Southscope June 2010 Issue Side - A

JUNE ‘10

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VOL ISSUE

01 09

Celebrating a hundred years of SRI SRI Kishan’s making another film.

No kidding!

Quick Gun Sreenu Vytla Prakash Raj on villainy and some such v

NAMO VENKATESHA INDEED!

+

Power dressing Power star- Pawan Kalyan “Coy bride? Who, me?”

Bhanu Mehra

Publisher & Managing Director Moorthy Sreenivasulu Chief Executive Officer Allu Sirish Executive Director Ramakanth T Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor Features Editor Senior Copy Editor Features Writer

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Edited, Printed, Published and Owned by Moorthy Sreenivasulu Printed at Kalajyothi Process Pvt. Ltd, 1-1-60/5, RTC X Roads, Hyderabad – 500 082. Published from 202, Shiva Sai Sannidhi, Dwarakapuri Colony, Punjagutta, Hyderabad 500 082, A.P. Tel.: +91 40 3060 2323 / 2424

VOL01/ISSUE09

CONTENTS/ CENTRE STAGE/PAGE

32/Soul searching with Venkatesh

FIRST AMONG EQUALS

VOL01/ISSUE09

CONTENTS/ EXCLUSIVE/PAGE

22/Look what Sanjjana’s stripping!

11 Reader Speak

EXCLUSIVES 24 28 30 42

28

30 50

Sreenu Vytla courts success

28

Sri Sri’s revolutionary world Prakash Raj’s menacing magic After this, you’d want to stalk Srinagar Kitti!

50 The teenaged Kishan is back with

a teen film

FEATURES

32

40 The government’s push for cinema screens in Karnataka 48 Allu Sirish recommends south stars for endorsements – Part 2 52 The quintessential Indian actor

44

58 Southscope blogbusters 66 Around the world in 24 frames

56

56

30

On the cover: Venkatesh Photographer: G Venket Ram Stylist: Chaitanya Rao Location: Aluminium Industries Ltd, Lingampally Coordinated by: Vrinda Prasad

Pujitha Athmuri: Southscope is amazing. I never miss out on any edition. By the end of every month, I keep wondering who will be on the next cover page. Love the e-magazine as well. Thank you, Southscope!

Shahul: I really like Southscope a lot. Thanks to the team for coming up with a great magazine! Being an aspiring actor, it would be great to see some useful tips for upcoming actors. Thanks!

Naren: Dear Editor, I was happy to see something like this for the south cine industry, when one of my friends recommended the magazine. But I was upset when we found little space earmarked for the Kannada film industry. We would like to bring to your notice that even Karnataka, which produces around a 100 movies every year, is also part of the south! Looking forward to reading about movies coming out of this part of the country. Thanks and all the best!

Harsha Gatt: Hi, I was thrilled to find a magazine dedicated to southern cinema. After a brief glance, I reckoned that the Kannada film industry has been largely left out! I would be happy to hear if there are any issues carrying the news from Kannada films, since I like to read about it. Do add more Kannada film news, since most IT folks, who are from Bengaluru follow Sandalwood closely.

We have dedicated space for Kannada films in Southscope. We have featured Puneet Rajkumar, Upendra, Imran Sardariya, Pooja Gandhi to name a few in addition to regular Kannada film news.

- The Editor

FORM IV (RULE 8)

We, at Southscope, love hearing from you, dear readers. This month, there’s a free copy of Shilpa’s Yoga, the fitness video by Shilpa Shetty up for grabs. The best letter to the editor will win the CD, courtesy Shemaroo.

So keep those mails coming!

Santosham from Hosur wins the prize for best letter, a Shilpa Shetty’s Yoga CD presented by Shemaroo, for the month of May. Congratulations!

We had missed out on the following credits for the feature entitled Songstress Diaries, page 48 in the May 2010 Issue.

Our sincere apologies

Clothes: Brass Tacks Spring ‘10 Collection Photographer: Joseph M Daniel

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Moorthy Sreenivasulu Yes

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Moorthy Sreenivasulu Yes

5. Editor’s Name : Whether Citizen of Indian : (If foreigner, state the Country address) : Address :

Moorthy Sreenivasulu Yes

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#202, Shiva Sai Sannidhi Dwarakapuri Colony, Punjagutta Hyderabad – 500 082.

#202, Shiva Sai Sannidhi Dwarakapuri Colony, Punjagutta Hyderabad – 500 082.

#202, Shiva Sai Sannidhi Dwarakapuri Colony, Punjagutta Hyderabad – 500 082.

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Date : 1-04-2010

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JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 11

VOL01/ISSUE09

CONTENTS/ 44

GALLERIA/PAGE / A coy bride? That’s not Bhanu Mehra!

FUNDA

STYLE SUTRA

13 Junk mail

54 Get the look – Reemma Sen’s

14 Gold Class

55 IT star of the month –

Trivia on cinema Telugu Tinsel / Kannada Capers

18 Loading...Please Wait

Films in the making

cool quotient

Kajal Aggarwal’s disarming style

56 Style Evolution – Pawan Kalyan

makes a statement

60 Bioscope

57 Style meter – Stars get rated

63 Kaleidoscope

24

Movie reviews What happened when and where

64 Flash Back

Hombisilu (Kannada)

65 Screen test

Launch pad for aspiring actors

68 Chartbusters 69 Sing along

Karaoke

70 Numerology

June 2010 predictions

72 Hi 5 with Shreya Narayan

50

TEL

1930s was the time of revolution in India. Telugu cinema though was mired in divinity, since most films in those times were modelled on storylines borrowed from mythological stage plays. In 1936 Krittiventi Nageswara Rao made the first social Telugu film, Premavijayam. The film was a disaster and life went on as usual until Gudavalli Ramabramham changed things forever.

A revolutionary at heart, he believed films were meant for more than just entertainment. In 1938 he made Mala Pilla, a social drama inspired by Chalam’s short story by the same name. It was the love story of a brahmin boy and a Harijan girl. Understandably the film created quite a stir when it released. Some people tried to stop the screening; in retaliation Bramham gave free passes to brahmins who wanted to watch it. While some became converts, there were others who went home and bathed to get rid of the sin of watching such a movie!

This set several trends and records. The bookish Telugu used generally was traded for colloquial slang in Mala Pilla. Social dramas became big after this movie. Bheemavarapu Narsimha Rao and Basavaraju with their music and lyrics created iconic songs. Thankfully though, the film was a big success and paved the way for many more such films to follow. In a way it was the game changer that kick started Telugu cinema’s ‘revolutionary’ tryst with love stories!

Great things often tend to have rather innocuous beginnings and Telugu cinema seems to have had a modest one as well. Bhishma Pratignya was the first Telugu ‘mookie’ ever. It’s not a typo. They were called mookies then! Silent films in other words. Raghupathi Venkaiah sent his son R S Prakash to England to study cinematography. Prakash came back to team up with his visionary father to make Bheeshma Pratignya. In all, fifty actors were featured in the film that was made on a budget of Rs 2,500! That’s how Telugu cinema was born.

It’s perhaps one of the most landmark 2,500 rupee investments ever!

Though it is true that thespian Dr Rajkumar’s first movie was Bedara Kannappa, he actually faced the camera for the first time in 1952, when he did a cameo for the film Sri Srinivasa Kalyana. He played one of the seven young saints in the film. The famous comedian M N Laksmidevi also debuted with this film. Even before Rajkumar’s debut, his brother S P Varadaraj and sister Sharadamma starred in the film Krishnaleela (1947) of Mahatma Pictures. Mahatma Pictures is credited with having various interesting storylines. It also introduced several talented artistes and technicians to the Kannada film industry.

KAN

YOU’VE SEEN THEM, YOU LOVE THEM, YOU CAN’T IMAGINE GROWING UP WITHOUT THEM… NOW HERE’S WHAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THEM!

junk mail

The absence of film studios in Karnataka during the nascent stage of the Kannada film industry forced producers to opt for shooting locations in other states. The first film Sati Sulocahana was shot in Kolhapur; Bhakta Dhruva was shot in Mumbai and the film Samsara Nauke was shot in Chennai.

The earliest of Kannada films were mostly shot away from their land of origin. After the first studio in Bengaluru was set up in 1936, three more came up later. But none could sustain for long. This prompted the Karnataka government to set up the first full fledged film studio in Bengaluru in 1966 – Sri Kanteerava Studios – which is still one of the most preferred studios in the Kannada film industry.

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 13

GOLDCLASS

telugutinsel

SINDHURA’S CEREBRAL CAPERS Wonder where Sindhura Gadde is these days? She is in New Zealand, but not on a pleasure trip. Sindhura has bigger things on mind. The dusky actress is out there, literally on a study mission – she’s completing her final paper in Molecular Neurophysiology. She has been there for the past four months and will be back in July. Is she on her way to becoming Dr Sindhura Gadde? We wonder.

NIKHIL AND THE LAURA CONNECTION Nikhil has been signing films on a trot. After doing a mass entertainer like Kalavar King, he has signed two new films and the buzz is that he’s slogging at the gym for a six pack. He has also gifted himself a new top end Skoda Laura. Pumping it up, eh Nikhil?

ANUJ GURWARA’S US ESCAPADE Remember the singing sensation who sang the foot tapping number Panchadhara Bomma in Magadheera?

Anuj Gurwara’s popularity took him to the US, where he performed at various cities - New York, San Francisco, Sacremento, Phoenix and Detroit for almost three weeks.

Accompanying him were singers Ravi Varma and Kausalya.

The trio had gone there upon the invitation of Telugu Association of North America (TANA) and Bay Area Telugu Association. They travelled from the east to the west coasts twice within three weeks!

14 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

GOLDCLASS

telugutinsel

YOUNG TURK Jennifer won the Nandi award for the best socially relevant film, Kachra that revolves around child abuse.

At 26, she is touted to be among the youngest female recipients of the Nandi award. Her short film was first screened at the Hyderabad International Film Festival and later at the New York Film Festival. The film also won the best director award for her and best child actor. Way to go!

PRIYAMANI KRISHNUDU GOES GAGA OVER BUYS A NEW ABHISHEK! HOUSE Krishnudu’s career has been flying high ever since Vinayakudu and Village Lo Vinayakudu turned out to be hits. He has signed three more films - Amayakudu, Pappu and Kothimooka - which are set to release later this year. Apparently, he has bought a new house in the Manikonda area. Are we invited?

Ask Priyamani about her ‘memorable’ experiences while working with Abhishek Bachchan and she can’t stop raving about how lively and jovial Abhishek was on the sets of Raavan. Although Priyamani didn’t have any common scenes with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, she seems to have had a blast with Abhishek. The actor was gushing about how Abhishek was a great deal of fun to hang around with. She seemes bowled over by Junior Bachchan’s courteous nature. Aishwarya listening?

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 15

GOLDCLASS

kannadacapers

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC Sharmila Mandre was busy shooting for two films back-to-back, and was not seen in Bengaluru for some time after completing her schedules. In the meanwhile, we hear she was busy shopping in Mumbai. She just needs half a chance to take a trip down retail lane!

IT’S 5 IDIOTS NOW! 3 Idiots in Hindi, 4 Idiots in Malayalam, and now it’s 5 Idiots in Kannada! 5 Idiots is being directed by Anand, who was a popular child artiste a decade ago. Anand is playing one of the idiots and is all set to give us a clean entertaining comedy with his directorial debut. We are certainly waiting...

LOOKING WHO’S STRIPPING NOW! And no, this is not about some item girl. Far from it!

Adithya Singh, who is desperate for a hit was seen running in the barest minimum through the narrow streets of a crowded market in Bengaluru while shooting for Deadly 2. His father, renowned director – Rajendra Singh (Babu) – has made the career of several stars. Unfortunately, his son is stuck at the bottom of the rung despite making a debut five years ago. Will all the undressing work, we wonder.

16 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

NO ULLASA UTSAHA FOR GANESH Ganesh is being accused of not actively promoting his latest film Ullasa Utsaha, a remake of the Telugu film Ullasanga Utsahanga. The producers were heard complaining that Ganesh did not show the same enthusiasm that he showed for his maiden home production, Maleyali Jotheyali. But we hear the remake film took such a long time to complete that Ganesh had lost his Ulllasa (motivation) and Utsaha (enthusiasm) by the time the film released!

A PAT ON THE BACK FOR PUNEET Puneet Rajkumar has won countless hearts thanks to his angry young man image. And now it looks like he’s found a new set of fans among Karnataka’s politicians, who are quite appreciative of his role as an honest officer in his latest hit Prithvi. The movie, based on the contemporary issue of illegal mining, has struck a chord with the politicians, who are making a beeline to the theatres. Small wonder that even former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has fallen flat for Prithvi!

GOLDCLASS

kannadacapers

JENNIFER KOTWAL RUNS FOR COVER! It seemed like something straight out of a film. The cast and crew of Huli were chased by an angry mob mid-shoot.

Among those who instantly ran for cover was Jennifer Kotwal. The reason: director Omprakash Rao dared to shoot on the football grounds in Mysore without obtaining permission from the authorities concerned, which had the football fraternity in a frenzy. Some say Jennifer probably ran the entire length of the football ground. Maybe she can tell best!

SHEENA COMES TO KANNADA Newcomers to the Kannada industry may be getting more drawn to Telugu films. But in a reversal of that trend, Sheena Shahabadi, the female lead of the hit Telugu film Bindaas, is making her debut in Kannada. She is being paired with Yash in multi-starrer Rajadhani. The buzz is that Sheena even turned down an offer from Ganesh since she wanted to give her hundred per cent to Rajadhani. Some commitment, this?

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 17

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TELUGU

Allari Naresh’s next comedy flick with costar Srinivas Avasarala of Ashta Chemma fame is the most talked about since Srinivas is the only guy around who is as tall as Naresh. The director was on the lookout for someone who matched Naresh’s height.

Most of the movie was shot in Rajamundry.

Madhurima is hoping to have quite a screen space in the film.

SARADAGA KASEPU

18 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

Cast

Allari Naresh, Madhurima, Srinivas Avasarala

Director

Vamsi

Music

Chakri

Producer

Banner

M L Padmakumar Choudhary Sri Keerthi Creations

Cast

Director

Music

Producer

Banner

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TELUGU

Krishnudu, Shraddha Arya AVS Mani Sharma Venkat Jagadeesh Tulasi Poojitha Films

KOTHIMUKA

Comedy actor turned director AVS makes a hilarious entertainer with Krishnudu as his lead. Madhu Sharma does a hot item song in the film. This would be Shraddha Arya’s second film.

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 19

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KANNADA

HULI Kishore, after a long innings in the Tamil industry, has returned to Kannada for his debut in a lead role. This film promises plenty of action with one particular sequence estimated to have cost Rs 50 lakh! Jennifer Kotwal also comes back to Kannada after a long break.

20 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

Cast

Kishore, Jennifer Kotwal, Adi Lokesh, Chitra Shenoy

Director

Omprakash Rao

Abhiman Rai

Music

Producer

B S Sudhindra & Shivaprakash

Banner

Shivu Enterprises

Cast

Chiranjeevi Sarja, Ragini Dwivedi, Ramesh Bhat, Rangayana Raghu, Sadhu Kokila

Director

Akul Shiv

Music

Chakri

Producer

Ramu

Banner

Ramu Enterprises

The big budget producers, known for making films with top stars have roped in upcoming actors Chiranjeevi Sarja - the nephew of Tamil superstar Arjun Sarja - and Ragini in this film based on love.

Gandede (which translates to brave heart) is being shot extensively in Singapore. This is Chiranjeevi’s second film after his debut sunk without a trace.

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KANNADA

GANDEDE

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 21

Photographer: Burman

KANNADA // EXCLUSIVE

With so many in showbiz giving an arm and a leg (and other more interesting body parts) to be called sex symbols, here’s Sanjjanaa who is busy shedding that image!

Aravind G Shivkamal wonders why‌

How many stars can successfully make the transformation from sex symbol to serious actor? Not too many in Kannada, at least.

The petite Sanjjanaa debuted in 2006 with Ganda Hendthi, a remake of the Hindi film Murder. In true Mallika Sherawat style, she showed and showed more skin and Sanjjanaa became a sensation overnight in the Kannada film industry. With the success of the film also came the tag of sex symbol for Sanjjanaa, something she never aspired for. Offers came flooding in for similar roles that demanded skin show. But she was not willing to do it.

It has been four years since Ganda Hendthi and now Sanjjanaa can emphatically claim that she has earned the real break of her career. She has been selected as the female lead for Shivarajkumar’s 99th film Mailari, the shoot for which is on.

After Mailari, Sanjjanaa will be seen in evergreen hero Ramesh Aravind’s comedy film. The story does not end here though.

She has also been selected as the female lead in a Malayalam film (her first) and will be paired with superstar Mohanlal. The stylish film, titled Casanova will start filming in June and will be shot extensively in Vienna.

“I should say it has been a long journey with plenty of lessons learnt from various experiences. But here I am, at last with the right people and the right films. 2010 has been a great year for me. There’s more to come. I am signing a Telugu project with a top artiste too,” reels out Sanjjanaa.

For a Sindhi with no prior exposure to films, Sanjjanaa’s entry into tinsel town was accidental. “I was interested in modelling since my teenage days. I appeared in a number of ramp shows and TV commercials when I was in college. That’s when one of the advertising companies approached me for the Kannada film Ganda Hendthi. Believe me, I agreed to act in the film though I was completely unaware of the industry,” she points out.

Ganda Hendthi became a controversial film as the censor board refused to grant a ‘U’ certificate. Finally, the movie released with an ‘A’ certification. Likewise, Sanjjanaa was branded with that film. Till recently, the Kannada film industry referred to her as Ganda Hendthi Sanjana. She admits that it took her a lot of time to break that mould.

“Once Ganda Hendthi released, I never knew it would create such a rage. I stayed away from similar films for at least eight months.

I went to Mumbai for TV commercials,” she shares.

Ganda Hendthi also metamorphosed her in many ways. “I realised that my childhood had ended abruptly. I was recognised everywhere. I could never aspire to lead a regular life. Acting in films, it would be for me.

But I was not getting good offers.” Her luck changed when filmmaker Puri Jagannath spotted her in a print advertisement. “I was called in for an audition. But by then, I had extensively researched the film industry. I had understood all about it - established actors, banners and crews. I was fortunate to have been cast in the Telugu film Bujjigadu.

I got recognition all over south India,” Sanjjanaa says.

Post Bujjigadu, Sanjjanaa went on to act in several Telugu films, including Sathyameva Jayathe, Samardhudu and Police Police. In the meantime, she also featured in Kannada films Rakshaka and Arjun. Two of her Kannada films, Ee Sanje and Sloka are scheduled for release. She is acting in another untitled film with Prem of Nenapirali fame. The dubbed version of Police Police is being released in Tamil soon. Sure seems like there’s a lot going for her.

“Now, I am a busy actor. I like saying that.

Not because I am acting in a plenty of films, but because I am acting in quality films, in meaty roles with established actors and big banners. These films will definitely make an impact,” she claims.

So what’s the big secret behind the change of fortune? Some say, it was changing her name according to numerology. Sanjana turned into Sanjjanaa. She is quick to rubbish such speculations. “There are plenty of Sanjanas in the film world. For a long time, people mistook me for other stars, so I wanted to put an end to it. That’s why I added two letters to my name, and it worked,” she contends.

Her original name is Archana Galrani though. But the director of Ganda Hendthi changed her name to Sanjana, since her real name sounded alien to the Kannada film industry. Around the same time, Pooja Gandhi made her debut in Kannada with the hit film Mungaru Male with her screen name, which was Sanjana Gandhi. Then, there was another actor whose name was Sanjana too.

Hendthi, Sanjjanaa realised that she needed to hone her acting skills: “I was told that I should act in documentaries to improve my acting, and so I did. At the same time, I acted in a number of TV videos, which helped me further.”

For a young actor steadily shedding the bombshell tag, Sanjjanaa has not been without her fair share of controversies.

Recently, she was caught on camera dancing with cricketer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.

“I hate it when the media links me with some celebrity. Incidentally, I have plenty of friends from all walks of life. I like going out with them for fun. I am a young girl. Don’t I have even that much freedom?” she asks.

Does it mean that she’s not seeing anyone?

“See, I had a boyfriend, but that is history now. I am nobody’s girlfriend and I am not seeing anyone,” she asserts with a grin.

“Only films matter to me as of now.” She is pinning her hopes on Mailari. “Acting with Shivarajkumar is any actor’s dream come true. It is bound to be a hit. I also have many other Kannada films on hand. I would want to take advantage of them and consolidate my position in Kannada films.”

Sanjjanaa’s got several Hindi film offers too, but she is not keen on making the jump.

“Recently, there was an interesting project with big stars. But once I heard the story, I was sure that it would flop. My instincts were correct. The movie bombed at the BO. My Hindi debut would have been a disaster!”

When she’s not working, she loves to dance, party and travel whenever she can. In Casanova, she plays a salsa dancer. “I know salsa. But I am hiring a trainer anyway,” she says hoping that the film will open the doors to Malayalam cinema for her.

Sanjjanaa also happens to be quite the linguist, being proficient in more than six languages, something which she intends to extend to her art. “Someday, I’ll act in a whole lot of films in different languages.”

KANNADA // EXCLUSIVE

“See, it was easy for people to get confused.

Today, I insist on including my new name in the credits,” she asserts. After Ganda

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 23

SREENU VYTLA // EXCLUSIVE

IT HAPPENED ON A RAINY DAY TWO DECADES AGO… Karthik Pasupulate traces the fascinating journey of director Sreenu Vytla from his days as a dreamy eyed rookie to one of the top filmmakers of the Telugu industry!

24 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

It was around this time back in 1989 when the humid southwesterly’s (or monsoons) were sweeping across the Bay of Bengal, on their way to mainland south India. An 18 year old native of Kandulapalem village in East Godavari district was boarding a train for Chennai (then Madras.) He’d just finished class 12 and no, he was not going on a summer break. He was taking off chasing his childhood dream - becoming a filmmaker, leaving behind life as he had known it up until that point. Well, his folks weren’t intimated for obvious reasons. Ah! Ain’t it good to be 18!

“Films were always special for me. But after watching Mani Ratnam’s Nayakan, I decided I wanted to be a director,” says Sreenu Vytla. In hindsight - which is a nice thing to have - it might seem like he was on the train that would take him to his destiny, but back then it did not seem like that with just Rs 70 in his pocket.

He had no way of knowing it at least. “For all I knew, Madras was home to the film industry and I wanted to be a director,” says Sreenu.

He did not have to wonder about where to go for too long. A copassenger who was travelling to Vijayawada turned out to be a messiah! “He told me about a close friend, J S V Chowdary, who was then working as an assistant director in Madras. I quickly noted down his address hoping Mr Chowdary would be kind enough to give shelter to a friend of his friend for a couple of days.” Now you do need desperate measures to deal with desperate situations.

The train finally arrived, more than a little delayed at the Madras Central Railway Station. The monsoon was there to greet the young man and he realised it was more than the heavy showers he’d have to brave. “The state bus service was halted due to a strike that day. So I walked down all the way to Malapudi Mansion in T Nagar, which was where Chowdary lived.”

Drenched in rain, he reached Malapudi Mansion and what’s more, Chowdary bought his story and allowed him to stay over for a couple of days. His next immediate mission was to find a job before his Rs 70 ran out. “That’s when I met Krishna Vamsi, who was also staying in room no 53 at the Malapudi Mansion along with a couple of friends. They took an instant liking to me and were kind enough to allow me a place in their already cramped single room housing.”

Sreenu finally found himself a job as an apprentice with director Chalasani Ramarao for his film Prananiki Pranam. “I wrote a letter to people back home. I had written to them earlier but did not disclose my whereabouts,” he admits. Pronto, his elder brother came down hoping to knock some sense into him. Theirs was a big joint family that did not think much about films or filmmaking.

“But my friends convinced him that I would have a bright future and he went back allowing me to pursue my dream,” he says.

Well it was not the end of his troubles though. “The film turned out to be a dud and things came back to a naught once again,” he says smiling.

It was around that time that Ram Gopal Varma’s Shiva released.

Sreenu loved the film and moved to Hyderabad hoping to join RGV as an assistant. “Things did not quite work out that way and I worked for director Sagar instead.”

He worked as an assistant for many years with quite a few directors. In 1996 he decided it was time he did a project on his own. “I worked on a story and producer Sambi Reddy liked it and came forward to produce it. The film was called Aparichitudu!

Rajasekhar was to play the lead in the film but then the producer ran into financial troubles and the project had to be shelved.”

Sreenu was obviously heartbroken as all his attempts to revive the project met with dead ends. That’s when he hit upon a film called Nee Kosam. “The film was made on a shoe-string budget of Rs 38 lakhs. It was much appreciated and even went on to win seven Nandi awards.”

It was also Ravi Teja’s first successful film as a lead. He’d acted in Sindooram earlier but the film was not a BO success. It would be fair to say Nee Kosam turned out to be a turning point for both Sreenu Vytla and Ravi Teja. It was also the beginning of a very successful partnership, since the actor-director duo has produced hits like Venky and Dubai Seenu.

He followed it up with smashing hits like Anandam and Venky which established Sreenu Vytla as an entertainer par excellence in the Telugu industry. Then the biggest opportunity of his career came along. “When I was asked to direct Chiranjeevi, in Andarivadu I just jumped at the prospect. It’s a huge privilege and very few directors get an opportunity to work with someone like the Megastar.”

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 25

SREENU VYTLA Unfortunately Andarivadu proved to be a dampener at the BO, but Sreenu Vytla has not given up hope yet. “I want to make a blockbuster with one of his successors either Pawan Kalyan or Charan one day,” he smiles. That would be something to look forward to, but for the moment though, it is his next film with Mahesh Babu that has got everybody talking.

Sreenu is unwilling to let out too many details about the project but lets us into a few interesting things. “I am very excited about the project. It’s going to be grand. The first half of the film is to be set in north India.”

Sreenu Vytla is known for his entertaining style of storytelling and he promises not to disappoint. With the new film, he says, we will also get to see a totally new side of Mahesh Babu. “We have known Mahesh as a great action hero. He has done a fair bit of comedy as well but it’s been mostly restrained. You will see him freaking out completely, opening up like never before in this film.

Of course there will be plenty of action as well.” Hmm, that sounds like something! We are sure all you Mahesh Babu fans are bursting with excitement already.

But on second thoughts, it’s quite a spot to be in, to be able to match up to the expectations that come with a star’s image along with those from a Sreenu Vytla film. It all boils down to identifying the right script believes Sreenu. “It is a tough balancing act. That’s why it is paramount to choose the right script and that’s what takes up most of the time and energy. People expect my films to be entertaining and I zero in only on such stories that can be narrated entertainingly,” he says.

But wouldn’t that be restricting him to a certain formula based films only? As a creative artist, wouldn’t he want to diversify? “Of course we all would love to break out of the formula mould. It is quite boring for any director to be working in a few set patterns all the time but there are a lot of factors we need to take into consideration here. If we are working on a film with a small budget, we could continue on one single thread and it might not seem like a formula film. But we only have a handful of multiplexes in our 26 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

state and so we need to be cautious when the budgets are high,” he admits candidly.

“At the same time, I always strive to bring some freshness in every film I work on.”

He has plans of moving to Bollywood as well. He’d earlier been approached by Shatrughna Sinha who wanted to launch his son with a remake of Dhee. But he had other commitments at that time. “I plan to direct a Bollywood film in the next couple of years.

It’s been something that I have been thinking about for some time now. Will definitely do one in the next year or so,” he shares.

Having spoken so much about films, we thought we’d ask him something about his other love in life – his wife. We gather it was quite a love story. “I had first seen her at a friend’s birthday party in 2001. I saw her, traced her whereabouts, phone numbers and the likes. The courtship lasted for a couple of years and we tied the knot in 2003,” he almost blushes. We thought we shouldn’t press for more.

He talks instead of his three adorable daughters – Anadi (six), Adhya (five) and Ahana (eight months). “I love nothing more than playing with them at home,” he shares. But his family has one complaint: he doesn’t take them out so much. To which he says, “I am usually out on work all the time. I agree it’s a valid criticism but I am working on it.”

SREENU VYTLA // EXCLUSIVE

SREENU VYTLA

TELUGU // EXCLUSIVE

A HUNDRED YEARS OF

SRI SRI

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Pic it:

It’s the birth centenary of Sri Sri and in paying tribute; Karthik Pasupulate goes beyond the brief of this story…

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Ma 28 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

Sri Sri. Hmm…the name rang a bell somewhere. Oh yes!

He’s that great poet we’d read about in one of those boring Telugu classes in school. Don’t know if it was the teachers, parents or just us, we (I speak for the city bred, Telugu speaking, English medium educated types born 1982 onwards) never really enjoyed the Telugu classes. Cable TV, Sachin Tendulkar, SRK, Aishwarya Rai (who wasn’t Bachchan then), Chiranjeevi, A R Rahman, Baywatch, Nirvana (the band), Eamcet - IIT - IIMUSA, graphic novels, play stations, iPods, multiplexes, shopping malls, call centers were instead our profound influences, growing up.

We are perhaps the most wannabe generation of post - liberalisation India, so how could we care about the single most influential, revolutionary Telugu poet of the last century? Come June 15, it will be 27 years since he passed away; perhaps he’s been too long gone. Well so much for rhetoric. The ‘ignorance’ of one self-indulgent lot is no yardstick to assess the literary genius of a colossus like Srirangam Srinivasrao, for the loss is only ours!

There is no other Telugu literary personality who is admired, critiqued, derided and revered in the same breath. To his naysayers, Sri Sri was a renegade, a caste breaker, a self confessed womaniser, a drunk and a communist sympathiser. However, his mastery of Telugu language was such that even his staunchest critics were forced to respect his brilliance.

“He was for Andhra Pradesh what Nazrul Islam was for Bangladesh, Pablo Neruda for Latin America and Mayakovsky for Soviet Russia. He remains poet of the revolution, the ephemeral herald of the future,” hailed an obituary written by D Anjaneyulu for the Indian Express.

Sri Sri was one of the first modern Telugu poets to have written about contemporary issues that affected day-today life, breaking away from the escapism of classical Telugu poetry. He wrote about the common man in a language spoken by him. Sample these lines from one of his most acclaimed songs he’d written for the Kamal Haasan classic, Aakali Rajyam Sapatu yetu ledu pata ayina padu brother rajadhani nagaram lo veedhi veedhi needi nade brother swathantra desham lo chavu kuda pelli lantide brother Mana talli annaporna, mana anna dana karna, mana bhoomi veda bhoomi ra thammudu, mana keerthi manchu kondara

Sri Sri consciously turned to the masses to learn of his true roots in the people’s language and culture. Perhaps that is why they called him the people’s poet.

His book Maha Prasthanam (The Great Journey), an anthology of poems, is one of his major works. It earned him the title ‘Mahakavi.’ Some other major works of Sri Sri include Siprali, and Khadga Srushti (Creation of the Sword). For him, poetry was just a means to an end, that of a fair communist state. The pen was his weapon of choice!

He’d worked as a librettist for 40 odd Telugu films in a career spread over three decades. But he wrote for films just to earn a livelihood! Sri Sri was his own man who chose the standards he’d live up to. He admitted to committing adultery in a holy place in his autobiography, Anantham (meaning endless) much to the shock of his biggest admirers. He didn’t really need enemies, did he? Telugu may be called the Italian of the east but our collective sensibilities were conservative. We are talking of the 1960s. It was considered disgusting to talk about sex then; forget bragging about infidelities! It takes courage to put yourself out there, especially when you are considered to be a literary god.

He earned a living doing a variety of jobs, seldom remaining in one place for long. He drank heavily and lived hard. He worked as a journalist at Andhra Prabha in Madras and Meezaan in Hyderabad. He freelanced for the press and radio, even worked as a civilian employee in the air force, but failed to stick around for long and never cared about how much he made.

In 1970, on his 60th birthday, Sri Sri was to receive a great prize, a large amount of money from the then Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. But he spurned the honour and the money, choosing instead to participate in the founding of Viplava Rachayitala Sangham, the Revolutionary Writers’ Association, which openly advocated the Naxalbari way.

He was like that - the quintessential rebel who urged people to stand up for themselves and fight the hypocrisies that surround us. Communism was his noble cause and he never gave it up. The right or wrong of it might keep changing with the times, but Sri Sri always will be remembered, with contempt, respect or indifference all at the same time. Sri Sri will always be relevant.

(There isn’t anything to eat anyway so at least sing my brother All the streets of this capital city are ours brother In this free country, death is also like a wedding Our mother is Annaporna, our elder brother is Karna.

Ours is the land of truth, our glory is like a snow peak.)

The translation does not exactly capture the essence of his lines but you get a glimpse of his powerful expression and the contempt for hypocrisy and the deep sarcasm.

This is essentially just a film song but with his grasp of both the popular tongue and Sanskritised Telugu at his disposal, Sri Sri urged the people to crush the old state and rip apart its web of lies.

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 29

KANNADA // EXCLUSIVE

tales of a traveller No other actor has crept into south cinema in the last decade like Prakash Raj has.

Two hundred films, two national awards, top directors, top-of-the-line roles. Life’s an endless journey, he tells Arvind G Shivkamal, and films occupy just five per cent of that.

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“ f films were 100 per cent of my life like others, I would have never reached this far. There are so many other aspects to my life, some in public domain, some private…I enjoy every moment of it,” Prakash makes it very clear.

So what are those “other aspects” that have brought Prakash this far? “More than an actor, I am a traveller. You can take it in the physical sense of it or psychological. I yearn to travel across seas and lands and into the minds of people. I love to spend time with my family - daughter in particular - swimming in the open sea, cooking my favourite cuisines, and reading and watching movies…All are given equal priority.”

The actor is just back from a week-long camp at a remote holiday destination in the US of A. 30 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

“I believe in my instinct. I go wherever it takes me. I don’t wait for anybody. So far, I have been successful,” Prakash contends.

It is not just instincts, but his needs too that have kept Prakash going in the tinsel town. “People ask me why I act in films if they constitute just five per cent of my life. The answer is needs, basically economic needs. If not for this five per cent in my life, I may not be able to sustain the remaining 95 per cent,” a candid Prakash says.

Indeed, from Bengaluru to Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai, Prakash has gone a long way, guided by his instincts. They have now brought him back to Bengaluru from where he started his filmi journey. He just completed his maiden venture as director, Naanu Nanna Kanasu, a

Kannada film which is a remake of his Tamil flick Abhiyum Naanum.

But why did he choose a Kannada film for his directorial debut? Is it a tribute to the film industry that launched his career? Prakash does not believe in such stuff. He does not believe in the theory of language either: “I don’t know why people categorise movies based on languages. Cinema in itself is a language. It does not matter if it is Kannada or Tamil. A movie is a movie. It has to entertain people. That’s it.”

The actor who is known by his original name Prakash Rai in the Kannada industry is seen more in Kannada films these days. He recently acted in two big budget films – Dhool and Rajadhani. Since 2004, he is being seen in more Kannada films than earlier.

But he hates it when anybody asks him if he is making a comeback? “When did I go away from Kannada cinema to stage a comeback? I have acted in all south Indian language films. It is just that the number of Kannada films is less. I have always been here, acting in projects I like,” the actor asserts.

He began his career in the Kannada industry in a small way, acting in films starring Ravichandran and Vishnuvardhana. It was Geetha, who identified the talent in him and took him to the legendry K Balachander. Prakash considers the acclaimed director as his mentor. His first film in Tamil, Duet, was the turning point of his career.

The actor owes it all to Balachander. “He is the one who makes you believe in yourself. He lets you understand the talent and resources that exist in you. He chisels you if you are a hard stone. He gives the confidence an actor requires. His visionary approach makes the difference to an actor’s life,” Prakash speaks highly of the master.

Prakash recently organised a reunion of all the actors mentored by Balachander and it read like the who’s who of the south Indian film industry.

“It was a great moment to see the star line-up. He thoroughly enjoyed every bit,” Prakash reminisces.

Obviously, the line-up included several national awarding winning actors! Was winning the

PRAKASH’S PUNNIES

national award the pinnacle of his career? Prakash begs to differ: “It does not say you are better than anybody. It just says that you were better than the rest in that particular year. The next year, I have to win the award again to prove myself. But is that possible? I won the award when Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan were in the fray. That’s the only difference. You know… an artiste dies everyday. It is very true.”

Prakash Raj is not interested in milestones – be it in films or his personal life: “Once I reach a horizon, there’s another horizon. Then, it becomes a race against time. I am happy the way I am. If I like the script, nothing can stop me from acting in that film.”

He was a very popular actor on the small screen in Kannada before he ventured into films. His TV serials Guddada Bhootha and Bisilu Kudure are remembered till date. “It was fun to be a part of such projects. I have always led an adventurous life.”

The actor seems to have drawn inspiration from his own adventurous life. His next film is the bilingual Payanam that will be made in Telugu and Tamil. “It is based on the travails of life and travel. We have erected a huge set at Ramoji Film City,” Prakash notes.

Prakash also has high expectations from his home production Naanu Nanna Kanasu. “After being in front of the camera for such a long time, I feel excited to work behind the camera. Naanu Nanna Kanasu will be released shortly. It is a very sensitive story. I am satisfied with the outcome.”

The actor’s home production house is called Duet Movies, named after his first Tamil film. The logo of Duet Movies is a mischievous primate – the chimp.

“Yeah, it reflects me. I don’t mind being called a chimp because that’s me,” he grins.

About what’s next, Prakash does not believe in planning a career. “I am not bothered about what will happen in my life six months from now. I accept life as it is. Of course, there will be some interesting movies along the way.”

“I am not spiritual. But I believe in spirits; vodka, cognac, on the

rocks in particular…” “Sorry, I cannot read Tamil, but I can read Tamilians.” “I am still in a dream. I am yet to wake up”. “I debated extensively in college. I want to be debatable in life.” “I have watched only 30 per cent of the movies that I acted in. Films are after all just five per cent of my life.” “Books are my very good friends. I expect them to be around me.” “I smell flowers, I smell blood too.” “I always have spare time…all the time.

Nothing is more important than me. My time is the only time that I have.” “Talent is a tool. An actor should know to use it effectively.” “I live on this earth and walk as long as life takes me. It is for others to catch me in Bengaluru or Hyderabad.” “I don’t draw inspiration from anybody. Do you need inspiration to breathe?”

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 31

FIRST AMON

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NG EQUALS HIS TITLE SPELLS VICTORY, HIS SURNAME CARRIES A LEGACY AND YET HE REMAINS UNTOUCHED BY THE HYPE AND HOOPLA SURROUNDING HIM. ONE OF THE GREATEST ACTORS IN THE HISTORY OF TELUGU CINEMA, THE ENDURING AND ICONIC VENKATESH LETS VANAJA BANAGIRI BE PRIVY TO A RARE ASPECT OF HIS PERSONALITY SO FAR UNKNOWN TO THE WORLD.

Photographer - G Venket Ram

VENKY // CENTRE STAGE

Stylist - Chaitanya Rao Location - Aluminium Industries Ltd, Lingampally Coordinated by: Vrinda Prasad

Tucked away in a corner of Ramanaidu Studios in Jubilee hills, Hyderabad, stands a white bungalow as if it is an integral part of the surroundings and yet in a place of its own. Much like the man who has made it his office. I am ushered up the stairs into Venky’s room where I am told he is waiting for me. As I walk in, I notice that the walls are white and bare, barring the one on the right hand side of his table, where an artist’s sketch of Ramana Maharshi watches over his disciple. On the floor below is a beige mattress with earthy cushions on which he meditates whenever he feels like. Lying on his table are two books Greatest works of Rumi and Talks with Ramana Maharshi reflecting his state of mind. Just back from a short holiday with his family to Kodaikanal and in the midst of a schedule for his upcoming film Chandramukhi 2, he’s looking dapper in a bright blue polo T shirt and beige pants. As I get comfortable in my seat facing him, his man Friday serves glasses of chilled water and cups of steaming hot tea. Outside, the temperature is soaring at 44 degrees Celsius. But when you’re with the cool dude of south cinema, how does it matter?

So with a generous help from the air conditioner, we settle down for a long pending tête-à-tête.

I have met Venkatesh countless times in the last decade and a half, within the ambit of work or otherwise, and his warmth has been unflinching.

Despite the fanfare and recognition, he always seemed to be in a world of his own. Every inch a man of this world and yet something was very other worldly about him. His persona, his aura, his speech, everything about him… I could never put a finger on what it was that made him seem so ethereal. But now I know. And so will you as you read on…

We reminisce that we had met the first time soon after one of his super hits Bobbili Raja had released in the early 90s. He had told me then that films were just a career option for him. That he had never gotten attracted to the profession because of the glamour or glitz of cinema. How much of that has changed over the years, I wonder aloud. “I had just returned from California after completing MBA. I had no goal, no desire to be this or that. I just went with the flow. First, I tried my hand at another business venture in spices but before it took off, films happened in a big way. You asked me what has changed since 90s, huh? Let me think. I have had my children, 90 per cent of my films have been hits, but two things haven’t changed. One is my attachment to my family and my detachment to glamour and fame. I am in the world of cinema with more gusto and passion doing what I always did but I am still not in it for the glamour and fame.” What makes him say so? I mean, aren’t fame and glamour most cherished by all actors? “I do appreciate the love and affection I receive from people wherever I go. But I know these things are not permanent. I have known this truth from day one. Everything that is external in life is transient.” How is it possible to be in the thick of the material world and spout such philosophy? “My first film Kaliyuga Pandavulu was declared a hit and many more hit films followed. But I was engulfed by a strange restlessness. There was a silent enquiry going on within me - why the glamour wasn’t captivating me as much as it should. I would have inner dialogues with myself wondering what would make me happy.”

That was the beginning of the quest for absolute truth. Years of travelling to holy places and gurus ensued. “After Preminchukundam Raa was released, I decided to go on a spiritual journey in search of life’s true meaning. I had tried everything - idol worship,

rituals, the works. Yet something was rankling within me. As if there is more to life. As if there is a realm beyond the one we can see, touch and feel. It is that I wanted to experience. I spoke to Neeru, my wife and she understood when I told her that I needed to do this. You know, when your other half is in sync with you, life is sheer bliss. I am extremely fortunate to have my wife as my cotraveller in this journey. I count my blessings. So off I went. From Rishikesh to Haridwar, to holy places and holy men, until I reached Tiruvannamalai. I found my answers. I reached my destination. Like they say, the master arrives when the disciple is ready. I know that my meeting my master was entirely providential. I turned a follower of the Advaita philosophy that believes in `oneness’ of the individual and the divine. That’s when I realised there was nothing to be achieved, nowhere to go in search of this or that… Everything is within you. No Harvard or Oxford can teach you this. Yes, we need them as professionals but they will get you nowhere if you miss out on the essence of life.” And what exactly is the essence of life? “To realise that the three factors of prarabdha (past life actions), karma and the supreme consciousness are interwoven beautifully.

People who don’t understand this concept think that they are the doers, that every success is because of them, it is their ego at work. Nothing is because of us. Everything that is meant to happen, happens.

Everything is temporary. This too shall pass. This is the highest form of truth but it is so simple that people feel there has to be more to this. They want drama, action, like in films.” So what happened when he returned from his sojourn? Was there a sense of disillusionment with the material world? “Just the contrary. I derived more fulfilment from the same things that didn’t satiate me earlier. I felt very centred and content with everything around me. I became a better professional, better person over all.” Did he become altruistic? “If you don’t serve yourself first,

v VENKY // CENTRE STAGE

FIRST AMO

how can you serve others? If you’re hungry, will you think of feeding others? If you don’t transcend self first, you’ll be caught in the rut of comparing yourself to the others. Social service becomes a rat race like any other profession.” How often does he meditate?

“Initially, I used to set aside a time every day. But now I am in a constant state of meditation. I do meditate though whenever I feel like, right here,” he says gesturing to the mattress in his room.

With so much of knowledge, where do films stand in the scheme of things in his life today? “Like I told you earlier, I don’t plan life. Life has always happened to me. I keep thinking that I will reduce my work but work keeps coming my way. I have come to the conclusion that if you’re meant to work, you will. If you’re not meant to work, then no matter how hard you try, it just won’t happen. In a couple of years, I may explore other language industries. An actor goes through various phases. The younger generation has taken over romantic hero roles. Now, I need to reinvent myself. Right now, I am busy with Chandramukhi 2.

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v VENKY // CENTRE STAGE

ONG EQUALS MONG

I am also looking at television - maybe a serial on Swami Vivekananda’s life. That man was a dynamic leader and a philosopher. His teachings are just what the youth of today need.”

Has his wisdom affected his role as a father? “I have become more aware and awake. Watching children is the best form of meditation. They live in the moment. The greatest gift you can give your children is the realisation that if you don’t go within, no matter what heights of success you scale, you will never be happy. If you concentrate on the external stuff, on the outside world, you will only experience misery. Genuine balance of external and internal can serve as shock absorbers in life. Plain intelligence is not good enough to make you happy. Crystallised intelligence, also known as wisdom is the key to inner happiness.” How different is the experience of bringing up a son compared to being a daughter’s father?

“The emotion is the same, though my son, Arjun, the youngest of the lot is more demanding physically. He is more robust.

My daughters Aashrita, Havya and Bhavana are amazingly down to earth. My children are God’s blessings.” And which are the roles on screen that are close to his heart? “Oh, so many. The problem with me is I keep forgetting. But I’ll try.

Kaliyuga Pandavulu, Swarna Kamalam, Chanti, Bobbili Raja, Pavithra Bandham, Surya Vamsham, Nuvvu Naaku Nacchavu, Mallishwari, Premichukndam Raa, Pelli Chesukundam Raa, Kalisundam Raa, Aadavalla Maatalaku Ardhale Verule are some that come to mind right now. My role in Chanti especially touched people in a very special way. Even today, old women call out to me as Chanti in the south and in the north, people still remember Anari. They keep asking why I didn’t do more Hindi films?” So why didn’t he, considering he tasted success with his first film? “It was a conscious decision. As soon as I got married, I had decided that my family will remain my priority, no matter what. Why would I forego the pleasure of being with my wife and watching my children grow up for anything else in the world? That’s the reason I always blessed my injuries. They give me a chance to be with my family. Initially, I had a severe spondilytis problem. So whenever I had to take off, I used to enjoy my time at home.”

All those beautiful heroines he is constantly thrown with haven’t ever tempted him? “Never. We have introduced so many newcomers to the Telugu industry including stars like Tabu, Karisma Kapoor, Preity Zinta, Katrina Kaif to name a few. But I was always an advisor, a guide to them. Even today, we share a great rapport. Being an advisor came naturally to me. Even in the US, I was the president of the international students’ association. Moreover, I love and respect my wife too much to indulge in anything that will hurt or embarrass her. I have been strong enough to stay away from any controversies.” So with all this soul evolution, has he conquered anger? “Initially, I used to get angry. But it was more with myself than with others. I would vent using Tamil slang which people would find amusing. Now I become aware before anger sets in. I tell myself that nothing is a big deal. I accept anything and everything. If something has to go wrong it will. If something is meant to happen, it will. Why fret? When you have total acceptance, you allow God to come in.” So what makes Venkatesh tick? “Hey, listen, I have never thought about these things, okay? I don’t analyse or dissect stuff. I believe in going with the flow.” Is that the secret of his bliss? “There you go again,” he laughs. Okay fine, at least some advice. “Be natural. Be yourself. Don’t take yourself seriously. Get out of your way to let God handle your life. The day you become nothing, you’ll become everything. Let people be. There are no rights or wrongs. There is no good or bad. Whichever path people wish to take is their choice.” Amen.

VENKY // CENTRE STAGE

SUCCESS: IF YOU FIND YOUR TRUE SELF, THAT’S SUCCESS. FAME: DON’T GO AFTER IT. LIFE: MOST BEAUTIFUL MARRIAGE: BLISS FATHERHOOD: ULTIMATE FULFILMENT MONEY: DON’T ASK FOR IT. DON’T REFUSE IT. DEATH: BEAUTIFUL, INEVITABLE. MUST READ: I AM THAT BY NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ, THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

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MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 39

KANNADA // FEATURES

It’s intervention government style all over Karnataka! With the number of cinema halls rapidly dwindling all over the state, the Karnataka government has decided to step in and change things around. It announced a mega scheme to encourage commissioning new theatres by entrepreneurs in the entertainment business. Industry insiders view this as a step to increase the number of screens exhibiting Kannada films, which are facing stiff competition from neighbouring states.

Traditional single screen cinema halls in Bengaluru are rapidly being replaced by commercial complexes and real estate ventures that fetch more revenue for the land owners. Landmark cinema halls have made for commercial complexes. Coincidentally, the mall owners have retained the name of the cinema halls that no longer exist!

Swasthik theatre made way for Swasthik Complex; Alankar was replaced by Alankar Pearl Plaza, while Sangam became Sangam Complex. The famous Central became a multistoreyed shopping mall; Himalaya is now a big shopping complex; Majestic theatre is being reconstructed; work on converting Galaxy theatre into Galaxy Mall is mid-way… the list goes on.

Several theatres have been converted into convention halls. “I can recall at least more than two dozen landmark theatres – Kalpana, Kempe Gowda, Opera and Elgin – in Bengaluru that are not functional. Faced with poor revenues, exhibitors have demolished the theatres and started real estate ventures during the boom time. Now, they are in a comfortable situation,” says film historian A N Prahlad Rao. Karnataka has the least number of screens when compared to other south Indian states. The number of full time screens, including touring talkies, is around 1200 as of now. When

NOW IT GETS

THEATRICAL!

Aravind G Shivkamal gets behind the projector for the latest on the government’s push for cinema screens in Karnataka

40 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

Kannada films were very popular in the 70s and 80s, the number of screens was more than 1500. The trend of converting cinema halls into real estate ventures is not restricted to Bengaluru alone. Theatres at all leading centres like Mysore, Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum and Hassan have undergone a similar metamorphosis.

“This is an alarming trend. In neighbouring states, DTS theatres with a very low entry fee are flourishing at the district level.

We want a similar setup in Karnataka as well. Therefore, the government has proposed a special plan, promoting cinema halls in a big way,” says Karnataka’s Information Department Special Director (Films) J N Shivakumar.

The State government had set up a research group that analysed the problem. One of the main reasons for theatres to be converted into real estate ventures was poor patronage, primarily due to screening of low quality Kannada films. The success rate of Kannada films in the last decade has been stagnant in the single digits. For the last three years, the success rate was around six per cent, though the number of films that released increased.

At the same time, there was a widespread boom in real estate in the early 90s. Exhibitors, in a bid to take advantage of the situation converted the cinema halls into commercial malls. This trend was mostly noticeable in Bengaluru, when some of the best known theatres were converted into shopping malls.

The third reason found by the research group was that most theatres that were set up either in the 70s or 80s were never upgraded, leading to poor patronage. The cinema halls were poorly maintained or there were no basic amenities.

The fourth factor was the onslaught of cable television followed by satellite TV channels, which brought most of the popular films to the small screen in the 90s. “All these factors contributed to the gradual decline in patronage of theatres. Though quality of Kannada films is one of the major reasons, there were other factors that kept cinema audiences away from the theatres,” points out noted film critic L Prakash, who is on the research panel.

If existing exhibitors or entrepreneurs already own land for the theatre, they will be exempted from paying property tax for a specific period, which is yet to be decided. However, the government has laid down certain technical specifications, which include dimensions of the theatre, seating capacity, DTS facility and Dolby stereo, among others.

Theatre owners now also have the liberty of screening movies of any language for a fixed number of days in a given year, although prominence should be given to Kannada films. The scheme was discussed with the Kannada film industry, which has welcomed the government’s initiative. “This is a highly encouraging scheme. Many producers are interested in setting up theatres in many centres in Karnataka. If we provide good facilities to the patrons, they will naturally return to theatres,” asserts leading film producer H C Sathyan.

A section of the exhibitors want the government to alter the scheme to recover the investment. “We want some portion of the theatre for real estate ventures to offset the losses from screening films that don’t fetch revenue. Let’s see if the government agrees to do that,” exhibitor K Naresh says.

As the scheme involves huge financial implications, the Karnataka government is looking at budgetary allocation from the next fiscal year. Even if the scheme is announced shortly, the subsidy amount will reach the theatre owners only next year.

“Once the scheme is announced, we will discuss it with potential investors and prepare the list. It is a time consuming process, but we are confident of making it a success,” Shivakumar observes.

Initially, the scheme will be launched in Bengaluru, followed by Tumkur and Kolar in the first year. These three markets fetch the maximum revenue for Kannada filmmakers. Six months later, the scheme is scheduled to be extended across Mysore, Mandya and Hassan districts. Let’s wait and watch how it goes though.

After studying the report, the state government, which provided several sops to the Kannada film industry in the last two years, has evolved a special scheme to increase the number of screens in Karnataka. The scheme is yet to be approved by the Karnataka State Cabinet. If all goes well, the scheme will be announced shortly.

Under the new scheme, existing exhibitors will be eligible for a subsidy amount from the government. The percentage of the subsidy amount is different for each market. If the cost of constructing a new theatre is around Rs 40 lakh in Mysore, the subsidy amount could be little over 25 per cent (around Rs 12 lakh).

This apart, such theatres will not attract any kind of entertainment tax or sales tax from the government for a period of five years.

The tax holiday will be extended to at least 100 theatres set up under the scheme during the first year of the announcement.

Government land will be allotted to exhibitors at districts at less than the market price, if land is not available.

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 41

KANNADA // EXCLUSIVE

TAKE A REEL CHILL PILL FOLKS!

He’s an actor much in demand, and he doesn’t make a big deal of it. You might not know him as Krishna but Srinagar Kitti (named after the locality) sure rings a rather pleasant bell. Aravind G Shivkamal gets us the dope on this chilled out actor.

W

hen you first meet him, you might just mistake him for the funnybunny pal in your gang of friends.

“I never felt that I am a star and should maintain a distance from the rest of the world. I like mingling with people. I want to be what I am,” the actor, whose real life is as interesting as any of his films, says. He started as a child artiste on TV, debuting on the big screen in a negative role before finally transforming into one of the most sought after young stars in Kannada films these days. And all of that in just a decade.

Most of his films have been critically and commercially successful, propelling him to near stardom.

The last among 10 siblings, Kitti virtually tried every other trade before he finally turned actor. His family was involved in the timber business and for a while he managed a bar. “Being the youngest in the family was 42 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

a big advantage. My brothers never stopped me from doing anything. It was in high school where the theatre bug bit me. None from my family ever had anything to do with the stage or cinema. But my brothers encouraged me to pursue theatre,” he shares.

He extensively toured the country, performing various roles in social dramas during his high school days. During one such show in Mumbai, he was spotted by a TV serial director and offered a role in a Kannada TV serial. When he grabbed the offer, Kitti did not even dream then that he would come this far. “I have led a nomadic life with no one questioning me. Come to think of it now, sometimes I wonder how I came this far,” he admits. Having lived in Srinagar, a locality in south Bengaluru, Krishna soon became popular as ‘Srinagar Kitti.’

Following his small screen debut in 1990,

Kitti continued to appear in more than 1000 episodes in the tele-serial. Soon after, he got the break of his career. Renowned director S Narayan offered him a negative role in Chandra Chakori. “I accepted every offer that came my way. So, I easily accepted the role without giving it a thought,” he concedes.

The film went on to become a blockbuster, clocking more than 100 days at several centres. The acclaim he received for his role in Chandra Chakori even surpassed that of the male lead, played by Murali. He was immediately flooded with similar offers, all of which he lapped up. Gowdru, Love Story and Aadi followed the success of Chandra Chakori and with each came even more critical acclaim for Kitty’s negative characters.

But his innocent looks blending with a ripped physique prompted several producers to approach him for male leads in Kannada

films. “Believe me; I was pretty reluctant to make the switch. As I came from a theatre background, I was aware of the risks involved.

A male lead has to carry the entire weight of the film. I did not know whether I was qualified to be a hero,” Kitti admits.

He accepted an offer for Giri, in which he played the protagonist. But the film did not do well at the BO. “That’s when I realised that my instinct was right. From then on, I turned quite choosy about accepting male lead roles.”

Kitti’s theatre mates and friends from school are now big names in the Kannada film industry. They did not want Kitti to be typecast in the business. That’s when an experimental film came his way.

BY2 was a unique project involving only two characters (the hero and heroine) living in a dense forest. The producers reckoned that the movie suited the Tamil audience. Shot extensively in the forests of Andhra Pradesh, BY2 was specially screened for the bigwigs of the Tamil film industry. Dwarkee, who directed the film, received rave reviews for this project. “We fumbled in distributing the film and it was a major setback. It would have done well had the distribution been more professional. Anyway, BY2 was a major learning experience,” Kitti says.

By then, his pal filmmaker Soori had made it big in the Kannada film industry with his trendsetter Duniya. Soori had been working on an interesting project for several years and the time was ripe to make it happen. He selected Kitti for his second film. “When Soori discussed the project, I was excited. We then refined the script and I loved working in that film as the entire crew comprised like minded creative people who would go to any extent to make the film a success.”

Inti Ninna Preetiya, Soori’s much-anticipated film released amidst much fanfare in 2008.

It was not a commercial success, despite featuring bigwigs from the Kannada film industry. Inti Ninna Preetiya however earned Kitti instant fame for his acting. The music composed by the multi-talented Sadhu Kokila was a big hit too. “It announced my arrival on the screen in a big way. I liked the way we did the film. We visualised situations in real locations, without letting bystanders realise that they were in a film shoot,” Kitti says.

Following Inti Ninna Preetiya, Kitti received several exciting offers - Olave Jeevana Lekkachaara, Swayamvara and Savaari. “I might have been appreciated for my roles.

But so far, only Savaari ran for more than 100 days. It is easily the most commercially successful film of my career,” he admits.

Now, Kitti has pinned all his hopes on his next film, Matte Mungaru, which is based on the life of Indian fishermen who were rotting in Pakistani jails. Directed by Dwarkee, who had also directed BY2, the film is almost complete. “Matte Mungaru is an ambitious project and our team of 11 has worked really hard. It is bound to make an impact,” he is confident. In the pipeline are two films with the sultry Ramya - Sanju Weds Geetha and Siddlingu.

Ask him about his life outside work and it is even more exciting. He met his girl when he accompanied a friend on Valentine’s Day to a college in Bengaluru six years ago. “There, she was standing near the stairway and it was love at first sight, filmy style. I told my friend that same day that she will be my life partner!”

He even proposed to her in full filmy style!

Kitti had by then met her several times, before deciding to offer the rose. “There were just the two of us in the elevator. When we almost reached the ground floor, I asked her directly, ‘please marry me!’”

But Kitti did not know that Bhavana was the daughter of well-known writer-journalist Ravi Belagere, who still runs a successful Kannada tabloid. “The challenges that we came across were innumerable. There was much resistance from both families since we belong to different communities. Finally, we overcame everything and got married two years ago,” he beams.

The couple now has a two-month old daughter. “Our meetings were secretive.

One time, her mother even caught us redhanded, but I managed to talk myself out of that situation successfully,” Kitti recalls.

Talking of those days, Kitti volunteers, “We used to wonder why men change after marriage. Now, I know. I was a vagabond since childhood. For the first time in years, I have been going home on time!”

For now, all his adrenaline comes only from acting. “I have figured I can earn a living only through films. I don’t know any other trade. I will remain here as long as the industry takes me along.”

BRIDE AND PREJUDICE!

BHANU MEHRA // SOUTHSPREAD

LIGHTS

Singlet: Earth Quake Black top and shoes: ENVY

But you won’t be prejudiced anymore since Bhanu Mehra is far from the image of the coy bride she played in her debut, Varudu. Vrinda Prasad meets the new livewire of showville instead!

A lit up studio gets more luminous as she walks in. Bhanu Mehra’s infectious energy has everyone perk up instantly. Everyone recognises the Varudu girl who was strategically not shown till half way through the film. The kudi from Amritsar played a traditional Telugu bride who is kidnapped on her wedding day and much like in Ramayan is rescued by her varudu or groom. Just a film into the business, Bhanu who lives alone in Mumbai is now moving base to Hyderabad to do what she has always been passionate about. A BMM (Bachelors in Mass Media) graduate, she studied only to get a degree but acting has always been her first love. Bhanu says she has seen Dil Se and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai countless number of times and still doesn’t tire. And she’s got a voracious appetite for love stories while she doesn’t much care for action.

About Varudu, she feels, “I was expecting a lot more and was banking on it. They had hyped my character so much; it was the strength for the movie but not for me. My screen presence in the movie was so less,” she rues! She got a break through an audition at Mumbai. She was thrilled to know that she’s the chosen one for this role. Best of all, she loved working with Suhasini Maniratnam. “Suhasini Ma’am was very helpful.

She used to help me with my lines. So was it with Allu Arjun and Arya too was quite sweet. Arjun was so friendly, invented all kinds of names for me - Bannu and chanchala. He never made me feel like a newcomer. It was totally amazing.”

Photographer: Ranganath Stylist: Maya Raj Makeup & Hair: MIRRORS Coordinated by: Vrinda Prasad

BHANU MEHRA // SOUTHSPREAD

CAMERA

Dress: Fashion X’press

Now Bhanu wants to sign a project only after going through the script thoroughly. Since Varudu was a big banner film, she wants to be patient instead of taking up small projects. We wonder what it was for her to face the camera for the first time. “I had no jitters,” she says surprisingly. “I’m so passionate about cinema that I’m never shy about what I’m doing or who is around me.” Bhanu enjoys not being a trained actor because it allows her to be natural and spontaneous. “If you are experienced, you have a certain method of acting, but I haven’t discovered that method yet. There is a positive side of not being a trained actor. When I am told a scene, I see how naturally it should be done.”

And even as she says this, Bhanu is improvising some spontaneous theatrics in front of the camera. The effect on the photographer’s lens was striking.

BHANU MEHRA // SOUTHSPREAD

ACTION

Shoes: ENVY

Bhanu has always been a naughty kid. She studied at a boarding school at Dehradun and recollects, “We weren’t allowed to keep eatables in our rooms and were subjected to regular checks. So I being the naughty one invariably hid all the goodies in the flush tank after clearing the water.” Yes folks, you heard that right!

More such stories follow. “I used to be this lazy, junglee bachchi (a sort of wild child) who wouldn’t wash her socks for a month and wear dirty clothes.” What do you have to say about this, now? But talking of truer adventures, Bhanu loves river rafting and any kind of adventure sport. Also having a house in a forest is her fantasy.

Junglee bachchi indeed!

Shirt: Fashion X’press Shoes: Wild Fashion Bangles: Sri Rahia Emporium

PACKUP This bit is truly for the guys. Take her to Bali and be this guy who wouldn’t confess liking her in the first two meets but flirt around for a month or two and keep up your interest in her and you’ll have all the brownie points! Far from who she was in Varudu, Bhanu believes in having more than a fling or two, “I don’t think I would go by how it was in the movie. (The bride and groom decide not to see each other till the wedding ceremony.) I have to meet the guy and know him. What if the guy turns out to be a, well, he could be anything, haa? No live ins for me, only flings,” she winks. Are we to imagine the rest? Go on with it guys. Indulge!

BHANU MEHRA // SOUTHSPREAD

Also the endorsement opportunities are not limited to the Suriyas and Trishas of the world, but also to other artistes. Big C is a mobile store chain which is mainly concentrated in AP, with monthly marketing spend in crores. It needs a popular local brand ambassador. They had Charmme, Kajal as brand ambassadors in the past and Ileana at present. Brands like Chandana Bros, RS Brothers, CMR have a strong presence in AP and need a face popular in the state. Pothy’s, Chennai Silks, Kumaran, Nalli, RmKV, GRT Thangamaligai, Prince Jewelers, Vasanth & Co are some of the brands that have a strong presence in Tamil Nadu and marketing spends in crores matching that of national advertisers.

They only need faces familiar in Tamil Nadu. Likewise, Malabar Gold is a brand that’s popular only in Kerala and has Mohan Lal as the brand ambassador. Below are some of the ‘regional powerhouses’ which have huge budgets and market though they have limited geographical reach – most times, just to one state.

People in the marketing industry estimate that the south Indian celebrity endorsement market is under-tapped. In today’s levels itself the market could be worth around Rs 50 crore. Yet it’s only Rs 20 crore in size. One of the prime reasons that I have found is – brands don’t know which celebrity suits their brand and how to sign them. With south India being such a pluralistic market, it’s hard for an outsider to know the big names and their image in each of the four states. Brands have the intention and budget to have a single brand ambassador for the whole of south India, or separate ambassadors for each market. But, most of them don’t know who the big names are – or if the celebrity’s image suits their brand.

Part II

Allu Sirish predicts that the next big thing in south India is celebrity endorsements

Lot of brands have the appetite and budget for a celebrity ambassador, but do not know how to go about it. Many a times, a brand manager calls me or my editorial team at Southscope and asks, “We need a brand ambassador for South/AP. Who is the Shahrukh Khan/Hrithik Roshan of the south/AP?” We try to advise them that there are no exact parallels. Instead of asking “Who is the Shahrukh Khan of Andhra Pradesh?” let’s turn the question the other way round. “Who is the Ram Charan Tej of Bollywood?” Abhishek? Both are sons of superstars, but no similarity at all.

Hrithik? Close in personality, but Charan belongs to a much younger age bracket.

Ranbir? Both are youth icons, but Charan has more mass appeal. Realising it’s hard to draw parallels, we ask them what is it they seek to achieve through their brand ambassador. Then, they describe their requirements. For example “We want our brand to be seen as a leader, have an aspirational look, appeal to both urban and rural youth.” Considering their requirement, we suggest names of who might fit their needs. It doesn’t end with that – again they come back to me, asking if I can pass on the numbers of their business managers, which we oblige.

Celebrities and Marketers don’t speak each other’s language

SOUTH INDIAN BRAND AMBASSADORS – A RS 50 CRORE MARKET!

CELEBRITY Suriya Mahesh Babu (AP), Madhavan (TN) Ileana D’Cruz Hansika Motwani Mamta Mohandas Mammooty Mohan Lal Mohan Lal Mohan Lal Tamannaah, Vedika, Lakshmi Rai Sneha Ileana D’Cruz, Meera Jasmine Meera Jasmine, Hema Malini Shobana Tamannaah Madhavan Shriya Saran Kajal Aggarwal Tamannaah Tamannaah

BRAND

Bharathi Cement Univercell Big C Mobile Adarsh Mobiles Chandrika Soap South Indian Bank Oceanus (Real Estate) Malabar Gold Manappuram Finance Saravana Stores TTK Prestige Mixie Joy Alukkas Jewelers Pothy’s Sarees Mediker Anti-Lice Oil Sun Direct DTH Santoor Soap VVD Gold Coconut Oil RS Brothers Chennai Shopping Mall Mangai Night Wear

Some of the brands don’t just use leading heroes and heroines, but also popular character artistes.

Comedian Vivek, former hero and artist Prabhu (Sivaji Ganesan’s son), Telugu comedian Dharmavarapu, Prakash Raj, yesteryear’s heroine Vijayashanti have been featured in many ads as the brand felt they don’t need the ‘glamour’ element in their ad to get their message across. As this business gets more streamlined, there will be more opportunities for artists like Brahmanandam (Telugu), Vadivel (Tamil), Vivek (Tamil), Sunil, Venu Madhav who are stars in their own right and can bring great mileage to brands with their endorsement.

Unlike earlier, brands don’t prefer to close endorsement deals through ‘mediators’ or middle men but seek marketing agencies which have sound knowledge of the local industry and the muscle to rope in stars for their endorsements. Some of the leading ‘entertainment marketing’ agencies in India are KWAN, a new floated outfit which is the market leader, followed by others such as Globosport, Cornerstone, Bling and a few other smaller ones. Incidentally, Mahesh Babu is the first and only south Indian star so far to be exclusively represented by an an agency, KWAN. Though others have done endorsements, they’ve done it in their individual capacity. Like how the corporatisation of the film industry has brought in more revenues, the entry of marketing & branding agencies would do the same to the local industry.

All the big players have their eyes set on the southern industry as they feel this is the next ‘growth market’ as Bollywood and sport stars are nearing saturation.

Also the opportunities are not limited to endorsements alone, ‘appearance fees’ for showroom openings, press conferences, TV shows and events is another avenue.

Likewise ‘performance fee’ is paid for performing at a certain corporate event or award function. ‘Branded entertainment’ is another segment for opportunity, where a celebrity who need not be the brand ambassador lends himself for a TV show or live event. For example: A leading electronics brand being the lead sponsor for a concert by a leading music director. There are many other opportunities to be explored. The talks between the brands and celebrities have already started. In the near future you would be seeing more of your favourite film stars outside movies.

The billboards, TV ads, newspaper ads you consume will be far more interesting, familiar and convincing. Also, I feel Rs 50 crore is still a modest number considering how movie-obsessed south Indians are.

The near future of celebrity endorsements in south India

A month later, on re-connecting with the brand we realise that the deal didn’t go through. Most of the stars or their managers do not know how the advertising and branding field works and not equipped to handle the legal and creative requirements of brands. The brands do not know the language of the ‘film industry’ and how dealmaking is done here. This is one of the reasons most deals don’t go through. As strange as it might appear, it is true. Only an ‘insider’ in both these industries can close a deal, which is why there is a need for an ‘entertainment marketing agency.’ The star needs an agency that can advise him or her and ‘manage’ all the brands he or she endorses. The brand needs an agency which can manage all the brand ambassadors in its portfolio. Most big brands today have multiple brand ambassadors.

KANNADA // EXCLUSIVE

MEET THE YOUNGEST FILM DIRECTOR OF THE WORLD! He made his first film when he was not even nine and at 14, Kishan is all set for his second directorial adventure.

Aravind G Shivkamal is truly amazed with this wonder boy of Kannada cinema who never fails to surprise!

He wakes up early in the morning and is out of the house by eight am, on the road waiting for his school bus. He usually never bunks classes and returns home straight by four pm and goes out to play with his neighborhood friends. Sounds like any other school kid? Just that Kishan is anything but!

He has an extraordinary record to his credit, something that his friends and classmates envy. At the age of nine, Kishan became the youngest director in the world to direct a professionally made feature film. This feat was recognised by the Guinness World Records. After a break of four years to focus on his studies, Kishan is all set to direct his second film.

What’s more; before Kishan directed his first feature film, he had already acted in 28 Kannada films and more than 300 television episodes. His debut film as director, the much acclaimed Care of Footpath is truly a part of Kannada film history now. He has now started work on his second feature film, Kirik.

Ask him about this project and he gets straight to the point like an experienced filmmaker. “I was a kid when I directed Care of Footpath. Now I am 14.

For my second film, I have selected a story that will appeal to teens, something that is part of every urban youth’s dream…”

Kishan will enter class 10 next academic year, but that has not deterred him from taking the plunge and making a second film. Kirik is about go-karting and its impact on high school and college students and their parents.

Photographer: Manu

“Go-karting has become a rage in cities and towns alike. Teenage boys indulge in go-karting not just for the fun of it but also because it gives them a stepping stone to move on to faster motor sports like Formula One. But their parents are under tremendous pressure as go-karting is a risky sport. The film focuses on all these aspects, including the emotional side of the whole thing,” he explains.

I was a kid when I directed Care of Footpath.

Now I am 14. For my second film, I have selected a story that will appeal to teens, something that is part of every urban youth’s dream…

50 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

Kishan claims he draws inspiration from real life incidents. “I have a lot of friends for whom go-karting is a religion. National go-karting champion Nikhil Kashyap is my close friend. Besides, I have seen even eight-year-olds take part in high-speed races. I just want to create more awareness about it,” he points out.

For the film, Kishan has decided to give a chance to fresh talent. “About 80 per cent of the artiste selection will be done through talent shows. The film will have lots of stunts and high-speed action. I am sure people will love it,” he is pretty confident.

Back to his first film, Kishan was observing kids on the streets and traffic junctions selling newspapers.

“That’s how Care of Footpath happened. I started wondering why I shouldn’t make a movie highlighting the plight of such underprivileged children who are denied formal education,” he notes.

He was barely eight then and his father Srikanth encouraged him to go ahead with the project.

“Initially, I thought it was one of his many ideas.

But I did not want to disappoint him by saying no,” interjects Srikanth. “But he seemed pretty serious and started working on the project. We had to encourage and support him. After all he was working hard. When he narrated the story to some of my friends, they agreed to finance the project,” he adds.

Srikanth, a former bureaucrat, gave up his lucrative job to support his son’s filmmaking career.

Kiran Movie Makers, Kishan’s home banner went ahead with Care of Footpath. The movie had an impressive star cast with Kishan playing the lead role.

Bollywood actors, Jackie Shroff, Saurabh Shukla, and leading Kannada actors Sudeep, Tara and theatre personality Jayashree were also featured in the film.

It turned into a big success and that prompted Kishan to have Care of Footpath dubbed in all south Indian languages and Hindi. According to Srikanth, the film was a commercial success. It also brought Kishan to limelight. The film won the Swarna Kamal National Film award for Best Children’s Film in 2008.

Apart from this one, Care of Footpath went on to win more than a dozen international awards and Kishan became the most recognised child artiste who bagged the Karnataka government’s best Child Artiste award for his role as well.

So, how did the Guinness Record happen? “I was not even aware that I could vie for the recognition.

I learnt through the media that the record for the youngest director was held by a 13-year-old girl. I was not even nine when I started working on Care of Footpath. We immediately approached the Guinness World Records,” Kishan shares.

Every day, representatives of Guinness Records came at the shooting location to ascertain the veracity of Kishan’s claims. Eventually, he was awarded the Guinness World Record in Bengaluru.

Kishan wasn’t far removed from entertainment and cinema since his parents are musicians. His father Srikanth worked for Doordarshan serials and a movie.

His mother composed music for a few Kannada films.

His interest in films was evident at a very young age.

Says Srinkanth, “I had brought a handycam home when Kishan was just three years old. He learnt to record. Sometimes, he would connect it to the TV and perform certain actions in front of the camera.

We thought he was only playing!”

A close friend of Srikanth who was on the lookout for a child artiste for the film Graama Devathe happened to visit him. “When I told my friend about Kishan’s curiosity for the camera, he immediately suggested that Kishan be sent for an audition for Graam Devathe. We reluctantly agreed. On the first day, he faced the camera confidently at the age four. They told us that he was a natural actor. Since then, he has not looked back,” he adds.

Kishan’s curiosity led him to another of his father’s friends, cinematographer Sundarnath Suvarna. “He was very much encouraged by Sundarnath. Kishan also learnt quite a few things about cinematography from him, like shot composition and lens adjustment.”

But it was Telugu director Arun Prasad who gave Kishan a big break when it came to shot composition.

“My son, at times, appeared ahead of his age. This impressed many filmmakers. When shooting for Sudeep’s Chandu, Arun Prasad asked Kishan to experiment with shot composition. In fact, he was so impressed with Kishan that he shot a few scenes suggested by Kishan. That gave him a lot of confidence,” Srikanth says.

Apart from donning the director’s hat at a very young age, Kishan has several other feats to his credit. He became a playback singer at the age of six and sang in four Kannada films apart from having three private albums! He claims he is also good at film editing and sound engineering.

We wonder if all of this has taken a toll on Kishan’s schooling and education. His father says no.

“Normally, child prodigies are not so great with academics. But Kishan is a bright student. His score is constantly above 90 per cent and ranks among the top four in his class. His only grouse is that he has so far been unable to beat the topper in his class!”

Kishan’s parents made sure that the young genius took a break from his film career for the sake of his studies “We wanted him to focus on his studies. We are giving him the encouragement that he needs for his second film, now.”

Ask Kishan where he sees himself heading and his answer too is futuristic. “I foresee a lot of demand for 3-D films in the near future. Even Indian cinema will adopt 3-D technology as the trend is changing.

After I complete my class 10, I intend to study 3-D film technology from New York.”

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 51

// FEATURES

They say what cricket can’t sometimes do in India, cinema surely does. And vice versa. How we make such a song and dance of the whole movie watching experience! It’s pure frenzy, the late Michael Jackson kind, that Rajinikanth at well above 60 dancing with someone well below 25 can create. Or the magic of Amitabh Bachchan who has all his life slipped in and out of characters with the ease of a man clearly possessed by some supernatural powers.

Since art transcends cultures and geographies, what is the north or south of the same nation, anyway? Mona Ramavat explores the phenomenon of the quintessential Indian actor who is the quintessential Indian first.

Crazed fans in south India have made loving and worshipping Rajini a religion. North Indians are as proud of Amitabh as they are probably of the Taj Mahal or the fact that they are Indian. But to a fan of Indian cinema in faraway Germany or Egypt or China, these are Indian actors. Period. It doesn’t matter if one was born in some unpronounceable sounding place in Tamil Nadu and the other miles away in Uttar Pradesh. They are Indian actors essentially. Add to those two names that of Kamal Haasan. When his films are seen in the international festivals, it’s the Indian actor Kamal Haasan that the global audience applauds for.

Think beautiful Indian female leads and it was Madhuri Dixit that even someone from a village in down south Kerala thought of.

Although they would have seen her dance to energetic Bollywood hip breaking numbers but probably didn’t understand the lyrics. It’s Aishwarya Rai Bachchan now. Born in a Tulu family from Karnataka but became the face of the Indian actress in every remote corner that has a projector or DVD player.

‘When are you making your Bollywood debut?’ Or ‘How was your experience of working in the other language film?’ surely feature among the list of questions that are asked of most southern stars in media interviews these days. It’s sort of taken. It’s no surprise that Aishwarya started what is now her glorious acting career with the Tamil film, Iruvar and just a few years later became the queen of Bollywood. Her latest costar, Vikram in Raavanan is making his Bollywood debut with Raavan and is already a much talked about ‘new face’ among the Hindi speaking movie watchers of India. His way is paved for perhaps quite some powerful performances in Hindi films after this one.

Another Tamil hottie taking Hindi classes amidst acting and gyming schedules is Suriya who will appear in Ram Gopal Verma’s much awaited Rakta Charitra. Talking of Ramu, (and good looking men) we couldn’t have missed out Kannada star Sudeep, who featured in the Phoonk series for his Bollywood debut.

Then again there’s Tamil sensation Trisha who will soon make her presence felt in Bollywood with Khatta Meetha in which she’s playing the lead along with Akshay Kumar. The film is directed

52 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

by Priyadarshan, who is a Malayalee by birth and has directed several Hindi films, besides Tamil. A whole lot of those comedies – Hungama, Hera Pheri, Bhool Bhoolaia, Mere Baap Pehle Aap, Dhol – have made him one of the most sought after directors in Bollywood. His critically acclaimed National Award winning Tamil film, Kanchivaram starring Prakash Raj was a real artwork.

Prakash Raj is definitely a rather typical example of the quintessential Indian actor. He’s featured in all four southern industries so far and also forayed into Bollywood with Wanted, the Hindi remake of the huge hit, Pokiri (Telugu). Prakash is by birth a Kannadiga.

Well, so are Deepika Padukone and Shilpa Shetty. Deepika made her acting debut with a Kannada film too before Om Shanti Om permanently propelled her to the big league of Bollywood. Sameera Reddy and Amrita Rao are probably Telugu only in their genes. But otherwise, certainly cosmopolitan Indian actors. Sameera made her Malayalam debut too.

Other shining examples include Genelia and Asin. Quick learners like them always have a chance in Bollywood. It really doesn’t matter where they come from. A recent visit to South America had one film journalist amused to the hilt. A bunch of youngsters saw him and asked in the limited English they knew if he was Indian.

When he confirmed he was, one of them ran in to fetch a film poster of Asin. It was Ghajini most likely. The Argentinean was most excited that this scribe came from Asin’s land! ‘You Indian. She Indian,’ he remarked amidst delighted laughter. He couldn’t have said, ‘you Indian. She south Indian.’

But did you know that the National Award winning actress, Priyanka Chopra made her acting debut with a Tamil film? She hardly knew anything about films and acting but was ambitious as hell, so like any professional artiste, grabbed an offer she thought would at least introduce her to the film industry, and ended up doing Tamizhan, without bothering what language film she’s doing. Imagine: Punjabi girl cheered on by Tamil fans. But so are Tammanaah Bhatia, Charmee Kaur and Kajal Aggarwal. Shriya Saran’s case is interesting. She was born in Haridwar to Rajasthani parents and created quite a stir in the southern industry. In Bollywood, she is known as a southern star!

In the Telugu industry, barring a couple of girls who are Telugu by birth, the others are all non-Telugu. So it is with Tamil and Kannada and to a large extent, Malayalam. And that’s not the case with the girls alone. An exchange of talent between industries is a rather done thing. Take Sonu Sood. A Punjabi again and one of the

most sought after villains in Telugu films. Rahul Dev too. And this is hardly a new trend. Ambrish Puri was admired for his negative roles in southern films more than two decades ago.

Naseeruddin Shah has been known for his one odd Kannada or Telugu role that he took up for the sheer challenge of it; to add to him as an actor. Anant Nag and Girish Karnad are other such examples.

Add to that Mohanlal, who will be featuring in a multilingual with Amitabh Bachchan. Bachchan appeared in the Kannada film, Amrut Dhare not too long ago and will soon be seen in a Telugu film too, being directed by Puri Jagannath. And although his Teen Patti wasn’t such a hit, his portrayal of the humble intelligent Madrasi was appreciated so much. In the same film was also Madhavan, who happens to speak five Indian languages fluently, has acted in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films and is adored by girls who don’t even know he is Tamilian by origin. Siddharth too, for that matter. And add to the list Rambha and Nagma and Sadaa. Rambha not only did Hindi but is also doing Bengali cinema. And Nagma in her own right is some sensation in Bhojpuri cinema.

But let’s flash back for a moment. Everyone from Vaijanti Mala to Hema Malini to Waheeda Rahman were southern in origin but turned into the most popular and acclaimed Indian actresses of their times. And how could the Bollywood of the 80s been complete without Jayaprada dancing on drums galore alongside Jitendra?

Or Sridevi who came in even earlier offered us her histrionics. And Rekha, who is the daughter of the legendary Gemini Ganesan, but didn’t keep herself confined to Tamil cinema Guru Dutt was not born Bengali but grew up imbibing the Bengali culture so much that many think he was one. He even added the Bengali touch to his films, but will always be remembered as the handsome brooding Indian actor. The same was the case with Mithun Chakravarthy some years later. Rahul Bose and Rituparno Sengupta, more recently. Then again, there’s Ravi Kishan who is hailed as the Shah Rukh Khan of Bhojpuri cinema but is now a more than known name in Hindi too.

The examples are as interesting as they are numerous. It’s considered the done thing to not think of language as a barrier for an actor and act on regardless. Yes, greater recognition and better chances (plus more money that comes with it) prompt many actors to look beyond their industries and do other language films. But essentially, cinema is art and art certainly goes beyond boundaries.

So language, parentage, origin of birth are really not what actors are known by, finally on screen. They are quintessentially Indian, therefore, quintessentially Indian actors.

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 53

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sty esutra

Star of the month

KAJAL AGGARWAL

Kajal oozes graceful charm at the Darling audio launch.

Desi just got sexy!

Kajal can sure start a trend with this hair!

This outfit is just too right!

Guess Venky likes his geek glasses. >

With legs like that, we wonder why Kajal isn’t showing them off more often!

Classic! Need we say more?

- Maya Raj

Power star Pawan Kalyan may have done just over a dozen films in his career but he is undoubtedly the biggest youth icon and a celebrity who holds his own in the Telugu industry. His unwavering focus meant that his roles were all superbly rehearsed and executed. The ease with which he played each one of these was unique and his styling was conceptualised to perfection too. Toli Prema, the biggest blockbuster of its time, turned Pawan’s loose fitted button-up shirts into a must have. Whether it be suave suits in Badri, sling backpacks in Khushi, vests and hoodies in Jhonny, layered pants in Gudumba Shankar, out-of-this-world cargos in Balu ABCDEFG, or his casual cool look in the rest of his movies, he created a style sensation with every one of his transformations. His latest release, Komaram Pulli is all about tough sophistication and it has also brought the moush back with a vengeance! - Maya Raj

MADE IN MADE OUT

sty esutra

Wondering why your favourite star doesn’t have the perfect 10 she deserves? Just log on to www.southscope.in so you too can get in on the action and rate the stars that will be featured in Style Meter next month.

TER

E ME

STYL

*Ratings below were derived from the online Southscope poll.

- Maya Raj

9.5/10

8/10

WOWIEEE!!!!!! Now we’re talking, Anushka

7/10

The red string popping out of Neetu’s hair and the dead stare on her face are waaay too distracting for us to notice the rest of her ensemble.

6.5/10

Shraddha scores high with her simple yet stunning outfit.

6/10

Weren’t pointy shoes out like nearly half a decade ago Sindura?

6/10

Pretty goes with Priya!

Doesn’t it folks?

5/10

We get that Padmapriya is trying to pull off a classic hair-do with a fun, flowery outfit – our question is why?

Prints are all the rage right now and Richa’s very much onto it.

6/10

Anita looks a little more ordinary and a little less celeb in this gaudy pink number.

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 57

SOUTHSCOPE BLOGBUSTERS We have decided to turn you readers into writers! Whether you are the serious film buff, casual movie goer or simply have something to say about southern cinema, here’s your chance. So blogger, blog on!

>> Louella

I LOVE SOUTH INDIAN HEROES

I am a 16 year old student from Cracow, Poland, teenager, cine goer, music addict, interval junkie.

Dil se lover of Indian films.

How it all began: Indian movies aren’t popular and known in Poland because very few Indians live here. Kabhi khushi kabhie gam was the first Indian movie shown in cinemas. I watched it in early 2006 and I really liked it but somehow it did not have a lasting impact on me. Two years later I saw Pokiri, my first south Indian movie, in a theatre. My love affair with south Indian cinema began then. Bujjigadu followed soon. I fell in love with Prabhas at first sight. I decided to explore other south Indian language films. Vaaranam Aayiram was my first Tamil movie. Then Kadhal happened.

I watched Pokkiri soon after. Nannu Penungal was my first Malayalam movie. Gaalipata was my very first sandalwood movie and I loved it.

Passenger was a movie which helped me grow up for serious cinema.

Why is my blog called ‘Masala w bigosie’?

Masala - In this world are two kinds of people: one, who think about cuisine when they hear this word, and the second think about cinema. Well, I’m for sure from the third kind - I think about the Masala mirchi pillar verse from Bommali – my favourite Prabhas song!

W - Polish word for in.

Bigosie - Delicious polish dish. I’m sure you haven’t tasted it yet, so you will never know what you are missing out on. Along with other dishes like peerages, vodka and kielbasa, it’s a kind of symbol of Poland.

Why this combination?

Indian cinema is not so popular in Poland; I seem crazy to people when I say ‘I love Indian movies because they don’t know anything about it and probably think that the movie lasts four hours, has songs in stupid moments. I seem crazier when I start singing Aakaleste Annam pedatha when somebody says ‘I’m starving.’ In Poland, everything looks grey. In India, all the colours of a rainbow are all around. I just try to spice up my life by watching these wonderful movies.

Why south cinema?

That’s a tough question.

My introduction to south Indian movies was quite by chance. As I mentioned earlier, in

Poland there are very few Indians and Indian movies are mostly on DVD; in cinemas there are special shows but not regular screenings.

Anyway, one cinema hall in Cracow was screening Pokiri. I was quite excited because I had no idea about southern cinema (it was in September 2008.) I loved every bit of it and it’s still one of my favourite movies.

Mahesh is still a prince in my heart.

Six months later, the same cinema Kino pod Baranami was organising a weekend with Telugu movies. I’ve seen Yamadonga, Arjun and Chirutha. Later, after some time, I found Bujjigadu by chance. That was a miracle for me - I found my hero! Prabhas was awesome. Then I started exploring Tamil and stumbled upon Suriya, my very first Tamil crush. Of course, later I tried Malayalam and Kannada too. I adore Malayalam cinema for its mind blowing variety of subjects. I admire Mohanlal and Mammootty; these guys rock.

My knowledge of Kannada industry is very little. I’ve seen less than 10 movies, but this industry has charmed me - I’ve seen only two movies which I instantly liked.

I love Telugu movie heroes! They really have guts (and some good knives too) and it’s a pleasure to watch some alpha males fighting for their lady love, who invariably is a stupid girl. At such times I feel like screaming ‘Hey you, look at me!

Leave that dumb chick and come here!’

The moustache thing was scary a year ago. Now I’m so used to the stubble and I prefer actors like Nag, Pawan or Srihari. I love it when they are dressed like cowboys, sometimes just that is enough to make me happy. Well, policemen are my weakness too.

I also love villains. Sonu Sood was superb in every movie where he was bad. I’ve seen Athadu, Ek Niranjan, Arundhati, Anjaneyulu and Ashok so far. Each villain could be the hero.

Prakash Raj, the universal actor, is one of the rare talented people who can be as good a villain as he is a parent like in Bommarillu, Kotha Bangaru Lokam. Srihari is another cool guy. I loved him in Gokulamlo Seetha. I also know that he won the State Award, Nandi, for his performance. Well, he’s awesome. There is also Mukesh Rishi. But he’s just average for me and also Ashish Vidyarthi whose most memorable performances were for sure in Pokiri and Athidi.

Southcope invites readers to send in their blogs on southern cinema to info@southscope.in

TELUGU // LYRICIST

VETURI SUNDARARAMA MURTHY 1936-2010

VIVA VETERAN VETURI

Legendary poet, lyricist, scholar and one of the favourite sons of Telugu cinema, Veturi Sundararama Murthy’s demise is an irreparable loss to the industry. His contribution to Telugu cinema is such that he will always be remembered with affection and awe for the unmatchable body of work he’s left behind.

Veturi Sundararama Murthy was born into an illustrious family of scholars and writers at Kolluru village in Guntur in 1936. He grew up to become one of the most revered poets of his generation. He is one of the very few poets who could combine unfettered sensuality with classicism. No wonder then that both purists and the masses could identify with his verses and made him a lyricist of choice for a whole generation of Telugu filmmakers.

He was only the second lyricist ever in Telugu cinema to win the National Flm Award for Best Lyrics for the song Raalipoye puvva neeku ragaalenduke from the movie Maathrudevobhava in the year 1994. His songs in classics like Sankarabharanam and Sagara Sangamam by ace director K Viswanadh won him national acclaim. He also won the Nandi award eight times in his illustrious career. As a writer, he won laurels for his book Sirikakolanu Chinnadi from Gyanpith Awardee, late Dr Viswanatha Satyanarayana.

THE WINNING COMBINATION! Super girl Anushka Shetty sports Southscope.

A disciple of the legendary Viswanatha Satyanarayana, he began his career as a journalist and worked for prominent dailies like Andhra Patrika and Andhra Prabha initially. Veturi got his first break in movies through Dr K Viswanath while working as a journalist. Later, he would go on to pen hundreds of songs.

His demise is a huge loss for Telugu cinema.

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bioscope

TELUGU

RAMA RAMA KRISHNA KRISHNA Cast: Ram, Arjun, Priya Anand,

Bindu Madhavi, Nasser,

Sayaji Shinde and others Direction: Srivas Music: M M Keeravani

Good Rama Rama Krishna Krishna is an unapologetic commercial entertainer. At least it was meant to be one. Punch dialogues, an ensemble cast, two pretty ladies dancing around trees, a superman hero, a nasty villain, some kickass action episodes and a happy ending . . . Rama Rama Krishna Krishna has everything!

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Ram! The film might have just been called that and it would not have made any difference. It’s all about the hero, Rama Krishna who’s been modeled on character straits of lord Rama and Krishna. As silly as it sounds, Ram though did a great job and carries the film on his shoulders right through. The leading ladies Priya Anand and Bindhu Madhavi accentuate the eye-candy effect!

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Brahmandam as LSR (Lechipoyina Subbarao) provides the comic relief in his inimitable style. Brahmanadam is the most hilarious part of the film and there quite a few such situations.

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Could have been better...

Everything! There is always scope for improvement you see. But come to think of it, seems like both the audiences and our filmmakers are drawn to films for the sheer love they share for cinema no matter how old or over done the ideas are we will still love them. May be we like the comfort of familiarity!

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Technically too the film has nothing much to write home about. Be it the cinematography or editing it’s all a little too corny! Perhaps that’s not such a bad thing after all.

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It’s one of those films where the first half is alright, the interval episode is good and the second half turns out to be a little too predictable. Perhaps the climax could have been better. Like in life, and more so in Telugu cinema, it’s hard to avoid the cliché!

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- Karthik Pasupulate 60 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

bioscope

TELUGU

ANDARI BANDHUVAYA Cast: Sharwanand, Padmapriya, Naresh, Anand, Pragati Direction: Chandra Siddarth Music: Anup Rubens

Good Andari Bandhuvaya is one gospel of a good samaritan film that expounds human values and the importance of kindness, sharing and empathy in our lives. In short it is the candy floss of message oriented cinema! It’s one of those feel good, do good, be good Chandra Siddartha films that seeks to make the world a better place.

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The film is shot with an aesthetic that we got to see in K Vishwanath’s brand of films. It’s simple yet profound and the film unfolds at a pace of its own. The camera work and editing also follow suit. The music by Anup Rubens deserves a special mention. Soft, classic, melodious and yet contemporary at the same time, it provides the perfect audio ambience. Yes it also helped that the songs were well written.

n

The characters in the film though overloaded with goodness are reasonably well etched and more importantly follow a logical progression throughout the film. The quality of acting on display was pretty good as well. Yesteryear’s actor Naresh put in a mature performance and Sharwanand was very convincing in his role as the habitual do-gooder. Padmapriya perhaps had the best role and she was the show stealer.

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Could have been better...

The simplicity of the film turns out to be both its biggest strength and weakness. Coming to the message . . . what can you say; we know them all don’t we?

n

Remember the stories our grandmother used to tell us to put us to sleep, when we were kids. We all loved them so much yet after a point of time grew out them eventually. Andari Bandhuvaya is like one of those bedtime stories we loved so much because we were a little too pure of thought and a touch too willing. Most importantly we did not know better!

n

There’s no denying the film has some moments definitely. But it’s a little too good natured to digest. There is so much righteous kindnesses in the film, it could make you cry!

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- Karthik Pasupulate JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 61

bioscope

KANNADA

PRITHVI Cast

: Puneet Rajkumar, Parvathi Menon, Avinash, Sadhu Kokila, Ramesh Bhat, Srinivasamurthy

Direction: Jacob Verghese Music

: Manikanth Kadri

Good The story is based on a contemporary issue, which is hogging the limelight since the last two years in Karnataka – illegal mining of iron ore – by ministers in power. Director Jacob Verghese has done a splendid job of challenging the government in power to highlight the issue.

n

Could have been better...

At times, the film appears to be fast-paced considering the story length. It also gives an impression that it is not a commercial film, unlike Puneet’s other movies.

n

The characters resembling the current ministers, who are allegedly involved in illegal mining, could have been shown in a better manner.

n

Health issues, environmental problems and corruption have been depicted in a realistic manner. The shot where Puneet Rajkumar offers two different glasses of water - one containing polluted river water and another containing mineral water - to the minister, to highlight the impact of mining on commoners, is captured well.

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Puneet Rajkumar, for the first time, plays the role of an honest civil servant and excels at it.

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Comic relief is minimal in this film, which is loaded with powerful dialogue. Comedian Sadhu Kokila has been sparingly used. He fails to make his presence felt.

The on-screen chemistry between Parvathi Menon and Puneet is amazing.

Usually, the music in Puneet’s films is a hit. But music director Manikanth Kadri disappoints in Prithvi. The track rendered by Shruthi Haasan - her first in Kannada - is the only saving grace.

The stunt sequences (some were also shot extensively in Vishakapatnam) are breath-taking. By far, this is the best by Puneet in his recent films. The stunts in the climax are a treat.

- Aravind G Shivkamal

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62 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

KALEIDOSCOPE

Pic: M N Bushan

Pic: M N Bushan

TELUGU / KANNADA

Bindu Madhavi grabbed all the attention at the launch of a new mobile brand in Hyderabad. She looked dazzling after shedding that flab.

Pic: M N Bushan

Lakshmi Prassana and Manoj Manchu had a good time at the Jadugar Anand show at Hari Hara Kala Bhavan in Secunderabad.

Pic: Manu

Rana seems to be on the leadership trail even after Leader. The actor was seen supporting Red Cross Day, as he visited the Government school at Film Nagar for a blood donation camp.

Shivarajkumar and Sada on the sets of Mailari in Bengaluru. This is the actor’s 99th film.

Pic: Manu

Leading Kannada film producer H C Sathyan receiving the special recognition award for his contribution to Kannada cinema, by the Public Relations Council of India. Presenting the award is former Union Minister Bhishma Narain Singh.

Pic: Manu

Pic: M N Bushan

The film logo for Adi Nuvve was launched by the lead actors, Aksha and Santosh along with the crew.

Actors Vijay and Catherine Tresa, producer K Manju, music director Gurukiran at the audio launch of Shankar IPS in Mysore.

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 63

Looking

BAC K Film: Hombisilu

Director Geethapriya

Producer: B S Somasundar

Music: Rajan-Nagendra

Year of release: 1978

Cast: Vishnuvardhana, Aarathi, Vaishali Kasaravalli, Shivaram, Leelavathi

Aravind G Shivkamal revisits the unusual Kannada classic, Hombisilu and comes away knowing a thing or two about one of the late Vishnuvardhana’s most acclaimed films The trend setting Hombisilu (Twilight), a soft romantic film is so popular till date that its songs are listed among the top ten classical love songs in Kannada even today. This film completely changed the image of Vishnuvardhana, who till then was seen in a number of roles – angry young man, lover boy; and the friendly man next door.

In Hombisilu, he plays the role of a duty-conscious professional doctor, who finds it difficult to juggle between two women in his life.

The movie is based on a novel written by Usha Navarathnaram, known for portraying working women who face challenges on the home and personal fronts. Most of her novels revolve around women doctors, who are caught between meeting the expectations of the family and the demands of their profession. Though Hombisilu too had a woman-centric theme, it was Vishnuvardhana who stole the limelight from Aarathi (the female protagonist of the film). He went on to win the best actor award for that year. It was the first ever novel-based movie of Vishnuvardhana though it was his 28th film.

Hombisilu also sent a clear message to the Kannada film industry, which was at that time mostly churning out movies with super heroes. This film was a trend setter in the sense that it proved, novels can be made into successful films too provided they had the right mix of performance, dialogue and direction. Later in his career, Vishnuvardhana acted in another film based on Usha Navaratnaram’s best-seller Bandhana, which propelled him to the cult status which only Rajkumar had enjoyed. If Hombisilu earned Vishnuvardhana the tag of a charming doctor, Bandhana earned him the title of a sacrificial doctor! The star actor himself had acknowledged the role of Usha Navarathnaram’s novels in shaping his acting career.

The plot of Hombisilu is simple. Vishnuvardhana is a doctor for whom professional commitment comes ahead of family and everything else. Aarathi happens to meet him in due course. Though he admires her for her professional approach, she mistakes it for love.

Vishnuvardhana is keen on seeing an assistant in his wife. Bowing to family pressures, she marries him but refuses to consummate the marriage owing to ego issues.

In the meantime, Vishnuvardhana hires an assistant (Vaishali Kasaravalli), who takes advantage of the differences between the doctor couple. As the assistant appears to be more and more of

64 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

a subtle seductress, it further creates a rift between Aarathi and Vishnuvardhana. But eventually, all’s well in the end with the couple realising their mistakes and finding a common ground.

The performances of Vishnuvardhana and Aarathi are outstanding.

Aarathi is excellent in portraying the unhappy wife who keeps her emotions under check. The tension between the three characters and their emotions are depicted in a realistic and convincing manner. Aarathi’s performance was so good that back then, lady doctors in Bengaluru felicitated her for depicting their travails on screen in a simple but effective way. Subsequently, Aarathi essayed similar roles in several films.

The film also brought the best out of Vaishali Kasaravalli, wife of renowned filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli. Though Vaishali acted in a few films and went on to direct TV serials, she is best remembered for her role in Hombisilu.

According to Kannada industry pundits, Hombisilu would have been impossible if not for Geethapriya. One of the handful of successful directors who were adept at penning lyrics and directing a film at ease, Geethapriya was a master craftsman with attention to the most minute of details. He worked for more than one year on the script. He had finalised everything – from the first shot to last shot and location. That was his professional approach to the film. Only when he was ready with the project, he approached Vishnuvardhana and Aarathi who had acted together in several films earlier.

The songs of Hombisilu immortalised the film. Even now, fans associate the tracks with Vishnuvardhana forever. Two tracks in particular stand out – Jeeva Veene… and Neerabittu Nelada Mele Doney… Both were penned by Geethapriya. Rendered by SPB and S Janaki, the songs are a must play at all public performances by leading orchestra bands even today. Another track Maagiya Chaliyalli ee Bisi Yeko was a hot number featuring Vishnuvardhana and Vaishali picturised on the sea side. Hoovinda Hoovige Haaruva Dumbi…was a poetic song and it is among the top 50 all-time hits.

This song depicted the inner turmoil of the female protagonist.

The movie completed 100 days at several centres and Vishnuvardhana’s fan following among women swelled. It ranks among the personal best films of the late actor.

screentest

Rikee Chatterjee, a professional model enjoys every bit of walking the ramp and has been a part of Chennai International fashion Week, Bangalore Fashion Week was the second runner up for Dabur Gulabari Miss Fresh Face, Hyderabad. She has also walked the ramp for Manish Malhotra, Satya Paul, Archana Kochar among others. Rikee also enjoys travelling and photography apart from dancing and street plays. A hardcore movie buff, Rikee pretty much grew up on films!

RIKEE CHATTERJEE

Southscope invites aspiring actors to send in their portfolio pictures to vrinda@southscope.in JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 65

AROUND THE WORLD IN 24 FRAMES //

OF THIEVES WITHIN… It’s not the sort of film that will leave you in tears, but shock you into silence with sheer simplicity that’s profound till the last black frame. Rahul Ganguly revisits the Italian classic on two wheels.

Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette) (1948) Director : Vittorio De Sica Runtime : 93 min Country : Italy Language : Italian Color : Black and White

66 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

Tender, touching, beautiful. Vittorio de Sica’s Bicycle Thieves is all that and much more. The sort that dazzles, sans sparks.

Bicycle Thieves is in essence a simple tale. It tells the story of a father and son and their relationship in times of war and poverty. For the first time, the film showed actual street shots replete with non actors in a war torn Rome. This was miles away from the glossy, fantasy films that came out of Italy at that time, which were little more than Cary Grant-esque affairs with happy endings. Italy at this time was barely recovering from the fall of Mussolini’s fascist regime.

The time was ripe for Neorealist filmmakers like De Sica to break the mould of conventional filmmaking.

REELING IN REALITY Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola, the father and son, were both hired off of the streets. Maggiorani was a poor factory worker. Staiola was a child on the streets. Their performances are so real, so completely genuine that they rank among the finest of the era.

Since the fresh breed of filmmakers were out to break conventions, they started by featuring non professional actors.

No impeccably made up stars mouthing dialogues in controlled lighting. This was filmmaking at its grittiest best, shot in real locations. In a sense then, Bicycle Thieves was a reflection of the average thinking man in Italy at that time. While the run-of-themill films celebrated glamour, glossing over the grim prospect of life after the war, the school of Neorealist filmmakers chose to return to reality. It’s as if the films yearned to tell the world of the state of disarray in the country, venting its post-war anxieties on a wider audience.

The opening sequence sets the mood for what is to follow. There is rampant unemployment, and everybody out on the street is looking for a job. Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) is a poor daily wage worker desperate to feed his family. He is offered a job of putting up film posters across town, but there is a catch – he’ll be required to have a bicycle in order to get the job. Antonio has a bicycle, but it happens to be in a pawn shop. Desperate to get his bicycle back, he seeks help from his wife Maria (Lianella Carell), who agrees to sell off their linen bed sheets in exchange for money.

The rest of the story, charting the trials Antonio and his young son Bruno (played by the young Enzo Staiola) is simplicity itself. After getting back the bicycle from the pawn shop, Antonio goes about town putting up posters. Here, Bicycle Thieves also served as a gentle satire of the times, mockingly showing Antonio putting up glossy posters of Hollywood actor and screen siren Rita Hayworth.

Right then, a thief chances upon the bicycle and steals it.

Antonio is left alone and dejected, knowing full well that the loss of the bicycle means that he would lose his job. His family would go hungry. He decides to get help from his 12 year old son, Bruno. They embark on a series of misadventures to get back their bicycle. They roam the city streets in search of the thief.

Bicycle Thieves set itself apart from the crop of films coming out of Europe at the time, especially in the way it retained the idea of telling a simple story. There are no flashbacks, no sudden jumps and no dreamy dissolves. The camera follows the characters as naturally as people would walk behind others in a crowd on the street. A dejected Antonio is seen holding his son’s hand and scouring the streets of Rome in search of his bicycle.

There are no witnesses, so there is no proof. “You live and you suffer,” he tells Bruno.

He decides to splurge whatever little money he has on a simple meal of bread and cheese with his son. They savour the moment, even though both know that the future lies uncertain.

That single moment, with Antonio and little Bruno enjoying their small portion of food, forms the motif of the film. The scene plays out the human spirit and its will to capture fleeting moments of joy in times of despair. The poignant shot is at once heartbreaking, yet brimming with an indomitable zeal to endure and survive.

Antonio finally does catch the bicycle thief. He chases the thief into a brothel, grabs him and demands his bicycle back.

A crowd forms, the police are called. It is futile, since he has no witnesses. Soon, a dejected Antonio is asked to leave, faced with a jeering mob that forms at the scene. Unlike contemporary films at that time, there is no divine justice for the protagonist, much like life.

Small wonder that Bicycle Thieves is still considered one of the greatest films of all time. The simplicity of the story ensured that audiences embraced it for decades. Released in 1949, the film was given a special Academy Award in 1950. When Sight and Sound magazine began their now acclaimed Greatest Films Polls each decade, Bicycle Thieves was the first film to be declared the greatest film of all time. It has since remained in the list of top ten films for years.

Coming back to the story, we see Antonio defeated by forces beyond his control. Unlike the Hollywood poster Antonio was pasting on the wall, his world does not have heroes. Rome after World War II was straddled with desperate men, women and children struggling to survive. And that is precisely what you see on screen. De Sica deliberately underplays the camera.

There is not a single dramatic moment, only brief splashes of poignancy. In his hands, the camera does something altogether new: it looks at what we should be looking at.

The final sequence is particularly hard-hitting, even without frequent camera angle changes. We see a game of football in a nearby arena; Antonio sits on a curb with his son and begins to weep at the loss of his livelihood. They see a row of unattended bicycles in front of them. After a moment of deliberation, Antonio tells Bruno to take the bus back home. He is torn between his sense of righteousness and the need for survival.

Here the filmmaker takes his time with the shot. Carefully, we see the turmoil in Antonio’s eyes as he slowly breaks down. Left with no alternative to survival, he gives in and steals a bicycle and attempts to pedal away. His getaway attempt is foiled when he is caught by a bunch of bystanders. The crowd drags him to the police headquarters.

Meanwhile, Bruno still waits for his bus and sees the events unfold in front of him. The mob takes pity on Antonio when they see the tears in Bruno’s eyes and let him go. Humiliated, Antonio is a broken man as he grabs hold of his son’s hand and starts their long walk home. They walk aimlessly and blend in the crowd.

Like all films from the school of Neorealism that preceded and followed Bicycle Thieves, the end remains open. As Neorealist filmmaker and a contemporary of De Sica, Cesare Zavattini famously remarked, “the film remains unresolved from a practical point of view simply because ‘this is reality.’” This is precisely where the film draws its forceful impact, its sheer simplicity, wide eyed innocence and likeness to the struggles of everyday life.

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 67

03 JUST MAATH MAATHALLI

04 MADHRASAPATTINAM

10 AMBASAMUDRAM

09 SARVAM

AMBANI

09 MAANJA VELU

08 SYE AATA

10 AARYA-2

08 BALE PANDIYA

MURATUSINGAM

07 IRUMBUKOTTAI

07 LEADER

06 GOLIMAAR

05 AWAARA

VARUVAAYA

06 VINNAITHAANDI

03 SIMHA

04 DARLING

05 BAANA KATHADI

02 YE MAYA CHESAVE

10 RAAJ, THE SHOWMAN

09 PARICHAYA

08 MANASAARE

07 MALEYALI JOTHEYALI

06 SHANKAR IPS

05 SAVAARI

04 RAAM

02 AAPTA RAKSHAKA

03 PAIYAA

01 RAMA RAMA

KRISHNA KRISHNA

01 PRITHVI

KANNADA

02 SURA

01 RAAVANAN

TAMIL

TELUGU

top 10

10 NAYAKAN

09 AAGATHAN

08 THANTHONNI

07 PRAMANI

06 JANAKAN

05 ALEXANDER THE GREAT

04 ORU NAAL VARUM

03 KADHA THUDARUNNU

02 PAPPI APPACHA

01 POKKIRI RAJA

MALAYALAM

KARTHIK

10 KARTHIK CALLING

09 JODHAA AKBAR

08 BADMAASH COMPANY

07 LOVE AAJ KAL

GHAZAB KAHANI

06 AJAB PREM KI

05 PRINCE

04 3 IDIOTS

03 HOUSEFULL

02 KITES

01 RAAVAN

BOLLYWOOD

10 COUPLES RETREAT - OST

CLUB CLASSICS

09 MOS - SATURDAY NIGHT

08 AKON - FREEDOM

GUIDE 2009

07 MOS - CLUBBERS

THIS IS IT

06 MICHAEL JACKSON -

05 POP IT ROCK IT

THE COLLECTION

04 BONEY M

03 IN THE CLUB 2009

KING OF POP

02 MICHAEL JACKSON -

01 MINISTRY OF SOUND ONE

INTERNATIONAL

karaoke // kannada

Gaaliye Nodu Baa… Deepada Narthanaa…

Rathriye Needu Baa… Maayada Darpanaa….(Darpana) Ninnanthe Kaadillaa Innyaroo Nannaa…

Ninninda Ee Paadu Innoonoo Channaa…

Ade Preethiya Lakshana…

Gaaliye Nodu Baa… Deepada Narthanaa…

Sanchaari Mana Sereyaada Kshanaa…

Yede Goodalli Chandrodayaa…

Sihiyaada Ale Shuruvaadagalee…

Nija Sangaathi Neenadeyaa…

Kanasu Tajaa Ide… Nanasu Beresonaa…

Ade Preethiya Lakshanaa…

SANCHAARI Singers : Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal Music : Arjun Lyrics : Jayanth Kaikini

Gaaliye Nodu Baa… Deepada Narthanaa…

Hesaranna Saha Marewantha Bhayaa…

Idu Enintha Aakarshane…

Marulaagadale Maru Janmavidee…

Bigi Mounane Sambhashanee…

Oggattu Ondagide…

Jotheye Bidisonaa…

Ade Preethiya Lakshanaa Gaaliye Nodu Baa… Deepada Narthanaa…

Gaaliye Nodu Baa… Deepada Narthanaa…

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 69

PREDICTIONS // FUNDA

01

(People born on dates 1st, 10th, 19th or 28th)

Astro Numerologist: Bhavikk Sangghvi

Vocation

Travel

Your movable and immovable property will get augmented.

You are likely to go on long journeys this month.

Romance

Assets

03

JUNE PREDICTIONS

Family and Friends

2010

Assets

If you are in a job, you are likely to get promoted because of a new policy or there will be permanent increase in your income due to other factors.

There will be major expenditure on the maintenance and repair work of property, vehicles and machinery.

One of your family members is about to relocate to some other city.

You may also be rethinking a casual love affair.

(People born on dates 3rd, 12th, 21st or 30th)

Health

Vocation

Your health might get affected slightly due to excessive work load.

This month is very auspicious for new accomplishments in your professional life.

Travel You might go on a journey for higher education.

Romance On occasions, you or your partner may feel some kind of communication gap, but things will sort out on their own.

02

(People born on dates 2nd, 11th, 20th or 29th) Vocation Be cautious about getting misguided.

Assets There might be financial imbalances due to sudden and abrupt expenditures.

Family and Friends Problems concerning your siblings or children will get sorted out on their own.

70 SOUTHSCOPE JUNE’10

intermittently.

Assets Sometime during mid month, you are likely to face some tensions regarding your old and mature property.

Family and Friends Children of marriageable age will get married this month.

Health Problems like blood pressure or anxiety might disturb you intermittently.

Travel A probability of transfer on the work front is unlikely.

Romance Mostly, you’ll find relationships moving and stimulating.

04

(People born on dates 4th, 13th, 22nd or 31st)

Health

Vocation

Minor ailments like stomach disorders, knee pain, bile disorders or diabetes might bother you

Be careful of over expenditure or carelessness.

Family and Friends Your family members are going to progress leap and bounds this month.

Health As the month progresses, your working efficiency will improve surprisingly.

Travel You might get transferred but to some place of your choice.

Romance It will be a very normal month for relationships.

05 (People born on dates 5th, 14th or 23rd) Vocation In the beginning of the month, there will be lack of direction and harmony in your efforts and you might get disappointed with the outcome of your extra efforts.

Assets You might incur some expenditure on repair of immovable property or machinery.

Family and Friends Prosperity will be your family’s middle name this month!

Health Your health might get affected slightly but only due to excessive work load.

Travel Some instability is indicated

Romance This month might not be favourable in terms of love.

06

(People born on dates 6th, 15th or 24th) Vocation Most of your pending tasks might get accomplished.

Assets You will use some of your savings by the end of the month.

Family and Friends Your parental property will get divided among you and your siblings.

Health Ailments like stomach disorders, knee pain, bile disorders or diabetes might disturb you occasionally.

Travel You might get an opportunity for training or to go abroad for higher studies.

Romance You are likely to have new affairs or revisit old ones.

(People born on dates 7th, 16th or 25th)

Health

Vocation

Travel

A promotion is highly likely on the professional front because of the favourable planetary positions this month.

There are very lean chances of a transfer.

Assets There is a probability of detachment in your business and property which shall prove advantageous to you in the long run.

Family and Friends Some of your friends or relatives might relocate to another city.

Health The favourable planetary positions would bring satisfactory relief to your health.

Travel You might go on a journey to upgrade your skill or for acquiring professional training.

Romance In matters of sex, chances are that you will get involved with someone, either for a small duration or forever.

08

(People born on dates 8th, 17th or 26th) Vocation Thanks to new opportunities for the growth in your career, your job satisfaction, social reputation and financial gains will improve tremendously.

Assets You might spend a lot of money on the expansion of your business during the middle of the month.

Family and Friends Problems, if any, concerning your family members will get resolved very soon.

Your work efficiency will improve.

Romance Youngsters are advised to watch out for any kind of overzealousness in love matters to avoid distress.

09

(People born on dates 9th, 18th or 27th) Vocation This is the best time for starting a new business.

Assets You will spend considerable amount of money on infrastructure or machinery that concerns your business.

Family and Friends Marriage of children will definitely get finalised this month.

Health Stay aware of certain blood related problems.

Travel If a transfer happens, it will definitely be a place of choice with a reputed post.

Romance Beware of people of the opposite sex, as they want to woo you only with the intention of flirting.

E-mail: bhavikksangghvi@gmail.com www.bhavikksangghvi.com

due to a possible transfer, which you could avoid with efforts.

07

JUNE’10 SOUTHSCOPE 71

THE SEXY SHREYA NARAYAN IS ALSO AMONG THE MOST DETERMINED OF THE NEW AND UPCOMING LOT. SHE WAS MOST RECENTLY SEEN AS LEAD IN SINGER SUKHWINDER SINGH’S DEBUT ACTING FILM, KUCH KARIYA. AND BEFORE THAT, THE SMALL BUDGET FILM, EK DASTAK ALONGSIDE VASUNDHARA DAS. SHREYA HAS ALSO DONE ONE TELUGU PROJECT, SRIVARI MUCHATLU, WHICH IS YET TO SEE THE LIGHT OF THE DAY. HER NEXT BOLLYWOOD OUTING IS MAQSAAD WITH PARVIN DABAS AND YASHPAL SHARMA IN WHICH SHE’S ALL SET TO PLAY A NOTORIOUS COP WHO IS BROUGHT ON TO DEAL WITH A PSYCHOTIC KILLER. SHREYA HAS TRIED HER HAND AT TELEVISION TOO AND IS CURRENTLY PLAYING A ROLE IN SONY’S DRUG MAFIA DRAMA, POWDER, WHICH IS NOT DOING ALL THAT WELL. BUT SHE IS HARDLY THE SORT TO GIVE UP AND WILL SOON ALSO STAR IN A SUPERNATURAL SHORT SERIES FOR BBC ON STAR PLUS. ANIL MERANI SAMPLES SOME OF THAT RESOLVE FIRST HAND.

WHY DID YOU WANT TO BE AN ACTOR? Precisely because being an actor allows me to play a beggar one day, and a princess on another. I come from a rather conservative Bihari background (Her grandmother was related to Dr Rajendra Prasad, India’ first President). So when I started doing theatre in college, it was pretty librating being somebody else apart from me. I felt I was breaking out of a cage that was Shreya Narayan. WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES FACING A NEW ACTOR? The biggest challenge for a new face is acceptability. You really have to be somebody’s daughter or girlfriend for a producer to sign you.

Filmmakers prefer somebody known so that if something goes wrong, they know who to contact. Another major issue is herd mentality. If an actor is signed by a couple of big banners, other producers and directors will flock around them. But nobody wants to be the first to take you on board, since big money is involved.

WHAT ARE THE ATTRIBUTES A NEW ACTOR REQUIRES? Super perseverance and patience. At first, the world will ignore you, call you names, your own family might disown you. But you need to keep those daily auditions going and have faith in your talent. It might take a while but there is honesty in the world and one day, you will find your true calling. WHAT WENT WRONG WITH YOUR SOUTH SOJOURN? In my case, it did not work out since the set up was not well known. As I did not know anybody in Hyderabad, it became difficult for me to keep a tab on what’s going on. The producer seemed more interested in releasing the film in different languages. For the moment, I am happy with my Bollywood projects, but if something interesting comes along, I will consider returning to the south. I have heard many good things about Tamil films. I am even ready to learn the language. IF YOU EVER BECOME A FILMMAKER, WHICH HOT MALE STAR WOULD YOU LIKE TO OFFER A ROLE TO AND WHAT KIND? I would cast Hrithik Roshan since besides looking hot, he is a very good actor as well. South superstar Suriya is one more hottie who I simply love.

There is such a touching honesty about him. He comes across as a guy who cares for his wife. So when such people strip, it looks genuinely good on screen! Just biceps and perfectly toned abs with no genuineness from within turns most women off, including me.

WITH

HI-5 SHREYA NARAYAN

INDIA’S LEADING SOUTH FILM MAGAZINE

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind is exhilarating, the cold weather is romantic … I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as bad weather. Just different kinds of good weather. After the heat and dust of the last few summer months, the skies opened up just in time to shower divine blessings. It’s not total monsoon bliss yet but just the thought of it being round the corner is so comforting. And thankfully, Laila decided to spare us from her further fury, just in time.

And guess what we have done to welcome the season? We’ve got two of the most celebrated leading men of south cinema – Suriya and Venkatesh - to ignite our covers. Besides, they have let us have a rare peek into the unexplored areas of their interesting lives. We still can’t believe we pulled it off. But wait, there is more excitement. Khushboo talks at length about her recent legal victory and her entry into politics. Bhavana does a complete turnaround from her conventional avatar and shocks us with her new form and figure. Sreenu Vytla and Susindran talk of their directorial ventures, G V Prakash shares his musical dreams, Bhanu Mehra does the lights, camera, action drill amongst a host of other personalities like the consummate actor Prakash Raj. We also raise a toast to A R Rahman and Manirathnam’s genius combination that has enthralled us from the day they got together professionally. Oh, by the way, I haven’t mentioned that we’ve another coup this month. Hrithik Roshan and Anurag Basu have graced our issue this month. Lucky, aren’t we? To be able to present such an array of irresistible people to you. Of course, we have brought back the regulars like predictions, industry news, movie masala, features and what have you. At the time of going to press, came the sad news of veteran lyricist Veturi Sundararama Murthy’s demise.

A national award and eight Nandi Awards winner, Veturi’s contribution to Telugu cinema is immeasurable. We’ll miss you, Veturi garu.

Every month you keep writing to us appreciating us, criticising us, correcting us, applauding us and we love your attention. Please keep those mails coming in. From the tone of your mails, we can sense that Southscope is growing on you and that you’re happy with our endeavour. Our end goal is ultimately to make you happy. And for that, we’re willing to go all the way.

Please be with us. Now and forever…

Vanaja Banagiri Editor-in-Chief