Nagarjuna, along with his son Akhil, producer Nithiin and director V.V. Vinayak, took part in the success meet of Akhil’s debut film on Thursday evening. The film, Akhil, has not really garnered acclaim and has opened to mixed reviews. But that didn’t stop the “proud” father from saying he “was happy” with the movie. Nag also took time out to trash all rumours about a rift between father and son. Talking about the false rumours that his son was upset with him when Akhil, the film, got postponed, Nagarjuna said, “Our family is not a stupid family that we will get annoyed for these small reasons. Only stupid and silly people sulk over small reasons… our family is not like that. Even if I get angry sometimes, my sons never get angry.”

“We are a happy and nice family,” he added. He also said that he was very happy with the film. “Many people called and wished me for Akhil’s film. Both Amala and I are very happy and I am proud of his debut film,” he says, adding, “I told director Vinayak that it took me time to reach the audiences at ‘B’ and ‘C’ centres, but Akhil reached them with his debut film,” says Nag. “I am not talking as an actor, but as a newcomer and a debutant I will give Akhil five out of five for his performance,” he says, adding that he was impressed with his son’s dancing skills in the film.

“Amala is a good dancer and she is a trained classical dancer. Akhil has got that gene from Amala. Maybe you haven’t seen Amala’s dances in films, but I know that she has given many performances and Akhil has got that,” says Nagarjuna. He watched the film on big screen on Wednesday morning with his family. “We discussed the film at home. He used to tell me points about my films that needed improvement and now I have to tell him what to do and what not to do. My father used to tell me that diction is very important for any actor and fortunately Akhil has a good voice. If he can make use of his voice properly it will be nice for him,” adds the actor.

After making his debut with Current in 2009, director Surya Pratap is back after a long break with Kumari 21F, which is a romantic love story. “Yes, there was a big gap after my first film; I have been writing. After my first film, director Sukumar asked me to join him. I worked with him for his film 1 as an assistant,” says Surya. “Sukumar is my guru and it’s a privilege to work with him. That’s why, I went back to writing and it also gave me time to improve myself. Working with Sukumar is like going up to another level,” adds Surya.

Talking about Kumari 21F, he says, “The subject evolved when Sukumar and I were talking. Though he was directing Mahesh Babu’s 1, whenever he would get an idea, he would share it with me. That’s how this film’s subject came about.” After the story was in place, Sukumar asked Surya to direct this film. “My job is easy as Sukumar has written the story, screenplay and dialogues,” he says. “Initially, we had not thought of Raj Tharun. But one day, he came to our office, met Sukumar and we decided then that he would be the lead actor,” he says.

Hebah Patel is the female lead. “She plays a bold girl. I am confident that the film will connect with the present generation and they will love it,” says the director. Surya adds that he also formed a rapport with cameraman Ratna Velu and music director Devi Sri Prasad while working with Sukumar. “When I narrated the story, they became excited and sometimes, even corrected me. They are all experienced and I have learnt a lot from them,” he says. There are rumours that the film is inspired from the 2004 Hollywood film The Girl Next Door, but Surya says, “The subject is from our personal experiences. It’s not a copy or inspired from any other film.”

Bhumi Pednekar who was seen as a fat woman in her debut movie Dum Laga Ke Haisha has lost oodles of weight and back in shape now.

She has put on lot of kilos to suit the character and made a superb impression with her debut itself. It was a challenging for a woman in twenties to put so much weight for a character.

Bhumi is happy with the result and recognition she has had with DLKH. She has immediately started to focus on getting back into shape and the result is just Wow! Here is a snap from her latest photo shoot done for Women Health magazine.

Bhumi is looking to surprise everyone with her ultra glam look in her second film. She has signed up a three film deal with Yash Raj Films and is hoping to make it to the top with her future films.

Akhil is just twenty one years old and must be shaken after seeing the disastrous result of his debut film. He didn’t look that energetic and could barely smile at the success meet conducted just a day after the release of Akhil.Everyone believed that Akhil will need lot of time to get over this. However Akhil has quickly recovered from the failure and is now planning for his next moves. Akhil has done his best to promote his movie by making marathon tours to various countries. He has dedicated himself for the promotions for over two months prior to the release.

He was disappointed when the movie was postponed at the last minute but there was no sign of drop in the energy levels. He is visibly hurt during the success meet where he couldn’t flash a smile to the cameras. Akhil has put the flop behind him in four days and is now looking to make a strong comeback. He is happy with the warm welcome he has received on the first day. It is pretty clear that people are looking at him as a future star. Akhil now needs a decent film to make a mark at the box office.

Even senior heroes who have seen many ups and lows in their careers will need at least few months to recover from such a mishap. But Akhil is showing lot of maturity in dealing with the failure. He is surely a kid to watch out for.

New Delhi: Salman Khan’s return as Prem on the silver screen with ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ has reaped crackling results at the box office. The Hindi version of the Sooraj Barjatya directorial has amassed over Rs.100 crore in just three days of its release.The film, which hit the screen on Thursday, a day after Diwali, reunites Salman with his “Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!” and “Hum Saath-Saath Hai” director Barjatya after a gap of 16 years.

According to a statement, the Hindi version of “Prem Ratan Dhan Payo” alone has collected a total of Rs.101.47 crore. On Thursday, the opening day, the movie made Rs.40.35 crore, on Friday it minted Rs.31.05 crore, and on Saturday the collection was Rs.30.07 crore. Also starring Sonam Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Swara Bhaskar, Armaan Kohli and Neil Nitin Mukesh, “Prem Ratan Dhan Payo” brings a story of a royal family and how an outsider, Prem, played by Salman, tries to mend the broken bridges of the family.

However, the film failed to appeal to the critics who termed it as a “royal pain” and also said that in the film “Prem and his family ensure that you are still trapped in the time machine of the 1980s”. According to trade guru Taran Adarsh, the film is set to gain mileage in the coming days. He tweeted: “#PremRatanDhanPayo crosses Rs.100 crore on Day 3 (Saturday). Business should again witness an upward trend today (Sunday). Big four-day total on the cards”. The movie, made on a budget of Rs.60 crore, also released in Tamil and Telugu.

Manisha Koirala has devised a new way to empower women. Instead of picking bulky men for her security, the actress has hired a lady bodyguard.She says “only women can safeguard each other”, adding that it’s a small step towards change.

“Woman bodyguard! Only a woman can safeguard each other… Starts within a family and then spreads in society,” Manisha shared on Twitter, where she also posted an image of her newly-recruited bodyguard.

The popular Bollywood actress will be seen on the big screen in the Malayalam film “Edavappathy”. She is also gearing up for a Hindi psychological thriller “Chehere”.

Nithin has just released his film Akhil. While Akhil’s performance has been appreciated, the film has been mixed reviews bordering on negative talk.While there was lots of talk about pre-release business, there is little being spoken about the business now. Nithin has invested a lot of money on Akhil and it remains to be seen who loses most money with the venture.

Meanwhile, an interesting news is making rounds in Film Nagar. Talk is that his latest film A… Aa is being made with a budget of Rs 30 crores. That is definitely the highest budget film in Nithin’s career. In the past, none of his films had reached this mark in terms of collections. Some time back, Nithin’s Heart Attack managed to make Rs 16 crores at the box office. His Ishq and Gunde Jaari Gallantayyinde made Rs 20 crores at the most.

But that track did not continue and his later films Chinnadana Nee Kosam and Courier Boy Kalyan did not do well at the box office and Courier Boy was a total flop. So, when the new budget limit was revealed, many in Film Nagar are surprised and feel that it could be way too high for a medium-range hero like Nithin. But again, it has to be remembered that the budget does justify Trivikram Srinivas who is directing the film. Naturally, the producers are banking on his brand name and that’s why A… Aa is in news.

It is known that due to depression in Bay of Bengal, there has been and is heavy rainfall all over Tamil Nadu. This has resulted in many coastal towns being flooded with water.Naturally, this has resulted in many theatres being flooded and the management has had to shut them down.

Diwali saw the release of films of two heavy-weights, Kamal Haasan and Ajith. While Kamal had a release in Cheekati Rajyam or Thoongavanam in Tamil, Ajith had Vedalam.While both films opened to good reviews and full houses, rains have played spoil-sport in the story. The problem is that apart from theatres being shut down, the roads are also flooded with water and this has resulted in lots of chaos in Tamil Nadu.

The situation is the same in Chennai where people are wading through knee-deep water in many places. Naturally, many will not be keen on going out to watch films and this has impacted the collections of the films. And the situation is equally bad for films in production as flooding all over has resulted in shoots being cancelled and postponed. In all, the film industry is totally disturbed with the situation thanks to incessant rains.

Hyderabad: Sania Mirza has been selected under the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme for financial assistance as part of preparation for Olympics 2016.Sania Mirza had written to the authorities for financial assistance and will now be given Rs 60 lakhs.

If India does not win a single medal at the Olympics, the world will not come to an end. And besides, it is understandable if financial assistance is provided to needy players. Can’t super -rich people like Sania Mirza fend for themselves? She is already being pampered regularly by KCR to the tune of crores of rupees. And yet, she still wants financial assistance from the Central government?

The nation will not go into mourning if we fail at the Olympics. But the Rs 60 lakhs would have gone a long way towards alleviating the misery of at least some farmers in Maharashtra and Telangana.

Well, ex-flames Ranbir and Deepika will be seen in Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha once again. Right now, they are promoting their film and have been painting the town red with their mutual admiration speeches.While Ranbir has been praising Deepika saying how wonderful she was, Deepika too has been doing her share by being really friendly with him.

Naturally, that has set the tongues wagging all over again as both Deepika and Ranbir were ex-lovers. And the hot topic among Bollywood circles is about how Katrina cannot stand the name of Deepika these days. Apparently, she goes red at the very mention of her name.

But again, in the past, Deepika and Ranbir had acted in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani after their split and the film did well too. So they might be looking at taking home a hit once again. And to do that, they need to create enough curiosity about their on-screen chemistry. Given that both Deepika and Ranbir are seasoned actors, they seem to be really living it off, off screen too.

Actor Sunil will be competing with Nandamuri stars this Sankranthi as his latest film is gearing up for January 15, 2016, release.Sunil has completed shooting for a movie titled Krishnashtami that is being produced by Dil Raju. Though the film was initially planned as a Diwali release, too many films are lined up for release in the coming days. So, the makers have moved the film to Sankranthi, to get great openings.

Also Dil Raju is hoping that one of the Nandamuri heroes would back off from the Sankranthi competition, though Nandamuri Balakrishna and NTR have both declared that their movies Dictator and Nannaku Prematho will be hitting the screens during Sankranthi season.

Krishnastami is directed by Vasu Varma of Josh fame and is currently in the post production stage. The film has Nikki Galrani and Dimple Chopade as heroines.

Adah Sharma who was seen in girl next door kind of characters and typically conservative roles all these days is now looking to up the ante.

She is trying her hand at glamorous characters now to stay ahead in the competition.

Adah will be seen in a full-fledged glamorous role in her upcoming film Garam. Let’s see if this makeover gives her the much needed break to enter the big league.

Akhil Akkineni’s debut film Akhil is turning out to be a nightmare for all the parties that have invested in the film.Producer Nithin have spent a bomb on this film directed by ever reliable VV Vinayak. But the director has let down big time on all aspects and shattered the dreams of Akkineni fans.

Although Akhil started on a strong note on day 1 it has seen a major fall on the second day. Collections on third day were even disastrous. Buyers are looking at more than fifty percent losses by the trend. Akhil’s performance in overseas is horrible leaving buyers in dismay. The movie was bought for 4 crore in overseas and they would lose more than eighty percent of their investment if we cut out other expenses from the gross collections.

Akhil is heading towards ending up as huge disaster in terms of loss. Not a single buyer is going to be in the safe zone as the movie has been rejected outright by all sections of audience. Akhil needs to be very careful about his next film. He cannot bank upon dated scripts and directors if he is looking to make it big in the industry.