For the last couple of days, entire Tollywood and Mega fans have been busy discussing about one topic, the acting debut of the first actress from the Mega family, Niharika Konidela. Niharika is no new birdie to camera, as she had acted in a few short films in the past and also hosted a few entertainment shows on TV successfully and enjoys her own fan following.

Niharika’s acting debut opposite handsome hero Naga Shaurya in a film to be directed by Mallela Theeram Lo Sirimalle Puvvu fame Rama Raju and jointly produced by Madhura Sreedhar along with a popular news channel. In her first ever interview after signing her debut film, Niharika shared a few interesting details about her family and her debut project

A total daddy’s girl, Niharika said that she has always been immensely passionate about acting and that her family was very supportive when she expressed her desire to step in to films. Niharika also said that even her uncle, Megastar Chiranjeevi, whom she fondly calls ‘daddy’, was quite encouraging when she revealed her wish to act. Niharika, called Niha at home, also said that just like people who give are called givers, she will call Chiru as ‘lifer’ for giving life to so many actors from the Mega family.

Talking about her debut film, Niharika said that she still can’t believe that she is indeed turning a heroine and that the excitement hasn’t sunk in yet. Niharika excitedly said that her debut film has a great script and that it will be a memorable foundation for her career. Well, the first actress from the Mega family looks like a perfect blend of beauty with the brain and a sensitive heart. Let’s wish her all the best for a dream start.

Cashing on the craze of a hit pair is something coming like a tradition from years. Say it NTR-Sridevi, Chiranjeevi-Radha and Balayya-Vijayasanthi, hits pairs always fascinated fans. And another way of bringing hit pairs is, if a hero-heroine from another tinsel town scores a hit with a dubbed movie in Telugu, then all their past films will get released here.

As Dulquer Salman and Nitya Menon have become a hit pair, thanks to Mainratnam’s “Ok Bangaram”, now their Malayalam films are making way into Tollywood. First to arrive is their “Ustaad Hotel”, now dubbed in Telugu as “Jataga”. For those who know the concept of this film, this title sounds unusual.

Because this is not a romantic drama like an “Ok Bangaram”. This film is about a guy’s aspirations, his father’s dreams and grandpa’s hotel. Maybe the title is a big misfit for this otherwise brilliant movie written by Anjali Menon and directed by Anwar Rashid. As the dubbed version is getting readied for release, let us see how it fares.

Released in 1993, master of comedies, the late EVV Satyanarayana, created a huge havoc with his hilarious comedy, Jambalakidi Pamba, which is still considered a cult classic. Even though the film is a comedy, it delves deep into feminism and women rights in a funny manner shows what happens when the male and female genders turn the opposites.

Now, after more than 2 decades, the EVV classic is being retold by the leading Bollywood production house, Yashraj Films. Yashraj is coming up with a web series titled Man’s World, and its plot of ‘what if women treated men, the way men treat women’ seems to be heavily inspired from Jambalakidi Pamba.

Written and directed by Vikram Gupta, Man’s World is a funny and an intriguing take on gender equality, made in support of UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development campaign. Parineeti Chopra, Kalki Koechlin, Richa Chadha, Rhea Chakraborty, Bhumi Pednekar and Shweta Tripathi play important roles in this web series, which will be released on Yash Raj Films’ web division Y-Films on 29 September.

Mumbai: Actress Shazahn Padamsee, who became popular with Ram Charan’s ‘Orange’, finds it tough to keep in check her temptation of shopping online.

She revealed that she shops online almost every day.

“I have this addiction and it’s really bad. I get really scared to open my laptop because I have all these websites waiting to attack me. So, I have a serious addiction,” Shazahn said here on the sidelines of an event.

Shazahn, who has featured in movies like “Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year” and “Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji”, hasn’t been seen in films of late. But she says it’s not too long before she will be seen on the big screen again.

“Right now, I have two films which are upcoming and a little bit delayed. So I hope that they release soon. One is ‘Solid Patels’ and one is ‘Siddhartha’, which is with Mahesh Bhatt.”

US has become the key player when it comes to film revenues. Even if a film becomes a super hit in Indian soil, getting a blockbuster both in India and abroad is crucial to get huge profits and Baahubali and Srimanthudu have set unheard of records in both national and international markets.

But gauging the pulse of the international audiences is not an easy task. While some films have worked really well, some have failed miserably.

Let’s consider at least 25 reasons that make or break a film abroad…

After Dookudu, Aagadu Had Record Collections…
Aagadu could not capture the local market, but the collections abroad had been really good and the figure of $ 1,42,235 really went on to show that the audiences liked Mahesh and the film.

On the other hand, while Sukumar’s 1-Nenokkadine did not do well here, the film did really well abroad. It raked in $ 1,330,155 and the film stood 9th in terms of overseas collections.

It Must Be Different, But For Family Viewing
The overseas audiences have also proved that they like variety. So, Baahubali and 1-Nenokkadine have been huge hits there.

Similarly, a film like Seetamma… stands 4th in the top 25 hits in the US. After that, Attarintiki Daaredi did really good business. Now, Srimanthudu has raked in $ 2,97,541. Though Manam was said to be an average hit, it made $ 1,53,230 abroad.

Goes without saying, the family sentiment really worked in favour of the film as far as NRIs were concerned.

Entertainment Is Sure-Shot Success
One film that proved that a film with ample doses of entertainment will work overseas is Dookudu which made $ 1,563,466 in the US. Similarly, Aagadu made $ 1,42,435 in international markets.

Then recently released Bhale Bhale Magadivoy did really well in the US and it showed that people out there will go to theatres even for a small film if the content and actors are good. The film stood 10th in the list of top 25.

As far as entertainment goes, Race Gurram made $ 1,396,36 and S/O Satyamurthy raked in $ 1,276,534.

Prince Is A Hit, Charan Fails
Of the 25 top films in the US, Mahesh owns the maximum number. From Srimanthudu to Sirimalle…, Dookudu, Aagadu, 1-Nenokkadine, his Businessman stood 18th with $ 709,053 and Khaleja stood at 25th position with a collection of $ 493,726. One point to be noted is that films that had flopped in India, did good business in the US market.

Unfortunately, it is only Charan who has more or less remained a flop in the US. Still his Magadheera stands at 23rd position and Krishna Vamsi’s Govindudu Andari Vaadele produced by Danayya surprisingly managed to make it to the 19th position. Meanwhile, Nayak raked in $ 494,140 and stood at 24th position.

Meanwhile, Eega made $ 1,071,21 and Bhale Bhale Magadivoy continues to rake in money. So it is widely felt that Ram Charan now has the responsibility of working on his overseas market.

And followed by Mahesh is Pawan Kalyan. His film Attarintiki Daaredi raked in $ 1,034,44 and Gopala Gopala raked in $ 849,771. On the other hand, Cameraman Ganga Tho Rambabu raked in $ 612,493.

On the other hand, though NTR Jr gets good collections, none of his films find a place in the top 10. However, Badshah made it to $ 1,271,726 and Temper stood at 14th place with $ 1,502,650.

Meanwhile, Allu Arjun has a better market over NTR and his Race Gurram is in 8th position, while S/O Satyamurthy is in 11th position. Julayi stands at 17th position with a collection of $ 36,013. In fact, Bunny is considered a minimum guarantee hero in the overseas market. And Prabhas who shot to new heights with Baahubali had raked in $ 631,424 with his film Mirchi and stood at 21st place.

So, in all, it can be safely said that Telugu cinema has indeed spread wide and far. So, if there is better planning, then there is no doubt that our films will not only go beyond India and US, but also attract audiences from countries all over the world.