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Tollywood Stars Off To Vacation Already!
The stars of the Telugu film industry are off to vacation already. Usually, they plan to take time off their shootings in May but with the temperatures getting extremely high in April itself, it has become tough for them to get the work done. Many think that heavy rains can only stop shootings but the summer season is no different as the entire gets tired pretty soon and it will be tough to handle outdoor shootings due to lighting, and makeup getting affected by the heat.
Most of the stars are now spending time with their family after taking a break from movie production. As we know, superstar Mahesh Babu is famous for his family vacations and he is off to abroad already which halted the shooting of #SSMB28. Allu Arjun is spending quality time with his family as the shooting of ‘Pushpa’ has halted. In the meanwhile, director Sukumar too flew to the USA for having a much-needed vacation after a long time.
The senior heroes are also not showing any interest in shooting for their movies. Balakrishna took a break from the shooting of #NBK108 with Anil Ravipudi. On the other hand, Venkatesh has reportedly asked his ‘Saindhav’ team to avoid outdoor shooting for the next few weeks. Nagarjuna has made it clear that the shooting of his upcoming film kickstart only after the summer season. Chiranjeevi is also doing the same as his part in ‘Bholaa Shankar’ shooting is almost done and the dubbing work has recently begun.
It looks like the entire Tollywood is on an unofficial holiday right now.
Ponniyin Selvan – 2 Movie Review
The first part of “Ponniyan Selvan” did not create much impact in Telugu, but the original Tamil version broke box office records, and Tamilians embraced the film wholeheartedly. Now, the second and final part of the movie is here.
Let’s analyze it.
Story:
Part 2 picks up the story where Part 1 left off. Arul Mozhi (Jayam Ravi) and Vanthiya Devudu (Karthi) are both still alive in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) plots Aditya Karikaludu’s (Vikram) murder and sends him a message to meet her at her palace.
Vanthiya Devudu travels to Nandini’s palace to rescue Aditya upon learning of her plan, while Arul Mozhi embarks on his return journey to the Chozha kingdom from Sri Lanka.
Will Nandini succeed in killing Aditya? Will Arul Mozhi ascend to the throne and become king?
Artistes’ Performances:
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays two characters: Mandikini, an elderly woman, and Nandini. Aishwarya Rai excels in the role of Nandini. She brilliantly conveys both love and hatred for Vikram. Her beauty and performance are both appealing.
Vikram gives an outstanding performance as an erratic prince. In two scenes, he stands out: one with his brother and sister and the other with Aishwarya at her palace.
All of the characters from the first installment return, but with the exception of Mandakini character of Aishwarya Rao which did not get enough screen time.
Among others, Jayam Ravi, who plays the title character, shines. He is ideal for the role of King. Trisha is fine. So is Karthi.
Technical Excellence:
AR Rahman’s songs don’t add much, but his background score is fantastic. The cinematography is superb. Ravi Varman’s lighting scheme is fantastic. Editing is adequate. The production design is impressive.
Highlights:
Aishwarya Rai and Vikram’s performances
More focussed narration than first part
Twists and turns
Drawback:
Slow-paced narration
Lack of ‘wow’ moments
War episode
Analysis
The first part of ‘Ponniyan Selvan’ was a blockbuster hit in Tamil Nadu, but the rest of India was unimpressed due to the dense plot with multiple characters and relationships that were hard to follow. However, the sequel does not have that issue as it picks up from where the first part left off, focusing on the romantic story of Vikram and Aishwarya Rai before delving into the main drama of Nandini and Aditya’s relationship and the Chola kingdom’s succession battle.
Compared to the first part, ‘Ponniyan Selvan 2’ solely concentrates on the central plot, making it more accessible and interesting for Telugu audiences. The film features some excellent sequences, including Jayam Ravi being protected by Buddhist monks and the thrilling duel between Vikram and Aishwarya Rai. Additionally, a standout moment is the scene on an island between blindfolded Karthi and Trisha, which showcases director Mani Ratnam’s signature style.
The film’s strengths are its camera work, outstanding performances, and straightforward screenplay. However, it suffers from a slow-paced narrative, overstretched sequences, and unimpressive songs. The final battle scene is also tedious.
Overall, ‘Ponniyan Selvan 2’ is a decent sequel to watch, with a focused narrative and strong performances from its lead cast. It is a better experience than the first part for non-Tamil audiences.
Bottom line: Okay watch
Dil Raju Takes A Huge Blow Due To ‘Shaakunthalam’!
Senior filmmaker Gunasekhar made a mythological drama titled ‘Shaakunthalam’ with Samantha playing the title role. This movie which came out on 14th April did not impress the audience at all. Along with Gunasekhar, Dil Raju produced the film and they specially converted it to 3D during the post-production stage. They spent a lot on the 3D version and Dil Raju sounded highly confident during the promotions. He would have expected that the summer season and Samantha’s craze would bring him huge collections.
In reality, the movie ended up as a huge disaster which resulted in heavy losses for Dil Raju. Reacting about it in a recent interview, the star producer and distributor revealed that ‘Shaakunthalam’ gave him a big blow that he did not face in twenty-five years. As a producer and distributor, Dil Raju would have seen many failures but referring to ‘Shaakunthalam’ as a huge blow shows how big of an effect it had on him and his banner.
Gunasekhar who endured financial troubles due to ‘Rudhramadevi’ back in 2015 has got a huge relief in the form of Dil Raju now. It was the ‘Bommarillu’ producer who looked after the financial affairs for ‘Shaakunthalam’. He spent heavily on the movie but the audience showed zero interest in watching the love story of Shakuntala and Dushyanta on the big screen. It got a negative response on the very first day and the collections went downhill immediately. It looks like Dil Raju has had a big setback after getting good profits as a distributor with ‘Dasara’.
Mahesh-Trivikram Movie Hits Speed Breaker Again?
There is a shocking rumor spreading in Tollywood that the movie featuring Superstar Mahesh Babu and director Trivikram has hit a speed bump.
The project has been facing problems from the beginning, starting with issues related to the heroine and music director. Although Trivikram managed to work things out, the shoot encountered further issues.
The fight masters brought in from the KGF team did not meet the hero’s expectations, leading to the scrapping of all footage shot. The replacement of the fight masters incurred an additional five crore burden on the film.
Despite efforts to move forward, shooting has not been smooth.
Reports suggest that only 20 percent of the film has been completed so far, with Mahesh Babu recently traveling abroad. Trivikram apparently shared some shocking news with Mahesh Babu upon his return.
According to the rumor, Trivikram recently informed Mahesh Babu that he has decided to scrap all the combo scenes featuring hero and heroine Srileela, shot in a mall.
The hero reportedly became annoyed upon hearing that Trivikram was dissatisfied. While he is willing to shoot if everything goes as planned, he is frustrated with the one-step-forward-one-step-backward approach.
However, it is unclear whether only the footage shot in the mall will be scrapped or if everything shot so far will be removed.
There are also criticisms that Trivikram is not focusing properly on Mahesh’s film, as he is busy with other projects such as Pawan Kalyan-People’s Media film, Pawan’s other film OG, and advertisement works with NTR. This has led to concerns among Mahesh’s fans about the film’s quality and progress.
Mahesh Babu is insisting on maintaining the film’s quality without compromise, and he wants to complete the project quickly so he can move on to Rajamouli’s film.
But in the meanwhile some gossips were spread that Mahesh is afraid of summer, so delaying the project. Mahesh is frustrated with all this.
When asked about the rumors, Suryadevara Nagavamsi, the key person responsible for the film, denied them and stated that the comedy scenes shot in the mall were good and are not being scrapped. He added that the schedule would resume soon.
It is true that there wouldn’t be smoke without fire but as Nagavamsi clarified, we have to believe it at least for the time being.
Woman Arrested For Using Dead Pilot’s Identity!
Not following traffic rules is a big violation in Western nations. If any violations are found then the authorities will not shy away from slapping the violators with a fine. A woman who was slapped with a violation surprised many by trying to use the identity of a dead pilot. The authorities were shocked after knowing what the woman did.
Going into details, an Australian woman was sent a penalty after she was found driving while using a mobile phone. The woman was found as Stephanie Bennett pleaded. When the police sent a penalty of A$1,078 (£575) for using a mobile phone while driving the car, she replied saying that Ashley Jenkinson drove the vehicle.
So the police sent the penalty letter to Ashley Jenkinson’s wife. She was shocked to see that her dead husband attracted notice. So she replied saying that her husband died a few months back in an air crash. Shocked by this, the concerned cops approached Stephanie Louise Bennett after finding that she used the wrong identity.
The Australian woman was arrested and taken into custody. She was produced before the court and she accepted her mistake. She admitted that she tried to take the identity of the dead pilot. Giving a reason for this, Stephanie Louise Bennett said that her financial situation was not good and she did this.
She even said that she was going through personal issues and financial issues and to miss the penalty she did that and the next day she tried to undo her mistake but the website did not accept that. She pleaded guilty before the court. However, the court was not satisfied with this. The court will take a call on her on the 19th of next month.
Talking about the pilot whose identity the Australian woman tried to pin is Ashley Jenkinson, who was a Sea World pilot. In January he died in a pilot crash. Ashley Jenkinson is a UK-born pilot and when two air vehicles crashed near Brisbane four people including him died. Two Australians and a British couple died in the air crash. She tried to use his identity.
Birthday Poster: Ever Gorgeous Sam With Infectious Smile In ‘Khushi’!
After a long gap, the shooting of Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha’s romantic love story ‘Khushi’ is going on at a brisk pace. Though the movie started rolling last year, the makers were forced to take a break due to Sam’s health condition. The team waited patiently for the actress and they are making sure that the film releases on September 1st as announced.
The first look poster which came out on Ugadi got a very positive response. On the occasion of Samantha’s birthday, the team of ‘Khushi’ released a lovely poster. With an infectious smile on her face, the actress is looking absolutely beautiful and it is clearly evident that she is going to the office. The identity card and bag on her side reveals that and people are curious to see how Shiva Nirvana is going to present her after giving such a memorable like Sravani in ‘Majili’.
The poster definitely generates a positive vibe on the movie and sources say that it is going to be a love story filled with beautiful emotions. Khushi’ is produced by Mythri Movie Makers. Hesham Abdul Wahab is the music composer. G Murali is the cinematographer and Prawin Pudi is the editor.
Peter Hein is the fight master and this movie is going to release in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages. Vijay is hoping to bounce back after a disaster like ‘Liger’ which came out last year. Let us wait and see if ‘Khushi’ brings him back on the success track or not. Samantha’s last outing ‘Shaakunthalam’ turned out to be a huge disaster.
Do You Know How Much Urvashi’s Dress In ‘Agent’ Costs?
Voluptuous North Indian beauty Urvashi Rautela is becoming a familiar face in Tollywood nowadays. Known for her extremely hot looks and huge following on social media, the actress has sizzled in Chiranjeevi’s ‘Boss Party’ song already and she is stealing the hearts of many with her glamorous looks in ‘Wild Saala’ song from Akhil’s latest release ‘Agent’.
The team released the video of ‘Wild Saala’ ahead of its release and it garnered a lot of attention. It got millions of views and Urvashi’s scintillating beauty had a major role to play in it. This fast-paced song is a hit but what attracted the viewers the most was the sparkling silver outfit. The ostentatious costume through which Urvashi flaunted her curvaceous body was loved by many. The Retrofret branded costume has reportedly cost 20 lakhs and Ken Ferns did the stylist.
Crazy music composer Hip Hop Tamizha is scoring the music while top writer Vakkantam Vamsi has penned the story. Produced by Rambrahmam Sunkara under AK Entertainments banner along with Surender 2 Cinema banner. Ragul Herian Dharuman cranks the camera. Naveen Nooli is the editor while Avinash Kolla is the art director. Sakshi Vaidya is the heroine in this flick. Mammootty is played a key role in this movie.
