Tollywood’s young brigade had their second meeting on Sunday. After Rana’s lunch last month, this time around, Allu Arjun played host for the set of actors at his farmhouse in the city’s outskirts. There were nearly 40 guests, this time with many new names. “There are differences between the actors but they have to mingle with everyone present. That’s a rule here,” a source revealed. “Also, there were several misunderstandings and miscommunications earlier. These meetings help us communicate better… it is really helping the younger lot,” said another source.

The group is insisting on absolute secrecy and the lunch meet is growing in strength. The latest in the group are Tamannaah, Kajal Aggarwal and Baahubali heavyweight Prabhas. Allu Arjun also gave out strict instructions to those attending not to leak details of the latest lunch meeting. “In fact, that’s the first instruction given to everyone when we meet,” the source added. The reason for the heavy secrecy is probably because they don’t want to take on the Movie Artistes’ Association (MAA) until a “strong team” is built.

DC had previously reported how Rana Daggubati had organised the first lunch, in an attempt to clear conflicts revolving around release date clashes, etc. There’s a high chance this body could soon emerge as a contender to MAA.

Nandamuri Tarakaratna is one actor in Nandamuri family who has a very disastrous career. Few years back he tried his hand in a negative role in Ravibabu’s Amaravati and even got a Nandi Award for his role in the film.

And now he is going to turn in to baddie once again. This is for a film starring Nara Rohit under the prestigious Vaarahi Chalana Chitram banner. Taraka Ratna is reportedly putting on some weight to get in to the skin of the character.

The movie is tentatively titled Jo Achyutananda is being directed by Srinivas Avasarala who made a very impressive directional debut with Oohalu Gusagusalade. Kalyani Koduri is scoring music for the film.

Regina Cassandra, who is back in the city after a shoot in Switzerland for her upcoming film Soukhyam, can’t stop talking about her experience.

“We had a good shoot… It was an amazing experience to shoot in Switzerland,” says Regina, who is playing the love interest of Gopichand in this action-entertainer directed by A.S. Ravi Kumar Chowdhary.

The film will release on December 25. Regina is busy with multiple projects and Soukhyam will release first. She is also doing a film with Manchu Manoj, directed by Dasarath.

“I am happy with my career. All these roles are completely different from each other,” she says, adding that she will commence shooting from November 13 after a small break.

Prema Katha Chitram was one of the biggest hits in terms of return on investments, when released. The movie paved way for more horror comedies in Telugu industry and even increased market for them. Now director Maruthi is planning a second part to the film.

While the first part has Nanditha Raj playing the female lead, the second part will see Colours Swathi playing the heroine role. Swathi just proved her mettle in Horror comedy films with her recent release, Tripura.

Maruthi is currently working on a script for Victory Venkatesh and the project will go on floors very soon. Prema Katha Chitram script is ready with Maruthi and it is not clear when he will take up this project.

Actress Shruti Haasan will be one of the chief guests at the upcoming International Children’s Film Festival. “She accepted our invitation and responded positively,” says an organiser. The festival will start on November 14 with the opening ceremony at Shilpakala Vedika. Hyderabad is the permanent venue for the festival.

The organisers wanted an actor known at the national level and who was also popular in the South. Hence, they approached Shruti. “More actors will attend the festival along with her and we will finalise the stars’ availability in a day or two. A popular actor will attend the opening ceremony,” adds a source.

NTR’s stylish image makeover and his cool dance moves charmed all the Nandamuri fans, who can’t stop praising the teaser.

Nannaku Prematho is touted to be a father-son emotional drama. Fans have pinned huge expectations on this Sukumar directorial, and the maverick director is said to have come back in his elements with this film.

Rakul Preet Singh is the film’s heroine and Devi Sri Prasad and Vijay Chakravarthy handle the music and cinematography departments respectively. BVSN Prasad is the film’s producer.

The recent controversy about Sridevi filing case against the producers of Puli for the remaining payment of her remuneration has revealed the fact that she was paid a whopping Rs 3 Cr for the movie. Rs 3 Cr remuneration for an ageing heroine has surprised everyone in the South Indian film industry as none of the top heroines in the South including Samantha, Nayanatara and Anushka are charging such an amount. All these three heroines are charging in the range of Rs 1.5 Cr to 2 Cr.

The producers of Puli now revealed in a statement that they were agreed to pay the total Rs 3cr remuneration for Sridevi with Rs 2.7 lakhs as salary and Rs 30 lakhs extra for service tax. They also further revealed that her husband demanded Rs 15 lakhs from Telugu version but which was not yet paid to her and but she took Rs 55 lakhs from the Hindi distributor. All in all she reportedly charged nearly Rs 4 Cr for the movie. There were rumors that the reason why Sridevi was not part of Baahubali for the role of Sivagami is that she demanded huge remuneration which is almost equal to the top leading actors in Tollywood. Looks like Sridevi is still demanding bigger amount than the current reigning queens of South Indian film industry.

Nandamuri Kalyanram is reeling under the colossal disaster of his last release, Sher. Kalyanram pinned high hopes on the film to break into the big league with a solid superhit, especially after the blockbuster Patas. Now, Kalyanram is reportedly teaming up with AS Ravi Kumar Chowdary for an action entertainer.

In the past, Ravi Kumar Chowdary directed Balakrishna in the 2006 release, Veerabhadra. The film was a huge flop, pushing Chowdary into oblivion. However, he came into limelight with Sai Dharam Tej’s debut film Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitham, which was a decent success.

Kalyanram never goes by the hit-flop parameter and he believes in the talent of the directors he teams up with. Will the director who gave a big flop to Balakrishna keep Kalyanram’s trust on him is the real question now.

Currently, AS Ravi Kumar Chowdary is busy wrapping up Gopichand’s Soukhyam and the Kalyanram film will be launched in December, with Dil Raju bankrolling it.

Occupying the top slot for over a decade is not an easy thing for any actress in the industry. But Trisha has now reached the 50-movies mark with Thoongavanam, which is releasing as Cheekati Rajyam in Telugu. The actress, who is teaming up with Kamal Haasan for the second time, says that it was a heady experience working with the actor. “It’s an honour firstly to work with Kamal and that too for the second time. God has been very kind. And to know that a person like him has confidence in you is truly a blessing. I would like to have his passion and zest for anything he does and the way he treats every film like it’s his first.”

When asked how significant Cheekati Rajyam is to her, she says, “It is very important, firstly because it’s my 50th flick. Second, it’s a big film with a superstar and third… it’s coming out on Diwali, which is an auspicious day for us Indians.” About her preparation for the role of a tough cop as well as dubbing her own voice, she says, “All the credit goes to Kamal and Gautami. She took care of my entire hairstyling and make-up. But there’s hardly any make-up used for me. And he was with us throughout — rehearsing, readings and teaching us small things such as hand gestures and body language. And of course, Kamal gave me the guts to dub my own voice. I could pull off my challenging role only with his help.”

It has been a long journey for Trisha who has seen several highs and lows in her career. “My film journey has taught me so many things. It has made me wise and has also taught me to stay grounded as a person, to be patient and that hard work always pays in the end. I also trained myself to not be affected by the world outside and the gossip.” And with the 50th movie releasing this Diwali, how special are this year’s celebrations? “Unfortunately, I am back in Chennai just for a day on November 10. So I’m planning to watch the film along with the audience at a city theatre. And probably, spend a quiet dinner with my family and friends because it’s been a mad, hectic week.”

The actress is also an avid proponent of animal rights and she also packs in a bit of advice and a message to all those planning celebrations with some crackers. “I’m strictly against noise pollution so any noisy cracker is a strict no-no because dogs just hate the noise. If you love animals, refrain from anything noisy. Because they are a mess during Diwali! Also, keep them with you always — if possible, in a room with the TV or radio on. Also, earmuffs might help.” The actress allowed a few questions about love and relationships and said she’s still on the look-out for the right person and the right time. “When it’s with the right person, who I want to see after getting up each day, I will definitely take the plunge.” Finally, there’s no change in her career path with the star saying she still believes in movies with the big star cast.

“I always believe in having a mixed bag. So as much as I like heroine-centric films, I wouldn’t think twice about signing something which has a big star and a huge star-cast.”

Nandamuri Balakrishna might be man of the masses and a terror for antagonists. Yet he holds a special place for himself when it comes to romancing heroines. The Legend star hasn’t given it up and he continues this even in his upcoming film Dictator which happens to be the star’s 99th film.

The latest picture featuring Anjali and Balakrishna from Dictator is quintessential example and speaks of volumes about the star’s on screen romance besides high voltage action sequences.

Directed and co-produced by Sriwass, the film is slated for release on Jan 14 whereas makers are preparing to launch the audio sometime in December in Amaravati. The film also sees Balayya romancing Sonal Chauhan.