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Guess, who will decide next CM of AP?
The results for the assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh would be declared on May 23. The people of Andhra Pradesh have already decided who the next chief minister would be and the decision would come out on May 23.
But, maverick evangelist-cum-politician and Praja Shanti Party president K A Paul has come out with a strange statement on Tuesday.
He declared that he was going to decide the next chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, but has refused to reveal how.
“You are going to see what will happen on May 23 and how my role will become crucial. All the facts will come out on that day,” he said.
Interestingly, Paul has changed his stand on YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao.
All these days, he had been spitting venom on both of them and accusing them of conspiring against him.
Now, Paul says he has no personal enmity with Jagan or KCR.
“Like these two leaders, I too fought for the defeat of Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu. Come on Jagan, let us come together and offer retirement to Chandrababu Naidu, so that we can work for the welfare of the people,” he said.
At the same time, Paul said his party would get 100 assembly seats and form the government.
“In fact, I would have got more seats, had the Election Commission not given me helicopter symbol. Since it resembles fan, people might have got confused and voted for fan,” he argued.
He appealed to the TDP chief to change his mind at least.
“Otherwise, I will have to pray for you,” he warned.
Jana Sena to turn TJS way after results?
It looks like Jana Sena Party headed by popular hero-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan is going to get disintegrated gradually after the announcement of the assembly election results in Andhra Pradesh on May 23.
Political observers have started comparing Jana Sena Party with Telangana Jana Samithi formed by former Osmania University professor M Kodandaram a few months before the Telangana assembly elections.
Kodandaram is also very popular as an activist and a fighter as he headed the Telangana movement in the capacity of chairman of Telangana political joint action committee.
But when it came to fighting the electoral battle, Kodandaram proved a miserable failure and none of its candidates could secure a deposit in the assembly elections.
Before and after the elections, several leaders who joined Telangana Jana Sena with a big hope on Kodandaram’s leadership, left him one after the other. And there are hardly anybody left with him now.
In the case of Pawan Kalyan, too, people fear a similar situation may arise. After generating a lot of euphoria, the Jana Sena Party failed to make much impact on the electorate in the Andhra Pradesh elections.
Though it’s position is not as bad as TJS – there is a possibility that it might win two or three MLA seats and an MP seat and secure a considerable vote share, it might not sustain for long as was the case with TJS in Telangana.
Already, leaders who joined Jana Sena with high hopes, have started making a quiet exit.
Pawan Kalyan’s close confident and Jana Sena Party treasurer M Raghavaiah has resigned, allegedly complaining over lack of importance to seniors in the party. Similarly, Jana Sena spokesperson Addepalli Sridhar too called it quits to the party.
There have been reports of several other lower-rung leaders quitting the party due to lack of any activity in the party and also internal dissensions. Yet, Pawan has confined himself to his house without breathing any confidence into the party cadre.
As such, there is no party organizational structure and whatever Pawan had built before the elections is now crumbling, say sources.
Ranveer to train with Kapil for 10 days in Delhi
Actor Ranveer Singh is set to make Delhi his home for the next 10 days. He will live with and train with Kapil Dev to pick nuances from the former Indian cricket captain for the film “’83”.
Ranveer, who is known to immerse himself in serious preparation for his roles — whether it be Alauddin Khilji in “Padmaavat” or Murad in “Gully Boy” — is doing it no differently for “’83”, which will tell the tale of India’s victory in the 1983 Cricket World Cup.
For his role as Kapil Dev on screen in the Kabir Khan directorial, Ranveer has already trained a bit with the cricket icon. But he is now looking forward to “spending more time” with him.
“I’m looking forward to spending more time with Kapil sir. He is kind, generous, warm and funny. I had a memorable two days with him in Dharamsala. I’m going to spend more time with him in Delhi to learn more about him,” the actor said in a statement.
“It’s a first of its kind exercise in my acting process where I’ll be studying the man himself in the flesh for my on screen portrayal of him. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to learn about life from a true legend,” he added.
According to a source close to the film, which is presented by Reliance Entertainment, Ranveer has a set plan for his Delhi trip.
“He wants to see, live and breathe Kapil before he starts shooting.”
Venkatesh is Not Doing Vikram Vedha Remake
After Venkatesh delivering smash hit with “F2” that went on to collect Rs 80 Cr, producers are eager to do multi-starrers with him.
Several producers have recently informed that they are planning a movie with Venky. He is in such demand.
Venkatesh who is sharing screen space with nephew Naga Chaitanya in Bobby directed “Venky Mama” is miffed with the rumors that he has signed remake of “Vikram Vedha”, a Tamil hit that starred Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi in the lead roles.
It was reported that Venkatesh has agreed to this remake with Nara Rohith.
In a statement, Venkatesh’s brother and producer Suresh Babu said that he has not signed any new film yet.
“There is no truth in reports doing rounds in media that Venkatesh is doing ‘Vikram Vedha’ Telugu remake. He is at present doing ‘Venky Mama.’ The next films will be announced shortly,” Suresh Babu said.
AP capital to shift to Donakonda? YSRCP leaders buy lands!
Will Andhra Pradesh capital be shifted from Amaravathi to Donakanda if YSRCP comes to power after May 23 Assembly election results?
The pace at which YSRCP leaders are vying to purchase lands in and around Donakonda in Prakasam district triggers speculations of YS Jagan shifting AP capital city from Amaravathi to Donakanda, after he assumes office as new CM of AP.
With all pre and post poll trends clearly pointing to a clean sweep by YSRCP in Assembly polls and Jagan becoming CM, the land prices in and around Donakonda are increasing at a fast pace day after day.
YSRCP leaders and realtors from Hyderabad and Vijayawada and scouting for lands in Donakonda and making ‘deals’ with land owners and farmers promising that the AP capital city will be shifted from Amaravathi to Donakonda, once Jagan becomes CM. They are offering attractive rates to purchase lands.
There is huge demand for land parcels surrounding Donakonda airport.
YSRCP leaders and realtors owing allegiance to YSRCP are keen to make lot of money in Donakonda believing that this area will witness huge realty boom once Jagan announces shifting of capital city.
They are vying to purchase lands in and around Donakonda in advance.
Some YSRCP leaders in Kadapa and Kurnool districts are selling off their lands in their native places and investing money in Donakonda to purchase lands.
It may be recalled that Jagan is strongly opposed to construction of capital city Amaravathi by TDP government near Tadepalli in Guntur district.
Jagan strongly opposed acquisition of fertile lands for construction of Amaravathi capacity city though huge land parcels of non-agriculture land was available in Prakasam district.
In the latest YSRCP’s manifesto for Assembly polls, Jagan did not promise anything on Amaravathi capital city.
This triggered speculations that he wants to shift capital city from Amaravathi if YSRCP comes to power.
Balakrishna Launching Film before Results
Will Nandamuri Balakrishna win again as MLA? People are betting high on this and bets are in favour of his loss.
Nandamuri Balakrishna is the sitting MLA from Hindupur Assembly constituency which is traditionally citadel for Telugu Desam party.
The party’s candidates have been winning since 1983. Balakrishna who won from this seat comfortably in 2014 has faced stiff competition from YSRC candidate this time.
But Balakrishna is quite confident that he would scrape through and emerge as winner. So much so that he is launching his next film much before the election results. His new film will be launched on May 17, five days before the election results.
One of the reasons for early launch is that he doesn’t want to face media after the poll results as he fears TDP rout.
After tasting disastrous results with NTR Mahanayakudu and NTR Kathanayakudu early this year, he is now commencing an out and out commercial movie in the direction of K S Ravikumar.
The film will be launched on 17th May and regular shoot will begin in June.
Officials likely to skip Naidu Cabinet meet
Amaravati: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu well may land in an embarrassing situation if government officials do not attend the cabinet meeting that he intends to hold if the Election Commission (EC) doesn’t grant them permission to be there.
In that case, Naidu will have to hold the meeting only with his cabinet colleagues sans officials.
As per rule position, the Chief Secretary (CS) needs to circulate a note to all the officials to be ready with relevant information and to attend the cabinet meeting after the information from the chief minister’s office comes to him on holding the cabinet meeting.
Senior bureaucrats in the government pointed out that since the election code was in effect in the state, the chief secretary may seek the advice of the EC whether to attend the meeting and also whether to circulate the note or not.
If the EC does allow the CS to circulate the note, then the officials will attend otherwise they will not.
Mr Naidu who was visibly miffed with the chief secretary L.V. Subramanyam for not attending his review meeting on super cyclone Fani preparedness had said that he would hold a cabinet meeting and talk to the officials indirectly hinting at taking the CS to task for violating business rules.
Mr Naidu is of the opinion that while the Chief Minister and his cabinet was supreme, the chief secretary was only a facilitator and had to attend his review meetings when necessary.
“In this case, the CS may seek advice from the EC whether to attend and circulate the note. If the EC agrees then fine, otherwise it will be only ministers who will take part in the cabinet meeting,” a retired senior bureaucrat told this correspondent.
When the retired bureaucrat was told about the Chief Minister pointing at the cabinet meetings that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been heading even after the poll code came to effect, he said it was not clear if the Centre had sought the EC’s permission or not and whether a permission was accorded or not.
Actor turns entrepreneur, to empower women
Mumbai: Actor Arjun Kapoor has turned co-investor for a home food delivery company Foodcloud.in, which will empowering women.
“My aim at investing in Foodcloud.in is to contribute towards a larger societal purpose — of empowering the homemakers to contribute towards their family income,” Arjun said in a statement.
“It not only boosts household income leading to a better lifestyle but also drives gender parity for the woman at home or in her neighbourhood. To me, that’s a tiny step towards parity, towards empowerment in society at large,” added the “Ki & Ka” actor, who has always supported equality for women.
The 33-year-old actor said that by signing the Foodcloud.in platform, women can convert their valuable skill set into an economic asset for themselves and their families.
Led by CEO Vedant Kanoi and co-founder Sanjhi Rajgarhia, the food delivery platform runs on the premise of home cooks delivering hygienic and home cooked food to customers from their kitchens.
For Kanoi, having a “socially conscious youth icon” like Arjun’s support is a dream come true.
“He has enjoyed the homemade food by our talented home chefs in Delhi and we’re excited to have his support to grow our initiative to new cities,” he said.
Prabhas Orders Reshoot of Saaho?
It was widely reported that Mumbai schedule that began recently would be the last shooting program for Prabhas starrer “Saaho” but the movie has not yet wrapped up.
Buzz is that Prabhas is not happy with certain portions of the movie.
Prabhas wants everything in the film look lavish and each episode be stunning. He doesn’t want to compromise on the quality.
Though he is totally loved the action episodes filmed by Hollywood choreographer Kenny Bates, Prabhas is certainly not happy with the recently shot sequences.
“Saaho” is an action adventure that is being made with whopping Rs 300 Cr budget.
The production house UV Creations is not leaving any stone unturned to make it a glitzy action affair.
Everything in the film will be on par with international standards. Since a lot is riding on this film that already created records in terms of pre-release business, Prabhas is particular about the quality.
After completing the current schedule, Prabhas will take final call on which portions should be filmed again. So, the movie’s shoot will only be wrapped next month.
“Saaho” is slated for August 15 release.
Nostalgic Ram Charan goes back to his school in Ooty
Actor Ram Charan walked down memory lane as he visited his old school, Lawrence, Lovedale in Ooty (Tamil Nadu) recently. His wife Upasana shared images of the star revisiting his younger days.
Apparently the Rangasthalam actor used to study there until Chiranjeevi moved from Chennai to Hyderabad because the film industry also moved.
The actor spent quality time with the latest batch of students in the school and wished them all success.
He also visited the dormitory, prayer hall, school yard and other places in the school premises and turned nostalgic.
Ram Charan is currently working on the film RRR, directed by SS Rajamouli. The film is made on a budget of Rs 300 crore. The film also stars Jr NTR and it boasts of a huge star cast comprising Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn and Samuthirakani.
Ram Charan was last seen in Vinaya Vidheya Rama, which turned out to be a huge disappointment and was panned by critics.
Maharshi’s Runtime: 178 Minutes
Mahesh Babu’s “Maharshi” is lengthier film. It is nearly 3-hour movie. The film’s runtime declared in the censor certificate is 178 minutes (2 hours 58 minutes).
If we deduct the thanks card, advertisements and other things, it will come down to 2 hour 50 minutes. Even then it is longer film.
As films with long runtime are turning out to be big hits, director Vamshi Paidipally has refused to cut down it further.
He cited the successes of “Rangasthalam” and “Arjun Reddy”, which were nearly 3-hour movies.
Since the film’s content runs on emotional feel and is narrated in gripping manner, the lengthy runtime will not be an issue, Vamshi Paidipally believes.
On other hand, “Maharshi” advance bookings are terrific in Telugu states.
In Hyderabad, Mahesh Babu owned AMB Cinemas opened online advance bookings on Monday morning and the booking was closed in minutes. Such is the craze.
After Sam, it’s Keerthy Suresh
Hero Akkineni Nagarjuna’s ‘Manmadhudu 2’ is getting flooded with stars. The film has Rakul Preet Singh as the main female lead while model Akshara is roped in to play a small role.
Recently Nag’s kodalu, Samantha shot for the film and it’s special cameo and we hear that the film will have one more special cameo of ‘Mahanati’ Keerthy Suresh.
Currently the film’s shooting is going on in Portugal and very soon Keerthy will be flying Lisbon and Porto cities to take part in the shoot.
Rahul Ravindran is directing ‘Manmadhudu 2’ which is touted to be a fun-filled entertainer and inspired from the original film.
Nag and Gemini Kiran are producing the movie jointly.
Actress Sureka Vani Husband Passes Away
Surekha Vani, who is popularly known for playing mother roles and sister-in-law characters, is grieving with the death of her husband Suresh Teja.
Her husband died of cancer this morning.
Surekha Vani has a daughter with him. She provided him best treatment but he could not fight longer and breathed his last on Monday.
Surekha Vani has been the breadwinner of the family. Her daughter is planning to enter into films as well.
Rakul Not Leaving Anything In The Third Attempt
Spicy starlet Rakul Preet Singh has wrapped her latest schedule of Manmadhudu 2 in Portugal a couple of days ago and joined the cast of De De Pyaar De in Mumbai. You know, she’s rigorously promoting this film which is going to hit cinemas on May 17th.
This is her third attempt in Bollywood after Yaariyan (2014) and Aiyyari (2018) and we have to say that Rakul is not leaving any stone unturned this time. Already she has gone all out for the film in terms of glamour alongside Ajay Devgan and then her smoking hot dance steps also got a huge response from the masses.
As the film is looking like a comedy caper, with Rakul’s role being the epicentre of the film, surely this film’s success at the box office will give her a lot of mileage in Bollywood. And that’s the reason she upped her glamour and fashion quotient as well while promoting the film.
Cut to her south films, she has Manmadhudu 2 in Telugu and Surya’s NGK is up for release.
NEET’s foolish rules mess up with aspirants
Aspirants who wrote National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-UG yesterday were in for a surprise when they had come across crazy rules from the National Testing Agency (NTA). These rules freaked out a lot of girl students as they “barred candidates from wearing nose-pins, ring, earrings, chain/necklace, pendants, badge, and brooch, among others.” A lot of visuals of girls removing their earrings and nose pins at exam centers went viral on social media. This drew a lot of flak from citizens and students “for being ridiculous.”
What came as a surprise and was really annoying for most students was also a dress code which asked students to dress a certain way which was acceptable for the NTA. “Dress in light clothes, preferably half sleeves, slippers, sandals with a low heel, and not shoes. In case, candidates come in cultural/customary dress at the exam center, they should report before 12 noon so that there is enough time for proper checking without any inconvenience to the candidate while maintaining the sanctity of the examination,” NTA’s rule-book on NEET said.
Apart from that, it said that students are barred from carrying instruments, geometry, pencil box, handbag, purse, any kind of paper, stationery, printed or written material, eatables, water, mobile phone, earphones, microphones, pager, calculator, docupen, slide rules, log tables, camera and tape recorder into the exam center.
“Likewise, students should not wear or carry a watch, including electronic ones with facilities of calculator, or any metallic item or electronic devices into the exam hall. But, diabetic students will be allowed to bring eatables such as sugar tablets, fruits like banana, apple, and orange and a transparent water bottle,” it added.
These strict measures proved to be a huge hassle for students who were visibly upset about rules that really didn’t make sense. A lot of students, girls and boys were asked to get rid of their ornaments and other jewelry which the NTA believed could “cause inconvenience to them while maintaining the sanctity of the exam.” While boys were apprehended for having too many pockets on their shirts, girls who were forced to remove their “gold jewelry,” complained of the lack of safe storage place while the NEET officials made a big fuss of it.
A lot of pre-exam formalities along with the anxiety apparently irked a lot of students who were already reeling under the pressure of appearing for the exam. The National Testing Agency needs to wake up and get rid of such ridiculous rules while ensuring a safe and calm environment which helps students decrease their exam fear, rather than increase it!
