Prabhas YOGI Working Stills

Prabhas,Nayanatara YOGI Working Stills

Film Talk: Trisha to Act without 'That'

There is nothing big in 'that'. And 'that' is nothing other than 'make-up'.

It may not be new to see heroes and heroines acting without makeup. There would be some striking variety when a heroine shuns make up. Trisha, the most expensive heroine in South India is going to act without make up for the first time.

She is playing a middle class lady's role in the film 'Adavari Matalaku Ardhaley Veruley' beside Venkatesh. The film, as known to everyone, is being directed by Selva Raghavan of '7G Brindavan Colony' fame. The shooting of the film is going on in Hyderabad now.

Even earlier, Charmy was seen without make up on silver screen with the film 'Anukokunda Oka Roju' and Soundarya was found in similar way in the film '9 Nelalu'. There are many more heroines who have made their presence on screen without glitter in a few films.

'Umrao Jaan': a pilgrimage into a courtesan's world

Film: Umrao Jaan
Starring: Shabana Azmi, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Puru Raj Kumar, Suniel Shetty
Director: J.P. Dutta
Rating: 3.5

In one of the countless visuals of stunning resonance, Aishwarya, playing the doomed and poetic tawaif (courtesan) Umrao Jaan Adaa, travels through a burning field of crops. "The crops have been reaped, now the fields are being burnt for good luck next year," explains a co-passenger.

That one gloriously revealing moment captures the sublime pathos that coloured the life and times of 19th century Lucknow's famed courtesan, who in her words is a "badnasibi ki misaal" (the classic example of misfortune).

We've seen Lucknow and Uttar Pradesh in several Hindi films ranging from Muzaffar Ali's "Umrao Jaan" to Chandan Arora's "Main Meri Patni Aur Woh". But the city and its surrounding topography have never looked more vivid.

Perched between the world within a kotha (brothel) and the outer world of growing deceit and betrayal, the story of little Ameeran's journey from her quaint and happy family life to the Kotha is mapped in lucid, flamboyant and sometimes muted colours of utter enchantment.

J.P. Dutta, along with cinematographer Aynanka Bose, takes us on a pilgrimage through Umrao's inner and outer landscape creating perfect visuals to portray her predicament as a 'fallen woman' forever rising above her destiny.

What lifts this "Umrao Jaan" far above the 1978 version is its sense of imminent historicity. While the original stopped just after the doomed woman returns to the comforting yet claustrophobic space of the kotha, Dutta's narrative moves forward, carving a socio-historical perspective for his protagonist in a Lucknow going through a bloody turmoil, as its cultural legitimacy is questioned and mocked by the British Raj.

The film's most memorable sequence is when the kotha's practical and yet emotional madame (Shabana Azmi) packs off her endangered girls and stays on in the brothel - a solitary figure standing over the looming architecture as a symbol of unaccompanied bravery.

Shabana's histrionics are awe-inspiring, comparable with her mother Shaukat's performance in the same role in Muzaffar Ali's film.

"Umrao Jaan" must not be allowed to be a victim of cynical readings. Its statement, comparing the woman's heart to a railway station, where any man can stop to while away time, has a resonance way beyond the time-zones Dutta creates within his lengthy but satisfying work of art.

The ambience of the kotha is superbly re-created by art director Bijon Dasgupta. But Vaibhavi Merchant's choreography lets down the courtesans' tale. It fails to evoke the sensuous grace that Rai is capable of. Too much of Javed Akhtar's evocative lyrics are expressed in hand movements.

There's a great deal of warmth in the crisscross of relationships that the screenplay creates. Umrao's rapport with her surrogate father in the brothel, played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda, is truly special.

Aishwarya imbues a sense of luminosity into Umrao's all-giving nature. As Umrao, she's remarkably vulnerable and gentle, trying to safeguard her interests emotionally rather than instinctively.

Her two key romantic sequences with Abhishek Bachchan convey a feeling of bridled anxiety but are felled by their inordinate length. They needed to be curtailed and streamlined. The same applies to the plethora of mujras (dance sequences) - all gracefully performed by the resplendent Rai, but monotonous for their frequency and genre-specificity.

Anu Malik's music and Alka Yagnik's singing go a long way in evoking the poetic tragedy of a woman who craves to break free from her destiny.

"Umrao Jaan" is remarkable for recreating the rhythms of a charming though lost culture through the pacy movements of the tawaif's feet, though the choreography does restrict the Aishwarya's swan-like agility.

The film also gives space to lesser-known actors like Puru Raj Kumar, who is splendid as Umrao's roguish in-house suitor at the kotha, and Divya Dutta melts your heart in the one important sequence that the script allows her.

Abhishek Bachchan, as the tormented, torn and yet restrained Nawab, is a portrait of bridled intensity. That little smirk in the corner of his mouth or that almost-invisible twinkle in his eye - these nuances show how much Bachchan junior has evolved.

For creating an "Umrao Jaan", who stays in our hearts, and for giving Aishwarya Rai yet another memorable role, J.P. Dutta must take a bow.

By Subhash K. Jha, Indo-Asian News Service

Bollywood Box-office: 'Don' On Top- 'MDLD' At Bottom

1. Don – The Chase Begins Again

This was a well made film and technically very rich. But due to some small drawbacks in screenplay it is now called as a Semi Hit movie. SRK is not having a good year 2006. His movie KANK has also got divided talk and turned a semi hit. The same repeated with DON too. Priyanka is watch able and Kareena steals the show with Item Number.


2. Jaan-E-Maan:

The Combination of Akshay and Salman is turning out be a hit pair. Their past movie 'Mujse Shaadi Karoge' is a Hit number. Jaan-E-Maan is better movie then that. Jaan-E-Mann is sensible love story told in a humorous way. This movie will give some life to Salman Khan's career as he has not seen a big hit movie from years.


3. Lage Raho Munnabhai:

This Movie is blockbuster of 2006. Sanjay Dutt is born to play the role of Munnabhai. Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi combination works like Amitabh and Shashi Kapoor.

The rights of this movie are not given to anyone in Hollywood as Vidhu Vinod Chopra is planning on his own.


4. Zindaggi Rocks:

The Concept of a mother sacrificing her life for her child is the concept of the movie. The title of the movie is totally different from the substance of the movie. Susmitha Sen plays the lead role and movie is about a sensible mother-child relation. Tanuja Chandra got a perfect script but the audience will not be interested in these types of movies. It is a well made film with some commercial elements. But the box office verdict for this movie is a flop.

5. Mera Dil Leke Dekkho:

'Mera dil leko Dekkho' which stars Jackie shorff , Archana Puran Singh , Koel Puri , Esha deol etc is proved to be the worst of all new films. This movie is produced by Shatrughan Sinha. One has to say Shatrughan Sinha lost his esteem by producing such a boring film. This film does not have perfect story or screenplay and it is claimed to be a comedy film. This movie can be awarded as worst movie of 2006.

Bollywood Box-office: 'Don' On Top- 'MDLD' At Bottom

1. Don – The Chase Begins Again

This was a well made film and technically very rich. But due to some small drawbacks in screenplay it is now called as a Semi Hit movie. SRK is not having a good year 2006. His movie KANK has also got divided talk and turned a semi hit. The same repeated with DON too. Priyanka is watch able and Kareena steals the show with Item Number.


2. Jaan-E-Maan:

The Combination of Akshay and Salman is turning out be a hit pair. Their past movie 'Mujse Shaadi Karoge' is a Hit number. Jaan-E-Maan is better movie then that. Jaan-E-Mann is sensible love story told in a humorous way. This movie will give some life to Salman Khan's career as he has not seen a big hit movie from years.


3. Lage Raho Munnabhai:

This Movie is blockbuster of 2006. Sanjay Dutt is born to play the role of Munnabhai. Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi combination works like Amitabh and Shashi Kapoor.

The rights of this movie are not given to anyone in Hollywood as Vidhu Vinod Chopra is planning on his own.


4. Zindaggi Rocks:

The Concept of a mother sacrificing her life for her child is the concept of the movie. The title of the movie is totally different from the substance of the movie. Susmitha Sen plays the lead role and movie is about a sensible mother-child relation. Tanuja Chandra got a perfect script but the audience will not be interested in these types of movies. It is a well made film with some commercial elements. But the box office verdict for this movie is a flop.

5. Mera Dil Leke Dekkho:

'Mera dil leko Dekkho' which stars Jackie shorff , Archana Puran Singh , Koel Puri , Esha deol etc is proved to be the worst of all new films. This movie is produced by Shatrughan Sinha. One has to say Shatrughan Sinha lost his esteem by producing such a boring film. This film does not have perfect story or screenplay and it is claimed to be a comedy film. This movie can be awarded as worst movie of 2006.

Film Talk: Has Ram Gopal Varma Turned Mad!?

A film is going to hit the silver screen shortly and that is 'Ramu Hogaya Pagal'. The film is being scripted and directed by Anil Kumar.

The story deals with a film director who comes to Mumbai from some other place and boosts up his stardom by making great hits. Then he falls in love with a heroine and he casts her in majority of his films. Slowly, his creativity goes wane and makes funniest movies without brining in any interest for audiences.

Well, when enquired if the story is directly hitting as a satire on Ram Gopal Varma, the maker said, "No! No! No! It's completely original fiction where the characters do not depict anyone living or dead and any such depiction with similarities is purely coincidental".

Let us see what sort of interest this film evokes in film industry.

Harris Jayaraj rocks audio scene with 'Sainikudu'

Hyderabad, Nov 4 (IANS) Composer Harris Jayaraj's latest album "Sainikudu" is a rage and is holding the No.1 position on the chart.

The top five Telugu albums are:

1. "Sainikudu" - Tamil composer Harris Jayaraj arrives in Telugu showbiz with a bang with this terrific album. "Byla bylammo" and "Maayeera' tops the charts. Will it surpass actor Mahesh Babu's previous musical hits?

2. "Stalin" - With collections gradually dipping, Mani Sharma's not so impressive album gets a beating. But it still holds on to the second place. "Parare parare" and "Thobare thoba" are popular.

3. "Bommarillu" - Devisri Prasad's delightful tunes made a simple love story into a big winner. "Kaani ippudu" and "Laalu darwaja" stand out.

4. "Mayabazar" - Promising composer Radhakrishna of "Godavari" fame tries catchy tunes in his new album. "Nadume chittikantha" and "Siri siri muvala" can catapult him into the league of commercial composers.

5. "Aadhi Laxmi" - After "Devdas", composer Chakri comes up with another peppy album. "Jil jil prema" and "Naa celphone nuvve" are catchy

Sainikudu release on November 30th?

Mahesh babu -Guna sekhar combination lo Aswani dutt nimrmisthunna Sainikudu November 30th(or else December 6th)na release cheyataniki plan chesthunnaru.Industry Hit Pokiri tarwatha vasthunna Mahesh cinema kavatam tho Sainikudu piena High expectations unnayi.Harris Jayaraj e cinema ki music compose chesaru.recent ga release ayina Sainikudu audio ki average talk vachindhi, audio sales bagunnayi.

Floods effect on Telugu Cinema

Eppudu lenantha ga vachina heavy rains,floods ki Kirshna,Guntur,Prakasam districts complete ga State lo mari konni areas partial ga affect ayyayi.Cinema vishayaniki vasthe...theatres ki vachi cinema chuse stage lo leru aa areas lo janam.B,C Centers ekkuva ga affect ayyayi.Situation malli normal avvali ante minimum one month paduthundhi.

ippudu theatres lo nadusthunna cinemala sangathi pakkana pedithe raboye cinemalaki kuda e floods effect baga untundhi.November release anukunna rendu pedha cinemalu Maharadhi (slated for November end release),Sainikudu(slated for Nov30th or Dec6th release )December ki velle chance undhi ani distributors chebuthunnaru.

December lo release anukunna pedha cinemalu Khatarnak(already shifted to Dec 6th from Dec1st), Desamudhuru(Dec16th), Rakhee(Dec22nd),Annavaram(December29th)lo konni release dates change ayye chance undhi.e cinemallo almost annitini Maximum number of prints tho Max. no:of theatres lo release ki plan chesthundatam valla theatres shortage untundhi.e cinemallo konni Sankranthi season ki shift avvochu.

Rakhee,Desamudhuru Jan 2nd week ki postpone avvochu.Annavaram Dec29th ki release avuthundhi(i am not sure,info according to a leading distributor from Andhra involved with some of these projects)

NBK Maharadhi audio release on Nov4th

Nandamuri Balakrishna-P.Vasu combination lo Vakada Apparao nirminchina Maharadhi audio November4th na direct ga market lo release avuthundhi.Kannada music director Gurukiran Maharadhi ki music compose chesaru.Meera Jasmine,Sneha,Navneet kaur heroines ga natinchina e cinema November ending ki release ayye chance undhi.

Gossip: Abhishek-Aishwarya Wedding in GW Marriot Hotel

The news that Aishwarya and Abhishek are getting wed locked in February has come out recently. Grapevine says that venue is also booked for the wedding and that was at GW Marriotte Hotel as assumed earlier.

The importance of that hotel for Telugus is that the wedding of Mahesh Babu and Namratha was held at the same venue. The hotel is very close to present residence of Amitabh Bachchan in Juhu.

Arrangements are being made in large scale as per the rumors and almost Rs. 50 crore is going to be spent for the wedding in a whopping way. Invitess are going to be elite circles from National and International arena and along with press and political circles.

Amitabh is also planning to arrange a great together with dinner for his fans in Mumbai. Stay tuned for more tidbits on this wedding of two National celebrities. The film is set to release in the month of December or January.

Film News: Why 'Sainikudu' Is Releasing Much Earlier?

Mahesh Babu's 'Sainikudu' in the direction of Guna Sekhar was first destined to release in 2007 but it is hitting the screens much earlier. Film circles say that there are two main reasons for the plans of early release.

Guna Sekhar is the type of director who takes big time to finish off a film like Shankar. His comfort zone to complete the film is duration of at least 9 months. At the same time, he is good at raising the budget of the film by incorporating big art directors into his team. To avoid, dawdling delay and prevent the incurring of big budget, Guna Sekhar was forced to complete the project soon.

Apart from it, Vyjayanthi Movies gets busy with Ram Cheran Teja's debut film shortly. So, things have to be streamlined for that film and the banner team needs time to look into those.

As per the inside reports these are the two reasons that is making 'Sainikudu' release earlier. But fresh talk says that the film's release is getting postponed to December 1st week.

Well, the audio of the film has got thumping response in the market and all the songs have took top slot among the chartbusters.

Impression: Ankitha's Grand Hopes on Small Film

Rasna baby Ankitha has been testing her luck these days with various films. But nothing is coming her way. She recently acted in the films 'Seetha Ramudu' and 'Raraju' where both have turned down unfortunately.

Now, she is saying that she would strike gold with her new Telugu film. She paired up with new heroes Sunder and Santhosh for a film on Sree Raghava Productions in the direction of Bharagavan.

She claimed herself as star heroine in this film. The film is being made on the back ground of city and forest. The shooting is going on at Hyderabad and Talakona areas.

Telangana Sakuntala, Suman Setty, Malladi Raghava, Manivannan, Nilalgal Ravi and Ananth are other main casting in the film.

The shooting of the film is almost completed except a son.

Tidbit: Trisha Sentiment on Tollywood Screen

Trisha is well known, hot and beautiful in Telugu and Tamil and also the No.1 heroine of South India who takes big remuneration. Trisha has acted with all the big stars and has got a good following at Box office.

Trisha has acted with Prabhas in 'Varsham' which was a super hit film. The same combination was repeated with 'Pournami', which was a disaster at Box office.

Similarly, Trisha has acted with Mahesh Babu in 'Athadu' which is a super hit number in Tollywood. Again the same combination is getting repeated with 'Sainikudu'.

Like this, a new thought or a fresh sentiment takes birth in Tollywood everyday. Let's wish that the film turns a hit and rubs off the old sentiment permanently. If the film has stuff, no sentiments an stop its sliding up graph.

Film Talk: Gopika with 'A Film By Aravind' Hero

'A Film by Aravind' fame Rishi and Sri Samrat are pairing up with Goipka for a new film on the banner of Sree Dinesh Productions.

This is the subsequent Telugu film of Gopika after 'Veedhi'. She is now busy with Malayalam movies. Suman, Balachander, Bhanu Priya are playing prominent roles in the film while Ravi Varma is directing in the production of P.Narasimha Reddy.

SA Rajkumar is scoring music for the film and music sittings are going on at present.

"This is a love story that is not routine. The characters and characterizations in this film would unique and something special. The film is going to be made as per the current trend. The shooting of the film would start in 2nd week of November", said Narasimha Reddy.

Even Gopika is hopeful is hopeful of getting good break in the industry with this subject

Gossip: Ravi Teja's Remuneration Touching Rs. 2 Crores!

Ravi Teja struggled for about 13 years to get a right break on silver screen. He played many odd roles in his career and his fate turned with Puri Jagannath's 'Idiot'. There's no looking back for him since then. Slowly he crawled up on to the main slot of heroes.

His films 'Amma Naanna Oka Tamil Ammayi', 'Avunu Valliddaru Istapaddaaru', 'Bhadra' and 'Vikramarkudu' turned feathers in his hat. Now he is coming up as Khatarnak, pairing up with Ileana.

As per the grapevine, his remuneration for the film is Rs. 1.75 crore and 'C to C' (Cost to Company) has almost touched Rs. 2 Crore mark.

Ravi Teja's films have got the image of either minimum guarantee or hit number. Hence the remunerations are rocketing up and Ravi Teja is on the peak of his career now.

Expression: Don, Jan-e-Mann Piracy DVDs for Rs. 50

Piracy has many tentacles and it had spread very wide in Bollywood. The DVDs of Don and Jan-E-Man started their spread in Mumbai as soon as the second day of the films' releases. The miserable part is that the DVDs are being sold in grey market at Rs. 50 each. Many of the Mumbaites, prefer watching films at home in their DVD players as time and pocket do not allow may of them to go and watch film in multiplexes.

Thus the latest films of Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan are being sold out at Rs. 50 despondently.

Although Bollywood films have business in many countries, the piracy act in Mumbai itself has turned a barricade for a big cash inflow for distributors, exhibitors and producers.

But still, there hasn't been any serious step from Bollywood bigwigs to axe on this malign menace.

Simran in Okka Magadu

Balayya pakkana Samarasimha reddy,Narasimha naidu lanti blockbusters lo natinchina Simran Balayya-Y.V.S.Chowdary combination lo vasthunna Okka Magadu tho malli screen pieki vasthondhi.Simran,Anushka,Nisha kothari lo evarevaru 1,2,3 ane details Producer,director Y.V.S.Chowdary cheppakapoyina...Cinema beginning nunchi end varaku unde performance oriented heroine charecter Simran chesthunnattu chepparu.Anushka,Nisha kothari piena 5songs untayani chebuthunnaru.November3rd week lo Okka Magadu regular shooting start ayye chance undhi.

it's rumoured that Hollywood makeup artist Michael.r.jones(Bharateeyudu fame) is working for Okka Magadu.At present NBK,Y.V.S.Chowdary,Simran are in Los Angeles to try&finalise the Special makeup.

Exclusive Spicy Ravi Teja and Illeyana's Katharnak Gallery