Being a Chiru fan, I am really praying to wake up tomorrow and not see any news related to his family. The way things are going, looks like that might not happen anytime soon. Edo aipoyindi..calm ga settle chesukuntaru anukunte..malli edo okati shuru..

I really believe when Pawan says that he doesn’t care about money or life. He never cared about being politically correct either. However, I am still confused about the timing. Was he thinking that if he does it after the Srija issue settles down, then people might mistake him for trying to buy good will for the family?? These could very well be my own sinister suspicions.

I really don’t know, but cannot help than hope that he turns out to be the one that we have been waiting for, all along. Till he spends that amount fruitfully with consistency, my donation is not leaving my purse. Although I laugh at Sirja’s naivety, I still cannot stop wondering about their airtight planning and their never ending well-calculated moves.

If they are the real masterminds behind this whole episode, as they claim in their interviews, then there is no reason for Chiru to worry about their future. They have already proved that they are very smart and can take very good care of themselves. Edi kudaraka poyina, Hitch type lo love consultancy petti bratikeyochu.

As your title says, This too will pass for sure.We are all Ghajinis in remembering these things anyway. Shooting star, Sanju baba, poacher khan, molester kapoor, desh drohis Azharuddin and Jadeja (they deserve that title for deceiving all Indian cricket lovers), etc., etc., ku maaf kardiye and lyte liye. Vatitho compare cheste idi entha, just coupling..no harm done..just feelings and egos hurted..lyyyte..

On the flip side, I hope Chiru puts positive spin on this episode and breaks away from his image shackles and delivers few more movies worth remembering forever. Someone please fast forward the days and stop when Chiru announces his 149th movie details. Hope its not too much wishful thinking. (A movie Buff)

Why is it that the national awards for regional cinema are always (majority of the times) bagged by Tamil industry or Malayalam industry (at times)?

Why is it that movies like Gajini, Chandramukhi, Aparichitudu, Shivaputrudu, Bharateeyudu, Nayakudu, Bombay and majority of Mani Rathnam movies come in dubbed form and not made straight in Telugu?

Is the creativity lacking in our directors (barring a few like Sri K. Vishwanath garu, etc.) or is it that our actors here are not mature enough to potray roles of such variance. When was the last time that Balakrishnaa changed his wig for a movie or Venkatesh changed his dressing style to suit the character or Nagarjuna go bald for a character or Chiranjeevi remove his moustache to suit the role.

When was the last time that a Telugu movie, actor or director win an award at the national level. It is not great to win a Film Fare or a Nandi award when you are competing in the same industry. From the last 6 or 7 years that I started watching movies, I have made an observation that our actors change or alter a role or a character to suit them rather that trying to mould themselves (body language, dressing style, getups, etc.) to suit the character.

Even in the old generation though there were many great actors in Telugu cinema, it was Sri NTR garu and SV Ranga Rao garu who stood out and are still remembered for the variety of roles they potrayed. Hope atleast the younger and upcoming generation of actors try and understand this and take inspiration from movies of actors like Kamal Hasan, Vikram, Surya, etc., and take Telugu cinema to greater levels.

For info: From 1968 never has a Telugu actor got the national film award for best actor category, while Tamil actors have bagged this award 5 times (thrice by Kamal Hassan) and Malayalam actors 12 times (Mamooty thrice. Mohan Lal twice)..while Vijayashanti won the award for Karthavyam in 1991, Archana in 1989 for Daasi, Sharada Urvashi for Nimajjanam in 1979.

Neither has a Telugu movie won an award in best film, best director, best children’s film, best actor, cinematography category in the last 30 years..making me wonder if Telugu films are so below standards with the kind of money invested in Telugu movies, is only next to Bollywood. (Guest: Sohan)

Why is it that the directors who direct Chiranjeevi do not get the credit for the success but are at the receiving end if the movie doesn’t do well?

Talking about his hit movies to the not so succesful movies starting from Master, Daddy, etc..Suresh Krishna was never praised when Master succeeded but after Daddy’s failure he was severely criticised.

After Indra, B. Gopal was no where in the reckoning and suddenly after the movie’s success the talk had come that megastar and B. Gopal were at loggerheads during the making and that Chiranjeevi had directed about 50% of the movie.

Tagore and SD MBBS were average movies and there wasn’t much talk about either Vinayak or Jayanth in the success. After the failure of Andarivadu and Jai Chiranjeeva Seeenu Vaitla and Vijaya Bhaskar became untouchables (Vijaya Bhaskar is still struggling to find a movie to direct, after super hits like Swayamvaram, Nuvve Kavali, Manmadhudu, Nuvvu Naaku Nachchav, etc., and has finally confined to B-grade movies with Sumanth and Tarun).

Then came the much-talked about movie Stalin, with Murugadoss at the helm, who was supposed to be the most hot-shot director with a super hit Ramana, Ghajini behind him and it was a social subject, but that movie too didn’t work and not much to mention about SDZ.

If the directors he has worked after Indra were bad, how come they are able to give success with other stars and failing only in Chiru’s case? If Chiru’s movie does well fans comment saying, with Chiranjeevi in the movie,what is the directors greatness in giving a hit and if it doesnt do well he is criticised saying, “With chiranjeevi also your not able to give a hit”..with the kind of fan following and draw that he, his movies command.

This was one thing which was always at the back of my mind and my question is unanswered till today, and things apart coming to his personal problems especially the incidents which have happened most recently, I hope God is there to help and guide him in every step of his and kudos to his judgements and the way he has reacted to situations at the needed hour. (Guest: Sohan. Sohan is the pseudonym of a journalist working for a telugu daily.)
 

Venkatesh is known for playing it safe in the industry. And that explains why every second film of his is a remake either from Tamil of elsewhere. If it is not a remake it is a home production. Is it because he doesn’t trust the directors?

No, not that. There are two reasons why he takes the safe way out: one, he doesn’t want to take the audiences for granted, and two, he doesn’t like his producers to lose money.

The actor bares his heart to a journalist in Bangalore, where he had gone to take part in the Dasara celebrations. Says he matter-of-factly, “I know my limitations as an actor. I never make films on extravagant budgets and I always play safe with my subjects.

My main aim is to give a minimum guarantee to my producers — they should never lose money because of me. So, I try and be as honest as possible when it comes to my work. I’m aware of how much business I can fetch and that’s the formula I stick to.”
 
Now that he is 46, and facing stiff competition from the younsters, he is doing a rethink on how to redefine his role as a Tollywood hero. And he has plenty of ideas too on how to go about it.

“Most of my films have been love stories, so now I think it’s about time I played some mature roles. I want to make a film based on a fat guy and a thin guy… I’ll play the fat guy.”
 
Hope the other three — Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna and Nagarjuna — too did some soul-searching and opt for a change of image before the audiences give them the boot. (Guest: Venu)

Chiranjeevi did a Thums Up ad till he was replaced by Mahesh Babu. His brother Pawan Kalyan, at the height of his career, exhorted the youth to guzzle Pepsi. It is a different matter that no one wants to touch him even with a barge pole. And now their nephew Allu Arjun, whose career is on an upward swing, is asking us to soak ourselves with 7Up. If Ram Charan Teja too bags a soft drinks ad, it would turn full circle for the family. Does the Chiranjeevi family have a soft corner for soft drinks? Or is that the money is too big to resist? Whatever it may be, they have been going hammer and tongs hard selling the soft drinks. (Venu) 

AR Rehman is one of the best known musicians the country has produced. The music composer who blazed a trail in the Tamil film industry went on to become a rage in the country. Today he is busy with Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Jodhaa Akbar, the period film featuring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai.

And he is very excited about it. “Jodhaa Akbar is a romantic story about a king falling in love with a princess and I have tried to keep the music contemporary so that it satisfies both critics and the music lovers,” he says. He goes on to explain what kind of music we can expect from the film. “The music of the film is very much what is required for the film. We have celebration songs and qawwalis,” he adds. So, get ready to regale yourself in some Sufi pop. (Venu)

Teja is not the only one to cause nightmares for the actors on the sets. There are many like him who would go to any lengths to extract performances from the cast, including beating them up. Literally. We are not joking. Recently, Padmapriya, who made her debut in the Telugu film Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi, was slapped by Sami, the director of the Tamil film Mirugam, in full view of the public. Not one to take things lying low, the talented actress lodged a complaint with the actors’ association, Nadigar Sangam.

The association swung into action immediately and banned the director from doing any film for a year. This despite the fact that Sami publicly apologised to Padmapriya. This would serve as a lesson to all those maverick directors who think they are the end of the world. Are you listening Mr Teja? (Guest - Venu)

Few can question the casting magic achieved by Mahesh & Co. in the choice of Amrita Rao as the co-star. But sources tell that though the choice has been suggested by Namrata and okayed by Mahesh, it has gone a long way in making UTV Motion Pictures (that natty production house that makes off-beat Bollywood movies for the NRI audience) come forward.

Besides the cosmopolitan appeal of Mahesh, UTV Motion Pictures is well aware of the potent combination that chic-looking Amrita Rao makes with the swashbuckling Mahesh. Sources suggest that UTV has also asked for certain changes to be made in the story like shifting the base of the second half of the movie to Delhi with Amrita Rao forming a key element - because of her earlier films, especially “Vivah” did very well in Delhi. Interesting to see a Bollywood style influence of Movie Production Houses in movie-making. Sridhar

It appears Victory Venkatesh is heading for a clean hat-trick after a long time. Though his latest movie “Tulasi” has met with mixed reviews ranging from average to moderate to hit, it is yet to gain superhit talk. But going by the rushes we are seeing in all main theatres, the movie seems a straight hit making it another milestone hat-trick in one of Venkatesh’s several film-career.

First, the audio hit and now the movie hit. Both the brothers and the father must be happy. As for Venkatesh, his baby boy has been a harbinger of good luck. It’s once lucky for Devisri Prasad with Venkatesh, twice lucky for Nayanatara with Venky and thrice lucky for Venky so far. (Sridhar)

Did you know the climax for Happy Days was changed after the initial list of buyers shown to had condemned that it will have a negative impact on the movie. The original climax was planned like this: After Shankar sees Sangeeta dancing away with another lover on her birthday, Shankar attempts suicide.

Then Sangeeta breaks down at the hospital and has a change of heart for Shankar. She then joins the Famous Five - Appu, Madhu, Tyson, Rajesh and Chandu - along with Shankar. The feedback given by the initial buyers was that it will set a wrong precedent for students to attempt suicide. That’s how, Happy Days had a different climax! How many Directors have guts to change climax after the reels are rolled down. (Guest :Sridhar)

My reply to Leo: Yes, All my reviews are honest, impartial and abt this Happy Days…I didn’t like this film at all…Sunita.