Tollywood producers are desperate to snatch talented directors. There are not many directors who can deliver hits with newcomers or non-stars.When Ajay Bhupathi made debut with a bang, producers are now queuing up to his residence to sign him.Ajay Bhupathi made debut with “RX 100” a bold romantic drama featuring two newcomers in the lead roles. The film raked in Rs 2.5 Cr (share) in just two days from Telugu states. The film has now entered in profit zone. All in two days.

No body knew who Ajay Bhupathi is or the movie’s stars Karthikeya and Payal Rajput. Yet, the director brought in openings with his trailer cut.Producers believe that he has got the pulse of youth and they are giving fancy advances. Four prominent producers have already given him huge advances.

Though “RX 100” has no great content, the director’s bold approach in filmmaking struck a chord with a section of audiences. Producers are also looking for the same.

Not many knew about Payal Rajput’s name till last week. She has now become most sought after actress in Tollywood.An actress needs lot of guts to do the scenes that she did in recently released “RX 100”. She played the role that is not regular heroine’s role. It is a challenging character.To top of it all, she had to expose liberally and indulge in hot kiss scenes.

These days most of the actresses are not hesitating in doing smooch scenes but the kiss scenes in ‘RX 100’ are raw and more intense.But Payal Rajput believed in the story and went with the director’s vision and did without complaints. Her gutsy act made the movie a huge hit.Can you believe how much she was paid for this role? It was mere Rs 6 lakhs.

She got fame now and producers and directors are running after to sign in their new big films. She will be minting money. Hard work pays off!

Two of the biggest names in Tollywood: Ram Charan and Jr NTR gave their nod to do Rajamouli’s film without even listening to the script. Such is the stature of Rajamouli post the success of Baahubali.But Jakanna is now struggling to come up with the proper script for Tarak and Charan, according to industry sources.

Despite his father Vijayendra Prasad and a battery of writers grinding it out, a script suiting both Charan and Tarak has not been found yet.Apparently, Rajamouli first wanted to make this film in Telugu only but subsequently decided to make it a national project given the scale of budget.

That is one of the reasons for the delay as he has to find a script to suit the sensibilities of pan-Indian audiences.The film was supposed to be launched in September but Jakanna has now postponed it to December.

Will an apt story be ready by December at least is anybody’s guess.

Hero Vishal had a good run in the initial days of his career both in Tamil and Telugu before a series of debacles put him on the back foot at the box-office.At a crucial juncture in his career, he changed direction and started going in for different kinds of commercial films like Detective and Abhimanyudu.

His latest film Abhimanyudu had Samantha as the heroine, quite a costly proposition for a Vishal film but the gamble paid off as Abhimanyudu got a good response in Telugu as well because of her presence. That the film has earned a share of Rs 10 crore plus in Telugu is not a joke.Now, Vishal is busy with the sequel to Pandem Kodi, the film which made him a star. And the heroine in the sequel is Mahanati fame Keerthi Suresh.

Naturally, this will interest the Tollywood audiences as well and producer Tagore Madhu has already picked up the rights to the Telugu version.Thus, Vishal through his smart selection of heroines is further enhancing his market in Tollywood.

Talented director Hanu Raghavapudi and young star Sharwanand have teamed up for the film Padi Padi Leche Manasu. Sai Pallavi is the heroine.The film which is being made on a huge scale has already completed a 70-day schedule in Kolkatta. Reportedly, there is another 40 days of shooting left.

There is an earthquake scene in the climax of the film and a large set has been erected at Aluminum Factory, Hyderabad for the same.The scenes also involve a lot of graphics work and the climax will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the film, say industry insiders.

Meanwhile, there is speculation that Tej I Love You and Padi Padi Leche Manasu have a common theme: that of the heroine losing her memory. Hanu is yet to respond on this.

Noted Telugu villain, character artiste Vinod has breathed his last on Saturday in the wee hours. Vinod suffered a severe brain stroke at around 3 Am today and was pronounced dead by the doctors. His sudden demise has come as a shocker to Tollywood.

Vinod’s original name was Arisetti Nageshwara Rao. He belonged to Tenali. Vinod acted in over 300 films. He started his acting career as a hero in 1980 with his maiden film being Keerthi Kantha Kanakam directed by V. Visweswara Rao.

However, Vinod’s first shot to fame was Chanti where he had acted as one of the brothers to heroine Meena. His role in Chanti had become popular and earned him fame, several roles. Vinod later played significant roles in Nandamuri Balakrishna’s Lorry Driver and Chiranjeevi’s Indra. Vinod once again got noticed with his role in Indra.

The shocking demise of Vinod has left the Telugu film industry in grief. Several film personalities have expressed their condolences to the bereaved family.