Ram Charan Teja - A worthy successor

When Chiru made his debut in 1978, he was already a seasoned actor, what with his film institute training and the valuable experience he gained on the stage. And of course, he wasn't launched with the fanfare his son Ram Charan Teja was with his very first movie. The expectations riding on this movie were high, with every Telugu movie fan keen to find out whether Charan would "score." That kind of a pressure can crack up anybody, but it's to Charan's credit that he makes a good impression in his debut movie without disappointing the Telugu audiences.

As far as looks go, one cannot help noticing his resemblance to his uncle Pawan Kalyan. Especially the eyes. Considerable effort seems to have gone in building some muscle and it's rumored that Chiru himself supervised his dance training. Of course, Charan had to be good at dancing. The Mega fans would expect no less. Added advantages are his body language and his voice. He carries himself okay in the few emotional scenes too. Chiru is a master at this kind of acting and comparisons will be inevitable. The senior is in a different league altogether.

Chiru chose a safe vehicle for his son, entrusting the responsibility to director Poori Jagannath, who in turn came up with a solid masala film. There are all the elements, the matinee crowds in Andhra Pradesh look for: fights, dances, comedy and pace. The first fight that happens in the jail is especially good and the first dance really rocks. Charan acquits himself well in the comedy scenes too, though he has a long way to go before he can reach his father's level. He can certainly improve his diction. With some effort and enough luck, we probably will see these raw edges getting smoothed in his future undertakings.

I watched the movie as usual among Chiru's hardcore fans in Fremont, California, who made sure the decibel level in the theater was high enough to make us all believe we might very well be watching the movie in India. I missed quite a few dialogues, but that's the price you pay for watching the movie on the first day of its release.

First movies, especially of the star-sons, are treated kindly by the Telugu audiences. The good will Chiru has among the Telugu movie-goers will certainly translate into a sizable success for this movie. This movie will be a hit, no doubt. What would be interesting is what happens next: how he would do in his subsequent movies.

What kind of movies would he choose? Will he try to establish a "mass" image like his dad or will he experiment more by mixing and matching his stuff? I for one, would love to see him work with directors like Sekhar Kammula, Chandrasekhar Eleti and Neelakantha.

The influence Chiranjeevi has on Telugu Film Industry is for everybody to see. His shadow looms large over Tollywood. Ram Charan Teja indeed has some big boots to fill. He is certainly a good actor. Will he also become a great one? Only the future will tell...

‘Chirutha’ Review: It’s A Good Ram Charan’s Show!

Film: Chirutha
Cast: Ram Charan, Neha Sharma, Tanikella, Ashish Vidyarthi, Prakash Raj, MS Naayana, Daniel Balaji, Brahmanandam, Dharmavarapu, Ali, Venu Madhav etc
Editing: MR Varma
Cinematography: Sham K Naidu
Choreography: Raju Sundaram, Nobel
Art: Chinna
Music: Mani Sharma
Production: Ashwini Dutt
Story, Screenplay, Dialogue, Direction: Puri Jagannath
Release Date: 28th Sep 2007

The D-day has come and the wait stops here. Ram Charan’s debut released and here are the details.

Story:
Charan’s (Ram Charan) father (Surya) gets killed by a gangster Mattu Bhai (Aashish Vidyarthi) in his childhood. His mother also gets severely injured in the same attack. He happens to go behind bars putting the crime on his head for saving his mother with an expensive surgery. He stays in jail for 12 years and then comes out. He learns that his mother was died when he was in jail. He moves to Thailand with the advice of his uncle. There he joins in a travel agency in Bangkok. He happens to escort a rich girl (Neha), the daughter of a rich man Kartikeya (Prakash Raj). He falls in her love by looks but very soon notices that she is arrogant, proud and adamant. He dilutes all her negatives and fills love in her followed by some action episodes. The climax is very well understood. It’s about how he puts an end to Mattu Bhai and quenches his revenge- and how he wins the rich man’s daughter.

Performances:
Ram Charan’s entry scene was composed very well with high dose of heaviness. There is big punch in introduction fight as well. The fight in Thai temples also scores well in his performance. But on a whole he appeared more like Pawan Kalyan in many scenes. Dances are good with some resemblances to his Mega Dad.

Neha is only for glamour quotient and to run the show, but she didn’t do anything marvelous. She is like any other imported stuff.

Prakash Raj and Aashish Vidyarthi are the character and villain characters respectively and they have justified their roles.

The comedy by Ali, Dharmavarapu and MS Narayana is entertaining.

Big score goes to cinematography, graphics, music and sound department. Puri Jaganath didn’t show his punch this time.

Analysis:
At the outset, the eagerness of the audience is to know about Ram Charan Teja’s performance. Well, there is no Teja in his name. It’s just mentioned ‘Ram Charan’. He did it. He proved that he has that in himself. His dances, his looks, his voice, his fights and over all performance are good. It never appeared that it is the first film of Ram Charan. He has definitely got brightest future.

Ram Charan Has:
o Good Base Voice
o Body language of Pawan Kalyan to 20% , Chiranjeevi up to 20%,Puri Jagannath style 30% and 30% of his original
o Dances are good with some Chiranjeevi’s grace. Its an Major Advantage
o Macho look is unique and interesting
o Bearing and boldness and more than sufficient

It’s the film that stood on the shoulders of Ram Charan completely, Yes, the reference of Chiranjeevi or Konidela is not all used in the film. But the biggest blemish is story line and screenplay. How Puri could come out with that outdated formula introducing the son of a big hero? There is no twist, no turn and no suspense element. Everything is very much in the anticipation limits of common audiences. The second half is adopted from ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hai’…the island, the love…the same! First half has some good elements with the introduction scene of Ram Charan. The punch in sound, the perfection in digital effects and the expertise in other technical aspects of the film are felt well.

The entertaining aspects in the film are Ali’s comedy and Dharmavarapu’s rib tickling dialogues. MS Narayana also spilled enough laughs while Brahmanandam is not used properly, Venu Madhav has o big role to play. Music is mass appealing and the songs

1. Ososi Rakasi..
2. …Gundello Goli Maro score the top of all songs.

On a whole the film is for the fans and general audience may not relish much as the story point scores less. Puri would have taken better care in story and narration aspect to fill in that gap. The production values are really excellent.

‘Happy Days’ Review: A journey through college days

Film: Happy Days
Cast: Varun, Nikhil, Rahul, Vamshi, Tamanna, Gayatri Rao, Sonia, Monali, Kamalini etc
Dance: Swarna, Noble, Prem Rakshit
Camera: C Vijaya Kumar
Lyrics: Vanamali, Veturi, Venkatesh Patwari
Music: Mickie J Mayor
Direction-Production-Screenplay-Dialogue: Sekhar Kammula
Release Date: 28th September 2007 (USA)
2nd October (India)

It’s like watching a college campus video. It’s the pleasant story of boys and girls studying in a college. Sekhar Kammula once again touches the receptive channels of the audiences pleasantly.

Story:
Four boys Chandu (Varun) , Rajesh (Nikhil), Tyson (Rahul) and Shankar (Vamshi Krishna) and four girls Madhu, Appu, Sravanthi and Sangeetha are the new admissions in an engineering college, CBIT to specify. The entire story is how the relations develop among these bys and girls in the four years of their studies. The love, hatred, happy days and sorrow moments and all fall on the silver screen till the grand finale. That’s only for watching but cannot be read.

Main male leads: This film boasts of perfect casting. You see characters, not the actors. All the new comers performed in an extremely natural way. And by the time movie ends, we end up understanding the characteristics and traits of each and every one. As per the footage and likeability of the character is concerned Varun Sandesh takes the top ranking. He is extremely lovable and his striking resemblance to hero Siddhardh is an added advantage. He understood the character very well. The next is Raahul. Lots of credit should be given to Sekhar Kammula for penning such a beautiful character and Raahul suited it to the tee. Nikhil is pretty good as the tapori. He got considerable importance towards the latter half of the second half. Vamsi Krishna is a pretty good actor, but did not get enough scope to perform. The two guys who had donned the role of seniors are good.

Performances:
The performances of all young boys and girls are impressive. The main heroine Tamanna is fresh and fair. Her body language resembles Sada to some extent. Gayatri Rao also did a fair job as Appu. Sonia, who played Sravanthi is hot and ‘intersting’. Monali Choudary who played Sangeetha is sufficient.

Coming to guys, Rahul did a lot and his diction is typical. Nikhil and Chandu are appropriate to their roles. Vamshi did his best.

Kamalini Mukherjee appears in the role of a glamorous English teacher and that’s just for a pleasant break.

The entire credit in giving characterizations for all these artistes goes to Sekhar Kammula. He is the man behind carving this long story of four pairs. Screenplay matters very big in such films and the responsibility falls immense in making audiences sit to the seats till the end.

Two songs Arare… and Paadametu Paduthunnaaa… are very interesting. Lyrics by Veturi, Vanamali and Venkatesh Patwari are good. Micki J Mayor’s music has a separate mark for itself.

The film is good on a whole but it pleases only the audiences who are aware of campus education. It is not a right dish for typical mass audiences anyway. It appeals for multiplex audiences, educated crowds and above all for US-Andhrites.

Main female leads: Tamanna is the main heroine of the film. She is very good and she oozed natural expressions in all her scenes. Gayatri Rao is also very natural and likable. However, it is Sonia who steals the show with her extremely natural and at times subtle expressions. Monali Chowdary is good as the bad girl. Kamalinee Mukherjee did the role of an extremely glamorous lecturer and she dubbed her own voice. She is cool.

Analysis:
Don’t miss the film for the amount of nostalgia it has. One can go back to his lovely college days. And for students it’s a lively celluloid story where they can see themselves on screen. All the feelings from college humor to romance to sentiment…everything can be seen in the flow of 2 and half pleasant hours. The film proved to be an entertainer by the stuff in it. But if you expect some non stop humor and rib tickling scenes, that’s not there. It’s a neat film made in Kammula’s style. The artistes are new but they have excelled in their roles. The film is worth watch by all sets of audience.

Fist half of the film goes with introduction of characters. Second half appears to be little dragged but that’s what happens when four love stories are to be concluded. The scenes sometimes are routine in second half and seldom has the tempo graph suffered ups and downs.

Charmy's Invitation For General Public

An invitation was printed on large scale to distribute among all the citizens of Hyderabad , living around Dilsukh Nagar area. That's really a Herculean task, right! But the invitation is printed in rich way where Charmy appears on the front. It is for the inauguration of new showroom of RS Brothers at Dilsukhnagar.

Mahesh Babu is inaugurating the mall on 28th September at 10:30 AM . The showroom comprises saris, ready-mades, jewelry, cosmetics, mobile phones, toys, gift articles and crockery. Charmy is inaugurating the jewelry section in the mall. This entire event is going and publicized in such away that the invitations are being distributed for everyone living around Dilsukh Nagar.

Bunch of invitations are being distributed as pamphlets all the way. That's the richness of sari mandirs, anyway.

12 Exclusive Hot 'N' Spicy Shriya Gallery

She Says ANR Is Real Bharatha Rathna

Bharatha Rathna is not given for ANR. But actress Kanchana called him so on the dais. She said he is real Bharatha Rathna in her heart. "I have to go into my past to say about ANR. He is real Bharatha Rathna for me", she said in single sentence. She recalled the shooting news of 'Bhakta Tukaram' where ANR taught him how to deliver dialogue properly.

As a part of ANR's birthday week celebrations, the program was conducted by Raaga Saptaswaram Cultural Organization and also conducted the golden bracelet ceremony.

Kanchana, singer Sobha Raj and Murali Mohan got the golden bracelets on this occasion. Dr C Narayana Reddy said that ANR has reached the stage that his life story should be made a part of school syllabus.

Gossip: Sneha Cracking Dirty Jokes!

Heroine Sneha, of late, has earned reputation for cracking dirty jokes. She steals the show in any cocktail party. She makes fun of Sardarjis in most of her jokes.

Some young heroes can never afford to miss her company in these parties. Those include Tarun, Allari Naresh and the two sons of Mohan Babu. Along with them a young Sardarji is always present. She cracks these jokes with due apologies to him.

Her sense of humor deepens with every peg of drink she consumes. If she continues this performance, many more heroes may join.

Kota: 'We Have To Remember That'

Kota Sreenivasa Rao is the epitome of villainy and comedy on silver screen. He also played many character roles on Telugu screen. Starting his career with 'Pranam Khareedu', he acted in 750 films so far. After saying about his films and all, he said two things to underline. Here are they:

Kota Sreenivasa Rao said, "We have to recall why we had shifted from Chennai to Hyderabad . Entire Telugu industry was shifted as a mass exodus. The only reason is to declare our own identity. But we are forgetting that now. The films are lacking in right Telugu flavor and culture. As artistes and producers, one has to show the Teluguism on screen. I want to see the films of that category. If they come, the days will be brighter for Telugu film industry".

He also added, "It is true that the Telugu film artistes and technicians are getting the support of government as they are being able to make at least a own house for themselves with the help of MAA. But still there is big scope to encourage local talent".

Are the above two are really the points to underline for our Tollywood producers?

Shriya Is Happy For Her Sex Appeal

Actress Shriya is happy for her sex appeal now looking the pictures of 'Mallanna' (Kanthasamy in Tamil). She said that she watched the pics and trailers of the film and is very happy for her sex appeal in that.

She said that entire credit goes to Susi Ganesan for showing her so appealing. She added that he is really great in extracting what he wants from an actress. With a tone of overwhelming joy she said that she couldn't believe her eyes looking at her beauty. She also said that there are many more pics in the album which will be shown to public soon.

Shriya is really hot in the stills and she exposed to high degree testing the testosterone of men!

Chirutha premiers in USA from September 27, 2007

Great India Films, the leaders in overseas distributors have done the trick again. CHIRUTHA will have premier shows in the following cities on September'27th. Please check the timings and make sure you call local exhibitor for updated information. 15 prints including one Canada print are on their way in Lufthansa flight from Hyderabad to JFK/Chicago, and they will be routed to the respective cities by the first available flight.

Ram Charan Tej’s maiden venture CHIRUTHA has created lot of hype in the entire world and the talk that is spreading rapidly about the movie is "Picture Perfect" and "Gigantic Entry of Ram Charan Tej. Puri handled the story very well and the songs along with six fight sequences are sure going to rock the box office. The production values of Vyjayanthi Movies headed by Aswani Dutt are an additional asset for the film.

Please visit www.telugutickets.com for updated schedules and buy the tickets for preview shows.

Come, let's show our glory to the entire world that Tollywood movies are not behind any other Bollywood and Hollywood movies.

Murali Mohan Purchasing Lands There

Murali Mohan is now again keen into his Real Estate business and purchasing the lands beyond outer ring road. Right now the lands there are very cheaper and are available at just Rs 100 to Rs 250 per sq yard. That falls about 60 kms away from the city but still, real estate bothers least about the distance as everything is bound to develop in future. Murali Mohan is negotiating to buy hundreds of acres in those areas as per fresh information.

So, we may see the next phase of Real Estate development beyond the ring road area. The 20 kms away from Shamshabad airport towards the opposite direction of Hyderabad city is also rated lucrative in years down the line.

The main city appears to have got saturated with whopping rates. Even the places like Maheshwaram and Shamshabad are dull with no sales. As the lands are very cheap outside the ring road area, as a sane businessman Murali Mohan is buying a few.

Allu and co wishing Ram Charan all the best

Everyone’s eagerly awaiting the debut of Chiranjeevi’s son Ram Charan Tej. The film titled Chirutha, has been directed by Puri Jagannath and produced by Ashwinidutt. The movie which releases on Sept 28, has raised huge expectations among the mega star’s fans. Several vinyls have already been pasted in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, with the wishes of relatives Allu Venkatesh, Allu Arjun and Allu Sirish wishing Ram Charan Tej all the best. Chiranjeevi fans associations have been performing poojas for the success of the film for the past nine days.

Photo Feature: Lip Kiss With Meera Jasmine

It's a scene from Tamil film 'Nepali', that is in making. Meera Jasmine is giving a sensuous lip kiss to Bharat! So, Meera also appears to be walking in the track of Nayantara by making herself liberal while acting before camera.

Press Note: Happy Days prints shipped

Happy Days prints have already been shipped and will arrive at the respective locations tomorrow. Shows will be screened as planned.

First time ever, a movie is being screened in USA 4 days ahead of India release. This shows the confidence of makers and distributors.

Happy Days is releasing on sep 28th in the following locations.

New Jersey,
Freemont,
Detriot,
Chicago,
Ohio,
Dallas
Baton Rouge.

Tickets for most centres are available at www.sulekha.com. Please purchase the tickets online and avoid last minute rush.

Tollywood Heroine With 'Padded Brasseries'

There are many heroines who put on padded brasseries to give a voluptuous appeal to their look. That's part of daily costume for them. But aptness falls in wearing those brasseries in right manner that shows the beauty as 'true assets'. But a Tollywood heroine is failing every time in wearing them, comments a unit member (in costumes department) working in the film in which she is playing one of the heroines.

He says, "She fails to select a proper padded one. She always picks up something that will not suit her. When we suggest, she says 'no'. She is highly individualistic in that aspect. At times, she simply shuns that padded one and dresses up 'without anything'. That really appears there is 'nothing in her'. As Rakhi Sawanth rightly said in one of the interviews, every heroine needs to have proper assets or else at least she could be able to bluff that she has blossoms, to have a bright career in industry".

She is North Indian and is known for playing lady-oriented films, enacting title roles.

Interview with Sekhar Kammula

Why did you choose to make Happy Days after Godavari film?
I have both sweet and bitter memories about Godavari film. It was a budget failure. I expected the market of my films to grow after Anand. Hence we spent around 7 crores on making Godavari. It did well in cities. But could not catch up with the B and C centers. Godavari film - though deals with the ambitions of youth - did not cater to youth crowds.

My nephew complained that all my films cater to women. He wanted me to make a youth film. I happened to go to my alma mater CBIT one day. It suddenly stuck me that we never had any genuine Telugu college film in the last one-decade that does not deal with teen love and college politics. I wanted to capture the freshness, first love, confusion, career ambitions etc we go through in our college days. I also realized that the students these days do not have the kind of attachment we used to have to our college in our student days. That is probably due to the change in the culture. I then decided to make a film that romanticizes college life. I wrote the script in one and half months.

Why did you title the film as Happy Days?
The best moments of everybody's life are in they college days. Hence I titled the film as Happy Days.

What was the next step after writing script?
I knew that I had to achieve two things in order to make this film work. The first one is to cast fresh faces and the second one is take permission from CBIT to shoot the film over there. I managed to get the permission to shoot my film in CBIT for free of cost. I ran talent search in Big FM and idlebrain.com and managed to get 7 out of 8. We had to cast Tamanna (an actress with experience) in one role because we could not get any right girl through talent search. We did not cast guys/girls who can dance and do good dialogue delivery. We have meticulously chosen each actor to suit the character.

How did you train these new faces?
I have the habit of distributing the bound script to each and every cast and crew member before the shoot so that they knew exactly whey they were supposed to do. But for these news guys, I gave only their part of the script. Each and every one of them would have done each scene at least 50 times before they did it in front of the camera. I am feeling lucky to get such competitive actors. They brought a lot of freshness to the film with their own styles.

Tell us about the characterizations?
These eight characters in this film are of different type - studious guy, nerd, confused guy, playboy, tomboy etc. All these characters represent different walks of life.

What is Happy Days all about?
Happy Days deals with the 4 years of undergraduate college life. The whole cycle one goes through while studying at college. This film is bound to have nostalgic effect on the moviegoers. Everybody will connect with it. This film sports a challenging screenplay. Happy Days is an event driven story. At the same time there will be conflict aspect in the film, which would sustain the attention of viewers till the last frame.

Don't you think introducing eight principle characters as main leads it self would take at least half an hour? How are you going to make sure that people get to understand four parallel tracks (between the pairs) running without causing any confusion?
For such a story like this, it is a challenging task to write screenplay and do editing. This film boasts of very strong screenplay and editing.

Who is your targeted audience?
I have a set of audiences who are familiar with my films. I would be getting more attention from youth for this film. Happy Days is an urbane flick.

What is the budget of the film?
3 crores.

The rumor has it that your made a table profit of around 3 crores?
(Giggles without saying yes or no)

Are you going to change your car now?
Yes. I would be buying Honda Civic very soon.

What are the number of working days?
100 days

How much of negative did you expose?
Around 2 lakh feet. It was necessary because I shot lots of scenes in the film in backlight.

What is the runtime of the film?
2.35 hours.

Where did you minimize your budget?
I had gone for corporate tie-ups. Our tie up with Pantaloon saved us a lot on costumes front. Location charges are free because CBIT refused to charge me. I did not use any fancy camera equipment except for the hawk lenses. The remunerations of cast are minimal as I signed new faces. All the technicians worked for a relatively less remuneration and gave their maximum output. It is like a collaboration of a good cinema.

What is the response for the music?
It attained unanimous good talk. But these days we find more people who listen to songs and less people who buy music albums. People got used for free digital downloads which are affecting sales in urban areas.

Three songs in Happy Days album have same tune?
It is like the signature tune of the film. If you observe carefully these three songs have same charanams too. It gives a brand recall. And it's not bad to have such signature tunes. Veteran lyricist Veturi once told me that Ghantasala's masterpiece Pathala Bhairavi has only one raga in the entire album.

What is the reason behind releasing Happy Days on 28th September in USA as it clashes with the most expected high-prints release Chirutha?
There are two reasons for that

1. My commitment towards my word: I promised my USA distributor that I would be releasing the film on 14, 21 or 28th of this month. He also booked the theaters. I did not want to go back on my word. When I discussed this with AP distributor Dil Raju, he suggested that we had to make sure that the gap between Indian and USA release should be minimal. Hence we decided to come on 2nd October in India instead of 5th October.

2. I am always supremely confident about my movies. I always show my film to the distributors before selling it. And I show my films to press by organizing previews before releasing it.

A few of the guys from USA tried to caution me that people would not watch more than one film in a week. I wish that people watch both movies (Happy Days and Chirutha).

Happy Days is a film to which you can even take your Tamil and North friends along with you as 90% of NRIs have engineering background. This film deals with a story happened in an engineering college. I am sure that Happy Days will cross language barrier in USA.

You released Anand film on the same day of Shankar Dada MBBS. Now you are releasing Happy Days on the same day of Chirutha release in USA. What is the reason?
For me, Chiranjeevi is an icon. He went against the wave to become what he is today. I am at the beginning of my career and I am also going against the tide. The release clash happens to be just an unintentional coincidence. I am sure that Chiranjeevi will appreciate my efforts as he too might have gone through these things in the beginning of his career. It is an uphill task for me.

I would like to tell you a small incident

What is it?
We released Anand film with five prints and Shankar Dada got released with 300 prints. The prints were done at Rama Naidu labs a day before the release. We had to send one print to Vizag and we got hold of a van driver and asked him to transport the print. He waited till mid-night. When we got the print out and handed it over to him, he was pretty much disappointed and asked us 'idi chiranjeevi cinema kaada'? We had to give extra money to appease him.

Do you want to say anything to the crowds in abroad who is going to watch Happy Days?
We are taking a huge risk by releasing Happy Days in USA first. I need everybody's cooperation to prevent piracy. If you observe anybody shooting the film using cell phones or other recorded devices in theater, please stop them. If you make Happy Days release in the US a success, there will be many more urban oriented films releasing first in USA.

Telugu Film News September 26, 2007

Krishna Vamsi to make Indian Freedom

Krishna Vamsi announced it today in Vijayawada that his next film is going to be a high budgeted film titled ‘Indian Freedom’. Krishna Vamsi was planning to a film titled ‘Vande Mataram’ with Chiranjeevi for the past 8 years. The speculations are rife that this film could be the one with Chiranjeevi as hero. Krishna Vamsi is in Vijayawada today to take part in promotion of his latest film Chandamama.

Mallanna's extravagant invitations

Kalaipuli Thanu who is producing Mallanna with Vikram in the lead role made his presence felt in Hyderabad today with his extravagant invitations. He made electronic invitations which costs 15000 rupees a piece to send out to VIPs in Telugu film industry. The invitations that are given to the journalists cost around 3000 rupees a piece. Each invitation looks like a grand photo album. Vikram plays five different roles in this film including a get-up of a female. They release a trailer of 8.11 minutes duration.

Telugu Film News September 26, 2007

Krishna Vamsi to make Indian Freedom

Krishna Vamsi announced it today in Vijayawada that his next film is going to be a high budgeted film titled ‘Indian Freedom’. Krishna Vamsi was planning to a film titled ‘Vande Mataram’ with Chiranjeevi for the past 8 years. The speculations are rife that this film could be the one with Chiranjeevi as hero. Krishna Vamsi is in Vijayawada today to take part in promotion of his latest film Chandamama.

Mallanna's extravagant invitations

Kalaipuli Thanu who is producing Mallanna with Vikram in the lead role made his presence felt in Hyderabad today with his extravagant invitations. He made electronic invitations which costs 15000 rupees a piece to send out to VIPs in Telugu film industry. The invitations that are given to the journalists cost around 3000 rupees a piece. Each invitation looks like a grand photo album. Vikram plays five different roles in this film including a get-up of a female. They release a trailer of 8.11 minutes duration.

Gallery: Team India Gets Grand Welcome

Dhoni is best captain at the moment, says Yuvraj

MUMBAI: Lending support to victorious Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, his deputy Yuvraj Singh said the Jharkhand player, who led the team to Twenty20 World Cup win, is the best possible skipper under present circumstances.

Yuvraj said he was not bothered about captaincy and tried to cooperate with Dhoni during the Twenty20 tournament in South Africa.

"It does not matter who is the captain. Whoever is the captain, we got to support him. Dhoni has captained well in the World Cup and he is the best captain at the moment," Yuvraj said after the felicitation of the Indian team on their arrival from South Africa on Wednesday.

Appreciating the captain, Yuvraj said, "Dhoni is calm and knows what he is doing."

About his six sixes feat in an over against England, Yuvraj said he was "fired up to give the best."

Ace off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said he was confident about his ability and delivered the goods when required.

"I continued to bowl well. I knew what I can do and I can do it again and again. I am just 27 and hope to play my part for the team's cause in future," he said.

On the team's success, Harbhajan said, "we played brilliantly throughout the tournament. Yuvraj was in brilliant form. Obviously it was a batsman's game, but we got ready for the fight. It was grace of god that we won."

"I enjoyed every moment, the way I bowled, my bhangra," he said.

Reliving the catch of Misbah-ul-Haq, which was the most decisive moment in final, pacer S Sreesanth said he moved a bit earlier which helped him take the catch without any problem.

"When he (Misbah) moved, I also moved back. The improvement in fielding was because of Robin (Singh) Sir," he said.

The Kerala speedster said he was overwhelmed by the response of the fans and grand welcome accorded to the team on its return.

Sreesanth's new ball partner RP Singh also echoed the similar sentiments, saying "the rousing reception offered was 1000 times more than what he had expected."

He said the job was "challenging for the bowlers" in the Twenty20 World Cup. (PTI)

Happy Days Free Audio CD contest winners

Highly talented Director Shekar kammula's Happy days first time Releasing in USA on this 28th Sep before, in india (Oct 2nd).

First we would like thanks to all participants who spent their time in our Happy days Free Audio CD contest.

We recived hundreds of mails but few of them answered correct, we still considered participants who answered atleast 10 questions, few people really did well and they answered all questions perfect we really appreciate them.

Here is the list of winners

1. Kousalya Potluri
2. Deepti Tirunagiri
3. Shashidhar Illendula
4. Lalitha Pabba
5. srinivas Kalla
6. Raju triloka
7. Prashant Reddy
8. Kalyan C Mallavarapu
9. Ravi Kodali
10.Sravanthi Ningampally
11.Verma Kucherlapati
12.Shankar aditya Tanguturi
13.Chaitanya Reddy
14.Vema Reddy Sri
15.Anil Ayyagari
16.Vijaya Alladi
17.Narasimha Kalla
18.sreekar reddy
19.Madhu sudhan
20.Praveen Kumar
21.Lavanya Dyapa
22.Vamshi Krishna Kalluri
23.Sandya Gorripati
24.Ramana Nagubandi
25.Balajagannadh Siram
26.Vamshi Patnaik
27.Srikanth M
28.Sandeep
29.Seshu Naidu
30.Ravi Ganta

we will soon send Free Audio CDs to all who won in the contest.

If you have any questions please mail us on rkfilm.happydays@gmail.com

Young Guy Shuttling Between Movies And Real Estate

Aditya Ram is the young producer who is shuttling between Real Estate and film making. He produced the films like 'Sandade Sandadi' and 'Khushi Khushiga'. Although his films don't speak enough about him, his stature as the owner of Aditya Ram Group is big. After those films, he has been away from film industry through out the boom period of Real Estate. Now he is producing the film 'Swagatham' with Jagapathi Babu, Bhoomika and Anushka. He is also debuting in Tamil film industry this year with a couple of projects in hand.

Aditya Ram says that his desire is to see his company as billion Dollar Company and also do some meaningful service to society by establishing a Charitable Trust on his name. He also said that the charitable trust details will be announced soon as the process is started.

Aditya Ram says that his saga will continue by making films both in Telugu and Tamil simultaneously.

Prakash Raj buys Happy Days Tamil remake rights

Prakash Raj bagged Tamil remake rights of Happy Days by paying a royalty of 25 lakhs. We understand a special screening was scheduled for Prakash Raj today evening and he decided to sign the deal by lunch time even before he saw the movie. There are high expectations on Happy Days which is due for release on friday in USA. May be it is a just in time decision. Once Happy Days hits the marquee and becomes a big hit, the price tag would go through the sky and looks like Prakash Raj had just made a smart move based on Sekhar's track record, Dil Raju's confidence in the movie, Audio success and the colorful Promos.

Krishna Vamshi On Patriotism Before Spirituality

Krishna Vamshi said that he is going to make a film with complete spiritualism in it.

He said that very recently after the release of Chandamama. But now he announced that he is making 'Indian Freedom' in big way with big budget. That's going to be the patriotic film with lots of strong scenes in that, which falls beyond 'Khadgam'. So, before going ahead with spiritual film, inspired by Hollywood flick 'Matrix', Krishna Vamshi is looking into the making of a patriotic film all together.

Let us see how he excels in this unique thought. How he takes the line of subject? Even that has to be seen.

Why ANR Gives Confused Statements?

Akkineni Nageshwara Roa appears to be giving confused statements now and then. There wouldn't be any link between what he talks once and what he talks later.

In an interview given to a News Daily, a few months ago, he said that the secret of his healthy body is not consuming even a drop of alcohol in his life. He said that he even never smelled alcohol (!?). But entire industry knows about his daily drink habit. And in a recent interview he said that he has been taking a prescribed amount of brandy everyday on doctor's advice. There raises the contradiction in his own talk.

Looking at another aspect, he says that he is completely atheist. But he has many divine photographs in his house. When asked he says that they are only for decoration (!) Although there is some confusion let us accept this.

In the fresh interview he said that his habit is to act only in the roles those suit his age and statute. But why he danced in 'Chukkallo Chandrudu' with Siddhartha? Is that suitable to his stature? Again a little confusion!

Nostalgia: Ghantasala's Song In Railway Compartment

Ghantasala, the legendary Telugu film singer was traveling in a Railway Compartment along with SV Ranga Rao, Pingali and Kodavati ganti Kutumba Rao. They were traveling to attend the 100 days function of 'Pelli Chesi Choodu' in Vijayawada.

On the way two policemen entered the compartment. When enquired they said that they have come as an escort to Minister traveling in adjacent compartment. When asked if they heard the name of Ghantasala, they said 'yes'. Ghantasala sang the famous song 'Panchadara vanti Police venkatsamy…' But they understood nothing. They said they are from Kerala and they can't follow Telugu properly.

Then Ghantasala sang a Malayalam song for them. They didn't understand even that song. The song is a bhakti song which was filled with Sanskrit words. Then Ghantasala got disgusted and said, "I don't know how you protect your minister. But I can't strain my voice again". He said this with humor filled disgust.

Buzz: Simran Has Much to 'Show' Than To Perform!

Heroine Simran is putting no condition to accept roles in her second innings. Her heroes now range from top ranking Balakrishna to comical hero Krishna Bhagavan. Be it " Okka Magaadu' or 'John Appa Rao Forty Plus'- it makes no difference for her. She is prepared to pair any guy irrespective of his image or stature.

She is busy doing Item songs too. She has toed with big heroes right from Mega Star Chiranjeevi to upcoming hero Kalyan Ram. Why has Simran remained a shining star amidst the heroines younger to her age? She attributes the reason to her performance.

But many believe she is known for wearing tight fitting clothes revealing her voluptuous structure. This could be the right reason!

Former Pakistan captains rue India jinx

Karachi(IANS): Three former Pakistan cricket captains have lamented their national side's inability to overcome India after losing to their arch-rivals in the Twenty20 World Championships final in South Africa.

"But they said that the thriller was good for the game generally, and that at least Pakistan had recovered from their disastrous show at the 50-over World Cup in the West Indies earlier this year," The News reported Wednesday.

India lifted the inaugural cup with a five-run win at Johannesburg Monday - maintaining their record of beating Pakistan in every world cup match they have played in.

"It's a repeat and it will hurt the fans and players alike for some time, but apart from that jinx both teams played superbly and cricket was the winner," former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said.

Wasim, who had tipped Pakistan to beat India, said the final was memorable.

"It was a close game and the better team won, no regrets. It was only a game and people have to take it as a game and must appreciate the quality of cricket," Akram maintained.

"I would blame Pakistan batsmen Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi for their reckless strokes and in the end Misbah-ul Haq should have played a straight bat shot," he added.

Akram said both teams had redeemed themselves after their bitter exits from the World Cup in March.

"Shoaib Malik has emerged as a great captain and the way he led the team from the front, I see Pakistan winning the World Cup in 2011," he maintained.

"India have found Mahendra Singh Dhoni as their leader and eventually he will also lead in Test cricket. I see Indian cricket going up from here and it is a boost to Twenty20 because India has the market to lift any form of the game," Akram contended.

Another former captain, Javed Miandad, blamed Pakistan's defeat on the lack of planning.

"We have maintained our losing streak to India in World Cup matches and I would blame poor planning for that. Why did Malik not come in at number three instead of Kamran Akmal?" Miandad wondered.

Intikhab Alam, also a former captain and manager of the 1992 World Cup winning team, said India holds a psychological edge over Pakistan in big games.

"The World Cup jinx continues and India seems to have an edge over us in all World Cup matches. But I am grateful to the Pakistan team for making the final a fitting one," he maintained.

BIG 92.7 FM becomes exclusive radio partner for Mahesh Babu’s FILM ‘Athidhi’

Hyderabad, 25 September 2007: BIG 92.7 FM, Hyderabad announces its exclusive Radio partnership with the upcoming and much looked forward to Tollywood movie ‘Athidhi’. Directed by Surender Reddy, the movie features famous actor Mahesh Babu and Bollywood actress Amrita Rao along with Malaika Arora Khan who is doing item number opposite Mahesh Babu in the film. September 27th 2007 will see the exclusive premiere of the music album on BIG 92.7 FM’s Breakfast show – BIG Sandadi with RJ Sekhar.

BIG 92.7 FM has exhaustive on-air and on-ground plans for the BIG Movie Athidhi in order to create unprecedented buzz. BIG 92.7 FM started the promotion of the movie by exclusively premiering teasers of the music starting September 23. On September 27th all songs of the movie will premier for the first time on radio exclusively on BIG 92.7 FM.

The Station will feature interviews with the cast and crew of the movie and also run contests for its listeners across Hyderabad, Tirupathi and Vishakapatnam to get a chance to meet “Prince” Mahesh Babu.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ashwin Padmanabhan, Station Director, BIG 92.7 FM, said “We are extremely excited to join hands with one of Mahesh Babu’s most expected movies. We are approaching the association with the objective of delivering value to our listeners as well as the producers of the movie. Our effort is to create exciting content around the theme of the movie which will generate listener interest and thereby promote the movie far more effectively. With the clutter-breaking ideas, innovative campaigns and other interesting stuff centered on Athidhi, we are sure that our entire on-air package will make for great content and listener involvement”.

The Big 7 of The Telugu Industry

The Classiest Movie Of All Time: Shankarabharanam (1979)
'God' Of The Matinee: NT Rama Rao
Ultimate Lover Of The Matinee: Akkineni Nageshwar Rao
Starriest Star: Chiranjeevi
Biggest Grosser Ever: Pokiri (2006)
Funniest Movie Ever: Mayabazar (1957)
Tollywood's Best Export To Mumbai: Sridevi

For mathematicians, it could be just a statistic. 240 movies released every year and Rs 2.3 billion in the last one year. For the producers, it is a boost to their current account. Seven hundred million tickets sold annually, for the bees ka challees wallahs, it is just an awesome figure. But for the Telugu moviegoer, a matinee show is not just a three hour pastime. It is part of his life, an element of his psyche, a component of his lifestyle and a piece of his very being.

Seventy-five years since the first Telugu movie hit the screens, the movie mania continues to hold the Telugus spellbound. How else can you explain the mushrooming of 2,700 theatres across the state? Magic of the movies? Call it mania. An obsession. A passion. Or simply Telugu cinema.

Perhaps the biggest milestone of the industry was the shifting of headquarters from Chennai to Hyderabad and starting off from scratch to build the most exotic film cities in the world.

On the whole, the 75 years of Telugu cinema can be summed up as phenomenal. Barring the post-World War II period when the British levied a ban on movies, nothing else could shake the industry.

While the quality of lyrics has plummeted, the number of young maverick directors has skyrocketed. If the sons of the soil have got a raw deal and are trying their luck in Bollywood imports, the advent of star sons has compensated for this unfortunate trend. If digital intermediaries, animation, CG(computer graphics) and SFX (special effects) has pushed up Tollywood's worth by a couple of notches, copies and inspirations pull it down by a couple of rungs. Tollywood has been breaking new ground in every single decade. The first decade marked the theatre artistes facing the camera; the second decade was about mythologicals. The third centred around socially-relevant themes such as freedom and poverty etc. The fourth was the decade of epics and devotionals. The fifth included love stories, tragedies, classics et al. The sixth opened doors to family dramas and the seventh opened doors to sentiment and love. The seventh was musicals, romance, action and violence.

Each decade gave birth to a new set of filmmakers who added a new dimension. If K Vishwanath put Indian music on a pedestal with his 'S' series, Ramgopal Varma brought in the Hollywood action and revenge dramas amidst the gaana bajana. If lyricist Srisri motivated the youngsters to take up the cudgels for society with his motivational songs,

Sirivennela cocktailed chaste Telugu with colloquial Telugu to produce fresh lyrics. In terms of sheer technical brilliance, the cinematographer took Telugu cinema to new heights, be it with his camera angles or Digital Intermediaries. Interestingly, the stars of the new age have also done their bit for the society. If not directly, but by gently guiding their fan force into social service.

Like any industry, Tollywood too had its ups and downs, awesome flicks and some bakwas movies. But the promise is that there are new paths being explored, fresher ideas being incorporated and path breaking trends. That spirit is enough to celebrate 75 years of Telugu cinema. Salaam Tollywoood!

Andhra girls ignore Tollywood

It’s unfair to blame Tollywood for not taking any girls from Andhra as heroines argues director Krishnavamsi. He says that it’s the girls who are not interested in doing Telugu films. The director reveals that he contacted nearly 60 girls when he was casting for his newly released film Chandamama, but no one showed any interest. "This lack of inclination can be due to lack of courage to pursue a career in films, safety issues and fear of parents," says Krishnavamsi. But he is quick to add that there is nothing wrong with Tollywood for girls to shy away from the industry.

To prove that Tollywood isn’t biased the director who was in Vijayawada to participate in a function to celebrate his film’s success with the lead heroines Sindhu Menon and Kajal Agarwal (both girls aren’t from AP) said, "I shall bring 10 directors to Vijayawada, but show me a single girl who wants to act."

Producers’ Council Chairman C. Kalyan too agrees with Krishnavamsi as he says, "There is a dearth of local girls in our films, so we are forced to go to other cities like Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore. No girl is available here." Noted comedian Uttej also complains that there are no good looking girls with a firm command over the language. This is sad because nearly 100 films are produced by Tollywood every year and none of these films have any local girls in the lead role.

Reel Talk: Bariatric Treatment For Jr NTR!

Do you know the surgical aspect that made Jr NTR slim and sharp by cutting down 26.5 kgs? Do you know the secret behind Adnan Sami's 100kg reduction? That's Bariatric treatment which is accompanied with a surgery to stomach.

It's the process of putting a bandage to liver and making the individual take only less amount of food. This makes the individual take very less amount of food and the fat melts down to met the requirement of heavy body. As there will be no intake of food in big way, the affect will be seen in the form of slim look within a couple of months. A Daily mentioned that NTR and Adnan Sami have undergone this treatment that lasts forever.

But regular exercise is a must for the individuals those take this treatment. Otherwise, the muscles become loose and give an old age look for person. They have to take care in that aspect.

Telugu film News September 26, 2007

Nayanatara upset over media reports

Heroine Nayanatara terribly upset over false reports of her mother found dead in a section of newspapers. "Nayanthara's mother found murdered" - wrote English newspapers and carried Nayanatara photo. It was a terrible mix-up. A junior artist named by the same name (Nayanatara) was all about the news item but the newspapers mistook it for the real Nayanatara.

The Kerala heroine shocked seeing the news and is planning to file defamation case against the said newspapers for falsely writing and causing mental pressure.

Yamadonga to be remade in Tamil

NTR is happy that his "Yamadonga" is doing great business. He will be happier now as many producers from Tamil film industry are trying for remake rights. According to buzz doing the rounds, Tamil top hero Vijay has shown interest in remaking the film. Vijay is popular for making his career on remakes of Telugu movies. He expressed his desire to do this socio-fantasy as Tamil films normally don't do such movies.

Producer Aditya Ram launches new wing

Successful movies like "Sandade Sandadi" and "Khusi Khusi Ga.." made the banner Aditya Ram Movies very popular. The man behind the production house is Aditya Ram who is now producing "Swagatham" with Jagapathi Babu, Anushka and Bhumika. The young producer also is joining Tamil film industry where he plans three big movies at a time. He says he liked the concept and storyline of "Swagatham" narrated by director Dasaradh and immediately agreed to make it. He has plans of launching separate wing for making more big films.

Jackie Shroff in another Telugu film

Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff recently made his debut in Telugu. He played negative role in Vishnu starrer "Asthram". He is also doing a trilingual movie Bank and shot for the film in Hyderabad. Another director and producer R Venu who made "Kotta Katha" brings him back to Telugu. This new film will be launched on Dussera.

Actress Asha Saini becomes Mayuri

Asha Saini set screens afire with her sexy numbers in many films and did very glamorous roles in Telugu. Of late she was not seen in Telugu films. But she is staging comeback to Tollywood with a new name and identity. Asha Saini has changed her name to Mayuri to start her career afresh.

Gossip: Pawan Kalyan Slaps Ileana!

Hero Pawan Kalyan slapped heroine Ileana. No, that's not a scene in the film but open for public. He is presently playing the lead role in a Trivikram Srinivas' film.

As his legal battle with his estranged wife Nandita is becoming tough, he appears restive and tense. Though the shooting of the film is taking place with less hype, the news of 'slapping' is making rounds in the industry. It is not new to know about the anger of Pawan Kalyan.

This incident took place most recently. Being very sensitive by nature, Ileana was aghast at his rude behavior and absconded from shooting from the very next day.

Now Trivikram Srinivas is trying to soothe her.

Press Note: Happy Days Gala Opening

Sekhar Kammula’s movies have always been well received by NRIs. As a tribute to NRIs, this time Sekhar is releasing Happy Days in USA on 28th September before India release (Oct 2nd ). Happy Days is releasing with a bang in Dallas, in Hollywood theaters (Touring Talkies) , Irving. It is opening on 2 screens with 4 shows on friday ( 6 PM, 8 PM, 9:30 PM, 11 PM). The capacities are 425 and 375 for these 2 screens. With 2 shows in each of these screens a combined capacity of 1600 can be accomodated on first day. A total of 22 shows are scheduled for the opening week in Dallas which is the highest in United states for Happy Days. USA Major cities shows are as following for the first week.

Dallas – 22 shows
Bay area - 18 Shows
Atlanta - 17 shows
New Jersey – 16 shows
Detroit - 13 shows
Virginia -10 shows

For non USA readers, on an average opening week’s ticket price is $10. Typically in major cities decent movie can get any where from 1000 to 4,000 patrons for the opening week. Dallas is the fast growing telugu market in USA and watch for this space for first week numbers.

Sekhar Kammula’s Dallas fans can buy Happy days tickets on www.gohollywood.com.

Reel Talk: Mamta Mohandas To Add On Little

Mamta Mohandas is in the process f adding little weight to her body following some comments raised after her first direct debut on Telugu screen with 'Yamadonga'.

She is putting on little weight to look stuffed that suits to the aesthetic sense of Telugu audiences. She has got the talent in singing and adaptability in acting. She also gave her own dubbing for the film for her character which stood as a standing example for her commitment.

Let us see how she looks with that added stuff in her body. Well, while many actresses are struggling a lot to reduce Mamta is going the other way round.

That's The Greatness Of Late NTR

Myriad things can be learned from Late NTR especially in the matters of punctuality, discipline and giving respect to deserved people. He always used to stand when producer walked into the sets. Although the producer is many years younger to him, he used to follow that.

He also used to say that if big heroes fail to respect producers, the youngsters cannot learn. At the same time, he also used to say that if the hero of the film respects the producer then entire unit will also respect him.

But these are the days where producer is being treated down by young lasses and juvenile heroes as well. Who will teach them discipline?

Nayantara To File Case On 'The Hindu'

The online edition of The Hindu has wrongly published that heroine Nayantara's mother was killed. It was not heroine Nayantara but it's the case of Jr artiste Nayantara. The deceased lady was Kamala Devi, the mother of that junior artiste. The issue has become a serious note since the photograph of heroine Nayantara was published wrongly in the News Paper.

Nayantara was stunned to know that and said that she is going to file a defamation sue on The Hindu for disturbing her psychologically and socially. The reporter and the team are so unprofessional that they published perfect wrong news. The jr artiste named herself as Nayanatara only to turn the attention of industry.

Nayanatara stays only in Taj Krishna when she comes to Hyderabad . She never stays in any house. She is in the shooting of Tamil film 'Sathyam'. Knowing this news Nayantara called her mother Omana Kurian in Thiruvalla and informed about the news.

Nayan is now boiling on the popular English daily for pulling her mother into the gossip in the nastiest way possible. She said that she is tolerating all sort of gossip written on her but pulling her mother into that is demeaning and disappointing.

India's Twenty20 Cup heroes welcomed home

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's triumphant Twenty20 World Cup squad arrived home from South Africa on Wednesday with thousands of joyous fans gathering at the airport to greet them.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team mates were greeted by the region's chief minister before being taken on an open-top bus to the Wankhede stadium for a reception hosted by the national cricket board.

Elaborate security measures were in place on the 35- kilometre journey from Mumbai airport, with giant hoardings on display to congratulate the surprise winners.

India beat arch-rivals Pakistan by five runs in a thrilling final in Johannesburg on Monday, a victory to compare with their upset 1983 World Cup final win over West Indies.

The Indian board has announced a win bonus of $3 million (1.49 million pounds) and a special cash award for batsman Yuvraj Singh, who hit six sixes in one over in a match against England.

Pakistunned! India lift Twenty 20 World Cup

A youthful Indian cricket team, full of vigour and determination, made history here Monday by beating Pakistan by five runs to clinch the Twenty20 World Championship when all seemed lost.

India kept their nerves to clinch the win with three balls to spare and sent the New Wanderers Stadium, packed with Indian supporters, into wild celebrations. There were also millions of Indian across the globe who rejoiced the sweet triumph.

Off the last over, bowled by pacer Joginder Sharma, Pakistan required 13 runs to win with the last wicket remaining - and all seemed lost for India. But Joginder, the man with the golden arm - he had also bowled the crucial final over in the semi-finals upset of Australia - castled Misbah-ul-Haq to help script an epoch-making win with and signal wild celebrations at the New Wanderers Stadium.

Scores: India 157 for five in 20 overs after winning the toss and Pakistan 152 all out in 19.2 overs.

While Joginder successfully bowled the final over, it was left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan who captured three crucial wickets in an excellent spell to tilt the tide in India's favour. His final bowling analysis of 4-0-16-3 fetched him the Man of the Match award and helped India win the maiden edition of the newest version of the game.

On a day when the Indian batsmen - barring Gautam Gambhir's resolute and enterprising 75 off 54 balls (8x4s, 2x6s) and Rohit Sharma's unbeaten 30 off 16 balls (2x4s, 1x6) - failed, the bowlers did the trick again.

Left-armer Rudra Pratap Singh also bowled superbly to start Pakistan's downfall and also ended up with three wickets. Joginder took two wickets.

Their efforts meant that Misbah's 38-ball 43 (4x6s) - the top score for Pakistan - as well as Imran Nazir's 33 (14 balls, 4x4s, 2x6) went in vain.

The only consolation for Pakistan was that Shahid Afridi, who failed to score a run and take a wicket, was adjudged the Man of the Series.

The win wiped out bad memories of the World Cup five months ago, when India - as also Pakistan - had crashed out in the first round, leading to prolonged national mourning and criticism.

The win - achieved without Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, who all had opted out - also kept India's slate clean against Pakistan in cricket's global competitions. India have never lost to Pakistan in the ODI World Cup - and now in Twenty20 too.

It was India's second win over Pakistan in the 12-nation tournament, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's boys won both. In the Super Eights, India had won the 'bowl out' tiebreaker 3-0 after their scores were tied after the regulation period.

India and Pakistan were playing for the first time in the final of a world-level tournament - if the 1985 World Championship of Cricket is not taken into account - and Dhoni's team gave much to shout about at the end of it.

India had also beaten Pakistan in the final of the World Championship of Cricket in Melbourne. Although all the Test-playing nations had taken part in that competition, it was a one-off venture organised by Victoria.

Wild celebrations erupted when Sreesanth caught a lofty shot from Misbah when the game could have gone either way.

As a despondent Haq sank to his knees while Indian players went crazy with joy, it was jubilation time for Indians.

Good bowling from Pakistan restricted the Indian batsmen, but an admirable and determined counter-attack led to Pakistan's collapse.

Chasing India's total, Pakistan got a shock early on in their innings when R.P. Singh, who is going through a purple patch, struck off the fifth ball of his first over.

As opener Mohammed Hafeez tried to guide the ball over the slips, he managed to give Robin Uthappa an easy catch at first slip. Pakistan: two for one.

With the addition of 24 runs, R.P. Singh struck again, castling an experienced wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal for nought. Pakistan: 26 for two.

Imran Nazir, who looked in ominous form, and Younis Khan then tried to steady the ship, but after adding only 26 for the third wicket Nazir (33, 14 balls, 4x4s, 2x6) became the target of Uthappa's direct throw after he reacted late to Younis's call for a run off Sreesanth.

Younis made 24 in as many balls and hit four boundaries but Joginder in the ninth removed him as he mistimed a fuller length delivery, giving Yusuf the catch at mid-on.

Soon, Malik and Afridi were also back in the pavilion. Misbah and Yasir Arafat (15) added 27 for the seventh wicket to keep Pakistan in the hunt.

Then Misbah and Sohail Tanvir added 34 crucial runs for the eighth wicket. But once Sreesanth got rid of Tanvir, all the responsibility fell on Misbah's shoulders in the company of Umar Gul and Mohammed Asif.

Eventually, Misbah also caved in under the pressure as he tried to play the scoop shot over fine leg off Joginder only to hole out into the hands of Sreesanth - and signal India's win.

Earlier in the day, Dhoni won the toss but the Indian batting failed to live up to expectations after Virender Sehwag was ruled out of the match with injury.

Even the total of 157 would not have been possible but for Gambhir's knock of 75 and young Rohit's cameo towards the end of the innings.

Yuvraj Singh, who has been in fabulous form in this competition, failed to click and managed only 14 off 19 balls (1x4) as the Pakistan bowlers and fielders looked sharp and purposeful.

Debutant Yusuf Pathan, Irfan's elder brother, had a sensational start to his international career by hitting pacer Mohammed Asif for a six as his first scoring stroke. But he scored 15 (8 balls, 1x4, 1x6) before getting out.

Pacer Umar Gul was the pick of the bowlers as he took three wickets for 28 in four overs.

Earlier, India got a scare off the very first ball of the match when non-striker Yusuf barely avoided being run out after hesitating to take a single called by Gambhir.

Undaunted, Yusuf hit the fourth ball of Asif's opening over for a huge six. He hit another boundary off a wide ball from the same bowler in the third over. But off the next ball Asif took his revenge.

Asif had the tall Vadodara batsman caught off a miscued pull shot. As Pathan tried to pull the short delivery over midwicket he mistimed it and captain Shoaib Malik at mid-on ran back to grab the catch.

As Uthappa attempted to hit over the infielders off left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir he mistimed the shot and Shahid Afridi at extra cover took a comfortable catch.

A 63-run third-wicket partnership between Gambhir, who looked in fine touch, and Yuvraj saved the innings from total collapse and India from complete embarrassment.

However, Yuvraj failed to reproduce his form Monday and was out, top edging a forceful pull shot. Gul easily took the catch off his own bowling.

After that partnership, there was not much fight seemed to have left in the Indian camp, though young Rohit came up with another gutsy knock.