Abhi
Mohan Lal in a Telugu actioner
"THE setting and the story may sound ordinary, but the treatment cetainly won’t," said writer Ravusri on his forthcoming film, Abhi. A neighbouring country creates havoc in our country and the hero takes them on with his anti-terrorist outfit. That’s the story of Basha Jubilee Pictures’ Abhi, a Mohan Lal, Arun Pandyan, Shobhana starrer, shoots for which are on at MM Theatre, Chennai.
"Abhi is the son of the director of the anti-terrorist group (played by Mohan Lal) who is kidnapped by the terrorists. The hero doesn’t surrender to their demands, yet he comes out triumphs in the end. Mohan Lal is at his best. Arun Pandyan, perhaps for the first time in his career, plays a villain. Needless to say Shobhana, as the mother of the kidnapped boy is in her elements in a sentimental role. Rasika as the terrorist and Indraja as the cop have done well, especially in the fight sequences between them. It is a thought-provoking subject and deals with contemporary issues. We are planning to release the movie in the third week of October," adds producer S Srinivasa Raju.
Abhirami lends glamour to this actioner. Jayanan Vincent handled the camera while Thyagarajan composed the fights. Vanamaali and Bharathi Babu wrote the lyrics composed by Ramani Bharadwaj. Directed by IV Sasi, Vaddi Ramanujam, Dasari Raju Ravi handles the production. The film is presented by Penmetsa Ramakrishnam Raju.

Uncle
Tarun’s next
WITH Tarun’s maiden film Nuvve Kavaali opening to a terrific response it seems that another young talented boy has arrived in Telugu scene. Already the child artiste-turned actor’s second film Uncle has found good buyers but producer AVS wants to wait for the best offer instead of hurrying up things. Popular character actor AVS’s maiden production is progressing in a systematic manner and claimed that good ‘padding’ of artistes like Brahmanandam and technicians like lyricist Sitarama Sastry, cinematographer Raghu and writer Thotapalli Madhu would help the film in a big way. Tamil actress Pallavi who acted in three Tamil films including Ajith’s Dina makes her debut in Telugu with this college campus love story.

AVS disclosed that he approached ace lyricist Sastry hesitantly but the wordsmith penned four memorable lyrics inspired by the love story and he even crooned a few impressive lines about lost childhood to the press. Senior cinematographer MVS Raghu who cranked camera for more than 60 films lauded AS for n compromising on qualit and disclosed that AVS has provided equipement normally used for Chiranjeevi’s films despite making a film with new faces. By October 20 the shooting would almost complete and AVS praised his co-producer Ramana for his meticulous planning.

Numero Uno comedian Brahmanandam said "When my buddy AVS informed me that he is turning producer I congratulated him and assured full support for making a good film. I play a principal which has some prominence and I wish my friend all success’. State-award winning lyricist Sastry denied that he is costlier for small-budget films. "I get inspired by stories and not by money bags. I do demand my pound of flesh for big budget extravaganzas but I am affordable to all". Producer AVS who is also playing the title role of Uncle said "These technicians and artistes are going to be the pillars of my film and I foresee a promising for future for director Rajsekar".

Preyasi Nannu Preminchu
Remake of a Tamil hit
POPULAR Tamil banner Roja Combines and producer Khaja Mohiddeen are entering Telugu filmdom with the dubbed version of their successful Tamil movie, Pennin Manadai Thotru. The Telugu version is titled Preyasi Nannu Preminchu. Starring Sarath Kumar and Prabhu Deva as brothers, it has a fine blend of action and romance with good locales and music. "All the six songs are situational. We have filmed these songs at Chikmangalore, Ramoji Film City and Vizag. So there is lot of native touch for the Telugu audience. Sarath Kumar plays a ruffian but all love for his brother Prabhu Deva. He dreams of making him a doctor. In a quick of circumstances Prabhu Deva too turns into a rebel in his college, thus creating a distance between himself and his lady love- Jayasheel. Thus the story takes curious turns before coming to a happy ending. The Tullaamanamum Tullum (Nuvvu Vastavani in Telugu) director Ezhil has handled the subject well. In fact, we wanted to remake the movie in Telugu, since the stars are familiar to Telugu audience and the subject universal, we decided to dub it in Telugu" says Khaja Mohideen. Ezhil says the film offers a new meaning for love.

Mouli, Vivek and Damu are in the cast. Dialogue by Vimala Ganesh, lyrics by Bhuvanachandra, music by S.A. Raj Kumar, fights by Kanal Kannan and choreography by Raju Sundaram are the other major credits.
>>Naresh

Athanu
Saikumar, Rachana teamed
PRODUCER PLN Reddy of Savera Creations has wrapped up the shooting part for his next presentation Athanu, pending two songs. The film has a tailor-made role for Saikumar, with Rachana playing the female lead. Producer Reddy claimed that he was scouting for good scripts and he finally zeroed in on this subject for its novelty.

Director Satyam Babu who makes his debut with this actioner expressed full confidence about the project. Music Chakri has composed some soulful tunes and they would be picturising two songs on Saikumar and Rachana and release it in the 3rd week of November.

Talented actor Saikumar’s films are peppered with lengthy dialogues but this film will focus on his performance. "It is a very realistic character whom you will readily identify with, about a person caught between two factions. The dialogue plays a less important role than in my previous films," said Saikumar.

Sampangi
A love story
AFTER Bachelors, Sana Yadireddy is a sought after director. Now, he launched his first film for another banner, Sampangi recently at Annapoorna Studios. After a long time, Annapoorna Studios wore a festive look with banners inviting guests, flowers and shamianas to mark the launch of the two big films. Director Sana Yadireddy is making a different love story with new faces Deepak, Kanchi Kaul and Mithika in the lead and introduces lyricist Gantadakrishna as a music director with this teenage love story.

The unit will soon be shifting for a big schedule to Ramoji Film City after a few days work in the city.

Director Yadireddy said, "It is a teenage romance with a novel point and a fresh backdrop and it will also have good music. Ghantada used to compose tunes for his lyrics earlier so I thought why shouldn’t he compose music on his own and he has come up with a good score. Apart from love, it will have good family sentiment too."

Producer Kalyan Venkatesh, a real estate businessman, attracted everyone’s attention on the sets with gold rings on all his fingers. Producer Venkatesh said, "Reddy has been my close friend and we have been planning to make a film together for a long time. Now that Reddy has agreed to do a film for an outside banner, I am not going to compromise on any count."

Chiruthapuli
Saikumar strikes again
ACTION star Saikumar, the new messiah for small budget filmmakers, is picking meaty ones out of the plenty of offers coming to him. He is playing an SPG officer in actor-producer Vallabaneni Janardhan’s Cheeruthapuli (Cheetah) which is progressing briskly after its muhurat on Vijayadasami day. Deepti Bhatnagar plays the female lead with Suman in a key role. Newcomers Babi and Suhana would play the young lovers in this patriotic film. Producer Vallabaneni Janardhan should be lauded for giving a chance to director ARK Mohan who was down with paralysis and bring him back into the limelight. The producer bagged four state awards for his film Nee Kosam including the best actress award to Maheswari.

Since the story of this film revolves round the recent serial blasts, the makers would be shooting in the schedules spread out upto December around Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Bangalore.

While speaking to Screen, Saikumar said that he was banking on this film for its powerful script and also revealed that he has worked on the get-up as well to make the character interesting. According to the producer, "Sai is an SPG officer and is on mission Cheetah to book the people behind the deadly act. The theme is very topical and also universal. We are thankful to the government for the awards and we are making this film with the same spirit".

Swarnayugam
Shooting from Jan.
The successful team of blockbuster Premaku Velayara, producer Taranga Subramaniyam, Chakravathy, Soundarya and director SV Krishna Reddy - are teaming up once again for their next film Swarnayugam (Golden Era) which was launched recently with a muhurat shot on Chakravarty and Soundarya at Annapoorna Studios. Regular shooting would commence from January 1, 2001.
The director said "This film is about the exodus of talented youth to other countries. Even the chief minister is chalking out plans to bring them back."
>>BVS Prakash

Tamil

Loothie
Sathyaraj-Roja-Mumtaz teamed
VD Durai’s evergreen creations came into the limelight after the sucessful production of Yeanamma Kaanu, starring Sathyaraj. It gave the producer and the hero a new lease of life. The next film on the floors is Loothie. The film’s title means ribaldry and Sathyaraj, in film after film, has played characters indulging in eve-teasing and ribald jokes. Now the film’s title itself is on that aspect. Sathyaraj plays an auto mechanic and the two women are Roja and Mumtaz who join in the loothie. Director Parameswar said that he had narrated the subject to Sathyaraj who informed the producer of his acceptance and within two hours the film was launched.

Roja plays a very homely charachter but displays oomph at the same time. Mumtaz has been assigned the role of a sexy character but also potrays a naive girl simultaneously. Vivek and Vadivel come in the film as two stepbrothers who clash with each other, somewhat of a spoof on Mani Rathinam’s Agninatchitram . Actor-director Visu comes back to big screen as Velu who provides a vital clue to a confusion over the identity of Sathyaraj in the film. During a brief chat on the sets of the film, Sathyaraj said that he had done many roles as an impersonator but in this film the role not only seemed to be different but had never before been attempted in Tamil cinema. Others in the cast are Ponnambalam, Pandu and Madanbob. Music by Deva, cinematography by P Kannan and art by Thota Tharani are the other major credits of the film which is scheduled for release on Pongal in January 2001.

Thaali Kaath Amman
Co-stars Prabhu and Kaushalya
Sundar Theatres’ Thaali Kaath Amman has Prabhu and Kaushalya in the lead roles along with Sangavi and Manivanan. Taking a break from the shooting in progress at Rekha House in Chennai, the film’s director Somasundar, who has directed many mythological movies, said that the subject of the film centred round the goddess protecting the mangalsutra of a woman. Prabhu plays a rich guy, the son of Manivannan. Kaushalya is a staunch devotee of Amman, while Sangavi is the daughter of a police officer. Prabhu who comes to know of some strange happenings in the village comes to report on it. Here he sees Mansoor and his men trying to rape Kaushalya. Prabhu intervenes and fights off the rapists. From here on begin a series of events that rock the lives of both.

Prabhu described the film as an entertainer with graphics dominating, while the director assured that the usual graphics of a sword or arrow flying from the god killing the bad guys or graphics which show illogical happenings will not be seen.

Bhanupriya and Vennarai Adai Nirmala play key roles along with Pandiarajan, Manorama, Alex, Rajan P Dev, Dinesh, Ravi, Indhu and yesteryear sex bomb Jothilaxmi, who is staging a comeback. Being produced by Sriyadav, the film has cinematography by Nivas and music by Sirpy.

Rishi
Sarath in dual role
Rishi, being directed by Sundar C who has made his mark as a director of humourous films, has Sarath Kumar, who is known for the potrayal of matured characters and also for his action scenes, enacting a dual role. Significantly, though the two characters look alike, they have nothing in common. “In every film the twins have something in common but here the two have no links whatsoever. Rishi is a playboy with a villianous touch but he is a lovable villian. He is a hitman of a seth who finances car purchases. He meets Sangavi who dreams of marrying a rich guy and she sees Rishi travelling in a new car everyday and Rishi too play-acts a rich guy. On the other side is Velu, who gets the brunt of all the misdeeds of Rishi and does not know why he is being attacked. His fiancee is Meena. It’s an out and out comedy and of course action. It’s a city film for me after a long time of doing rustic subjects,” said Sarath at the Express building in Chennai. He was explaining on behalf of Sundar, who was with Kushboo and the new-born baby girl in the hospital.
The film’s dialogues and screenplay are by Panchu Arunachalam, while the music is by Sirpy and the cinematography is by UK Senthilkumar. It is being produced by Subbu under the banner of PA Arts.
>>Ayyappa Prasad

Kannada

Tamil superhit Sethu is titled
as Huchcha
Producer AR Rehman, sitting pretty with good business from his remake Yajamana of Tamil film Vannatha Polai, is once again banking on a proven subject and picked up a Tamil film Sethu.

Buying the rights for Rs 7 lakhs, Rehman is awaiting the release of Dr Rajkumar for the mounting of his Huchcha, which is a remake of Sethu. The Kannada title was registered keeping in mind the box office badshah of Kannada cinema Upendra. At a press meet recently at Hotel Sarovar the selection of title Huchcha was a topic of discussion. Huchcha in Kannada means mad. Does the title suit the story of the film? Is it not disturbing since in the colloquial language Huchcha is a term commomly used for mentally imbalanced persons? Rehman said that the title had been chosen after studying the subject of Sethu. Financier KV Nageshkumar, sitting next to the producer, agreed with the frank opinion expressed and suggested Subbu as the title for the Kannada remake film. It was accepted on the spot but director Om Prakash Rao was not happy about it. However, Sudeep, the young hero, is not averse to the title Huchcha. With the rave reviews he has earned for his performance in Sparsha, Sudeep does not see any problem with the title. He has watched Sethu on video first and then saw the film in the Santosh Mini twice before accepting the film. He has liked its contents and hoped he would do full justice to the role performed by Vikraman. The reason for Sudeep to accept this film is because his maiden Tamil film, Love Channel, in which he stars opposite Simran, has been postponed to December. He is thus free at the moment and is doing the Sethu’ remake in Kannada. The film is slated to mount the sets in the second week of November. The shooting will be held in one schedule. The second half of the remake will be shot at the same venue, Kumbakonam, where the original film Sethu was shot. Ramesh Babu is the cameraman. Music director Rajesh Ramanathan, who also participated in the Press briefing, was a happy man in that he has become the father of a second male child. Rajesh Ramanathan has tuned the music for Rehman’s Yajamana starring Vishnuvardhan in a double role. He is continuing his second assignment for the same producer. Rajesh is also quite busy in Mumbai where he is staying for five days in a month to work for albums in Hindi. He has also on hand a Hindi film which will mount the sets sometime next month.
>>Vashistha