Extrordinary Feat By Kanchana
If the reports coming in from the Tamil film media circles are anything to go by, hotshot choreographer turned successful director Lawrence has pulled off a rare feat. Apparently, Lawrence’s 2011 blockbuster horror comedy Kanchana is going to be remade into several foreign languages.
Tamil media circles have been abuzz with the news that Kanchana will be remade in Korean, Chinese and Thai languages, a rare feat which no other director in south India could ever achieve.
Kanchana will be the first south Indian film to be remade in these languages. Pudhota Sudheer Kumar, the Chairman of Rama Group, will produce this film in these 3 languages.
Made with a budget of 6 plus crore, Kanchana went on to gross more than 65 crore at the box-office. The film features Lawrence, Sarath Kumar, Kovai Sarala and Raai Lakshmi in the lead roles.
New Trend: Review Craze For TV Premieres
Usually, film lovers eagerly wait for critics’ reviews for a valid opinion about a film. While online and press reviews become highly important for most of the star heroes’ films, online reviews become an even more important factor for overseas audiences, who prefer to read the reviews before they shell out nearly $15-25 per ticket to watch a film.
But of late, there has been an increasing demand for these reviews even for TV premieres of superhit films. Unlike the theatrical releases which mainly cater to stars’ fans and hardcore film lovers and a section of family audiences for a few films, TV premieres are primarily aimed at the entire family.
These days, most hit films are being premiered on TV within a month to 50 days of their theatrical release.
All those who missed the film in theaters still get another chance to catch up with the premiere and they go through the reviews once again before the TV premieres to decide whether they should watch the film since they are not ready to spend 4 long hours on a bad movie.
The same is the case with the recent blockbusters Srimanthudu and Raju Gari Gadhi, which were premiered on TV within 2 months of their theatrical release. In fact, on the day Raju Gari Gadhi was premiered on TV, the film’s review trended online for a few hours.
X-Ray vision for $300?
X-ray vision, a comic book fantasy for decades, is becoming a reality in a lab at MIT. A group of researchers led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Dina Katabi has developed software that uses variations in radio signals to recognise human silhouettes through walls and track their movements. Researchers say the technology will be able to help health care providers and families keep closer tabs on toddlers and the elderly, and it could be a new strategic tool for law enforcement and the military.
“Think of it just like cameras, except that it’s not a camera,” said Fadel Adib, a researcher on the MIT team developing the device. “It’s a sensor that can monitor people and allow you to control devices just by pointing at them,” he said.
Work began in 2012 to determine how wireless signals could be used to “see” what’s happening in another room, said Katabi, who directs the MIT Wireless Centre. “At first we were just interested… can you at all use wireless signals to detect what’s happening in occluded spaces, behind a wall, couch, something like that,” Katabi said. “It turned out that we were able to detect that. And when we figured out we could detect that, we started asking more advanced questions: Could we use it to detect exactly how people are moving in a space if they are behind a wall?”
The device displays the signal on a screen, where the person’s movements can be tracked in real time. It depicts the target as a red dot moving around the room, occupying a chair and speeding up or slowing down. The wireless signals used to track a person’s motions also can measure the individual’s breathing and heart rate — and potentially identify the person based on the shape of his or her skeleton, said researcher Zach Kabelac.
A company set up to market the technology, now dubbed Emerald, will spin out of the MIT lab next year, with a goal of marketing the device early in 2017, and it’s expected to sell for $250 to $300, Adib said. The team is working to make the device smaller and to develop an interface that will let users configure it through a smartphone app, Katabi added.
Mahesh Congratulates His Bava
Sudheer Babu was desperately looking for a solid hit to bounce back into the reckoning since his last few films ended up as box-office failures. Sudheer then kept aside formula films and trusted debutant director Sriram Adittya’s skills and signed the crime comedy Bhale Manchi Roju.
Bhale Manchi Roju was released yesterday and the overall response from the fans and critics has been overwhelming and Sudheer has finally scored a hit. Now, apart from Sudheer, his bava Mahesh Babu also seems to be quite thrilled with the film’s success.
Mahesh Babu, who is currently on a foreign holiday, took to Twitter and said, “Hearing good reviews for #BhaleManchiRoju. Will watch once i am back.congrats to @isudheerbabu n the entire team.”
Incidentally, Mahesh in Bhale Manchi Roju’s audio launch stated that Sudheer will enter the star hero’s club if Bhale Manchi Roju becomes a hit. Well, looks like Mahesh’s words have worked wonders for Sudheer eventually.
Telugu Techie Critically Injured In The US
A 39-year-old software professional named Challa Surendra Kumar was critically injured in a freaky road accident in San Francisco, California in the US. Surendra hails from Markapur town in Prakasam district and he works at a major IT firm in India.
As per the preliminary information, Surendra went to the Silicon Valley in America on a professional assignment. On December 17, Surendra was on his way to a local fruit market to buy fruits and he was walking on the road when a a speeding car rammed into him, leaving his severely injured.
Surendra was immediately rushed to a local hospital and his family members back home were informed about the accident by US authorities. More details about Surendra’s current health condition are awaited.
Hyd Techies Turn Thieves For Easy Money
Looks like even their high paying jobs at reputed IT giants are not satiating the lust for money for some greedy young Hyderabad techies as they are resorting to dubious means to earn easy money.
Yesterday, the Chikkadpally police nabbed two staffers of two of the country’s leading MNCs for cheating Flipkart by stealing an iPhone 6 which they bought for 50,000 in January and claiming that the phone was never delivered to them.
Both the techies were booked under charges of theft and cheating, after the cops traced the iPhone’s IMEI number and found that the brother of one of the techies has been using the iPhone since its delivery.
In other news, the Hyderabad Police recently arrested an employee of yet another IT major for stealing a taxi and a Maruti Swift. During the investigation, the cops found out that the man took to stealing cars as he was frustrated that he never had a car while all his friends owned them.
Year’s worst pollution engulfs Beijing on Christmas
The Chinese capital Beijing was on Friday enveloped by this year’s worst air pollution with the smog level crossing the most hazardous mark, two days after a red alert for foul weather was lifted. Beijing woke up to very hazy morning on the Christmas Day with reading of the PM 2.5 the smallest and deadliest form of airborne particulate matter crossing 500, the maximum level on the US Embassy monitor.
The 500 reading regarded as the most hazardous, several times higher than the safe levels prescribed by World Health Organization, (WHO) and extremely dangerous to health. Weather officials said even though Beijing lifted the red alert for severe pollution on Tuesday, the capital city will remain in haze for a few more days.
Beijing issued the second red alert for heavy pollution last week when smog levels were not so severe. The pollution level since Thursday is far worse than during the red alert. The first ever red alert was issued early this month. China has a four-tier warning system, with red as the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue. The Beijing municipal heavy pollution emergency response headquarters issued a blue alert for heavy pollution in the city on Thursday, saying smog will hit central Beijing and southern suburbs last night.
It called on residents in these areas to take protective measures. A cold front will disperse the smog tomorrow, it added. Roughly 50 cities in northern and eastern China have issued air pollution alerts in the most recent bout of smog.
Munnabhai-3 on the way
Rajkumar Hirani, the director of Munna Bhai series had confirmed that the next installment of the series will begin the next year after the release of Sanjay Dutt who is counting the bars for the conviction in 1993 illegal possession of weapons case.
Rajkumar Hirani had finalized the subject for the film. He is already working on the script and he says it will take six more months to complete which means the film will begin only in the second half of 2016.
‘Munnabhai MBBS’ and ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’, both starring Sanjay Dutt, were big hits back then. Back then, the makers said it is Munnabhai Chale Amreeka but the makers dropped it as the subject is very similar to Shah Rukh Khan’s My Name is Khan.
Sreedhar Seepana turns director!
Sreedhar Seepana is one of the most happening film writers in Tollywood right now. He is the first choice writer for medium budget film. And now he is joining the elite club of writers who turned directors. Sreedhar Seepana will be directing Gopichand in his debut project. He previously penned dialogues for Gopichand’s Loukhyam and Soukhyam.
He is currently working on the script of the film. The movie will have its launch in March, the next year. Venigalla Anand Prasad who is the usual producer for Gopichand films, will be lolling out money bags for this project as well. More details of this project later!
