https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG34_3kkMcY
Who Is Behind Fire At ‘Sye Raa’ Sets?
The reports that a major fire broke out in the sets of Telugu film “Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy” starring megastar Chiranjeevi at Kokapet near Gandipet on the outskirts of Hyderabad early on Friday made a big news in the local and national media.
Some sections of media also reported that veteran Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan was also expected to take part in the shooting of the film on Friday but cancelled his visit following the fire mishap, which led to destruction of set and shooting material worth over Rs 2 crore.
But, there is a talk doing rounds in the film circles that there is more to the fire in Sai Raa sets than what meets the eye.
While the reports said the shooting for the film went on till late hours on Thursday and the fire accident, possibly due to short circuit, had occurred in the early hours of Friday.
But according to the rumours, the shooting at the sets was already completed and even the little patchwork which was being done till recently was also completed.
As such, there was no shooting taking place at the sets. Since it was erected on the premises of the farmhouse belonging to Chiranjeevi’s brother-in-law Allu Arvind, nobody knows what is happening inside.
It is learnt somebody might have deliberately set fire to the set, in order to avoid the burden of dismantling it and transporting it, which would cost the producers heavily.
Since the shooting part is completed, there is no way the producers could make use of the set. It is not exactly known whether film set was insured or not.
Even the reports about Amitabh Bachchan cancelling his visit to Hyderabad following the mishap are said to be false, as Amitabh had already completed his shooting part during a 10-day schedule and he was also given a warm send-off by the shooting unit.
In any case, the police are investigating the case and hope, the facts will come out.
Finally, Naidu gets EC nod for meetings!
After repeated requests, prolonged protests and strong letters, the Election Commission of India finally agreed to relax the model code of conduct for four districts of coastal Andhra Pradesh – East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.
Responding to the latest letter written by Telugu Desam Party president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu requesting the EC to permit him to review the rescue and rehabilitation works in the areas affected by the Cyclone Fani, the EC announced lifting the model code of conduct in four districts.
Naidu in fact sought exemption from the MCC in the entire state to monitor the situation during Cyclone Fani. But the EC agreed to lift MCC only in four north coastal districts of AP.
The chief minister welcomed the decision of EC and said that he will personally visit the places, where the cyclone effect is more in these four districts.
The authorities are taking all precautions in mitigating the impact of super cyclone in the north coastal Andhra districts.
In view of the severe cyclonic storm Fani, the government cautioned public to be more alert regarding any untoward power accidents due to nature’s fury.
Likewise, 12,000 poles, 50 cranes, 40 pole drilling machines, 40 generators, 70 power saws, 2,000 transformers, wires, conductors, cross arms, insulators were already sent to the cyclone-affected places and in addition, other necessary items are being procured.
Jagan watches Avengers at Mahesh theatre!
Now that the elections to the assembly and Lok Sabha in Andhra Pradesh are over, YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy is enjoying the long gap of 42 days between the polling and counting.
On Thursday night, Jagan along with his wife Bharati and all the other family members watched “Avengers: End Game” at AMB Cinemas at Kondapur, one of the most premier theatres in Hyderabad.
Interestingly the theatre is jointly owned by Asian Cinemas and popular Tollywood hero Mahesh Babu, who happens to be the brother-in-law of Telugu Desam Party candidate for Guntur parliamentary constituency Galla Jayadev.
It is also learnt that Jagan along with his wife will be leaving for London on Friday night for about 10 days to spend the leisure time with his elder daughter, who is pursuing her graduation in London School of Economics. He is expected to return by May 12, sources said.
Well, it appears Jagan wants to relax as much as possible during this period, as he might not get much time after May 23.
His party is most likely to win the assembly elections to wrest power from the Telugu Desam Party and if it happens, Jagan will be the chief minister.
So, he will hardly have any time to watch movies or enjoy vacations.
Virat, Anushka bag new brand endorsement
Star couple Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma have been roped in as the first official brand ambassadors of Flipkart-owned ecommerce platform, Myntra.
Its campaign ‘Go Myntra-la-la’ brings alive the joyful experience of shopping and kicks-off with an ad film starring the star couple, read a statement.
Virat and Anushka share a lot of common passions, and shopping is one of them.
Amar Nagaram, Head at Myntra-Jabong, said: “The association of Bollywood and sports with fashion needs no introduction and hence having Virat and Anushka as the face of this new campaign will enable us to build strong brand salience and establish the joy and convenience of shopping on Myntra.”
The musical film opens with viewers witnessing Anushka pushing a shopping cart with Virat sitting in it. It then goes to Anushka, walking in style as she comes next to a fashion billboard, she whips out her smart phone and taps the brand icon and scans the floral dress on the billboard.
The app throws up the same dress, ready to be shopped.
In the film, however, the editor takes us straight to Anushka continuing her walk with the new dress. It then cuts to Virat browsing through various sneaker options to choose from before he settles on his perfect pair.
The film goes back to the couple enjoying a moment of fun with a shopping cart.
The couple, fondly called Virushka, have endorsed brands like Head and Shoulders and Manyavar.
10 Crores Cut Has Irked Raviteja Big Time
Already we have informed long back that mass raja Raviteja has put his upcoming film “Disco Raja” on hold. And finally the reasons for pausing this film’s shoot midway are getting revealed.
Apparently, director VI Anand is known for chipping huge chunks of money for visual effects in his films. And for Disco Raja, with all these heavy costs included, the film is being made with 40 crores budget including that of 10 crores of remuneration being given to Raviteja. But the producer and director sat for a discussion regarding Ravi’s market and has cut down the total film’s budget to 30 crores, reducing some graphics portions and cutting out few songs.
This has irked the Mass Raja as he feels that the producer is underestimating his capacity and took a decision related to the budget without informing him. Though his remuneration didn’t take any beating, Raivteja took the budget cut-down seriously and halted the film midway.
For the uninitiated, Raviteja’s recent film Amar Akbar Antony got sold for 22 crores and made only 6 crors at the box office. So its better to take stock of the investment getting poured into his films for sure.
Comparison With Avengers Hurts Baahubali Producer
Noted film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh has a while tweeted about the collections of “Avengers: End Game”, which led to a huge discussion in film circles now. And this has upset none other than Baahubali producer Shobu Yarlagadda too.
Apparently, Taran revealed that Avengers (all language versions) occupied top spot with 260+ crores nett collection beating Baahubali (Hindi) which collected 247 crores nett in its first-week run. However, if this critic is comparing the Hindi version collections of Baahubali and other Hindi films like Sultan, Tiger Zinda Hai and Sanju, then he has to compare it with Avengers: End Game Hindi version collection, isn’t it?
“Not to take away the success any of the films listed below, I don’t think this is a right comparison and doesn’t put things in perspective especially from veteran trade analyst like yourself! BB2 one language (predominantly North India) vs all other films all languages pan India” tweeted Shobhu.
If we include Baahubali 2 all versions first-week collection, then the number stands at 420+ crores ‘share’ which is quite huge for any other Hollywood film to match up.
Shankar Wants To Hit Hard On NGK
NGK is an upcoming film of star hero Surya who has a very big market in Telugu as well. He’s all set to hit the marquee on May 31st as Summer closing treat. But here comes the one who could challenge him in the arena.
Though Vijay Devarakonda’s Dear Comrade was supposed to release on the same day, the young hero’s film got postponed indefinitely. And now, director Puri Jagan, who is hellbent on scoring a blockbuster at any cost, is most likely to put his iSmart Shankar in the race.
Despite the fact that this Ram Pothineni starrer has still much of the shoot to complete, Puri Jagan is known for his swift filmmaking, and we can bet on him when it comes to releasing a film on the targeted date. So, 31st has still 30 days to go giving Jagan ample time to bring the movie to theatres.
By that time already people will see films like Maharshi and they will be waiting for a pucca commercial masala film to entertain them. So we have to see how will be Jagan’s collision with Surya be like.
Young Heroes Giving One Week Gap To Mahesh
Mahesh Babu’s another big budgeted film is none other than Maharshi and they have planned a massive release for this film on May 9th. The star hero wants to make sure that the Summer holidays will help him big time to recover the mammoth investments involved in this film.
The young brigade of heroes is however not giving any relief to Mahesh as they think that Maharshi will be needing only a week of breathing space. While Maharshi comes on 9th, firstly we have Nikhil’s Arjun Suravaram hitting cinemas on the following Friday. On the very same day, we have Allu Sirish’s ABCD also hitting cinemas. Then we have Kajal’s Sita coming up on May 24th, another week later and might be joined by a couple of other films too.
Then on May 31st, before Maharshi makes its giant leaps, another set of films like Tamanna’s Abhinetri 2, Surya’s NGK and possibly Puri Jagan’s iSmart Shankar are also getting ready for a release. Almost all the films are already in the process of locking theatres and making agreements for their respective dates.
But if Maharshi turns out a blockbuster then these movies might feel the heat to find a right number of theatres at right locations.
Mega Hero Replaces Dubsmash Girl With Pooja!
Seems like our heroes are thinking more about the hype they could generate for a film than just roping in new talents. And that led to the ouster of a new girl named Mrinalini Ravi who was just super famous through Tamilnadu for her dubsmash videos.
In the upcoming Valmiki of Varun Tej, which happens to be a remake of Jigarthanda, actually, Mrinalini was roped in as the leading lady by director Harish Shankar and their producers. The heroine hardly needs to give 15 days of her dates to wrap the shooting of this film.
Guess what, now they have replaced her with dusky siren Pooja Hegde, who has earlier worked with Harish Shankar in DJ Duvvada Jagannadam. Many know, how her bikini work for her intro sequence in that film won her all the fame and attention. And now, the producers are said to be paying her 2 crores to bring aboard for this movie.
As films like Maharshi and Allu Arjun Trivikram starrer are there in her kitty, the makers think that it is worth to pay her such a whopping sum.
Producer’s Son Bags Second Film?
For coming up with films like Pellichoopulu and Mental Madhilo, producer Raj Kandukuri has carved a name for himself. And now, he’s all set to introduce his son Shiva Kandukuri as the leading man of Telugu films very soon.
Reports have that Raj Kandukuri has roped in a lady director to handle the debut film of his son. While the shooting of that film is completed, with post-production work underway, it is now being heard that he’s making his son’s second film too. An associate of RX100 director Ajay Bhupathi is said to be making a commercial masala film with Shiva in the lead.
At a time when heroes like Bellamkonda Srinivas, Sumanth Ashwin and others, who happens to be sons of some popular big budgeted film producers are struggling to make a mark, we have to see what will Raj Kandukuri’s son do. It is not tough to make an impact, all it takes is conviction, performance and timing.
And then, Raj Kanduri is said to be looking at other scripts as well such that he could repeat the success of Pelli Choopulu yet again.
In Pics: Warangal girl Exploding Now
Industry talk is that when they asked her to sizzle in glamorous roles, she always said a no. And now, she’s exploding with juicy hotness thereby giving signals that she wants to sizzle in such ‘star heroine’ kinds of roles. So, what is in store for her?
Warangal girl Eesha Rebba is desperately trying to grab all the attention with her latest set of pictures she shared on Twitter. Showcasing her juicy curves including that of a hot navel show, she’s making sure that the summer of Telugu people will get hotter and harsh. And this is what some filmmakers asked of her long back.
Though she’s known for her performance, when Eesha was given chances in various films where the directors are said to have asked her for a glamour touch, she opted out of such movies. That’s how opportunities have flown out of her hands many times. And it looks like she has a change of opinion now.
A filmmaker on condition of anonymity commented on this happening this way: “Film industry is a tricky place where you need to cash on your craze when offers knock your doors. But there is no use if you want to catch leaves after getting caught by fire”. Let’s see what happens in Eesha’s case.
Naga Chaitanya Breaks Into New Territory
For the first time ever, hero Naga Chaitanya might have understood his true box office potential as he breaks into territories after territories with his new film Majili. Definitely, this is a moment of triumph for the hero who took years to get the right foot.
Apart from Manam, which happens to be a multi-starrer he has done with dad Nagarjuna, this young Akkineni lad has no film as a solo hero that made huge collections. It is the remake movie Premam that became his biggest solo hit with 22 crores share to its kitty. And then, Majili did the unthinkable for him.
Leaving aside masala touch and routine potboilers, offbeat film Majili which is laced with lots of reality has worked big time for Naga Chaitanya we have to say. And the presence of his wife Samantha in the leading role has done him a great help. Combined with director Siva Nirvana’s truthful making, the film has posted 38+ crores share after 4 weeks of a run at the box office.
This itself is a record of sorts and if he breaks into 40 crores club, that will be the new benchmark for his upcoming films to achieve.
pHOTo Alert: The Hotter Side of Guru’s Girl!
Ritika Singh who made debut with an unconventional role in Venkatesh’s Guru has impressed one and all with her flawless performance.
Later she appeared in a few films like Shivalinga and Neevevaro but couldn’t make much impact.
The image that she gained with Guru seems to be haunting her. So Ritika started showing her hotter side to counter it. She is getting bolder by the day and posing in revealing costumes.
Her latest photo shoot in a knotted, unbuttoned white shirt has set the temperatures soaring. Ritika is surely grabbing eyeballs with this eye popping skin show.
Has she got the attention of producers or not?
Mumbai in playoffs after Super Over win vs SRH
Mumbai: In yet another nail-biting clash of the Indian Premier League (IPL), three-time champions Mumbai Indians held its nerves to become the third team to qualify for the playoffs after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Super Over at the Wankhede Stadium here on Thursday.
It was Manish Pandey’s ‘never give up’ effort which helped Hyderabad, who were chasing a 163-run target, tie the score and take the contest to a Super Over. However, Hyderabad could only manage eight runs before Mumbai overhauled the target with ease and three balls to spare.
Earlier, Pandey’s (71 unbeaten off 47) last-ball six denied Mumbai a thrilling win as his fighting knock along with Mohammed Nabi’s valuable (31 off 20) effort helped Hyderabad level the score in the stipulated 20 overs.
Pandey, whose scintillating knock was laced with eight boundaries and couple of sixes, kept his side on hunt as he kept one end intact despite Mumbai jolting the visitors at regular intervals in the first 15 overs.
Chasing the 163-run target, Hyderabad openers Wriddhiman Saha (25 off 15) and Martin Guptill (15 off 11) handed a fine start as the visitors raced away to 30 runs in the first three overs. Jasprit Bumrah came with the first breakthrough for Mumbai, sending back Saha in the fourth over.
Just when the hosts added another 17 runs, Bumrah struck again to account for the other Hyderabad opener in the sixth over, leaving them at 57/2. Krunal Pandya was then successful in making further inroads in the visiting batting line-up as he claimed Kane Williamson (3 off 7) soon, which reduced Hyderabad to 65/3.
Krunal struck again to dismiss Vijay Shankar (12) while his brother Hardik Pandya also joined the party, sending back Abhishek Sharma (2) cheaply, which left the visitors reeling at 105/5 in 14.3 overs.
Despite the blows, Pandey kept his wicket safe and was later involved in a crucial 49-run partnership with Nabi. The duo not only denied Mumbai making any further onslaughts but also helped their side touch the 150-run mark in 19.3 overs.
Just when it seemed the duo would easily drive their side home, Hardik came with a twist in tale as he sent back a good-looking Nabi with two balls left.
With eight needed of the final two deliveries, Pandey took a couple in the second last delivery before slamming Hardik for a maximum at long-on to keep the contest alive.
For Mumbai, Bumrah, Hardik and Krunal scalped couple of wickets each.
Opting to bat, Mumbai rode opener Quinton de Kock’s valiant knock of 69 (unbeaten) off 58 balls to post 162/5.
Despite getting little support from the other end, de Kock kept his cool and helped the three-time champions reach a respectable total. The opener’s knock contained six boundaries and two hits into the stands.
Opting to bat, Mumbai were off to a decent but cautious start with the scoreboard reading 26/0 in the initial three overs. While Rohit Sharma (24 off 18) clobbered Hyderabad bowlers, de Kock played second fiddle to the Mumbai captain.
Khaleel drew the first blood for his side and sent back a dangerous looking Rohit in the sixth over, leaving Mumbai at 36/1. The Mumbai skipper played an overambitious pull shot on a delivery that bounced a bit more and popped up in the air only to be caught by Nabi at mid-on.
Incoming batsman Suryakumar Yadav (23 off 17) and de Kock then tried to repair the early damage, adding 54 runs for the second wicket. Just when the home side was approaching the three-digit mark, Khaleel struck again to break the partnership. He cut short Suryakumar’s stay in the middle, reducing Mumbai to 90/2 in 11.2 overs.
Nabi spelled further trouble for Mumbai and just after the addition of a run, he packed back Evin Lewis (1 off 6) in the 13th over.
Hardik then played a quick 10-ball 18, with the help of a four and a six. But the Mumbai all-rounder failed to spend much time in the middle as Bhuvneshwar Kumar applied brakes on his innings in the 16th over, with Mumbai placed at 119/4.
Kieron Pollard (10 off 9) and de Kock then shared a short 32-run partnership for the fifth wicket, helping their side cross the 150-run mark in 18.5 overs. Pollard was dismissed in the final over by Khaleel before Krunal Pandya chipped in with an unbeaten 9 off three balls as Mumbai reached a fighting total.
For the visitors, Khaleel bagged three wickets for 42 runs and Bhuvneshwar and Nabi got one wicket each.
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 162/5 (Quinton de Kock 69, Rohit Sharma 24; Khaleel Ahmed 3/42) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 162/6 (Manish Pandey 71 not out, Mohammad Nabi 31; Hardik Pandya 2/20) in Super Over.
