Rakul Preet Singh is currently at her career best and is being the first choice heroine for all the star heroes. Ever since she signed Bruce Lee, she reportedly increased her remuneration to a whopping one crore.

In one of the promotional interviews of Nannaku Prematho, she was asked to comment about her remuneration. But she came up with an interesting and smart answer. “Why do not you guys ask such questions to star heroes? They usually get 10, 15 times higher than heroines,” the actress said.

The actress for the first time in her career also dubbed for the movie. She put in a lot of hard work to get her lines correct. She had a forgettable end to 2015 with Kick-2 and Bruce Lee and wants to begin 2016 with a success with Nannaku Prematho.

NTR’s Nannaku Prematho is all set for a grand release on 13th as Sankranthi Special. The Overseas Premieres will be screened on 12th night. However the movie censor is happening only on 11th.

In order to avoid last minute tensions, the makers are shipping the Overseas prints on Sunday itself so that there are no last minute delays. The movie is releasing in a mammoth 190 screens in USA alone, which is the biggest ever release for NTR.

Creative director Sukumar is wielding megaphone for this movie which has Rakul Preet Singh playing the female lead. Rajendra Prasad and Jagapathi Babu are playing important roles. BVSN Prasad is producing the film under his Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra banner.

The battle between two Nandamuri heroes at the box office arena has not gone well with the fans. Even then it is inevitable both the movies ‘Naannaku Prematho’ and ‘Dictator’ releasing for Sankranthi as the makers of both the films want to cash on the Sankranthi season.

What if politics entered in movie’ business? Obviously, entry of politics and involvement of politicians surely spoil the fray and affect the prospects of movies. That’s what right now is happening at the moment as per some of the leading media’s reports.

As per reports, Nara Lokesh,who backs Balakrishna, is gossiped to have been directing the exhibitors to replace ‘Naannaku Prematho’ with ‘Dictator’. A few theaters owners in Nellore, Prakasham, Guntur and Krishna areas have decided to replace ‘Naannaku Prematho’ with ‘Dictator’ due to political interference. In Ceded, ‘Dictator’ is releasing in more number of theaters than ‘Naannaku Prematho’.

Mumbai: 2016 has taken off on a good note for Katrina Kaif. If earlier told you the lates buzz about two big films featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan have been offered to Kat — one being Don 3 and the other, a film directed by Kabir Khan. Now the actress has responded to reports.

Regarding Don 3, speculation about Kat’s inclusion has been rife despite producer-director Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar denying that the casting is final.

At a recent event, Katrina was asked if she is a part of ‘Don 3’, the actress said, “That’s incredible if that’s true. This is all good news to me.” When asked if she will be seen in Kabir Khan’s next project which stars Hrithik, Katrina laughingly said, “These are both amazing films, I pray that they’re happening and that they’re happening with me.”

Mumbai: Priyanka, 33, has won the best actress in a new TV series award for ‘Quantico’, becoming the first Indian to win at the People’s Choice Awards. Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, while congratulating Priyanka Chopra for her win at the People Choice Awards for her first American show Quantico, has said the actress has brought pride to Bollywood and the country.

Priyanka, 33, has won the best actress in a new TV series award for Quantico, becoming the first Indian to win at the People Choice Awards. She starred opposite Akshay in hits like ‘Aitraaz’ and ‘Mujhse Shaadi Karogi’. They were one of the most liked on-screen couples during early 200s.

“She deserves it. She has done a good job. She is making us proud,” Akshay said of her win at the red carpet of 22nd Annual Star Screen Awards. When asked if he had seen the TV series, the ‘Boss’ actor replied, “Not yet.” The duo last shared screen space in 2005 film ‘Waqt: The Race Against Time’.

Naga Chaitanya is currently working on the remake of the Malayalam hit Premam in Telugu. The title under consideration is Majnu, and shooting is going on at a brisk pace. The actor is going to be seen in three avatars in this film, a teenager, a college student, and a middle-aged man.

The shoot is on for the last two stages and the actor has had to put on weight for the role. “After these two schedules are done and dusted, the actor will shoot for the teenage character, for which he will have to look thin and reduce all that weight he has gained,” revealed a source.

Chandu Mondeti is directing this romantic drama. Actresses Shruti Haasan and Anupama Parameswaran have been confirmed as the two female leads and the makers are still on the lookout for the third.

This is his first interview in several years but Jr NTR is calm… composed. So when Deccan Chronicle sat down with the star there was a lot to talk about… right from the earliest days to what his stressbusters are and how he spends time with a family he absolutely cherishes. Here’s Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, unplugged… The family man, “I have been a very ‘hyper boy’ right from childhood. And while many liked that trait of mine, my friends didn’t,” says Jr NTR about his childhood days. “And I have always been a homely person. My mother has been a major push for me and she has been the driving force because I started my career when I was just 17, a very young age. But I’m still that innocent person from years ago…, and I think it is the best trait in a human being. I am always happy being that person.”

The actor married Pranathi in 2011 and he describes her as one of the biggest influences in his life. “She has played a vital part in changing me into what I am now. I really do feel special being married to this wonderful woman. She has done a lot for me and she is my anchor after my mum in my house, and that’s the other reason for me to stay at home. I am very cozy at home and I never really feel this need to go out. More importantly, she gives me these suggestions on how women of the present generation want to see lead actors. For my upcoming film, Nannaku Prematho, she really helped me to bring out the best. I totally relate to her in that way. She never forces me to take her suggestions on board, but she will make a few suggestions like, Ila ayithe meeru baguntaru (You would look good this way). She suggests, but doesn’t force. During the early stages of our married life Pranathi did struggle to adjust for a few months. But she is a very strong woman mentally, stronger than me.” “Also, the best gift my wife has given me is my son, Abhay. I wanted a daughter because I was the only kid at home and I wanted a sister. But God has given me a son and I look at him both as a son and a daughter. I sometimes even make him wear a half sari,” says the actor with a smile.

Films and home, “I am a typical Telugu boy dominated by all the qualities of a Hyderabadi, because I was born and brought up here. At home, my mother or Pranathi never talk about the industry or films. But both of them do watch movies; as my mother is an old timer she usually watches old movies. Pranathi, meanwhile, prefers the contemporary ones. “But they never really discuss my films at home and never involve themselves in decisions taken by me. When it comes to taking a decision for us, especially for me or Kalyan anna, my father is a major driving force. When we got into the industry, I still remember his words, he said, ‘jump, die, live… whatever it may be, you do it yourself. You are the best judge of your film. You will have to take the responsibility for the good and bad in your life. Only then will you come out as a strong person.’ So, we always take decisions on our own, whether good or bad.”

His home is also very lively — always filled with friends and family. “It never gets all serious at home simply because there are no serious discussions. I am just there in my place and I am happy there. My house is full of people whenever I am not shooting. My mum has five sisters and four brothers and all of them come to my house and we are all busy talking to each other and spending time. There is not much time to analyse anything about my films or all those rumours in the press.”

The flops, “Definitely. I do feel sad when my films don’t work. But I am not the one who’ll keep thinking about it for months. I like all the films I have done, but people haven’t liked all. I take it as a learning process, otherwise I will not be able to work. I never go into a shell and think about my failures. I am not that kind of a person. If people don’t like a film that means that I haven’t done it properly. So I try to do better in my next film. And I have many friends in the industry who support me always. Be it S.S. Rajamouli, Vinayak, Rajiv Kanakala, Koratala Siva or Vakkantham Vamsi, they are all fantastic friends. Apart from them, my best friend is Kalyan anna. I always believe in them and no one takes me the wrong way. Even when someone cheats me, I don’t take it seriously.”

Just chillin, “Cooking has always been my stressbuster. Whenever I am stressed, I cook a good meal for my wife. Many people don’t know this but I’m actually a great cook. I can cook everything and I cook very well.” Another stressbuster are holidays. “I have taken my family to a lot of places on vacation, but Dubai remains one of our favourites. I shop a lot — a total shopping freak! Recently, we were in London and we are now planning to go somewhere else soon. Now though, whenever I see a toy shop, I stop and think of just buying toys for Abhay. More than for us, we are shopping for his these days.”

On Nannaku Prematho is not only important for Jr NTR because it is his 25th film, but also because he needs a hit desperately. His last hit film was Temper. “We never thought of Nannaku Prematho initially, we want to do some other subject. But while director Sukumar was working on the other subject, his father passed away. Sukumar later narrated this story to me, which was about a wish of a dying father. That’s how the film happened,” says Jr NTR. He reveals that his bearded look was finalised after a lot of trial and error. “There was no intention for us to come up with this bearded look. But once we started doing research globally, we finally decided on this. Initially people scared me as they said that the look was very radical, but I am confident about Sukumar because his films and the protagonist in them are always different.

Want Dictator to do well, Asked about the competition he will face given the other Sankranti releases, he says, “Nowadays most films run only for two weeks. It’s not about how many days they run, but how much money they collect. So producers want to release their films during Sankranti, summer and Dasara. People want to see films during these seasons and there are many instances in the past when many films released during Sankranti. I don’t think that there is anything wrong and I hope all the four films do well at the box-office,” he adds. When asked whether the fans will be divided as two films from the same family are releasing, he says it is not true. “There is no clash between two Nandamuri heroes. I don’t think that there is any clash. I want my film to do well and also for babai’s film to do well,” he says. “There is no enmity between my uncle and I. I have never said anything and neither has Babai… some third persons are making an issue out of it.” Jr NTR also stresses that he is not the heir to the late N.T. Rama Rao. He says, “I am not his heir (varasudu), I am just his grandson and that’s the biggest thing in my life,” he says.

When someone plans a Sankranthi release, he needs to shun slackness. There has to be no place for tardy pace. But, NTR’s Nannaku Prematho unit did exactly that. Though the release date is fast approaching, the film unit went about the work casually and seems to be paying the price for the slowness.

Now, even the censor clearance is getting delayed and the producers are now running against time. Thanks to its own tardy speed, the film unit is now under great stress. The film was to go to the censors on Friday, but the first copy was not ready by Friday. Now, the film can go for censors only on Monday. And, come to think of it, the film’s release date is Wednesday.

When will the censor work be completed and when can they take up the promotional activity? NTR took up this as a very prestigious project and rooted for a Sankranthi release. At one stage, the unit wanted to postpone the release. But, NTR was angry and tweeted that none should ask him about the release date as he is not in the know of the things.

This created quite a stir and the producer was jolted out of his complacency. He speeded up the proceedings and completed the shoot barely a week before the release date. With barely a couple of days to go, the producers are working at breakneck speed.

For Kareena Kapoor Khan’s recent pictures, drop-dead gorgeous might just be an understatement. The Nawabi Begum indeed knows how to turn heads with the most splendid fashion picks of all times.

Kareena’s make-up and hair stylist Pompy Hans shared these super-stunning picture on social media from a recent photoshoot in Barcelona making us fall head over heels for this diva.

Kareena, who’s all geared up for her upcoming film ‘Ki and Ka’ opposite Arjun Kapoor, sure knows how to keep the temperatures soaring with these coquettish pictures. The film is slated to release on April 1, 2016.

The only good aspect in Ram Charan’s last film Bruce Lee was its foot-tapping music scored by S S Thaman. Le Chalo from the movie was a chartbuster but since the movie was so bad his music also didn’t get noticed. But Ram Charan is reportedly appreciative of Thaman’s work.

Since Charan has good opinion about his work, Thaman is reportedly putting pressure on him to use his services for Charan’s next film. Ram Charan is committed to do Surender Reddy’s next movie which is remake of Tamil hit movie “Thani Oruvan.”

The director is said to be in favor of taking the original music directors of “Thani Oruvan” while Thaman is reportedly asking Charan to take him as he understands the pulse of Telugu audiences. Thaman is in need of top starrer movies in Tollywood as all big movies are being bagged by Devi Sri Prasad.

By end of this year, the entire shooting process of Baahubali 2 will be completed as per the reports coming from the Rajamouli’s camp. The movie’s shoot is now progressing at brisk pace without any problems.

Rajamouli is said to have promised his producers and his Bollywood producer Karan Johar that he would complete entire shooting formalities by this December itself. Once the shooting part is completed, then he will announce the release date.

Although Baahubali 2 was announced as 2016 release, the movie’s has been rescheduled due to major changes in the script to make it bigger and spectacular.

Prabhas has already begun shooting for the film. Ramya Krishna is also working on it. Tamannah and Anushka will also join the movie’s shoot shortly. Visual effects works are also being done in Hyderabad.