Overseas: Pawan, Mahesh, NTR Unsold!
In the last one decade, overseas has emerged as one of the key areas for Telugu films. Stars like Mahesh, Pawan and NTR have managed to create huge market for their films here just like in the Telugu states. So, it naturally comes as a surprise to learn the overseas rights of these three stars’ upcoming films are still unsold.
No US buyer has yet inked the deal to acquire the rights of any of Pawan-Trivikram film, Mahesh’s Spyder and NTR’s Jai Lava Kusa. Too much asking price from makers is the primary reason for this situation whereas the change in ‘payout percentage’ from the US theatre chains is the secondary reason.
After AMC acquired Carmike Cinemas in last December, buyers are getting around 7 percent lesser share than what they used to get earlier. Hence, they have reduced the bidding prices, but makers haven’t slashed down the asking rates. Biggies breaching million dollar mark is no big deal these days and buyers of many big films are not tasting profits in reality since the costs involved have gone up. In comparison, content-based small films are providing better returns for them.
With two months still left for the release of Spyder and Jai Lava Kusa, buyers are optimistic that makers of these films come to terms with the reality.
Sampoo Eliminated Himself From Bigg Boss
The second elimination from Bigg Boss house happened today, and its Burning Star Sampoornesh Babu.
People may wonder how come Sampoo was eliminated today as evictions happen only on Sundays. In a shocking development, Sampoo eliminated himself from the house on Tuesday. According to the rules, he may have to pay fine for eliminating himself.
Being locked up at one place for days can do strange things to people and Sampoo looked quite badly affected. Some of his fans even raised concerns over his mental condition after watching today’s episode. His behavior was quite abnormal and the Bigg Boss had to send him out after he created ruckus in the house.
Some viewers opined that Sampoo wasted a great opportunity as he was the most entertaining celeb in the house, and would have won the title if he had stayed. Sampoo’s fans hope that he makes a re-entry in the house at a later stage.
Actress Jyothi was the first contestant to have been eliminated by Bigg Boss last Sunday.
Star Hero Apologises For Holding Indian Flag Upside Down
Bollywood’s Khiladi joined millions of fans on Sunday at Lords to catch some live action of England VS India Women World cup finals.
The actor, Akshay Kumar, also carried Indian flag along with him to cheer team India. Before the match, Akshay posted a video on his Twitter handle to show the enthusiasm and excitement he had towards the match. The actor revealed that he ran barefoot to catch a train so that he could make it on time to watch the match.
However, a picture of him holding the Indian flag upside down pulled him in a controversy. While many spotted the error easily, others got offensive about the error made by the actor in haste.
Extending his apologies, Akshay stated that he deleted the image which had no intention to offend anyone.
Akshay is currently busy with promotions of Toilet: ek prem katha.
Drugs Case: Top Stars Consulting Foreign Doctors!
The ongoing investigation into Drugs Scandal where many celebrities are being summoned to explain if they ever abused drugs and also supplied them to various parties is creating a havoc now.
With the likes of Navdeep refusing to give blood samples, Charmi knocking court doors and Puri Jagan giving some open statements to public and clues to police, this investigation being done Excise and Enforcement SIT officials is taking new turns.
Right now, a strong buzz is being heard in film circles that a dozen more celebrities will get notices from SIT in the coming days to appear for questioning. This time the list includes a couple of star heroes, star kids and popular singers as well, says a TV report. As there is a chance of collecting blood samples from these celebs, they are now said to be trying ways to get their bodies cleansed of the drug leftovers.
Though there is no drug cleanse therapies that could immediately wipe out the trace of drugs, there are certain ways through which the traces could be hidden, some say. To find out such ways, few star celebs are said to be consulting foreign doctors who could help them in possible detox sessions, which would help them in two ways.
One, if a celebrity isn’t found guilty of abusing drugs through Forensic reports, then he will be walking free and proud. And two, if a celebrity is already taking a detox and rehab thing, he will get some sympathy from the investigators. Let’s see what happens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH6vtOqp7Qsa
Actress Complains On Masjid’s Prayer Call
In a country that practices secularism, sometimes limits are crossed whether it is a song being played a Ganesh pandal, the special prayers at Churches during December or the Azaan call coming from a mosque. This is in connection with the loudness of the sound that is coming from the speakers at these places.
After singer Sonu Nigam complained about the unwanted loud sound coming up from a mosque nearby his locality, now it’s the turn of actress Suchitra Krishnamurthy to do the same. “Came home at 4.45 am to most aggressive/ ear shattering call of azaan. Nothing more lowlife & dumb than such extreme imposed religiosity” she tweeted, three days ago. And then, a war started on twitter as usual with various people taking sides, some calling her as brave while others slamming her for hurting their religious sentiments.
But many people felt that prayer calls coming from Masjids in the mornings and late evenings should be run on reduced volume as the sound easily disturbs anyone. And some demanded that prayer call as their right to religion in this secular country.
Including Samajwadi party leader Abu Azmi, many termed Suchitra Krishnamurthy as a character less woman who comes home very late after drinking and partying, and the complaints about azaan. Some of the twitterati went on calling her as a prostitute for raising her voice.
Puri Did Mistake In 2003, They Realised Now!!
For authorities and officials who look into various matters, definitely, wake up calls happen very late in a country like India if we have to comment on the happenings. Especially in the case of Censor Board, they realise many things very late.
Way back in 2003, when director Puri Jagan’s “Sivamani” featuring Nagarjuna got released, the film has an interesting tag line. As this director is known for such tag lines, he has taken the number “98480 22338” as a tagline. Some enthusiastic fans who thought that the number might have belonged to either Puri or Nagarjuna have called it repeated times only to find that it belongs to some poor guy from Vizag. So how come Puri and Nagarjuna used some random number without taking the guy’s permission?
Definitely, that poor chap’s mental piece would have gone for a toss for the kind of torture fans has shown him back then. Guess what, Censor Board has finally taken some useful decision after irritating Indian filmmakers with things like cutting out deep lip kisses, banning a big list of words and others. Now if anyone has to display a phone number on the screen, they have to get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the owner of that particular number.
Hearing to this new Censor rule, many Telugu lovers remembered Puri Jagan’s old movie and how this rule would have created some peace back then as well.
AP CM Chandrababu Naidu Threatens Public at Rally
The political scenario in Andhra Pradesh is literally stooping down day after day, with the ruling TDP and opposition YSRCP behaving like faction groups, instead of political parties in a Democracy. CM Chandrababu Naidu, while addressing a public gathering, is caught on a wrong foot, which doesn’t go well with general public. Chandrababu Naidu has warned a person, who raised the issue of power cuts, by attributing him to the oppositin YSRCP. Watch the video to see and hear Chandrababu with your own eyes and ears.
Charmi leaves for SIT interrogation from Paisa Vasool’s shoot
Actress Charmi is one of the Tollywood stars who were served notices by the Excise Department cops in connection with the drug scandal that rattled the film industry and fans. Today, Charmme will be interrogated by the SIT officials between 10 am to 5 pm.
Charmme’s interrogation has gained more attention than any of the stars’ interrogations so far. A couple of days ago, Charmme moved the High Court against the SIT’s forced collection of blood samples and got a ruling in her favor. Charmme will be interrogated by female cops and the entire procedure will be recorded on camera. However, Charmme is not allowed to bring her lawyer for the interrogation.
Meanwhile, Charmme is already headed to the SIT office. Earlier today, Charmme went to Kondapur where Puri Jagannadh is shooting Paisa Vasool.
Finally, Deal Set For Arjun Reddy
If a movie has to do good pre-release business, the promos should be impressive. The first look, teaser, trailer everything should be good. Then, the buyers will come forward to invest on the film. Vijay Devarakonda new film ‘Arjun Reddy’ appears to have done the same trick with the teaser.
‘Arjun Reddy’ teaser was released in February but there was no further update on the film till now. Latest reports reveal that Asian Films said to have acquired the theatrical rights of ‘Arjun Reddy’ for a whopping Rs. 5.5 crores for the two Telugu states. The business is impressive but the trade analysts are expressing their doubts how did they invest such a big amount on the film. Because the teaser has nothing special except hero using foul language. Censor Board will surely cut those dialogues. Then how come they have invested on the film.
There is another version of it. The way ‘anger management’ was dealt in the film is wonderful, so they have confidently invested on the film. Another thing is the teaser shows Vijay taking drugs in the film… this also might be another reason why they might have felt the movie would be contemporary.
This film is directed by debutant Sandeep Reddy. Hero Vijay said to have asked the director to change few scenes in the film.. but the director didn’t agree with the changes.. that’s the reason why the movie got delayed as per the buzz. There is a talk that Vijay said to have done the same thing at the time of ‘Pelli Choopulu’ as well.
Pawan’s Vacation With Three Kids and Wife!
Pawan Kalyan is the name many are waiting to see on the political screen from a long time while he’s doing only cameos. And now, an interesting thing regarding Janasena president is being discussed in film circles which are related to his personal vacations.
Generally, Pawan doesn’t take his children and wife to movie shoots which happen abroad. But this time, when he flew to Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria, his plans are changed altogether. Accompanied by his wife Anna Lezhenova, son Akira, daughters Adya and Polena, Pawan Kalyan went to Bulgaria.
While he’s shooting for songs of his upcoming film under Trivikram’s direction, where he’s romancing Keerthi Suresh, his wife and kids are said to be enjoying the scenic locales of Eastern Europe. During the evenings, Pawan is said to be accompanying his children to shopping and dinners and had a great gala time in Bulgaria for a week.
At this time, everyone wondered why such a family vacation alongside a film shoot. Actually, Pawan wants to mix his personal life with film schedules because from next year he wants to stay busy with political assignments. Until the general elections get completed, maybe he won’t find time to entertain his wife and kids through vacations. For that reason, he’s said to be taking them along to foreign trips and shoot.
Other day Pawan and his family returned from Bulgaria as Pawan want to look into Uddanam Kidney issue with Harvard University medical team set to visit the Uddanam village. Later he will meet AP CM Naidu and may fly to Bulgaria again for another shoot, say sources.
KCR Family Earns Rs 1 Crore A Day
TDP Telangana unit President A Revanth Reddy has made sweeping comments on Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and his family. He said the family is earning Rs 1 crore per day through awarding permission to sand mafia for illegal exploration of sand reserves in Telangana.
He alleged that sand contractors close to KCR family are mining sand from the reserves and selling without paying mining tax and transportation cess to the government. In lieu of the exploitation, they were paying Rs 1 crore to KCR, his son and IT minister KT Rama Rao and daughter and MP K Kavita everyday.
The TDP leader said those who fought against illegal sand mining have been threatened with dire consequences. Some of them were also killed and some seriously injured in the police atrocities.
Trade: Telangana Girl Brings Huge Profits!
Sekhar Kammula’s breezy drama, ‘Fidaa’ is having a super-consistent run over the weekdays. The film had done huge business on its first Monday, collected a share of over 2.1 crore in the Telugu states to take the four-day total to over 12 crore.
Below is the area-wise break-up of distributor share:
Nizam – 5,45,00,000
Ceded – 1,45,00,000
Nellore – 35,10,010
Guntur – 96,00,000
Krishna – 78,99,823
West – 70,00,000
East – 90,62,821
Uttharandhra – 1,45,99,210
Total 4 days AP & TG share – 12.06 crore
According to trade reports, Fidaa is off to a solid start on Tuesday (today) as well. The film hasn’t witnessed considerable drop from yesterday and instead has grown signs of growth in some areas. Trade expects the film to breach into Rs 30 crore share club in the lifetime.
RGV Has Begun War With KCR!
It looks like maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma is fighting for his ‘shisyas’ in his own way, as the drug scandal has tinkered popularity & disturbed families of director Puri Jagannadh, Subbaraju, Charmme Kaur and others.
Apart from confronting SIT and DGP Akun Sabarwal, RGV has begun war in the name of Telangana Chief Minister KCR. Hitting at SIT officials for diverting media attention towards film people, RGV questioned -‘Are there no much bigger people being shielded like many are saying now?’
The sensational director made an attempt to cloud the case by saying it’s damaging the reputation of Hyderabad city and CM KCR rest of the citizens in India. RGV has been repeatedly striking SIT for sensationalizing people from film industry. On other hand, reports emerged that his name also popped up in the drugs scandal. But, it’s still not clear.
Read what RGV posted on his Facebook, in a series of tweets:
‘More than anything else drug case is damaging Hyderabad reputation. Mumbai ppl are asking me they never knew Hyderabad is so bad. I hope making a national drama of targeting a few individuals is really worth spoiling reputation of entire Telangana state. Many saying nothing will come out of this enquiry of film people by Akun Sabarwal’s SIT but whatever might come out as end result,I hope it’s worth giving so much bad name to Telangana state ..People in Mumbai are thinking Telangana is worse than Punjab ..Sad. Mumbai people admired KCR like anything and now they are shocked that what doesn’t happen even in Bollywood and also Mumbai and Punjab schools is happening in TRS government in Hyderabad schools ..I wish as a proud citizen of Hyderabad that responsible people like Akun Sabarwal and Chandravadan will save reputation of KCR and Telangana state in the eyes of rest of india.. I am sincierely hoping their SIT will set the wrong things in the right way. Sum total feeling I got from Mumbai people is how very much high Rajamouli elevated the telugu states prestige in entire india with Baahubali Akun Sabarwal and team brought it that much down in the eyes of entire India. Mumbai people thought the TRS government is most capable and now they are shocked that unlike in any schools in any part of entire india even schools in hyderabad have drugs ..I wish SIT will SET It RIGHT. Mumba people so far only heard good and great things about Telangana state and TRS and KCR and now thanks to SIT they are hearing only @..I request SIT to SET RIGHT the reputation of Hyderabad and TRS and above all KCR. Bahubali 2 is highest reputation of Tel State Drug scam is lowest reputation of Tel state.’
They Pay Rs 5.5 Cr For Arjun Reddy!
It is official that Asian Films, one of the leading distributors in Nizam area, and KFC entertainments together have acquired the theatrical distribution rights of ‘Arjun Reddy’ in both Telugu states for the wooing amount of Rs 5.5 crs.
‘Arjun Reddy’ had gained a lot of attention from youth with its uber popular teaser and its unique name and also the unique character content is doing a phenomenal pre-release business. Sunil Narang of Asian Films, who earlier distributed ‘Baahubali 2’ has acquired the A.P and Telangana movie rights for a handsome price. This is one of the most anticipated movies in both domestic and overseas market.
Vijay deverakonda as Arjun Reddy plays a short-tempered, arrogant medical student and Shalini as Preeti Shetty plays the female lead with a strong character. Vijay and Shalini come from a very strong theatre background and it is said that it will be an emotional feast to watch the performances on screen.
The talented Radhan has composed the music and the movie is surely turning up the heat with a slew of chartbusters in the music market. Keep watching this space for more updates.
NTR Sets 100 Crs Target?
It is undeniable that NTR’s upcoming film ‘Jai Lava Kusa’ has huge buzz in market. Can the film touch the Rs 100 crore mark with its pre-release business?
Baahubali was the first film to do Rs 100 crore business ahead of its release. Pawan Kalyan with Sardaar, Megastar with Khaidi No.150, Allu Arjun with DJ and Mahesh Babu with Spyder have also breached the new club, which has become a measure for stardom in the discussions of fan clubs. Prabhas’s Saaho is expected to do more than Rs 200 crore business. NTR and Ram Charan are the only stars remained to touch the 100 crore mark and join the ranks of their contemporaries.
Although Bobby is not a big director, NTR’s stardom and the rousing ‘Jai teaser’ helped Jai Lava Kusa to become a hot cake in trade. Going by trade reports, better offers are coming for JLK than Spyder in mass dominated areas and Godavari districts. JLK’s theatrical rights in the Telugu states alone are being valued at around Rs 70 crore.
NTR has huge market in Karnataka and overseas as well so makers are expecting good deals from these two key areas, about 20 crore. The NTR starrer may not go past the Rs 100 crore mark just with the worldwide theatrical rights but when we include the satellite, dubbing, audio and digital rights, it may not be difficult for the film to breach the milestone.
September 21 is the date when Jai, Lava and Kusa will storm theatres.
