Here’s a strikingly new image makeover of star Tamil comedian Santhanam which had been trending on social media after the actor clicked this selfie and posted it on his Twitter profile. The photograph shows a manly Santhanam looking stylish in a neatly shaped beard and that twirled moustache. Apparently, this new look is for Santhanam’s upcoming horror-comedy film as a lead hero under his friend Rambala’s direction.

With a staggering paycheck of Rs 6-7 lakhs per call sheet, Santhanam is the highest paid comedian down south and he is hugely popular for his rib-tickling comedy in films like Robo, Lingaa, Naan Ee and I etc. Santhanam turned soli hero and gave huge hits with Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaya, Maryada Ramanna’s Tamil version Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham and Inimey Ippadithan etc.

One of the most prominent crowd pulling factors in Tollywood films is undoubtedly the comedy quotient.  For decades, several noted comedians tickled the funny bones of Tollywood humor lovers and made a lasting impression among their fans. It is no exaggeration that even some so star heroes’ films became huge hits solely because of some comedians.

But for the past couple of years, Tollywood seems to be severely cursed with all the popular and senior comedians passing away suddenly. Most of the departed comedy legends like AVS, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, Ahuti Prasad succumbed to the deadly cancer disease after a long battle all within one and a half years.

In January this year, Tollywood was shaken with the passing away of star comedian MS Narayana, who died after suffering from malaria which then led to multiple organ failure. In October alone, two popular yesteryear comedian’s, Mada and Kallu Chidambaram passed away after prolonged illness.

Last night, noted comedian Kondavalasa too breathed his last after suffering from a chronic disease. This tragic passing away of comedy stars who had spread many smiles and laughs in hundreds of films has left the Telugu film industry and comedy lovers in tears.

Always known for his strikingly funny speeches and crazy antics, one of the leading educationalists in the Telugu states and TDP MP from Malkajgiri, Mallareddy crossed all the borders of public decency and common sense when he gave a controversial suggestion to his students at an event recently .

Advising the students on their love and marriage, Mallareddy suggested the students not to fall in a trap of candyfloss campus love and advised them against getting married before they turn 25. Mallareddy said that students should wait until 30 years and ‘trap’ well established people for a secure future.

Not stopping here, Mallareddy further said that students should learn from the likes of successful people like Ram Charan who got married Apollo Group Chairman’s granddaughter Upasna, Aishwarya Rai who married the country’s biggest star Amitabh’s son Abhishek and and Sonia Gandhi who married to the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s son Rajiv Gandhi respectively.

The MP’s cheap comments have already become a talking point on social media, with a majority of the people criticizing his loose talks.

Mass Maharaja Raviteja’s Yevado Okadu will have Shyam playing the main villain. Shyam and Raviteja’s combination is a big hit back then in Kick and now this new combination will excite the audience. The film shooting will start rolling from 25th of this month.

The shooting will go non-stop till completion. Summer release is planned for the movie. Premam fame Anupama Parameshwaran is signed opposite Raviteja in this film. There is one more heroine in the film who is to be confirmed.

Devi Sri Prasad will be composing music for Raviteja after several years. Dil Raju will be producing the movie under his Sri Venkateswara Creations banner. Swamy Ra Ra fame Richard Prasad will be cranking the camera.

After a break of 5 long years, former beauty queen and one of the most beautiful actresses in India, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made her Bollywood comeback with a gripping kidnap drama titled Jazbaa. Jazbaa hit the screens worldwide on 9th October and was declared an average venture at the box-office.

Now, Jazbaa will be releasing in Telugu as Advocate Anuradha Varma on 6th November in more than 130 screens. Aishwarya has a huge following even in Telugu and the makers are hoping to cash in on the craze for her comeback film. Couple of days ago, there were reports about how Aish was duped for more than 3 crores of her remuneration when the makers offered her no paycheck but a share in the profits.

Already, the Bachchan family is in neck-deep anger on the film’s director and producer Sanjay Gupta for his cunning deceit. Aish refused to promote the film while Amitabh Bachchan didn’t even attend the film’s premiere. With the film bombing at the box-office, Aish went back home with just the 1 crore signing amount which was given before the film’s launch. Will Aishwarya get the balance remuneration through Telugu version’s rights?

After making a lasting impression on humor lovers through the superhit comedy show Jabardasth on the small screen, rising comedian Shakalaka Shankar graduated to films within no time. Shankar is currently basking in the glory of his latest film Raju Gari Gadhi.

To celebrate this success, Shankar participated in a talk show with overseas audiences. Shankar, a fan of Powerstar Pawan Kalyan, was wished by a Pawan fan from the US saying that he will surely act along with Pawan Kalyan someday soon.

When the anchor asked Shankar about his admiration for Pawan, Shankar touched everyone as he simply said that he will earn a lot of money someday and that he will build a temple for Pawan Kalyan in his village.

Incidentally, Shakalaka Shankar made his debut in Jabardasth with a skit on Pawan Kalyan. It was Shankar’s final skit before quitting Jabardasth and again on Pawan Kalyan that got him a huge acclaim. While Pawan may not encourage a temple for him, let’s wish that he will surely give his ardent fan Shankar an  opportunity to act beside him.

With the mammoth success of Baahubali, Rana is in high demand not just in Tollywood but also in Kollywood and Bollywood. The macho actor is busy with a handful of films in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. Now, latest buzz reveals that Rana is in talks for yet another Tamil film which also be made in Telugu.

Apparently, Rana has been approached by Pawan Kalyan’s Panjaa director Vishnuvardhan for a historical film. The film is rumored to have Ajith in the main lead. Reports say that Ajith will be reprising the role of the first King of the Chola dynasty, Raja Taka Chola I.

Already, Vishnuvardhan and his script writer are busy touring several UNESCO world heritage ancient temples like the one in Tanjaore and other towns. AM Ratnam is said to be producing this high budget film. Rana already joined hands with Ajith and Vishnuvardhan in Arrambam, which was a huge hit.

Post the superb success of ‘Pandaga Chesko,’ there is nothing like positive news to praise the golden leg Rakul Preet Singh. The disaster results in ‘Kick 2’ and ‘Bruce Lee’ have left Rakul in a shock because she immediately needs a strong break to re-approve her glamour and acting talent.

Currently, Rakul Preet has two projects queued up with Allu Arjun and Junior NTR. Here comes sensational news that she is also getting ready to sign a Varun Tej movie in Gopichand Malineni direction. The film in sports backdrop will have Varun Tej in a newly designed characterization and so is heroine Rakul.

As Gopichand earlier worked with Rakul, he thought it would be easy to rope in her. He might soon narrate the story line in brief before taking the final nod. Apart from star heroes, Rakul should also work with heroes in initial stardom stages and Varun can be a best choice. If at all, ‘Loafer’ turns out a surprising hit at Box Office, then it is a reverse situation and Varun will be lucky for Rakul.

Late Kondavalasa Lakshmana Rao’s first movie is widely said by media people as ‘Avunu Valliddaru Ishta Paddaru’ in Vamsy direction. The dialect and dialogue of ‘Aithe Ok’ made him so popular but truth is, this is not the first film for Kondavalasa. One of his close friends, highly talented artist Sivaji Raja shared some surprising news regarding Kondavalasa’s film introduction with ‘Kallu’ movie.

‘Kallu’ is a neo realistic film made on lives of blind people, directed by MV Raghu. ‘Unlike many channels promoting ‘Avunu Valliddaru Ishta Paddaru’ as first film assignment for Kondavalasa, this is not so. We both made our acting debut in ‘Kallu.’ I can still remember those days when Kondavalasa appreciated my looks in the film. Whenever we both met at different occasions, we used to rejoice our ‘Kallu’ moments,’ Sivaji Raja said.

Directors like Vamsy, EVV Sathya Narayana and SV Krishna Reddy gave continuous support for Kondavalasa. In a span of less than 12 years, he completed 300 films which is a great achievement. Definitely, Tollywood misses you sir.

Soon after the break-up of engagement upsetting Trisha’s personal life, here are row of offers for her in professional field providing lot of respite. If reports from Chennai are to be believed, Trisha bagged a very big project when Bollywood bombshell Vidya Balan rejected the proposal.

Trisha Krishnan will pair up with Dhanush for an untitled flick under Durai Senthil Kumar direction. Important issue is; Trisha’s character will have negative shades something in flavor of Ramya Krishna as Neelambari in ‘Narasimha.’ Although, Durai wanted Vidya Balan into the team but she could not adjust the call sheets due to pregnancy reasons. Dhanush plays dual roles of two brothers in this political thriller. While Shamilee is heroine for younger Dhanush, it is heroine Trisha for elder Dhanush character.

In fact, Dhanush and Trisha were planned to work for ‘Aadukalam’ long ago. Later, equations changed and she could become a part of that one. We need to wait and see, how great the petite Trisha will cash on this antagonist role showcasing the versatility. This is a rare opportunity and hope she accepts the challenge.

Nikhil’s Shankarabharanam was postponed for the second time in a week. The movie was first planned for November 11th release and then pushed to 20th and now they have pushed it to December 4th. Kona Venkat had announced that they are postponing the film to faciliatate long run for Akhil.

The trailers and audio of the film have got good marks for the film so far. Nikhil will be seen as a rich NRI guy who lands in Bihar for some reason with his friends. Sapthagiri comedy is said to be the major highlight and Anjali is seen as a lady don in the film. A new comer, Uday Nandanavanam is directing the film.

Nikhil is on a high with back to back hits after Swamy Ra Ra and Karthikeya. Kona Venkat has given story and screenplay. Kona had already revealed that the movie is a crime comedy with a Bihar backdrop and some incidents that he faced earlier this year have also acted as inspiration for few scenes.

The promotions of Akhil Akkineni’s debut film, Akhil were resumed after the makers have announced the new release date of the film. Akhil will be placed for censor tomorrow. The Regional Censor Board in Hyderabad will decide up on the film certification after watching the movie.

Akhil is releasing on November 11th as Diwali Special. It is known that the movie scheduled for Dussehra is postponed due to some error in the Graphics work. Now that the correction work is complete. Nagarjuna had seen the first copy of the film the other day and finalized the release date.

Mass Masala director VV Vinayak is wielding megaphone for this film. The movie is a hot cake in trade and is witnessing never before business for a debutant. Akhil had done prerelease business worth 47 Crore which is the highest ever for a new comer in the history of Telugu cinema.

Naga Chaitanya is attempting the remake of Malayalam blockbuster, Premam. The film is titled Majnu and will be directed by Karthikeya fame Chandoo Mondenti. The film will have its launch on 30th November and the film will start rolling immediately a day after its launch.

Naga Chaitanya will complete the shooting and dubbing of his next, Saahasam Swaasaga Saagipo by then. Majnu will be shot extensively in the exotic locales of Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Goa, Europe, Pollachi and Araku.

Shruti Hassan, Rakul Preet Singh and Anupama Parameshwaran are the heroines as per the rumour mills. Buzz is that Nagarjuna will be seen in a little cameo while Victory Venkatesh will play the hero’s father in the movie. More details of this project later.

‘Size Zero’ from early on is publicized as a message based film with entertaining treatment offered by director Prakash Kovelamudi and his wife Kanika Dhillon. In the initial stages when this story or idea is conceptualized, they never had an idea of making this project on big scale. Prakash approached Prasad V Potluri with story and the prestigious banner PVP Cinema found that the line has more capacity for commercial exploitation.

‘PVP made this film so big because we had a small idea and they made it look very fat, big,’ as said by Prakash at a recent meet. When names like Anushka, Arya and Sonal Chauhan arrived into the casting team, apparently the focus became wider and today ‘Size Zero’ is one more awesome project for which Telugu audience have been waiting for release.

More than the budget and scale of artists present, K Raghavendra Rao would surely love to see his son established as a commercial director forwarding his legacy. New ideas always have a special market and hopefully, Prakash Kovelamudi will gain the needed attention and respectable recognition with this hilarious flick.