be one of the best characters of my career. I had utmost satisfaction doing this film. Both the characters are well-etched and the transition from romance to action is smooth. I would be appearing in a very wilder role instead of soft characters. The film would definitely cater to my fans and masses”.

Producer Suresh said, “After some romantic films, Venky felt that we should do an action film and though it is an action film but we have put good doses of romance. The film also has a social message. Music Vandemataram Srinivas will be taken very seriously after this film”.
Soundarya said, “I would be a playing a bubbly girl unlike my earlier films.”

Sakutumba Saparivara Samethanga
Eye on the family audiences
Director SV Krishna Reddy, the darling of censor board members, after making more than 20 films has titled his next film aptly as Sakutumba Saparivara Samethanga (whole family and guests) mostly used in wedding invitations. He has signed legendary actor ANR who recently celebrated his 77th birthday to play a key role alongwith Srikanth, newfind Jayalaxmi and Suhasini Maniratnam in lead roles.

“If there is unity in the family then even the nation would be united” claims multi-faceted filmmaker who has again composed some melodies for the film. Leading audio company HMV is back in the Telugu audio industry and according to sources, it has paid an hefty sum for procuring the rights. “Since it is business, we had no other choice than to pay the sum to be in the reckoning” claims HMV official justifying the price. After post-production work, it would be released during the Dassera festival since Reddy is known for his meticulous planning.

Director Krishna Reddy said, “It was a great experience to work with ANR and his role would help the film in a big way. An individual with evil intentions tries to break a close knit family and whether he’ll be able to succeed or not is the crux of the story backed by good entertainment”.

Chinna
Arunkumar’s comeback film
Showman Dasari Narayana Rao is re-launching his son Arunkumar in his forthcoming film Chinna which is currently progressing briskly in and around Hyderabad.

The ace filmmaker who has introduced umpteen number of artistes and technicians to the Telugu film industry unfortunately failed to launch his son who made his debut with Greekuveerudu. Later Arun’s films with other directors didn’t give him the much-needed hit. Now since it is for the father to help his son with a good break, Dasari has penned a powerful script and commenced shooting without much fanfare.

Mumbai girl Akansha is paired opposite Arunkumar with director K Viswanath, Raza Murad and Dasari himself in pivotal roles. The shooting is almost complete and it is slated for release soon. When this correspondent visited the courtroom set at Ramanaidu Cine Village, Raza Murad is seen cross-examining Dasari who plays a peon in the film in a murder trial and after a few takes, it was okayed by Dasari.

Producer-director Dasari Narayana Rao while expressing confidence about the film said, “A young man gets frustrated with the prevailing society dominated by evil elements and he doesn’t eliminate them in a routine manner. The novelty lies in his approach in erasing this menace and how he does it is the crux of the story. He submerges his anger and handles the situation coolly. I am very confident about the theme and as well as Arunkumar’s performance.”

College
Another campus caper
Producer Taranga Subramaniyam who came to limelight with the run-away hit Premaku Velayara has now embarked on a small-budget youthful film titled College, keeping up with the current boom for such kind of films.
Debutant Ravi Chavali who worked as a co-director for the superhit film Bachelors turns independent with this youthful entertainer. Sivaji and Maanya play the main lead and rest of the casting comprises mostly new artistes. Earlier the producer had tasted success with the dubbed film Durgadevi and the devotional film drew crowds for its sensational special effects.

According to the director who has wrapped up the film in 25 days except for the songs, the story revolves round a boys and girls hostel in a college campus. He claimed that he approached Taranga with three stores but the producer approved of this youthful subject and so they immediately commenced shooting. The unit was shooting a song sequence on the lead pair and many dancers at Film Chamber complex when this correspondent visited the sets.

According to director Chavali, “This film has a different concept. It showcases the lives of boys and girls in a hostel and how they tease and make friends with each other. Though an entertainer, it will turn slightly serious towards the end. Normally it is the boys who chase good-looking girls but here the boy opts for a girl, not for her looks, but for her good heart.”

Navvuthu Bathakaliraa
Remake of a Tamil film
Chakravarthy teams up with ace director Kodi Ramakrishna in his next Navvuthu Bathakaliraa which is progressing at various locations in Hyderabad. Mallavika and Ashasaini play the female lead in this remake of the Tamil film Ellayin Sirippi.

Producer Srinivasa Reddy who first thought of dubbing it but later realising the potential of the subject decided to remake it. Young music director Devi Sriprasad would be composing music for this love story and they are planning to wrap up the film in three months. After observing the rapid progress at a set in Annapoorna Studio and other locales, it seems that they would be completing the project much before the deadline.

Director Ramakrishna said, “The film chides the depressed youth and wakes them up to face the challenges of life. Since it is a small-budget film, we have carefully chosen a novel point and it is progressing as we planned.”

BILINGUAL
Suri
Chakravarty turns scriptwriter
After Satya, Chakravarthy rejected many Hindi offers since he didn’t want to repeat himself. But now after a long gap, he is doing a Telugu-Hindi bilingual Suri which is almost complete. Popular editor Shankar turns director with this violent story being produced by Tammareddy Bharadwaj.
Mumbai girl Priyanka is paired opposite him with AVS in a key role.

Producer claimed that the film is about a youth who dislikes violence but is forced to step into the crime world and later how he manages to lead a normal life unscathed is the basic storyline. Chakravarthy, a competent actor, reveals a new facet as a script-witer by penning the story, dialogues and screenplay for this youthful love story set against college backdrop. It has music by Vidyasagar and they are simultaneously shooting two versions and it is slated for release soon.

BVS Prakash

TAMIL
Nethu Varay Nee Aro
Enter Ravichandran Jr!
Hamsavridhan, son of actor Ravichandran, plays a youth born in a very poor family. The only son of Sujatha, he studies medicine with funds raised by the villagers. It is Sujatha’s dream of making her son a doctor and then serving the villagers. In college, Hamsavridhan falls in love with Ruchita, a co-student. This love affair complicates the goal of the medical student and results in a tussle between the mother and son.

Director Sridhar who makes his debut says that the film’s strength lies in the subject and the five songs composed by Deva. The audio rights was got by Dr Kalidas who had distributed films like Sethu and Vaalarasu as well as audio cassettes of many forthcoming films. Camerawork by Nithya is the other highlight. Produced by Niveditha Cine Arts, the film also stars Ravichandran, Alex, Vyapuri, T Vijay and Lavanya are the other artistes.

Sex educational films on the Internet
Jacob Breeze is the pioneer director and producer of sex educational films like Four Plus Four, For First Nights, College of Sex and Planning A Family, Blind Sex, Ratrinilavu, Sobana Ratrilu, Milan Ke Pyas, Paheli Raat and Ek Vaasana which all spoke about the need for sex education for married and unmarried adults.

Jacob has even given lectures in schools and colleges on this subject. Now he has launched a website. Jacob breeze.com will have all his films on the site and it will also have experts answering queries from subscribers on sex education. The website is a paid site and one has to pay Rs 100 to register. The site was launched in Chennai by actress Swarna and distributor’s president K Rajan.

Ayyappa Prasad

KANNADA
BC Patil now as director
Cop-turned-actor BC Patil will be making his debut as a director with Lankesha, his home production. The recently completed Shaapa, starring himself, Ramesh Arvind and Anu Prabhakar, was directed by Patil’s Hollywood returned brother Ashok Patil.

Lankesha was the first film to mount the sets after the bandh was lifted by the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce on September 25. “I feel sorry for Dr Rajkumar and the agitation to get back him back from the clutches of Veerappan was not a success,” informed BC Patil.

Patil had narrated the story of Lankesha a few years ago to director S Mahender but the basic idea of the film was seen in some of Mahender’s other films. Furious, Patil decided to direct his own production besides appearing in the title role. Thus this film has BA Madhu as the dialogue writer and he also shares the credit for the story. Ashok Kashyap is the man behind the camera and as usual, Hamsalekha scores the music and lyrics for the film.

Tamil film actress Laaya is making her debut in Kannada opposite BC Patil. Bhavana, Rami Reddy, Shobaraj and Avinash are also in the cast. This film will complete its shooting in one schedule.

Vasishta