TOLLYWOOD FILM NEWS 23-05-2007

Star Talk: He loves hits, he hates flopsWe have seen some stars maintaining that though some of their films flopped at the BO they are one of their favourite films. On one occasion, Chiranjeevi mentioned that 'Rudraveena' which failed at the BO, was one of his best films.

In contrast, Mahesh Babu said he liked all his hit films. Did it mean that he doesn’t like his flop films. "Naturally," said the Prince, and adds, "If I say that I like my flop films also, then people may think that something is wrong with me," in his trademark style.

It seems that Mahesh is going the fans way and has become practical. He is currently brand ambassador for Thums Up (it was Megastar Chiranjeevi earlier). Is Mahesh going to be next the superstar after Chiru? "No one can replace him," is what Mahesh Babu could say at the recent promotional campaign of the beverage brand

Abhi-Ash honeymoon ends amidst controversies

Newly wed Bollywood couple, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, made a quiet return to Mumbai on Wednesday after a controversial month-long honeymoon in Europe. Abhi-Ash were personally received by Jaya Bachchan from the airport who had booked a private villa in Florence for the couple before they went to Cannes.

Their honeymoon was highlighted by several controversies and date problems. Reportedly, they skipped the premiere of their film ‘Guru’ in Cannes that has not gone well with the film director, Mani Ratam. Aishwarya and Abhishek seemed content to be in each other’s company and had their own plans of flying back home the very same day.

Aishwarya’s commitment with L’Oreal halted their honeymoon for a while. She was sighted posing for pictures with her L’Oreal counterparts. Aishwarya also did not take part in the promotional events for her next film, ‘Jodha Akhbar’.

Supposedly, Abhi-Ash would be flying to Yorkshire between June 7–10 to attend the International Film Festival. Abhishek is expected to start shooting for his next film ‘Laagi Chunri Mein Daag’ on June 11. On the other hand, Aishwarya would soon be seen shooting for Ashutosh Gowatrikar’s ‘Jodha Akbar’ that is scheduled to be released on October 12.

Since Abhi-Ash tied the knots, they have kept a low profile. They walked hand in hands on the red carpet while attending the premiere of Wong Kar Wai’s movie, ‘My Blueberry Nights’.

It would be interesting to watch Abhishek shoot alongside Rani Mukherjee who was once a Bachchan favourite. Meanwhile, Aishwarya would be shooting with Hrithik Roshan for ‘Jodha Akbar’. Both Rani and Hrithik were not invited to their wedding, which may have left a sour taste behind

Exclusive: Gummadi's Own Voice in 'Kasinayana'Gummadi is a legendary actor who has been acting on screen from many decades. After a long gap he is again acting in the film 'Kasinayana' in title role, the shooting of which is going on now. He is giving his own voice for the character.

All these days, Gummadi has been away from acting only because of dubbing aspect. His voice was suffered due to paralysis and now he is regaining that. Gummadi never liked his voice getting dubbed by other artiste. Only once, in the film 'Ayanaki Iddaru' his voice was dubbed by Nutan Prasad.

He shared this exclusively to greatandhra.com saying, "I kept away from acting only for the reason of dubbing. I don't act if my voice is not accepted in dubbing. But Kasinayana producers asked my own voice for my role. That's the reason for acting again".

So we may see Gummadi on screen as hero shortly

Gossip: Why Did Srihari Tonsure His Head?

People are in the industry are quizzical with the new looks the star couple Srihari and Disco Shanthi wear.

They are with cleanly shaven heads. When asked, they say they have visited Tirupathi and got their heads tonsured as offering to the Lord Venkateswara. But they are not revealing the reason for their offering.

Though the film ‘Dhee’,in which he played a supporting role, is successful, the film ‘SriMahalaksmi’ has turned out to be a mishap. Srihari played lead role in ‘Sri Mahalakshmi’. He felt he was rejected as a hero.

He made offering to Lord Venkateswara, seeking His blessings to remain a hero for a few more years.

Tendulkar fails to break into ICC Test top-20 list

DUBAI: Sachin Tendulkar's century in the first cricket Test against Bangladesh could not lift him among top-20 batsmen while skipper Rahul Dravid held his eighth spot to be the only Indian in the elite class of the latest ICC Players Rankings for longer version of the game.

Tendulkar, who made 101 in the first innings, was still at the doorstep of the top-20 list being steady at 21st position while another ton-maker Sourav Ganguly was two places up to be at joint 33rd spot.

Wasim Jaffer, who had a pair of ducks to his credit in the rain-marred Test, dropped six places to joint 54th place but is still ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is at 60th spot after gaining four places and Yuvraj Singh, who is joint 61st after falling four places.

England has four players inside the top 15 batting places in the rankings and no other side can match that, although Australia does have three players - Ricky Ponting, fifth-placed Michael Hussey followed by Matthew Hayden in the top 10.

Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf and Kevin Pietersen of England occupy second and third places respectively.

Among bowlers, spinner Anil Kumble slipped one place to fourth behind Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralidaran and the South African duo of Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini.

The order of players in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders remains unchanged with Irfan Pathan still holding his fifth position in the Jacques Kallis-led list.

The drawn first cricket Test against Bangladesh will cost the fourth-placed India its rating in the Test Championship table to be updated after the conclusion of second match beginning May 25.

India failed to win the Chittagong Test despite its positive intent but the fact that it cannot now win both matches against a lowly-placed team will count against Dravid's side.

The ICC Test Championship table is headed by Australia, England are placed second and Pakistan are third.

Tendulkar fails to break into ICC Test top-20 list

India has long been known as the sojourn of early human migration from Africa and latest research studies by Hyderabad scientists based on male sex chromosome shows that the country also served as the cradle of languages.

The forefathers of Austro-Asiatic linguistic family originated in India and later dispersed themselves to different places, according to a joint study by the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and Molecular anthropology group of Biological Anthropology Unit of Indian Statistical Institute and the Shillong-based North Eastern Hill University's Department of Anthropology.

The Austro-Asiatic linguistic family is considered to be the oldest in the country and people who speak these languages are scattered all over Southeast Asia. The scientists' team analysed the male Y-chromosome to trace the origin and historic expansion of Austro-Asiatic groups of India.

The report was published online in the latest issue of science journal of international repute BMC Genetics. The city team studied genetic data of 1222 individuals from 25 Indian populations, covering all the three branches of Austro-Asiatic tribes, Mundari, Khasi-Khmuic and Mon-Khmer. The team, comprising among others Dr Lalji Singh, K Thangaraj and BM Reddy, compared the data with the already available scientific information on 214 relevant populations from Asia and Oceania.

The results suggested a strong paternal genetic link, not only among the subgroups of Indian Austro-Asiatic populations but also with those of Southeast Asia. However, maternal link based on mitochondrial DNA is not evident.

The haplogroup in the Austro-Asiatic populations had originated around 65,000 years ago and the ancestors of this linguistic family carried it further to Southeast Asia via the Northeast Indian corridor. "Subsequently, in the process of expansion, the Mon-Khmer populations from Southeast Asia seem to have migrated and colonised Andaman and Nicobar Islands at a much later point of time," the study pointed out.

The present findings are consistent with the linguistic evidence, which suggests that the linguistic ancestors of the Austro-Asiatic populations have originated in India and then migrated to Southeast Asia. Four major linguistic groups, Austro-Asiatic, Dravidian, Indo-European and Tibeto-Burman, are present in the Indian sub-continent and the ancestors of speakers of these languages might have entered at different points of time.

The Austro-Asiatic languages include Mundari, spoken by a number of tribes living in Chota-Nagpur plateau in Central and Eastern India, Mon-Khmer (Nicobarese and Shompen tribes from Andaman and Nicobar islands) and Khasi-Khmuic (Khasi subtribes from Northeast India).

The team sampled almost all the Austro-Asiatic populations of India covering the entire geographic and micro-linguistic heterogeneity inherent among them, including the molecular genetic data on the Austro-Asiatic Khasi from Northeast India, considered as an important corridor for human migrations to Southeast Asia.

"Austro-Asiatic populations of India are not only linguistically linked to Southeast Asian populations but also genetically associated. It is most likely that these populations have come from Central Asia through the Western Indian corridor and subsequently colonised Southeast Asia, although more data on Y-chromosome and mtDNA are needed from other relevant populations to draw firmer conclusions," the study pointed out