Mega hero Varun Tej’s Loafer is hitting cinemas today. Post the success of a stunner like “Kanche”, this youngster would have expected a stunning reception at USA box office. But he gets such reception, he needs to grab huge number of theatres in North America.

Does that happened? According to reports, it is a struggle for Loafer at USA box office to grab theatres since there is a big dinosaur blocking the way there. Name of that dinosaur is “Star Wars The Force Awakens” and it is releasing on 18th December in nearly 4,500 theaters in North America.

Whole of US kids and family audiences are big fans of this series, so there is no way Loafer could stand before it. At the same time, on 18th, Bollywood films Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani are also occupying large chunk of theatres there.

All these biggies pushed Loafer into paradise of troubles for sure, because even many NRI Telugu audiences are in awe of that Hollywood and those Bollywood movies.

Rajamouli’s dad Vijayendra Prasad has two big blockbusters to his credit this year with Baahubali and Bajrangi Bhaijaan. The veteran writer took a big responsibility of penning story for a big launch. Coming to the point, Vijayendra Prasad is story writer for former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s grandson and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy’s launch pad venture.

The film titled Jaguar has been launched yesterday evening at Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bengaluru. Regular shoot commences shortly and plans are to release the movie in second half of 2016.

HD Kumaraswamy, who enjoyed a long stint in the tinsel world as a film producer, distributor and exhibitor before plunging into politics, is producing his son’s maiden venture under his banner Chennambika Films. A Mahadev is directing the film. Tipped to be a mass action entertainer, Jaguar is expected to show Nikhil Kumaraswamy in complete action avatar.

The first look poster where Nikhil with intensified eyes seen running, while the snobbish Jaguar car is visible in the background. Vijayendra Prasad usually includes all required masalas to show heroism at peaks in the films he works for. So, Nikhil is lucky to have the legendary writer on his film’s board.

The regular shooting of Superstar Rajinikanth and Sensational director Shankar’s sequel to Robot began on Wednesday in Chennai. The movie is titled 2.0. Amy Jackson is playing the female lead beside Rajinikanth. Bollywood Star Hero Akshay Kumar was roped in to play an important role.

Previously Arnold was considered for this role. The movie is being shot in 3D made with top technicians from all over the globe Oscar Award Music Director AR Rahman will be composing music for the film.

Rest of the crew include crew cinematographer Nirav Shah, Art Director Muthuraj, VFX Supervisor Srinvas Mohan, Editor Antony and Rasool Pookutty handling the Sound Designing.

Ever since the script work began several months ago, Shankar and the film’s producers, along with Superstar Rajinikanth have been trying hard to find the right actor to play the villain character who will counter Chitti. Stars like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan were in talks but they refused the offer.

Then, Shankar and Rajini approached Hollywood action star Arnold Schwarzenegger and almost confirmed him for a staggering 100 crore budget. However, Arnold ditched the makers in the last minute by making unjust demands.

At last, putting an end to all the speculations over the last few months, the makers of India’s most expensive film ever, Robo 2.0, have announced the actor who will play the villain in the film. Bollywood action hero Akshay Kumar has been signed on for the film for a hefty paycheck. With Akshay’s inclusion in the cast, the film will get more box-office mileage in the B, C centers across the country.

New Delhi: Marathi courtroom drama “Court” is not the only Indian film with a regional flavour vying for a spot in the nominations for the 88th Academy Awards. Malayalam movie “Jalam”, Kannada film “Rangitaranga” and Konkani film “Nachom-ia Kumpasar” have also made it to the eligibility list.

Hindi film “Hemalkasa” has also made it to the final list of 305 movies, along with Indo-Australian movie “Salt Bridge”. The compositions from “Jalam” and “Salt Bridge” are among the 74 songs contending for nominations in the Best Original Song category at the 88th Academy Awards.

“Bhoomiyilenghanumundo”, “Koodu vaykkan”, “Pakalppaathi chaari” and “Yaathra manoradhamerum” are songs from “Jalam” fighting for the spot in the category, as mentioned in the official website of the awards. The film stars Priyanka Nair, Prakash Bare and is directed by M. Padmakumar. As many as seven songs from “Salt Bridge”, which stars Rajeev Khandelwal and Usha Jadhav, have made it to the long list.

The songs are: “Aankhon me samaye dil”, “Bachpana thaa”, “Kanpne lage tum”, “Kyaa bataaun tujhe”, “Le jaaye jo door tumse”, “Na jaane kitni door” and “Sookha hi rang daalo”.Chaitanya Tamhane’s debut Marathi movie “Court” is the India’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category. The final awards nominations will be announced on January 14, 2016 and the ceremony is set to be held on February 28 at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Mumbai: Singer-actor Ayushmann Khurrana, who has worked with Yami Gautam twice, says he shares an organic chemistry with the actress. After making their successful Bollywood acting debut in 2012 with Shoojit Sirkar’s “Vicky Donor”, the two teamed up again for a romantic music video titled “Yahin hoon Main” this month.

Talking about their chemistry, the actor said: “Yami and I share an organic chemistry. While working on the video, I felt the same kind of vibe between us. The only thing is, I didn’t have abs at that time.” “I did my first internship with her dad Mukesh Gautam. We are family friends so, the equation is always natural,” he added. The music of the song, sung by Ayushmann, is by Rochak Kohli and the actor himself.

Would it get better response than his previous hit number “Pani da rang”? “‘Pani da rang’ had that weight of the film. Because it went with the story, people accepted it easily. It is far more challenging for a single music video to cut through that,” he said.

New Delhi: First, it was his comment on “religious tolerance” in the country, and now Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has demanded a boycott of his film “Dilwale”. Controversies rarely leave Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, but he says they have no effect on his name or fame. “People need a chance to express themselves and then they use public figures… People stand on the shoulders of public figures to say what they want to. It’s a small thing, but then we have to sit and justify and explain that we are patriotic and nationalist,” Shah Rukh said here.

The 50-year-old spoke when he was asked to comment on the controversies surrounding him, at a press meet on a sunny afternoon here on Wednesday. Earlier last month, the actor faced a backlash for his comment on rising intolerance, which, he said, “would take India to the Dark Ages.” BJP MP Yogi Adityanath compared SRK’s “language” to that of militant leader Hafiz Saeed, whereas VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi called him an “agent” of Pakistan.

He shared that several years ago he was told by a well-wisher that the day he earns fame, he will be at a greater risk of landing in controversies. “I have a name since a lot of years now, Mashallah, and now it (controversy) happens every week or month… It’s strange that mostly it happens around the release of a film. There are opportunist people,” he said.

Nevertheless, his over 25 years of experience as an actor has taught him one lesson. “I get so much love from people…. I understand that these things don’t have any effect… Neither on us, our film, name or work.” SRK was here with Kajol, Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon to promote “Dilwale”, which is releasing on Friday.

Mumbai: Actress Sonakshi Sinha, who started her career as a costume designer, says she wanted to be an astronaut and that it was fate which crafted her switch from fashion to cinema. The daughter of Bollywood actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha forayed into the Hindi film industry with Salman Khan-starrer “Dabangg” in 2010. Bollywood’s “Shotgun Junior” shared her sentiments in an interview on Colors Infinity’s show “Born Stylish” with host and designer Pria Kataaria Puri.

She said: “To be honest, I wanted to be an astronaut, my math was so bad though that no institute would have given me admission. I love sports, I like to swim and play tennis so I also thought of becoming a swimmer once. “Being in fashion designing, I used to sketch well, I thought of becoming an artist also but eventually, I landed up being an actress. There were a lot of people from different walks of life who inspired me while making a career choice. I was always a courageous girl!”

A simple dialogue like “Thappad se darr nahi lagta saab ji. pyar se lagta hai” from “Dabangg” is still a rage among cinema buffs. The actress, who is busy shooting for her upcoming films “Akira” and “Force 2”, says she “never thought a heroine can get famous for her dialogue”.

She said: “For me, the switch from fashion to cinema was all destiny. Arbaaz (Khan) spotted me at one of the fashion shows and approached me for the movie ‘Dabangg’, though I never wanted to be there, it was an offer I could not say no to. I had never thought a heroine can get famous for her dialogue; my father’s expertise has clearly rubbed-off on me”.

“I’m confident that Loafer is going to be a superb treat for fans, but still there is doubt lingering in my mind if the film works or not. The whole story is balanced on a small thread, and success depends on how audiences take that link”, said Puri Jagan today, emoting that tension any director will flaunt hours before the release of their film.

“Loafer” features Varun Tej, Disha Patni, Revathi and Posani in the leads. Though Varun’s character is full of mass shades and energetic elements, Puri carved out an emotional sentimental story of a mother and son for this film.

As audiences expect masala films from Puri, our director worries, “If I mismatch the expectations, fans will get disappointed. There are fights, dances, romance and dialogues for them, but still this sentiment lock is bigger than them. Fingers crossed”. In few more hours, Loafer will be hitting screens and that will clarity Puri Jagan’s doubts.

After the back-to-back disasters of Aagadu and Bruce Lee, Tollywood’s hotshot director Sreenu Vaitla stooped to an all-time low in his career. Even though no top stars or producers come forward to back him, Sreenu Vaitla miraculously pulled off a two film deal with senior producer C Kalyan.

While everyone in the industry is surprised with the producer’s blind trust on Sreenu Vaitla, here is the mystery behind C Kalyan roping in a star director like Sreenu Vaitla for two films. In his latest interview to a news channel, C Kalyan revealed that since his early days as a producer, he only signed top stars who enjoyed stardom once but were in a bad phase with continuous flops.

C Kalyan revealed that he roped in the then top stars like Rajendra Prasad and Rajasekhar when they were in flops because they come within his budget and the film’s production will be under his complete control. Similarly, C Kalyan also gave a 2 film deal to Puri Jagannadh who didn’t taste much success of late and made Jyothi Lakshmi and Loafer with him. Likewise, the producer has now signed on Sreenu Vaitla who is in a down phase.

As of now, inside buzz is that the Sreenu Vaitla-C Kalyan combo will make their films with Ram and Varun Tej.