Rounding out the recipe of another devotional subject, Raghavendra Rao rehashes the 1957 NTR starrer Panduranga Mahatyam with Balakrishna playing the dual role of Lord Krishna and his devotee Pundarikudu.The vintage film emphasized the value of parents by showing how Pundarikudu ill-treated them and brought out the angst, turmoil, pain and eventually repentance through elaborate episodes. One hated the character for his behavior and later empathized his act of retribution. But Raghavendra Rao here skips vital scenes that revolves around the parents, fails to use K Viswanath’s talent and devotes more time to the prostitute (Tabu) and replenishes the film with commercial embellishments pre-interval.

The film in short is about an atheist, who has complete disregard for his parents seeks the company of a prostitute and throws his family out of the house. Certain events in his life change him and eventually he becomes a devotee of his parents and the Lord grants him salvation. The music strings help propel the film more dynamically. Sneha comes alive on screen with her realistic performance, Tabu is neither attractive or wily that her character demands and K Vishwanath brings dignity to his role. Humour is negligible.

Because this film is more geared to fan expectations than to genuine storytelling, there aren’t any surprises or even hints of narrative tension.The director continues his fetish for throwing fruits and flowers at the heroines and succeeds in balancing the audience’s wanton for escapist thrills. However he quickly falls in line and the moderately enjoyable film is uplifted by some delightful, expressive work by Balakrishna.

As Lord Krishna, he dresses up like a woman. He comes up with some arresting moments in the final scenes and the mere inclusion of these elements, the dialogue between god and devotee alone may inspire some critics to look kindly upon this film as a welcome respite from all the genre junk that they have been forced to sit through over the last few years. Technically it’s striking, story-wise is not attention-grabbing but engaging enough. A welcome respite this sultry summer.….

http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/31/stories/2008053150520200.htm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263833/

Rajashekar’s office at Film Nagar was ransacked by unidentified persons yesterday. The family went on a ten day holiday to kodaikanal and day after they arrived the office where the script and the two versions of Satyameva Jayate, CDs, computers, discussion casettes and other material to do with the film was burnt. While the gate remained locked the main door was found open on the arrival of the staff next morning. Jeevita says the intention was definitely not theft. The people who stoned the actor’s family are out on bail.

Chaduvukunna vaalu vote veyyakoodadhu said a senior citizen I met today. “Evaraki vote eyyali, andharu poramboku candidates” said he but those who wanted to exercise their constitutional right took the trouble of going to the polling station.

The most hilarious comment I heard today was from Chiru. When asked when his train was arriving he said ask baavagaru. Heroines ni emaina question adigithe, ‘ask mummy’ antaaru from Sridevi to Rambha to Navneet Kaur or maybe the newest entrant to TFI. But idhedho baavundi, we expect something more heroic from you Chiru.

Recall the meeting that the actor had with NRIs months back and the info i posted in TCP. The NRIs didn’t have a problem organising funds but informed Chiru about their apprehension on Pavan Kalyan’s and Aravind’s inclusion and the actor said that there will be nothing to worry and he will take care. Info is that Kumar is peeved about being kept out and the talk in US is ‘ party pettane ledhu ippudu nunde friends ni dooram chesukuntunnaru.”

Buzz is Chiru’s confidante Koneru Kumar and Aswini Dutt are no more, atleast in the discussion circle. It is a five person committee which is incharge of the decision making process. Any announcement to the media or political statement will be made only after both of them Naga Babu and Aravind come to an agreement.

KRR directed Annamaiyya and that was screened to the Prez. The producer deleted the scenes of an actor who was an MP at that time…scenes of his vekkili dialogues and romance with the actress bcoz of time constraint or reasons best known to him and then showed it to the President. The original version would be screened in AP later, that was what he decided. Ee vishayam telisina MP ki aagraham vocchindi. He issued a press statement in Delhi, ‘dammu unte release this same version (without my scenes) in AP”.  This statement to the media annoyed the  producer and he wanted to go ahead but the director’s timely intervention saved the film. (TCP Gossip)

Raatri padhakondu ayyindi by the time the film was censored at Prasad Labs. I heard a person say, pandurangadu mahatyamemo kani heroinela mahatyam ekkuvaiyindi. Info is that it is totally a director’s film, it has a thin story and the rest is masala (read Tabu, Sneha and other ladies if any) and again towards the end it will be a NBK show. Trust KRR… for it. The film is supposed to be entirely rasagandham. I caught up with the original the other day and it was pretty lengthy, ditto with this one too!

 Remya is just one film old in the telugu film industry but her girl next door and conventional looks, her earnest performance in her debut film Andamaina Manasulo has fetched her full marks as a heroine. Busy in tamil and Malayalam films at the moment she hopes to make it big in telugu films some day. In a chat she talks about her career down south and her home town Kochi.

Though she is completely from a non-filmi background, her father was actively involved in the theatre in his childhood and he saw to it that she got trained in Bharatnatyam when she was eight years old. Remya participated in innumerable stage shows, in temples, religious ceremonies, during Navaratri and many informal get togethers in Kochi. She owes everything to dance as the live performances helped in moulding the actress in her. “The expressions and emotions came easily because of the training in abhinaya,”says the gregarious lady and adds that since she is used to dancing before crowds, she didn’t feel strange when she went on the sets for the first time. True, the audience enthuses you in reacting immediately whereas for films, one has to wait for months together to get the feedback.

 As an artist, she is not squeamish about choosing roles.“For me all roles are good roles. Otherwise, I can’t act. There is nothing called a bad role.” Says Remya. She had worked in six Malayalam films when RP Patnaik saw her picture in a website and called her straight to the set and started shooting her without an audition. Andamaina Manasulo was a debut film for her and Rajiv, the hero as well but Remya’s role had negative shades and was slightly complicated. She giggles, “I know, I fool around with my boyfriend and ditch him, vanish suddenly and get married to a boy of my parent’s choice. Then I surface years later only to give him some gyan.”

Remya Naambessan’s first film Anachantham opposite Jayaram happened when she was in the 9^th standard. She talks about it animatedly, “In Kerala we are crazy about elephants and the hero is passionate about them. I play the role of a responsible dance teacher and for that they dolled me up in heavy cotton sarees and gave me a matured look”. At the moment she has signed a tamil film Raman Thediya Seethai with Cheran and there is a second done with Chandramukhi director P Vasu’s son Satti.

How does the actress take care of her looks? “I have a propensity to put on weight but my regular dance classes help me stay fit. Otherwise I don’t do much to look good. I keep myself happy by indulging in hobbies like cooking reading. I love making Chinese and onion papad fry. I use plenty of onion on all the dishes. When I’m not cooking I watch plenty of movies.” Remya says telugu films are a hit in Kochi and Allu Arjun is a big hero down south, the folks have a fans association for him too. She is looking forward to working in more telugu films but now getting over the fact that she missed the chance of acting with Mohanlal and Mamooty

He is a combination of charming rusticity and finesse. Standing tall at 6 ft 3 inches and heading towards his thirty, Subburaju is clearly an eligible bachelor in the telugu film industry. At first glance one would mistake him to be a hero but he is often seen playing the evil role and has so far completed 88 films in the span of eight years. He is in the news for his noteworthy work in Pourudu, Kantri, Parugu and the recent Bujjigadu where one will not miss him moving towards a slightly positive role.

Ask him if this is a conscious effort to shift to acquiring the nice guy image and then working for a hero’s role, he laughs but replies emphatically. “I have never planned my career and had never been choosy about my roles, it’s just due to luck and sheer providence that things are changing for the better. A role is a role no matter how negative it is. Experimenting with such wide a genre has been an enriching experience.”

 A graduate in chemistry, he comes from a rich academic background. His father is a telugu professor and brother a Sanskrit lecturer and Subburaju has inherited his love for literature eversince he was in school. A voracious reader and an active participant in the school dramas, he nurtured an ambition to become an actor. The first stepping  stone was to become a model and Subburaju walked down the ramp over 60 times, all part time while he slogged to make a living in a private firm.

Subburaju’s ride to success was not smooth, he had his share of ups and downs and recollects struggling in his salad days. His father did gave him unstinted moral support and he quit his job to make acting his career.  He adds, “My toughest days were when I worked long distances in Nallakunta  to catch the vehicle which took the junior artistes to the location.” At the moment he is busy with Deepavali, a Venu starrer and Ma Aayana Chantipillodu and Raksha with Jagapati Babu.

A die hard fan of Al Pacino, Subburaju makes an effort to put his best foot forward always. He feels an actor is a model for an individual, many people look upto film stars as their icon and as such they should be careful about how they present themselves to the world, the way they dress, the words they speak and above all the life should be carefully crafted for emulation by generations.

Finally about his short-tempered role in Parugu, Subburaju says that it was not inspired by any actor or anyone’s life. He says, “This happens in every family, just because it took place in Chiranjeevi’s family people got to talk about it.  The youth should remember that individuality should be a part of their personality but it shouldn’t overcome their personality. When a girl wants an admission in a particular group in a college, when she wants to buy a scooty she does that by convincing her parents but why is she not able to prove her maturity when she wants to choose her life partner?

 Director Bhaskar had been inspired by this point and thus he made this film. We finished the climax in Kodaikanal and landed in Hyderabad, I joined Okka Mogaadu shooting and it is was only then I heard about this news. The rest concerning the story is a figment of people’s imagination.”

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/05/27/stories/2008052750130400.htm

Harish is working in a hindi film after eight years. it’s a comedy film by Jaganmohan Mundhra and Govinda will give him company. On the other hand, Bhanupriya’s sister Shanti Priya like Simran has taken to television. She will be seen as Sahara as goddess Vaishno Devi in Mata Ki Chowki.

This could be probably the new title for the film Junction. Paruchuri Ravi’s film is on and Naina, an Oriya girl has been roped in as the heroine. It will be released in august. Paruchuri Brothers are incharge of the writing department and heard they are going all out to ensure it is a sure fire hit.

Dr. Reddy’s Foundation has been implementing School Community Parternership in Education (SCOPE), SCOPE has been an ongoing program since the year 2000. This project aims at bringing all children aged 5-14 years into schools and strengthening government schools through fostering community partnership. Since its inception, the project has focused on withdrawing children from work and mainstreaming them into schools.

The project prepares adolescents in the age group of 12-18 years for formal academic certification through its Adolescent Bridge Courses (ABC). The Integrated Learning Programme provides working girls aged 15-21 years who have had little or no formal education, with avenues to better careers through education and skill development through yuva centers. Every year 1000 children are prepared for 7^th & 10^th class board examinations through these centers.

The Yuva centers apart from academic certification provides platform for continuing higher education for these successful students by organizing Education Fairs, Education counseling and partnerships support. We take it as a responsibility to continue offering support to these students so that their education is continued. With this in mind we are conducting an EDUCATIONAL FAIR on 29^th May, 2008 at DRF campus, Madinaguda, Chandanagar.

We invite you to participate in the fair and partner with us in the effort.

Venue: DR.REDDYS FOUNDATION CAMPUS

Near Kalki gardens, Madinaguda, Chandanagar

Timings: 9:00 am to 1:00 pm

High lights of Educational Fair:

• Guest lectures by educationists.
• Counseling about the appropriate course available at  intermediate level
• Information about the  Govt.colleges  which provide low cost education
• Application filling assistance and admission check list assistance
• Assistance with admission procedures.

 Regards,

 Mohan Krishna .K

Academic coordinator.