Actor Sachiin Joshi is at it again. The actor, who is in Hyderabad for the teaser launch of his upcoming film ‘Veedevadu’, hasn’t spared producer Bandla Ganesh with whom he share bad blood.

When media had questioned Sachiin about the “controversy” with Bandla Ganesh and the “war” with him, Sachiin responded, “All of us are here for the teaser of my film Veedevadu. I think he (Bandla Ganesh) is too small for me to do a war with. Bandla Ganesh is a nobody according to me that I need to do war with. I didn’t see his recent interview but someone was mentioning me about his (Ganesh’s) interview where he said to have told who’s Sachiin Joshi and he said he doesn’t know me. For me, he’s ‘Veedevadu’ even to say that. It doesn’t matter. There are dogs in the world who like to bark. You shouldn’t bother about them. For me, he isn’t even a dog. Because, dogs are honest. Dogs are pets. I think he’s a wolf. What do you call a wolf in Telugu? Todelu. Ah..Bandla Ganesh is a Todelu for me.”

Sachin continued, “There’s a lot that he has done to me. That doesn’t matter to me. I believe in the legal sanctity in the country. I believen in the law. The law will take its own course. And he’ll get his punishment. I’m nobody to talk about him and he’s nobody that I should even think about him.”

It’s learnt that the matter is right now in the court. It’s alleged that Ganesh has evaded money to many in the industry. Sachiin’s team claimed that they have all the agreements and pro-notes of Ganesh and claimed that they would pursue it up through courts. The team said that Ganesh had written notes for Rs 12.5 Crore to them whereas actually owed them Rs 27.9 Crore.

Meanwhile, Sachiin said that he had invested money in cinema as he’s passionate but stated that he doesn’t invest seeing Ganesh. Sachiin also stated that Ganesh had played a friend’s role in his film “Orey Pandu” where he had told him then that his family was ‘poor’ and doesn’t even have proper money. Sachiin expressed shock that how Ganesh is now backbiting and talking that he doesn’t even know Sachiin. Sachiin went onto talk about Ganesh’s acts and said how he throw big names in the industry like Ram Charan, Pawan Kalyan, Jr NTR.

‘Jr NTR Told Me To Kept Ganesh Out’

Sachiin had shared an interesting anecdote where he had met Jr NTR once and Bandla Ganesh was apparently came with him. Sachiin claimed that Jr NTR had asked him why did he bring Ganesh and had told him to kept him outside his house instead of bringing him in.

“I was serious about producing films as I’m passionate about cinema. I had met Jr NTR and he had asked me that why did I bring Ganesh. Jr NTR had suggested me then to kept him outside his house. This is what reality is. Everyone in the industry knows who Ganesh is. That’s reality. But what Ganesh projects is different,” said Sachiin who has now roped in Jr NTR into the fresh controversy.

‘Ganesh’s Father Pleaded Me’

“Honestly, I didn’t even had a document with him. I had trusted him so much. Because, I believe in person, paper is secondary. There was once I tried to talk to him. That’s so embarassing situation for me. That day, I realised how bad human he is. We had later met for settlement. His father and brother were also there. I was told to settle as he had defaulted. That day, I’ve registered a case against him. He was supposed to get arrested. I had seen his father in tears and he was about to fall on my feet. That day, I had left him,” said Sachiin who said he’d settle the matter now in the court.

Pawan Kalyan’s Katamarayudu has put up commendable performance in the first weekend despite mixed word of mouth. The action entertainer has reportedly raked in a worldwide share of Rs 42.5 Cr in the first weekend, which is very good considering the weak performance of the film in overseas.

A remake film with below average reviews, generating this amount of revenue over the weekend is true testimony to the stardom and crowd pulling capacity of Pawan. The numbers put Katamarayudu in All Time Top 3 weekend grossers.

Below is the area wise break up of share:

Nizam – 7,85,00,000

Ceded – 4,75,00,000

Nellore – 1,60,40,145

Guntur – 3,73,50,000

Krishna – 2,56,09,549

West – 3,41,64,920

East – 4,23,96,513

Uttharandhra – 4,50,98,000

Total 3 days AP & TG Share – Rs 32.67cr

Karnataka – 3,95,00,000

Rest of India – 1,05,00,000

Total 3 days Domestic Share – Rs 37.67cr

USA – 3,68,00,000

Rest of world – 1,20,00,000

Total 3 days Worldwide Share – Rs 42.55cr

The weekend numbers are good but according to reports, significant drop was witnessed on Monday. Wednesday being the Ugadhi festival holiday, could help the movie. As there is no big release next week except Puri’s ‘Rogue’, Katamarayudu can rake in a few more crores.

However, the break-even point Rs 85 Cr+ looks almost unreachable from this point.

Young beauty Pranitha Subhash, who is best known to Telugu audiences as ‘Bapu Bomma’ from Pawan Kalyan’s ‘Attharintiki Daredi’, has started a new business.

Pranitha has reportedly invested the money earned from films in pub business. She has recently started a new pub named ‘Bootlegger’ in Bengaluru. It has been designed with vintage interiors. She claims that her pub offers the cheapest yet best experience in the city. If her venture becomes successful, Pranitha has plans of setting up branches in Hyderabad and Chennai too.

Post Attharintik Daredi, Prantiha couldn’t make it big even after acting in a few biggies. Despite doing a handful of films in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada, her career didn’t shape up as she had expected. This might have inspired the actress to succeed in business.

On work front, she was last seen in Brahmotsavam and she is yet to sign a new Telugu film.

Here’s yet another bad news for the die-hard fans of Mahesh Babu who have been waiting for long amidst great confusion over the film’s title. In fact, reports had it that the film’s title and first look poster would be unveiled for March 10, but dampening all hopes, it turned out to be a damp squib.

After missing this, a round of speculations started that AR Murugudoss would certainly won’t miss auspicious Ugadi – March 29. But when we contacted a source in the know, even it proved to be a wrong one.

Meanwhile, it’s learnt that ‘Spy’der is almost finalised. Although Sambhavami is heard, but director AR Murugudoss wasn’t happy with the name. However, the latest confusion is whether to retain the same name – ‘Spy’der – in Tamil as well or to have a different name given that Tamils encourage having names in native language and its state government too exempt such films from the tax.

Since Mahesh is already a non-local hero, Murugudoss is trying to have a Tamil title for its Tamil version. This is where the makers are pondering over and couldn’t lock a title that justify both the Telugu and Tamil versions.

As of now, the unit is currently in Vietnam. And it’s unlikely that the makers would get clarity over the title and first look. So, looks like, it’s bad news for fans again. The wait continues.

Director Kishore Kumar Pardasani (Dolly), who is usually soft-spoken, has responded to the mixed talk for his latest offering Katamarayudu.

When media questioned him about the film’s second-half that’s generally getting a divide talk, Dolly took it in his stride and responded, “I feel that the real story of the film is in its second-half. The first-half majorly banks on entertainment. And it’s little about the story. But the actual story is in its second-half. We have to tell the story in the second-half. It’s not new. Usually, this happens for any commercial film.”

Ask him about the criticism on Shruti’s looks and her presence in the film. He shrugs off. “Do you feel so? No, I think she acted well and shown up a decent performance. After Gabbar Singh, the pair looked great on screen once again.”

Pawan isn’t Moody

Veering towards directing Pawan Kalyan for the second-time, Dolly says, “It’s not enough. I’d love to spend more time with Pawan. Rumours on him are wrong. Pawan sir isn’t moody and he never walks out of the sets. Trust me, those are baseless rumours. He’s quite friendly and amicable to work with. I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. He gives their own space for director and every technician. That’s his greatness. Also, he’s a very hard-working actor.”

Crazy director Puri Jagannath has revealed a few interesting details on his new film starring Balakrishna Nandamuri.

Puri revealed that Balayya will be playing a gangster in the film but his characterization will be entirely different from that of regular gangsters.

Three heroines will be seen opposite Balayya and that one actress from Mumbai has been already roped in. Puri revealed her name as Muskaan but refused to divulge further about her.

‘Last few films of Balayya were having significant number of political punch dialogues. My film will be filled with punch dialogues but no references will be made to current political scenario,’ clarified Puri.

He also said that he had really enjoyed working with Balayya for five days, during which an action sequence was canned. Puri called Balayya a humble star. He added that the film’s title might be announced within a week.

Rumor is that the film is a lose adaption of Hollywood film ‘John Wick’ where the protagonist a gangster.

SS Rajamouli had shocked with his ‘proud’ speech at the pre-release function. The ace director claimed that he’s made Prabhas a national icon with Baahubali. Citing that even media persons in Mumbai is gaga over Prabhas, Rajamouli had stated that he’s content and delighted that what he had ‘given’ to Prabhas.

“I had been pondering over what I had given to Prabhas. I knew Prabhas is well-known here. But when I had gone to Mumbai for a press conference, I realised that even media in Mumbai is cheering for him. This had amused me and at the same time, made me happy and proud,” said Rajamouli.

Considering that Rajamouli is a down-to-earth and humble man, one really not expected such things from Rajamouli himself. If it was anyone else in the team or if it was Prabhas who shared this anecdote and thanked Rajamouli for making Prabhas famous in North, it’d had been different. But Jakkanna himself stating that he made Prabhas a national icon is something that doesn’t go well with rational people.

Also many in media are pointing out the change in Rajamouli’s attitude post Baahubali. Looks like, even perfectionists like Rajamouli get carried away with the fame, glory and forgetting the fact that film is bigger than individuals.

The formula to market and sell the second installment of Baahubali was quite simple – the massive numbers fetched by part-1 made the work easy for producers. But, regional distribution of ‘The Conclusion’ is still to be concluded in Karnataka region

Having generated huge shares of around 40 Crore for part-1, why is the southern state still not able to close the deal for part-2. The second installment of this magnum opus, which is all set to amaze us with stunning visuals and screenplay, has been acquired for a record price in all areas.

But, the Karnataka rights are still under negotiations after the state government capped the movie ticket prices. Although it’s a rejoicing move for viewers, distributors are exhibitors are extremely worried that they cannot make big money out of mega projects like Baahubali.

After the price-cap put forward by state government, Karnataka distributors had to apparently grab Baahubali rights for a lower price in order to reach break even point. And so, Rajamouli’s magnum opus is still unsold in that state. Now that the audio is out in markets, it remains to be seen whether it can attract any new distributor to acquire Karnataka rights.

Pawan Kalyan’s latest release Katamarayudu already has a tough road ahead at box office amidst unfavorable response from audiences. Now, it is heard that piracy has become another big threat for this routine entertainer.

Some excited fans shared a few clips of the movie on social media sites on the first day itself. If that was not enough, a good quality print of the full movie has now reportedly surfaced on piracy sites.

After a solid opening, Katamarayudu has posted decent numbers on Saturday and Sunday. History has proved that Pawan Kalyan’s films can sustain at box office for at least two weeks irrespective of other factors like reviews, promotions etc. However, piracy is one typical menace which can kill almost any film.

As a good quality print has reportedly surfaced on piracy sites, the impact was clearly seen especially at overseas box office. People of this generation might prefer to watch a reasonably good pirated print on internet over going all the way to theatres, especially when the film received mixed response.

If not Pawan, at least makers of Katamarayudu should appeal to fans and movie lovers not to encourage piracy and watch the film only in theatres. This initiation will surely encourage fans of Pawan to actively report the piracy links so that they can be blocked. This can essentially alleviate the damage.

Its high time film fraternity acted severe against piracy mafia. If a Pawan starrer can’t escape from piracy, imagine the damage being done to small films.

Anchor Srimukhi got immense fame in a short while and thanks those number of TV programs she’s hosting for youths. And that popularity is making her take a step towards silver screen as well but the opportunities are looking bleak.

Though she acted as a heroine in films like Prema Ishq Kadal, they didn’t worked for her and few others didn’t released. As currently she’s famous on the top of her game, hero Varun Tej’s “Mister” offered a spicy opportunity. That’s nothing but to sizzle in an item song alongside the mega hero. Director Sreenu Vaitla is said to be very intersted in roping her in as that would bring good attention for the film.

However after looking at Varun Tej and Srimukhi pair, many on the sets felt that their heights don’t match. While Varun it too tall, Srimukhi is pretty short and that combination isn’t interesting in an item number, they say. That led to ouster of this chubby girl from the song.

If grapevine is to be believed, director Sreenu Vaitla is taking special care on actress Hebah Patel. It’s buzzed that Sreenu has increased the role of Hebah in their upcoming film Mister.

Apparently, as part of the initial script, Lavanya has more role and more screen presence. However, buzz is that Sreenu has increased Hebah’s role now which was originally short. It’s said that this would now accommodate both in almost the equal parts and balances the story.

The film is crucial for Varun as it comes after his debacle Loafer that was in news for wrong reasons. Varun is now pinning hopes on Vaitla’s Mister. After the trailer received mixed response, the makers are unveiling songs one after the other. If all goes as per the plan, the film will hit the screens on April 14.

Despite picking up a popular and known story, he made Khaidi No 150 a stupendous hit that collected 100 crores share. And now even Katamarayudu is a similar remake but the result went for a toss. So if someone is interested in doing a remake movie, then definitely it’s time to learn from Megastar Chiranjeevi as to what one should take care of while coming up with a remake.

Though Khaidi is a remake, Chiranjeevi didn’t wrap the film in record time neither he went on for a low budget to wrap it. For Katamarayudu they have completed the whole shoot in record time as their storyboard is pretty clear from the Tamil original. But that killed a lot of charm in the subject and made the second half of the film much boring.

At the same time, Chiranjeevi took extreme care of songs as he not only made his daughter design some stunning costumes but also came up with interesting dance moves defying his age. But Pawan wrapped songs in record time in Ramoji Film City and Italy, and they looked jerky and lacked appeal.

While Chiru’s comeback film will surely have huge hype around it, he took no chances and promoted it well by giving interviews to all the leading media houses. For each interview, he changed costumes continuously and even satisfied media by giving them original interviews all the time. But for Katamarayudu, Pawan and Co skipped all such promotions, expecting that the craze surrounding the film is enough to make huge at the box office.

In the end picking up the same villain who fought with Chiranjeevi didn’t help Pawan much as Overseas collections have fallen flat while local collections also registered major dip on the second day. On a closing note, Khaidi No 150 made 100+ crores share while Katamarayudu may make half of it. So, time to revise Chiranjeevi’s strategies of dealing remakes!!

India is the only truly secular fabric if we look from the world perspective. Here people mingle, get along, marry, love and co-exist together irrespective of their ethnicity and religion. And that’s what film people also do sometimes.

Being a Christian girl from Mallu land, dusky siren Amala Paul never played any such role related to her religiously. For example in an upcoming Telugu film being directed by a newcomer Charan Tej, she will be seen as a Dubai-returned Muslim girl from the old city who falls in love a Godavari boy who is a Hindu.

There are many Hindu-Muslim love stories we have seen like Maniratnam’s Bombay but they always lay emphasis on the secular fabric of this nation. Even in Amala Paul’s movie, the theme would be the same, but the narrative will be new. And what makes it more interesting is that being an actor how it got her a chance to become part of a religious backdrop love story. The film’s shooting will start in April and will be filmed on location at East Godavari, Dubai and Israel.

Even in real life, Amala married a Hindu boy though unfortunately, her union with director AL Vijay didn’t last for a long time. She got married twice, once in Hindu ceremony and a Christian wedding again.

Model Madhu Sneha, who was seen flaunting her assets in the ‘Manohari’ song in ‘Baahubali’, has reportedly been roped in for an item song in Varun Tej’s new film ‘Mister’.

It is heard that anchor cum actress Sreemukhi was the first choice of director Sreenu Vaitla but the offer landed in the lap of Sneha only after the beautiful anchor turned it down. Moreover, given Varun Tej’s height, the team was looking for a tall girl and Sneha perfectly fitted the requirements.

A special set has reportedly been erected in Hyderabad to shoot this song next week. Mickey J Mayer has composed a peppy tune and the song is expected to be a major highlight of the film.

Also starring Hebah Patel and Lavanya Tripathi, Mister is slated for worldwide release on April 14, 2017.

Actor Prabhas has made an interesting promise to all his fans who have waited long for his Baahubali. “I know how long you have waited for the Baahubali (both part 1 & part 2). I’ll try to do two films per year (after Baahubali: The Conclusion),” said Prabhas to a thunderous response.This promise from Prabhas has come as music to the ears of his fans who are quite elated.

This is not all. Prabhas has also mouthed two dialogues from Baahubali: The Conclusion at the pre-release function of the film held on Sunday night. Prabhas said, “Nuvvu Pakkanundaga, Nannu Champe Magadu Inka Putta Ledu Mama.” He added one more dialogue as fans, large gathering continued to cheer, “Vadidhi Tappu Ani Telindi, Tala Tegindi.”

It can be noted that Prabhas’ next has already been formally launched. The Prabhas 19 is expected to go onto floors shortly. Let’s wait and see whether Prabahs would keep up his promise or not.

Even as every news about the title of Mahesh Babu and AR Murugudoss’ ongoing film turning out to be wrong, here’s one more such fake speculation that’s spreading like wild fire. A speculation had started circulating that a song from Mahesh-Murugudoss’ film had been leaked online.

Considering that the makers are so particular about every minute detail related to the film, the leak of song has come as a huge surprise. However, with a few noted media houses reporting on the leak, many thought it’d had been correct as no one knows how a song of Mahesh-ARM would look like.

And scores of fans of Mahesh started worrying over the song’s leak. But here’s the twist in the tale. The song  ‘Ye Maayalo’ has no connection with Mahesh 23 and it has no relation with Mahesh Babu at all. The song is said to be a single from a private album composed by an independent maker.

With this, it proved to be another ‘fake’ news about Mahesh23. Even as a year after the film gone to floors, the makers are yet to announce its title keeping media, fans in guessing.

The pre-release function of Baahubali: The Conclusion has happened at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. It was the conclusion event for five long years of journey into the Mahismathi kingdom and it was concluded with a grand audio launch.

Attendees to this event include entire cast and crew of Baahubali, Karan Johar, actor Nani, Krishnam Raju, Nimmagadda Prasad and others. In 3-hours of the prestigious event, audience witnessed several key highlights and it’s one of the biggest night for Baahubali fans.

The audio album of second installment of Baahubali franchise is unveiled and anchor Suma kicked off the proceedings and set the stage for cast and crew to share their inestimable experience.

In addition to many gratitude speeches and wonderful videos played over there, the highlights of the event include:

-> Musician Keeravani’s special lyrics and bit-songs to describe their character and the video showing them both in beginning and conclusion.

-> While playing the video byte of Nasser, Bijjaladeva, the makers revealed a new dialogue : ‘Bhalla, Neeku Epudaina Nee Amma Ni Champalani Anipinchinda?’

-> Almost everyone were praise for three women behind magnum opus Baahubali – Sri Valli, Rama Rajamouli and Prashanti.

-> Producers Shobu and Prasad spoke about their journey, association with Rajamouli and how his knack worked for making the project even bigger.

-> Karan Johar in his speech said, ‘Baahubali is not the conclusion, but just the beginning that will inspire many young filmmakers in the country.’

-> MM Keeravani’s tribute to his brother and filmmaker had left Rajamouli in tears and he turned emotional for next few minutes.

-> Soon after Rajamouli got off the stage, director K Raghavendra Rao and producer Shobu accompanied him to his seat and  the director emotionally hugged his daughter for next few seconds.

-> Prabhas entrance from top of the stage using ropes is undoubtedly a big highlight to the event.

-> Director Rajamouli has gone an extra mile to acknowledge everyone’s work and thanked the crew for their incredible work over last 5 years.

-> Off Course, the very beautiful and stunning Anushka Shetty and Tamannah Bhatia were two big eye grabbers of the night.