TOLLYWOOD FILM NEWS 17-05-2007

City Buzz: Mahesh Babu's Muslim Fan Is Worried

Fans are of different sorts. Khader Ghori is a hardcore fan of Mahesh Babu from past 20 years. He belongs to Shaad Nagar. He used to ride on his cycle up to Padmalaya studios to meet his beloved star Mahesh Babu and his father Krishna in his childhood. His favoritism first started on his father Krishna when the film 'Simhasanam' released. Now he holds a Saudi Visa and lives there for 6 months and lives in Hyderabad for 6 months.

He is well off now and spends all his time and money on Mahesh Babu. As a wonder, he is regarded as celebrity in his area and he will be called on for shop openings and all. He will attend all public get together in the status of Mahesh Babu's fan.

Now he has a worry. The film 'Athidhi' is releasing in the Ramzan month. He believes that the collections from minority community will not be good if released in that month. So, Khader is requesting Mahesh Babu and Co to release the film before Ramzan or after Ramzan to get right justification. We have to see how far his words will be given an ear. He gives his contact number publicly in news Papers to talk to him" Khader Ghori 9949084686.

Gossip: Heroine Seducing A Journalist?

This is the gossip that is making rounds in the Tamil film industry. Namitha, the actress is calling on a journalist of a renowned web portal for diners and lunches.

It is said by a segment of people that she is purely professional in that aspect and she is taking only professional consultancy from him knowing which films suit her best.

But other segment says that she is luring him to use him for her film reviews and publicity in his web portal.

Namitha is being spotted with that journalist now and then. Gossips are going to make something fishy about this relation between heroine and journalist.

TOP 5 Albums: 'Dubai Seenu' rules Telugu sound waves

Veteran composer Mani Sharma makes it to the top of the list again with his latest creation titled 'Dubai Seenu'.

The top five Telugu albums are:

1. 'Dubai Seenu' - 'Seenu seenu' and 'Once upon' stand out among the fast-paced numbers of the album.

2. 'Rajubhai' - Tamil composer Yuvan Shankar Raja has caught the pulse of Telugu music-lovers and has delivered another peppy album. Two tracks, 'Korameenu' and 'Chalta chalta', are a rage.

3. 'Aata' - Composer Devisri Prasad could have produced something better. Individual chartbusters like 'Aata aata' and 'Yela yela' won't suffice to give the album an overall market impact.

4. 'Aduvari Matalaku Arthale Verule' - The film's success has enhanced the sales of composer Yuvan Shankar Raja's album. 'Allantha doorana' and 'O baby' are topping countdown shows.

5. 'Sivaji' - With the film's release date confirmed, the album by composer A.R. Rahman is looking up again. 'Style' and 'Vaaji vaaji' are catchy.

Side Talk: Genelia Acting In Tamil Bommarillu

Genelia's time appears to be in brightness. She bagged biggest hit in her career with 'Bommarillu'. She turned the heads of all with her character Haasini. The credit goes to director Bhaskar in shaping her role. Freshlys he bagged another hit with film 'Dhee' which happened to be a commercial comedy flick. Now she is acting in Neelakanta's 'Mr Medhavi' where she plays highly prominent role.

Adding to all these she is now booked to act in the Tamil version of Bommarillu beside Jayan Ravi. So she will be repeating doing her Hasini role in Tamil as well.

If Tamil version also works well, then Genelia need not look back at all. She will be busy with handful of projects.

Screen Talk: Himsa Raju Title Changed For Convenience

'Imsai Arasan 23 Pulakesi' is the Tamil title of the film that was made with Vadi Velu in lead role. The film was produced by Shankar. Now the same film is dubbed into Telugu with title 'Himsa Raju 23 Pulakesi'.

But for bringing in nativity and make the title meaningful, it was changed as 'Himsinche Raju 23 Pulakesi'.

The film deals with satires based on Tamil politics. That was a thumping hit in entire Tamilndu with whopping collections. The market rate of Vadi Velu has also grown up to 10 times with that film.

But we have to see how far that woks out in Telugu in nativity aspect.

TOP 5 Movies: Venkatesh, Trisha make 'Aduvari' Telugu topper

Venkatesh has delivered another smashing hit with "Aduvari Matalaku Arthale Verule", which continues to top among Telugu films.

The top five Telugu films are:

1. "Aduvari Matalaku Arthale Verule" - The comic timing of Venkatesh and the cute appeal of Trisha has helped director Raghavan prove his mettle in a different genre.

2. "Munna" - Though the much-hyped film may disappoint some, it has had a good opening, proving the star power of handsome Prabhas. Director Vamsi relies more on form than content, but it works for the action flick.

3. "Aata" - After disastrous "Pournami", hit filmmaker M.S. Raju comes up with another dampener "Aata". It looks like a rehash of dud film "Gudumba Sankar". But the movie still makes it to the number-three slot.

4. "Dhee" - Director Srinu Vytla finally provides actor Vishnu a much-needed hit with a comedy laced with action. The other highlights of the film are vibrant Genelia and the screenplay.

5. "Sri Mahalakshmi" - Srihari looks good in this action film directed by Vijayan, but this remake of a Malayalam hit may not sustain its appeal for long.

Film Talk: Will This ANR Remix Work Out?

Gopichand is going to dance for the super hit song 'Niluvave Vaalu Kanula Daana' of ANR in the film 'Lakshyam'.

He is dancing for the remix version of the same. The remix songs seldom work well but seldom turn down.

SV Krishna Reddy remixed the song 'Chitapata Chinukulu…' in one of his films with Jagapathy Babu in main lead. We see NTR's songs getting remixed or written on similar tracks in big number.

ANR songs are indeed rare but hitting the screen seldom. We have to see how far Gopichand impresses with that old super hit of ANR.

Nostalgia: Krishnam Raju Gifted Rajababu With Watch

This was during the film 'Illu Illalu'. The super hit song 'Vinara Suramma Koothuri Mogudaa..' was shot on Rama Prabha and Raja Babu. Telugu film lovers cannot forget the comedy spilled by Raja Babu in that song. And none can sit without appreciating his performance.

After the film was released, Krishnam Raju watched it and overwhelmed with joy seeing Raja Babu in that song. He couldn't resist without meeting him. He met him and gifted him with an expensive wrist watch in those days.

That was the spirit of appreciation in those days between a hero and a comedian. Raja Babu shared the happiness of getting a watch as gift from Krishnam Raju with almost everyone he met.

Bollywood Masala: Yuvi’s mother disapproved Kim Sharma?

Kim Sharma is now relieved of the stress of hiding her relationship with cricketer Yuvraj Singh. It’s reported that, thanks to Yuvraj’s mummy Shabnam who didn’t approve of her beta’s choice and Kim’s habit of exposing too much in films, their relationship of nearly four years has gone kaput. The flamboyant sports star and the actress kept the world guessing about the status of their relationship for a long, long time. Apparently, Kim hasn’t taken the break-up too well and is heartbroken. The dutiful son that he is, Yuvraj has severed all communication with his former sweetheart. Our source reveals that he doesn’t even take her calls any more.

A source close to Kim says, “Kim and Yuvraj have broken up. Yuvraj’s mother was not in favour of the relationship. Since the last two years, there have been problems on that front. Yuvraj has finally caved in to pressure. Now things have become so bad that Yuvraj has been avoiding Kim for a month.”

In fact, Yuvraj is trying his best to keep away from her. Our source says, “There was a party in Mumbai where Yuvraj was expected with his friends. While he was on his way, he was informed that Kim would be there. He did not turn up for the party. This is not an isolated incident. A few days ago, Yuvraj quietly left a party when he learnt that Kim was expected there. Obviously he doesn’t want to run into her.”

The source further adds, “Yuvraj’s mother was not happy with Kim’s onscreen image and the fact that she exposes on screen. Although Yuvraj was very serious about the relationship, he had to finally give in to his mother’s demands. Kim did try to get in touch with Yuvraj. But he’s been ignoring her calls and SMSes.”

Athithi - Overseas Release by Prawasi Movies

Prawasi Movies bagged the theatrical screening and home video rights of the most anticipated film of the year 2007 – “ATHIDI” for the entire world excluding India. It has Prince Mahesh babu and Bollywood girl,“Vivah” fame Amritha Rao in the lead. Super star Mahesh babu is being portrayed with a different look in the film; eagerness around Athidi is magnificent and it promises to be a complete romantic family entertainer.
Surender Reddy who is known for making films with exceptional screenplay, high technical values and stylishness is wielding the megaphone for this prestigious movie. Ramesh babu is producing this film under Krishna Productions banner, which is known for its rich production values.

Manisharma is scoring the music for this movie and incidentally he holds the records of musical blockbusters with Mahesh babu like Rajakumarudu, Murari, Takkari Donga, Okkadu, Athadu and Pokiri. And of course they are box office block busters too!!.

Mahesh Babu’s POKIRI was a sensational hit across the world and had crushed all the box office records held in 75 years history of Telugu Cinema. All Mahesh Babu movies Murari, Okkadu, Athadu and Pokiri with three letters stood out to be box office record holders and now Athidi is coming in a row to create waves and set new records in Telugu Cinema.

Prince cast a spell on overseas audience with his out rated performances and they treat him as their Athidi. Now he is coming back as true “ATHIDI” to enthrall us again.

Prawasi Movies is proud to distribute (host) Athidi and extends its sincere gratitude to Super Star Krishna, Prince Mahesh Babu and Ramesh Babu for giving this opportunity.

Athidi is all set to release in September’07 and if you want to host Athidi in your city/country, please contact:

Uday:- 732-476-9246
Jithu:- 913-314-4208
Vijay:- 443-616-6500

Email:- contact@prawasimovies.com

www.prawasimovies.com

Screen Talk: No one recognised Kamal and Mallika Sherawat!

Bollywood beauty Mallika Sherawat was seen in Chengalpet a few days ago shooting for her upcoming Kollywood movie Dasavadharam. Even though a huge crowd had gathered by the highway, neither the actress nor the film’s hero Kamal Haasan were recognised by the people. Kamal Haasan was sporting an entirely different look and this could be one of the reasons why he went unnoticed. However, the on-lookers could not recognize Mallika as well probably because she is a relatively new face in the south Indian film industry.

The only person that they were able to identify was director of the magnum opus, K.S. Ravi Kumar who was closely watching the monitor while constantly giving instructions to cinematographer Ravi Varman. And by the time the crowd realised that the shooting of Dasavadharam was in progress, the filming was almost over. “Kamal’s make-up was a blessing in disguise and because of this we could complete the shooting on time,” revealed an insider. Kamal Haasan plays ten different roles including a traditional Iyengar brahmin, a giant, a sardarji, an aged midget, a business tycoon and a scientist, while Mallika plays the role of a CIA agent in the film. Earlier some of the sequences featuring Mallika and Kamal were shot at AVM studios for two days.

US Looks to India for Research on Medicinal Plants for Cancer Cure

With more and more health-conscious Americans turning to plant products for their daily needs, the United States is now looking towards the ancient Indian systems of herbal medicine to unravel the secrets of cure hidden in herbs native to sub-continent.

A team of American researchers recently visited Hyderabad to chalk out a strategy with local scientists to develop new medicinal products from natural sources like plants and herbs. America does not have traditional medicine while India has a heritage of natural medicinal products that trace back in history to more than 5000 years.

The American scientists will utilise the traditional knowledge of herb-based Indian medicinal systems like Ayurveda, Unani and Sidda and explore their curative properties as part of their project to validate the medicinal properties of the herbs grown on Indian soil. The emphasis will be on new herbal drugs for cancer, malaria and other life-threatening diseases, besides natural pesticides for agricultural use.

The demand for consumer products derived from plants, herbal products, botanicals, dietary supplements, phytomedicines and nutraceuticals, dramatically increased in the US in the past five years. But, the quality of the products that are on the marketplace is highly variable and neither the consumer nor the healthcare professional is able to distinguish between high and low quality products.

"India has a rich tradition of herbs and herbal products. But many of them lack scientific validation. Our research collaboration with the Americans will help us understand these natural products in a more scientific way," says Dr JS Yadav, director of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology.

The IICT and the National Centre for Natural Products Research, University of Mississippi, have tied-up to discover new drugs from natural sources. While India provides its rich and varied herbarium to the Americans, the latter will revalidate the medicinal properties of Indian herbs for effective use for the benefit of humanity at large.

Over the years, natural products have been the mainstay of drug discovery programme. Although several other systems have come into being, desired results could not be obtained. Hence the focus is again shifted to natural products.

Natural products are currently used across the world as herbal drugs, dietary supplements and neutraceuticals. With increase in demand for the natural products, big pharma companies from across the globe have once again shifted their attention towards natural products and increased their efforts towards finding new bioactive molecules from them.

The Indo-US research focus will be on discovering new drugs for unmet therapeutic needs such as cancer and infectious diseases, improving the quality and safety of botanical dietary supplements, and discovering new, effective agrochemicals that will not harm the environment. It will also target on discovering bioactive natural products, developing novel technologies and processes that facilitate the discovery of bioactive natural products and providing research based information on plant-derived products with medicinal or agricultural applications.

Thet emphasis will be on agents that control certain infectious diseases, cancer and immune disorders. Chemical constituents responsible for biological effects are identified and then either isolated and purified in the search for new single entity pharmaceutical ingredients, or characterised and standardised in the search for new multicomponent botanical products.

Current products include the discovery and development of antifungal agents for life-threatening infections, anti-cancer agents that target specific critical processes in the cancer cell, antibiotics effective against bacteria that are resistant to many current antibiotics, new drugs for tuberculosis, malaria and other tropical parasitic diseases, antioxidants for cancer prevention, immunostimulatory botanicals, anti-inflammatory botanicals, and the development of Dronabinol Hemisuccinate suppositories to control nausea due to chemotherapy and for pain management.

Screen Buzz: Mona says 'no' to Chiranjeevi!

Post the reality show ‘Jhalak Dilkhla Jaa’, actor Mona Singh is busy with her world tours, which she will be anchoring. In fact, she has just returned after a hectic tour of Dubai and New Zealand. Mona is also planning to do a music video for beau Karan Oberoi’s group Band of Boys. Hence the actor regretted not being able to give dates for the Telugu version of ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ when approached by the producer.

Mona explains, “I was already committed to my shows. Besides, my contract with Sony will take one more year to expire. I lost the opportunity to work with a mega star. I tried my level best to juggle the dates but I could not. As a professional, I did not want to let down Chiranjeevi, who is known for his discipline. I look forward to doing a film with him in the near future.”

Though Mona has been offered many TV serials, she has decided not to take up any shows because after the hectic schedules of ‘Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin’, Mona wants to take it easy now and concentrate only on the big screen. “ I am considering a couple of Hindi film offers. But nothing is finalised as of now. I am committed to doing the weekly show ‘Extreme Makeover’ (Sony), which will require five to six days every month.”

Any marraige plans coming up with ctor and anchor Karan Oberoi? “Though our parents have shown acceptance, I think it is too early for both of us to think of marriage. Marriage can wait till Karan is able to zoom ahead in his career and I have also satiated my appetite to act in films,” Mona signs off.

Study: H-1B visa holders get lower pay than Americans

A study that fuelled a debate in the US on the merits of H1-B visa has found that Indians working there temporarily get nearly $13,000 a year less than their American counterparts.
The December 2005 findings by Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), on whose basis two US Senators wrote to nine Indian companies asking for details of how 20,000 H1-B visas were used, reveal that such visa holders were being paid an average salary of $52,312 as against $65,003 to locals.
The findings are part of the report prepared by software industry expert John Miano for CIS, an independent non-profit organisation.
The report noted that H1-B is often misused by employers to import cheaper labour -- apparently the key argument of US lawmakers Charles Grassley (Republican) and Richard Durbin (Democrat) for restricting the number of such visas.
The H1-B visa cap had already been reduced from 1,95,000 to 65,000 two years ago.
The two senators wrote to, among others, Infosys, TCS and Wipro and the episode kicked up a storm back home, where IT industry and even government officials reacted angrily.
Industry body Nasscom asked the senators not to confuse the H1-B visa with immigration, saying the programme was more to do with international trade.
The US lawmakers apparently feel that the H-1B visa programme is being abused by foreign companies to displace qualified American workers and details sought from the Indian companies is part of an exercise to identify any possible misuse of this temporary visa programme.
H-1B is a temporary visa programme that enables employers in the US to hire professional level foreign workers for a period of up to six years.
As per the US law, employers must pay H-1B workers either the same rate as other employees with similar skills or the 'prevailing wage' for that occupation and location, which ever is higher.
The CIS study highlights that despite the prevailing wage rate requirement, actual pay rates reported by the employers of H-1B workers were significantly lower than the American workers.
Wages for 85 per cent of the workers working on the visas were for less than the median US wage in the same occupations and state. Applications for 47 per cent of H-1B computer programming workers were for wages below even the prevailing wage claimed by their employers.
Very few workers earned high wages by US standards and application for only four per cent of H-1B workers were among the top 25 per cent of wages for US workers.
The report showed that 28 per cent of the H-IB visas have been issued to computer professionals while 14 per cent to those working in the field of education.
Other areas include management, health, administration, engineering and others accounting for six per cent, nine per cent, 13 per cent, 12 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.
Workers from India (36 per cent) and China (nine per cent) dominate the visa programme and before the temporary increases in the H-1B visa quota, nearly half of all the visas went to people born in India.
"The H-1B programme is used to import workers at the very bottom of the wage scale. The wide gap between wages for US workers and H-1B workers helps explain why industry demand for H-1B workers is so high," the report stated.

Film Talk: Ileana Is Perfect Fit for Bollywood

Ileana looked gorgeous, pretty, sexy and voluptuous in the film 'Aata'. This has been the impression that is making rounds ever since the release of the film. Earlier to this she acted in the film 'Khatarnak' with which she bagged worst image that was ever made. She looked nasty in that with poor costumes and miserable make up. Director Amma Rajasekhar also received many verbal bruises from Ileana fans for projecting her that way.

• Then her look in 'Munna' was just average.

But now in 'Aata' she looted the hearts of many. Film circles opine that she would be perfect fit for Bollywood as per the figure and looks are concerned. Right now she is being regarded as the heroine bagging bigger remuneration on par with Trisha. But if the film works out at box office at least slowly, she would raise her remuneration to Rs 1 Crore as per trade circles.