Watch Ganesh Bandla returns to silver screen
After 370, Kashmiris first
The momentum that Modi government has created with the decisive step of abrogating the section 370 has to be sustained. Political leaders thrive on positive waves as it can lead to shift in mindsets and this seems to be the purpose here.
Mindset change is important if you want any behavioural change in a recalcitrant population. This is the biggest opportunity in front of the BJP government when it comes to these two new UTs- J&K and Ladakh.
This is also a huge opportunity for the population of J&K and Ladakh to look at a new future break the patterns of the past which no longer serves anybody’s interests. There is hope for weaning away misguided Kashmiri youths to dream about a better life.
Hope needs a nurturing environment, it deteriorates with age, gets ossified by cynicism. It is fragile hence its crucial that the right environment is created for its success. It cannot be left to the people of Kashmir to rebuild this environment as they have lost trust in political structures and leaders.
It needs a big dosage of inspirational examples. Hope is a belief it cannot be forced or pushed. It’s linked to trust in systems and institutions working as they were meant to be, it means new opportunities in the environment. It takes time to build this. This can only be demonstrated by actions not words. This is the immediate need for both the new Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
More so in Srinagar valley where an entrenched dynastic leadership has corroded several generations with a narrative of hate. The narrative has become the reality for multiple generations of Kashmiris as it perpetuated a political and economic hegemony for few. Converting multi-generation hatred and distrust into hope is not easy. But then if there was no chance to build hope nobody would try anything new.
This government is trying a new approach by creating a new administrative structure. It has to be supported with an equally robust structure to engage and involve the population. Aspirations are inter-linked with cultural identities. They cannot be separated from each other. The internet and social media creates a virtual monolithic generation of millennials and that is why both are tools for creating the virtuous cycle of trust and aspirations. Films, cricket and music are great at reinforcing positive image for a generation that is starved of heroes.
Real life heroes will emerge only in due course but an acceptance of the struggle of the Kashmiri youth has to be acknowledged and accepted by the rest of India. Article 370 has been abrogated it does not mean Kashmir hamara hai ( Kashmir is ours) it means Kashmiri hum jaise hain ( kashmiris are like us).
Ladakhs for Ladakhis
There is also an urgent need to recognize the Ladakhis the silent suffering population of peaceful people who have been ignored due to the obsession with the valleys. The composition of the population in this region is very different from J&K. The population is split roughly in half between the districts of Leh and Kargil. 76.87% population of Kargil is Muslim (mostly Shia), with a total population of 140,802, while that of Leh is 66.40% Buddhist, with a total population of 133,487, as per the 2011 census. The land area is approximately 59,000 square km.
Bordering China the front posts in this most inhospitable parts of the country is manned by the Ladakhi Scouts, a local para-military force that stays put even when the army withdraws during peak winter period. The people of this region have been demanding the status of a Union Territory for more than 30 years and finally they have got it.
This is an artic desert facing the worst impact of climate change challenge. The glaciers which are the source of water for the population are melting due to global warming as a result, there is hardly any water for the local population. Due to desert conditions it does not produce food like the valley, hence everything has to be sent from the mainland.
There is no industry or trade for the young which ends up migrating to the cities in the north. There is only a single University coming up in the region thanks to the effort of Sonam Wangchuk, a local education reformer.
As an artic desert it faces severe water shortage during the short summer season and winters with temperature of -20 degrees and lesser are harsh. The economy of the region is dependent on the Army and Tourism. The route for both is through the valley with the new status it needs better connection with both Jammu and the rest of the country.
The bifurcation of the state into UTs also delinks Ladakh from the problems in the Srinagar valley. But for Ladakh to realize its potential it needs a different kind of support, fortunately it has local leadership.
A leadership which believes in India is culturally much more attached to the idea of India. It also has a strong tradition of reformers who have built local community solutions in education, climate change and even tourism. The local models need to strengthened and supported they do not need to be replaced by development models from the rest of the country.
Its an ecologically fragile region which is a source of water for the rest of the country but itself goes dry. Hence, development here has to be follow a different model. There is no lack of trust, aspirations are sensible and not yet corrupted by extremism in any form.
The time for building these two new UTs starts now. Two very separate and novel challenges for the government.
Nagarjuna is secure as an actor: Rakul Preet
Actress Rakul Preet Singh said her character ‘Avantika’ in ‘Manmadhudu 2’ is not just confined to few scenes and songs.
It’s a strong role that has equal importance with that of the protagonist and it’s a head-on with Avantika and Sam in ‘Manmadhudu 2.’
Adding more about her role, Rakul stated, “Though there is fun in the role, she did not have an easy past which should be watched on the big screen. It’s a layered and matured character which I enjoyed the most. On the last day of the shoot, everyone on the set got withdrawal symptoms.”
Rakul also revealed that one incident where she was mighty impressed with Nagarjuna.
“In Switzerland we were supposed to shoot a song. Nag sir was given accommodation nearby to the location so that it will be easy for him to travel. But the whole crew was allotted at a different location. Nag sir did not like it and asked the team to cancel the location. This shows what he is and my respect for him grew multi-folds. Also he is so secure as an actor,” said Rakul.
About director Rahul Ravindran, she said, “We were friends but never got to know professionally. With this film, I learned how professional he is. Rahul gave me the bound script and did a lot of pre-production. This has enable the shoot to progress without any hassle.”
‘Manmadhudu 2’ is releasing on August 9th.
Vijay Deverakonda is Getting Flak
Vijay Deverakonda has moved on from “Dear Comrade” which has become a flop.
The film posted very impressive numbers initially showing his star power but the movie came crashing down after the first weekend. It was at that period, the promotions should have been aggressive.
But Vijay Deverkonda is emulating Bollywood stars who do aggressive promotions before the release of a movie but don’t come out once the movie releases. They leave it to the audiences.
In Tollywood, the actual promotions begin after the movie’s release especially when a movie gets mixed reactions.
“iSmart Shankar” that went on to become a huge hit had intensified its promotions after the release. The team went for theater tours across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and regularly conducted events.
On the other hand, Vijay Deverakonda did exemplary promotions before the movie, set a new trend by going all the way to tour four metro cities. But he gave up on the movie after first Monday.
He should have worked more on thereafter to keep the film going down the drain.
KCR, KTR angry over Pawan ‘crossing limits’!
TRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his son, TRS working president KT Rama Rao are said to be ‘very angry’ at actor and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan crossing all the limits in showing Telangana and Telangana statehood agitation in a ‘bad light’.
The Kalwakuntla family reportedly warned ‘mega family’ to control Pawan Kalyan else the government would deal with him sternly for which they should not be held responsible later.Pawan’s recent remarks demeaning Telangana statehood agitation is said to be the reason for KCR and KTR getting angry over him.
Pawan reportedly said Telangana agitation was led by ‘drunkards’, targetting KCR and KTR.A police complaint was already lodged in Jubilee Hills police station against Pawan for his unsavoury comments.KCR, KTR wants to pursue this case seriously, book Pawan and send him to jail.
But due to their ‘closeness’ with ‘mega family’, they reportedly alerted Chiranjeevi and his family members against Pawan and told them to control Pawan and if they fail to do so, they know how to deal with Pawan.
Though TRS government has been maintaining complete restraint against Pawan despite Pawan levelling ‘serious allegations’ against TRS government during recent AP Assembly polls saying that Andhra people in Hyderabad were beaten up by Telangana people etc, Pawan continues to provoke TRS government with his wild comments.
KCR and KTR reportedly feel that ‘it’s enough of Pawan now and it’s time to act against him’ if he fails to mend his ways.
MOJO TV Employees File Complaint
A ‘Press Release’ was circulated to various ‘media houses’ yesterday in which it was alleged that the ex-CEO of MOJO TV, Revathy Pogadadanda had embezzled money to the tune of Rs 5 crore which was meant to be disbursed to the staff as salary.
It has now emerged that the ‘press release’ which was purportedly sent by MOJO TV Employees Union, is actually a fake.
The employees of MOJO TV have filed a complaint with the police regarding this fake letter being circulated.
Greatandhra.com is in possession of the complaint which is being reproduced below:
“Spreading False Rumors in the name of Press Statement and publishing false news about Ex CEO of Mojo TV
We, working in Mojo TV as journalists are fighting against the unilateral decision of shutting down the channel without any prior notice. While our discussions are ongoing with the present management represented by Jupally Rameshawara Rao and P.V.Krishna Reddy of My Home and MEIL Pvt Ltd, some elements have forged a letter that our ex-CEO swindled money meant for the employees. We request you to kindly investigate the source of this letter and book the culprits who are spreading these false messages. We suspect that these rumors are spread by Jupally Rameshwara Rao (My Home Group) and P.V.Krishna Reddy (MEIL) with the help of 10TV Input Editor Sateesh Devella. Certain websites which are hand in glove with these elements started spreading the same rumors. We as employees union of Mojo TV request you to register cases abd take appropriate action.
D. Vijaya Kumar
Mojo TV Employees’ Union”
A Big Thanks To All Stars And Producers
Prabhas and the makers of Saaho have released a statement. They are thankful to all those stars and producers who moved their film release to make way for Saaho. This is a great move says the actor.
He said, “A big Thank You to all the actors, producers and directors of the films who have had to reschedule their release dates to accommodate #SaahoOnAugust30. Team #Saaho is grateful to you all, and we wish you the very best for your releases.”
UV Creations also tweeted, “Extremely thankful for producers across all the languages for clearing the way for #Saaho and helping for a bigger release. Action begins in cinemas from 30th Aug!”
Initially it was announced that Saaho will release on August 15 and later it was postponed to August 30th. When the new date was announced some makers rescheduled the release date of their films.
Valmiki in Telugu, Suriya’s movie Tamil, Chichora in Bollywood have been postponed due to Saaho. Nani’s Gang Leader will also be postponed.
Is Manmadhudu 2 a Family-Friendly Film?
The teaser of “Manmadhudu 2” suggested that it has good doses of kiss sequences and some “A Certificate” stuff but Rakul says this is a family-friendly film. “Kids, friends, and grandparents, all can watch this movie,” she said.
This precisely is the reason why we have chosen August 9 as the release date, explains director Rahul Ravindran.
“In the very first week, we are getting four to five holidays. Since this is a family-oriented entertainer, we felt this holiday period is the right time to release,” he said.
However, there has been criticism that the movie’s trailers have objectified women and also Rakul’s dialogues in the teaser have created some controversy.
Responding to these comments, Rahul said that he is not objectifying women with the dialogues like ‘I don’t fall in love but I make love with women’.
He explained that Nagarjuna is playing a role who doesn’t want emotional baggage. Hence such the dialogue.
“Manmadhudu 2” stars Nagarjuna as the 40-plus rich man who has relationship-phobia. He doesn’t want to get married. The film set in Europe is hitting the screens this 9th August.
Directed by Rahul Ravindran, the film is produced by Annapurna Studios.
Bellamkonda Srinivas Following Venkatesh?
Producer Bellamkonda Suresh recently landed in controversies with a court issuing notice to him in the plagiarism case about “Jabardasth”.
In 2013, he had produced a film named “Jabardasth” with then real-life lovers Siddharth and Samantha in the direction of Nandini Reddy.
The film was a rip-off of Bollywood hit “Band Baaja Baarat” and recently a court in Hyderabad gave the order to pay Rs 13 Cr to a satellite channel.
Around the same time, he got a piece of good news with his son. After many attempts, his son Bellamkonda Srinivas finally received good reviews for his film. So, his father Suresh is understandably jubilant.
Suresh says his son Srinivas has now started following the formula of Venkatesh.
The Venky’s formula is picking up a super hit movie from other languages and remaking it faithfully. “Rakshasudu” became a hit and got an appreciation for this reason, he says.
Interestingly, Suresh also declares that his son Srinivas is number one Tollywood hero in Bollywood dubbed movie market.
“No Tollywood star comes close to my son. Irrespective of the movie’s fate in Tollywood, all his movies are huge hits in the Hindi dubbing market and his producers are seeing huge profits from this market,” he concluded.
To get good press, he also announced that he would donate some money to the welfare of Journalists henceforth with each film.
KCR, Jagan to ignore Centre on river water sharing!
Even as the NDA government passed a bill to establish a permanent tribunal to adjudicate on inter-state disputes over sharing of river waters, the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments have decided to give a damn for the bill and have their own understanding on river water sharing.
Last week, the Lok Sabha passed the bill which seeks to make amendments to the Inter-State River Waters Disputes Act of 1956 that provides for setting up of a separate tribunal every time a dispute arises.
Once it becomes law, the amendment will ensure the transfer of all existing water disputes to the new tribunal. All five existing tribunals under the 1956 Act would cease to exist.
The Telugu states feel it is an attempt by the Centre to gain control over the states in the name of resolving water disputes.
Telangana chief minster K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Andhra counterpart Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy have decided to continue with their efforts to resolve inter-State issues in a cordial and friendly atmosphere.
Both of them will meet next week to take stock of the water storage levels in the common irrigation projects soon before they take a call on release of water from Srisailam reservoir to Nagarjuna Sagar Project.
The two Telugu States together have an ayacut of 21 lakh acres under the Nagarajuna Sagar Project to be fed at least for a single crop a year.
The farmers in the NSP ayacut are banking mainly on the heavy inflows to be received from Srisailam project.
Since it has hundreds of villages and towns in its command area to meet their drinking water needs, the need for release of water from Srisailam is increasingly being felt.
NTR Has lined up Two New Movies?
Even as he is busy shooting for Rajamouli’s “RRR”, NTR is planning about his next year’s movies.The mass hero is going through the best phase in his career as he has been giving hits regularly and showing variance in the subjects.
The regular shoot of “RRR” will be finished by February 2020. The patchwork also will be finished by March. Hence, he has to plan shooting for his next movies from March 2020.A few months ago, hotshot young Kannada director Prasanth Neel came down to Hyderabad and narrated a single line story to NTR Jr and sought more time to develop it into the script.
NTR has agreed in principle to act in Prasanth Neel’s direction whenever the director is ready with the bounded script.Prasanth is currently filming the second chapter of “KGF” with Yash. The director will only commence NTR’s movie in the second half of 2020.
Meanwhile, he is again planning to team up with director Trivikram from March 2020.
Though “Aravinda Sametha” didn’t create any records, NTR hit off well with Trivikram during the film’s shoot and he wants to explore his comic side in this new film.So, NTR will be launching two films in 2020, one in the direction of Trivikram and the other with Prasanth Neel.
Mahesh Watched Ismart Shankar, But Hasn’t Tweeted?
Already the picture of hero Ram with a round hat and Mahesh talking to him quite ecstatically has gone viral on the internet. And we hear that there is a big story behind this conversation that took place at Annapurna Studios premises on Saturday night.
Both Mahesh and Ram Pothineni have met at Annapurna Studios, as the Superstar is shooting for Sarileru Neekevvaru there, while Ram surfaced there to enter the Bigg Boss set in order to promote Ismart Shankar alongside Nagarjuna on the stage. There, the two have met and we hear that Mahesh is quite upbeat about Ram’s performance in Ismart Shankar as he spoke about it in length.
Well, that brings us to the question that Mahesh has watched Ismart Shankar already but haven’t tweeted about it. In the wake of Puri Jagan’s comments that Mahesh works with him only when he (Puri) is in top form, Mahesh fans got hurt big time. At this moment, if Mahesh tweets about Ismart, it would create a commotion for sure. Maybe for that reason, the superstar might have not tweeted about the movie.
Onlookers revealed that Mahesh appreciated Ram and the film, and also shared his happening for the film becoming a top grosser in the young hero’s career.
Allu Arjun And Trivikram Divided Over Item Song?
Allu Arjun and Trivikram Srinivas have joined forces for the third time, after Julayi and S/o Satyamurthy. This is Bunny’s 19th film and it is being directed by Trivikram’s close friend Radhakrishna.
AA19’s shooting is almost halfway through. Now, the latest buzz in the Film Nagar circles is that a difference of opinion over an item song has got both Bunny and Trivikram divided.
Apparently, Trivikram and Radhakrishna have felt that an item song is required at a crucial juncture of the movie. However, Allu Arjun is against their idea, as he feels that there is no need for an item song in the movie.
Bunny is said to have explained to his director and producer that the film has an honest story of a father and son and that unnecessary songs may disturb the story progression.
Both the parties are yet to come to a mutual understanding regarding the item song. For the time being, the Trivikram is completing the scenes featuring Allu Arjun, heroine Pooja Hegde, Tabu and other lead cast. We will have to wait until next Sankranthi to see if the item song will eventually make it to the film.
