Southscope May 2010 Issue Side - A

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NAMITHA’S DREAMY DRAPES SPOOFING IN TAMIL CINEMA IS COMING OF AGE

NOW ON STANDS

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From Suhasini Maniratnam’s personal diaryy p

SOUTHSCOPE STYLE AWARDS ARE BACK! ACK! Nominate your favourite stars and win exciting prizes! rizes!

‘10

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CONTENTS/ 30

CENTRE STAGE/PAGE Siddharth strikes back. In style! Or is he style?

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CONTENTS/

MAY ‘10

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01 08 PA N O R A M A O F S O U T H C I N E M A

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Ram Gopal Varma’s bloody history

12 Reader Speak

TURN WRITER WITH SOUTH BLOGBUSTERS!

XCLUSIVE

PULI’S READY TO ROAR

SIDDHARTH’S CONQUESTS CENTRESTAGE

EXCLUSIVES 22 24 28 40 60

Anita reinvents Swapna of Maro Charitra Stars’ Style Sutra

A quotable boy: Ram Gopal Varma

Diganth & Nidhi have it off

Pawan Kalyan marks his return

‘10

SOUTHSCOPE STYLE AWARDS ARE BACK! Nominate your favourite stars and win exciting prizes!

Diganth & Nidhi get naughty Baddie of the month: Sonu Sood

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30 40 62

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On the cover: Siddharth Photographer: Ranganath Concept and Styling: Asmita Marwa Clothes courtesy: Benetton

RNI NO.: APENG/2009/29389 REGISTERED NO.: L II/RNP/HD/1118/2010-12 MAY ‘10

FEATURES 37 All about the men of Telugu cinema, and their wardrobe!

SPOOFING IN TAMIL CINEMA IS COMING OF AGE

&

From Suhasini Maniratnam’s personal diaryy p

48 Remembering Ragupathi Venkaiah 56 Allu Sirish recommends south stars for endorsements SOUTHSCOPE STYLE AWARDS ARE BACK! ACK! Nominate your favourite stars and win exciting prizes! rizes!

66 Bizarre cost cutting measures in the Kannada industry

62 Get the look – Parvati Melton’s cool

quotient

63 IT star of the month – Venkatesh’s

disarming style

64 Style Evolution – Mammootty makes a

statement

65 Style meter – Stars get rated

01 08

NAMITHA’S DREAMY DRAPES

46 Mum’s the word for Telugu screen mothers

STYLE SUTRA

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CONTENTS/ FUNDA 13 Junk mail

Trivia on cinema

14 Gold Class

Telugu Tinsel / Kannada Capers

18 Loading...Please Wait Films in the making

68 Bioscope

Movie reviews

70 Numerology

May 2010 predictions

72 Kaleidoscope

What happened when and where

73 Hi 5

Love Sex Aur Dhokha Shruti

42

GALLERIA/PAGE The noise Allari Naresh is making, even without a girlfriend!

74 Flash Back Maro Charitra

75 Screen test

Launch pad for aspiring actors

76 Chartbusters 77 Sing along Karaoke

78 Cheesy on screen dialogues Brahmi gets corny

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28 STYLE AWARDS 50 Follow the buzz around the 2010 edition of the Southscope Style Awards

N Phanindra: I always wanted to stop by and thank Southscope for its contribution to south cinema. Now that it’s finally here, this is an opportunity. What makes Southscope so good is that it has broken all the conventional angles of cinema writing. After reading four issues back to back; I’d say this has substance. Keep it up!

Pavan Atukuri: I love Southscope. Slick editing job!

Luna Nueva: Would love to see photo shoots with smaller stars and not only those of established ones.

Hariharan Naidu: We want to read more about movies and less celebrity profiles.

Ashwini Kalyan: The cover stories are interesting. It was great to see how you transformed Kajal Agarwal, brilliant shoot. Having Mohanlal on the cover was a surprise as well, and the pictures were fabulous.

Aathithyan Mohanakumaran: It would be great if there are more pictures of stars.

Bindu Kiran: Everything published makes for a good read. In fact, everyone from the south thinks Southscope has good scope!

FORM IV (RULE 8) UNDER THE PRESS AND REGISTRATION OF BOOKS ACT, 1867 STATEMENT ABOUT OWNERSHIP AND OTHER PARTICULARS ABOUT MAGAZINE SOUTHSCOPE 1. Place of Publication : #202, Shiva Sai Sannidhi Dwarakapuri Colony, Punjagutta Hyderabad - 500 082.

2. Periodicity of its Publication

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.

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Moorthy Sreenivasulu Yes

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6 Name and address Of Individuals who own the Newspaper and are partners Or shareholders holding More than one per cent of the Total capital

#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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I, Moorthy Sreenivasulu, hereby declare that the particulars given Above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date : 1-04-2010

Sd/ Moorthy Sreenivasulu Signature of the Publisher

12 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

TEL

In her heyday, B Saroja Devi was quite the queen of southern cinema and has acted in over 180 films with stalwarts like NTR, ANR, MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Shammi Kapoor etc. Left to her though, she would have rather been a teacher. But thanks to her mother, Rudramma, she turned out to be one of the most respected actors of Indian cinema. Senior actor-raconteur, Honnappa Bhagavathar spotted her and offered her a role. But Saroja Devi was least interested and told her mother as much. Rudramma however, wouldn’t relent and ensured Saroja Devi took up the offer. The film was the 1955 Mahakavi Kalidasa in which she featured as the female lead. Two more films followed. She was noticed

by MGR and Sivaji Ganesan, and offers from Tamil started flowing in too. But Saroja Devi wanted to stop acting and go back to school. Rudramma however, got her a gift as a reward each time her films fared well.

It finally worked and she never looked back since.

Not many people know that ace comedy director of yesteryears, Relangi Narasimha Rao had fallen out with his mother over a trivial issue when he was a child. He was all of 15 then and never attempted to get back in touch. His mother breathed her last many years later, at a time when Relangi Narasimha Rao was making a name as a comedy filmmaker. Grief-stricken, he went home to see his mother one last time. What he saw was nothing short of a miracle. On his arrival, his mother came back to life from the dead! She affectionately patted him and collapsed moments later. Talk of mother’s love!

Many have drawn inspiration from the late matinee idol Rajkumar. But who was his role model? M V Subbaiah Naidu, considered the first full time hero of Kannada cinema was always a source of inspiration for Rajkumar. Popularly known as MVS, he played the male lead in the first ever Kannada talkie, Sati Sulochana. He acted in a number of mythological films like Bhoo Kailasa, Harischandra, Bhakta Prahlada and Mahatma Kabir. Interestingly, Rajkumar featured in the remakes of all these films! All the remade films were big hits, earning Rajkumar the tag of superstar way back in the 1960s.

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

Besides veteran actor Jayamala, no other Kannada female star has shown the same caliber in all departments of filmmaking as many male stars did.

Jayamala, who is currently the chairperson of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), the apex body of the Kannada film industry was a popular actor in the early 80s. Hailing from the coastal Karnataka region, she featured in a number of films with Rajkumar. A few years ago, she produced and acted in a film Thaayi Saheba, which won many awards. Subsequently, she produced a children’s film, Tuttoori, which also bagged several awards. Not satisfied, she stormed the male bastion of the KFCC and contested the elections, which she easily won! Now, she is all set to make a career in politics.

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 13

GOLDCLASS

telugutinsel

WHAT’S COMING BETWEEN NAG AND HIS DREAM CAR? Nagarjuna’s pretty well known for his passion for big wheels. His BMW is one of his most valued possessions.

We hear he’s now planning on getting himself a brand new sports car. Even as he makes up his mind on the make of his dream car, wife Amala seems to have other plans. Left to her, he’d probably have to settle for the modest Reva. She’s apparently trying to persuade her hubby to go the eco-conscious way and settle for the electric car. Save the planet ‘drive?’

A ONE PACK DEAL Our men in T-town are after that perfect chiselled body and the six packs do all the talking. Buzz has it that now Power Star Pawan Kalyan’s planning to get one himself.

However, it seems Krishnudu is in a league of his own. His producers apparently insist that he stay away from the gym. His fans love him the way he is, all nice and round.

Talk about standing out in the crowd!

SUMANTH’S HAVING A BALL! This IPL season we’ve seen loads of our stars talking cricket and following every match. But Sumanth takes only his football all that seriously. He was heard raving about the El Clásico match between arch rivals Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The game, often considered as the best match of the year has evidently got Sumanth by the ball (pun intended)! Sumanth also happens to be a huge Arsenal fan.

The man sure knows his game!

BINDU’S LOAD SHEDDING! Guess who was spotted sweating it out at KBR Park in Hyderabad? Bindu Madhavi, folks! She drew quite a crowd of curious young men recently while on a jog. A little birdie tells us that Bindu’s lost a good eight kilos in the last six weeks. Apart from regular dance sessions and diets, guess her new found passion for parking it out has resulted in that svelte look. A case of, give us our daily walk, folks?

14 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

telugutinsel

GOLDCLASS

RICHA’S HAVING IT OFF! After having spent enough time promoting her debut film Leader, Richa took off to her home Michigan, US for a well deserved vacation. She’s living it up catching up with childhood friends. She is having a ball out there travelling around the country binging on her favourite food, sushi.

Of course she is getting pampered by her mum’s food.

Make the most of it!

FOUND IN TRANSLATION! Mahesh Babu’s four year old son, Gautam seems to be as smart as his dad. Recently, fans kept asking Mahesh about his son and in response he posted a tweet: “My son is just four year old and speaks four languages.” That’s Telugu, Marathi, Hindi and English. Cool!

SWATI’S JUNK CRAVINGS! Swati has a rack full of junk jewellery and her mother can’t stop cribbing about how much this girl spends on it while she hardly wears any of it. However, Swati makes it a point to throw on a beaded bracelet most often. Turns out, her mum insists she have an exhibition of all the trinkets she has collected. Now we know what Swati’s fetish is!

BAD NEWS FOR DIL RAJU Varun Sandesh seems to have hit a bit of a rough patch.

The actor, who has lately been on a low with a streak of flops, has now been put under the scanner by industry watchdogs. The lukewarm response to Maro Charitra did not go down well for producer Dil Raju, who has been mentoring Varun for quite sometime and is now in a bit of financial worry. How long will Dil Raju keep up with the benevolent routine with his supposed dark horse?

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 15

GOLDCLASS

kannadacapers

RAJKUMAR’S SONS CARRY ON HIS LEGACY Thespian Rajkumar’s sons, Shivarajkumar, Raghavendra and Puneet recently pledged their bodies to a hospital in Bengaluru for medical research. Earlier, Rajkumar had set an example by donating his eyes.

Immediately, several film stars followed suit.

Now, his sons have gone a step ahead. Will the others add to the body count? Hmm…

FOUR FILMS SLASHED FROM SCREENS IN A SINGLE WEEK! It’s a slow summer as four Kannada films could not last for even a week in March! That’s the state of affairs in the industry. Varshadhaare, Janani, Nanna Olavina Banna and Preethi Nee Shaashwathaana were taken off from the theatres within seven days of release. Turns out, the number of tickets sold for all these films never crossed the double digits! Of the 32 films released since January, only the Vishnuvardhana starrer Aapta Rakshaka was declared a super hit. Better gear up for a summer, served extra dry!

SUDHA MURTHY

TO ACT!

Look who’s the latest entrant on the Kannada film scene! Sudha Murthy, wife of Infosys mentor N R Narayana Murthy will soon be seen in Praarthane, directed by film journalist Sadashiva Shenoy. Known for her simplistic style, she had earlier appeared in a Kannada TV serial. Praarthane is about the efforts to save the Kannada language and culture. Sudha will appear for a good half hour in the climax of the film. A prolific writer in Kannada and English, she has 19 books to her credit, a few of which were even adapted into TV serials. Quite a bundle, this lady!

16 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

GOLDCLASS

kannadacapers

DANCE GANESH DANCE Fresh from the success of his maiden home venture Maleyali Jotheyali, Ganesh is all set for a major image makeover for his next film. We hear he wants to shed his lover boy tag for good. Up until now, all his films have essentially been love stories. In his second home production, Ganesh will be seen as a dancing sensation for which he even trained with a big time choreographer in Mumbai. Time for some moves and grooves, people!

A SHRINE FOR VISHNUVARDHANA It could be the first shrine dedicated to a film star in Karnataka. Die hard fans of late actor Vishnuvardhana have decided to consecrate a shrine in his memory.

Apparently, Krishna Prajwal, who produced Vishnuvardhana’s last film, Aapta Rakshaka agreed to fund the project. Now that was a tad surprising, considering his recent spat with Vishnuvardhana’s family. Time for gathering redemption points, eh?

SHIVARAJKUMAR’S CURSE Seems like Shivarajkumar’s Cheluveye Ninna Nodalu is jinxed for good. The release has been faced with delays, as the budget has overshot the estimate. Apparently, producer N M Suresh has asked director Raghuram to submit the balance sheet of the film, which was shot extensively at the Seven Wonders of the World. A fly on the wall tells us that the budget of the film has already crossed the Rs 10 crore mark, even as much of the post-editing work remains pending! Hold on to that popcorn folks, this is gonna last a while…

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 17

LOADING...PLEASE WAIT

TELUGU

PAPPU

18 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

Cast

Krishnudu, Deepika Parmar, Subbha Raju

Director

Sapan Pasuparthi

Music

Producer

Banner

Phani Kalyan Praveen Reddy Nalla and Nagesh Yada Arya Entertainment

Debutante Sapan Pasuparthi is directing Pappu, touted to be a comedy entertainer with friendship as the central theme.

Leading lady Deepika plays an NRI and the story revolves around the life and trials of the male protagonist, played by Krishnudu.

He is a guy who just never succeeds in anything he does. How he bounces back against all odds forms the rest of the story.

LOADING...PLEASE WAIT

TELUGU

Made as a suspense thriller, Panchakshari happens to be yet another female leadoriented film from the makers of Arundhati.

This one though will have a fresh new story. Incidentally, producer Bommadevara happened to be the make-up assistant for Nagarjuna for 25 years.

PANCHAKSHARI

Cast

Director

Music

Producer

Banner

Anushka, Brahmanandam, Nasser, Pradeep Rawat V Samudra Chinna Bommadevara Ramachandra Sai Ratna Creations

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 19

LOADING...PLEASE WAIT

KANNADA

Cast

Vishwas, Ruchika, Rangayana Raghu, Ananth Nag, Pavithra Lokesh

Director

Bangaaru

Gandharva

Music

Producer

Nagabhushan

Banner

Bright Entertainment

KAAL GEJJE

Like the title suggests, Kaal Gejje is a love story involving a dancer and her fan. The lead pair played by Vishwas and Ruchika have to overcome several obstacles in their way to success. The story unfolds with classical music as a backdrop.

As usual, Rangayana Raghu lends his touch of comic finesse, while Ananth Nag appears in a serious role. Kaal Gejje is being shot in the hilly terrains of central Karnataka.

20 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

LOADING...PLEASE WAIT

KANNADA

Cast

Aditya, Meghana, Suhasini,

Ravi Kale, Devaraj

Director

Ravi Srivatsa

Sadhu Kokila

Music

Producer

Manjunath

Banner

Gold Movies

Aditya makes a comeback after a long break in the sequel to the hugely successful Deadly Soma.

Aditya picks up the story from the point it ends in Deadly Soma four years ago. Crafted as a violent thriller, Deadly 2 features a number of exciting stunts.

DEADLY 2

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 21

ACTING IN THE TIMES OF IDENTITY CRISIS!

ANITHA

22 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

Photographer: Y S N Murthy

TELUGU//EXCLUSIVE

The half American Anita Galler who played Swapna in the remade Maro Charitra has Karthik Pasupulate firmly under a spell!

Lush and pouting, it’s hard not to notice those lips. Of course, that isn’t all that is attractive about this young lady. But let’s just leave it at that.

A picture speaks a thousand words after all. And here we’ve got two! But let’s make some stuff clear right in the beginning. Anita Galler, is anything but Swapna of the remade Maro Charitra.

She has none of the long haired, demure, traditional ways of Swapna from the film. Anita admits candidly, she was shocked to see herself on screen for the first time. “It was bizarre enough to see myself look so different, then there was this different voice coming out of my mouth, speaking colloquial Telugu! I do not look, dress or behave like that. It felt like it was not me and somebody else. It was both exciting and shocking, and overwhelmingly so. I had all these different emotions running.”

They say showbiz is all about being at the right place at the right time.

That certainly was the case with her. Last year, while on a month-long vacation to India, the opportunity came knocking. “We came to Hyderabad visiting family friends. Someone told me about the auditions for the film.

I met the producer and the director. They held an audition the next day and I was simply offered the role!” she shares. That’s how Anita went from being a Journalism undergraduate to a Telugu actor. Talk about life changing vacations…

Anita was always into performing on stage, be it in school or while in college. “I have trained in Bharatnatyam and Carnatic music as a child.

Was also part of the school choir and participated in plays. I always enjoyed performing, so acting didn’t seem all that alien,” she shares.

The film released to a mixed response from the BO. The critics in particular weren’t greatly thrilled. The lead pair was singled out, specifically for their less-than-impressive onscreen chemistry. “Look, Kamal Haasan and Saritha are legends in their own right and it wouldn’t be fair to compare us with them. Moreover the film is an adaptation of the original and is set in a totally different space and time,” she contends.

“It all boils down to the director’s vision and as actors we did our best to match up to it. I think the movie needs to be appreciated for what it is,” she defends.

Not just brought up in America but also being half American, guess she put in extra effort to remain Indian! Apparently, she could recite the Lalitha Sahasranamam when she was just five and has a special affinity to Sanskrit. Not bad for someone brought up in Kansas City. Her father is a Caucasian, her mom comes from Anantapuram. “I’ve had the best of both worlds, thanks to my multi cultural lineage,” she smiles.

But then it’s not to say she did not have her identity issues. As a toddler she was probably the only black head in a sea of blondes but she’d insist she was blonde as well. In fact, the first time she visited India as a two year old, she freaked out looking at her brown skinned sari clad maternal aunts. Apparently, she even had to be admitted to the hospital! Well that was then. For now, Anita, who’s very much single has moved bag and baggage to Hyderabad, pursuing the acting dream. And heart hitting some men along the way. Lips don’t lie too!

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 23

I AM TOO SELFISH TO BE MARRIED”

From genius to psychopath, Ram Gopal Varma has been called everything over the years. Karthik Pasupulate tries to decode the real man behind the façade and fails miserably!

“I’ve answered this question 294 times in this year. I don’t think it will make any difference if I answer it for the 295th time,” I heard him respond to a question posed by an attractive young TV journalist, as I was walking in. Pretty women usually tend to bring out the best out of men and I couldn’t help wondering, Ramu might not be so charitable with dumb inquiries, coming from a bearded male journalist at that…

The Mayuri Distributors office was teeming with TV crews eager to get their piece of Ram Gopal Varma, in Hyderabad to promote his latest film, Aavaham. I’d get my fifteen minutes once he’s done with the folks from TV, his manager informs ushering me into a waiting room. In the pecking order of celebrity interviews the monthly magazines usually figure last, so no hard feelings there.

For the next forty minutes, I sat contemplating interesting questions to ask while pondering when and if I would get my chance. He had a press conference to attend in an hour, followed by his flight back to Mumbai. Yes, uncertainty is the charm of the game.

It was finally my turn and Ramu walked in wiping the sweat trickling down his forehead. Giving interviews nonstop can be a tiresome proposition indeed. Well the air conditioning wasn’t great either. So was there anything to ask about Phoonk-2 that he hadn’t already spoken about? “You can ask me anything you want,” he replied. He seemed to be in a rather good mood.

too many of them. “I don’t know. A camera slowly coming behind someone will be scary whether 1960 or 2010. At a fundamental level, the idea is that there is something coming behind you. It is timeless in a sense because fear is a basic emotion. Fear is not to be confused with the story,” explains Ramu.

It seems fear has a lot to do with feeling and believing. Imagine a haunted house for example, he implores. “We have all heard stories of haunted houses, the weird sights and sounds and the likes. That is fear. You can feel it. It is not necessary that you’ve seen it before.

If done properly it will scare you again because it is transporting you to a place where you believe it is happening for real,” he says.

Pausing for a brief while, reaching for the glass of water he continues, “Do gaz Zameen Ke Neeche, made in the early 70’s scared people. Similarly Bhooth scared in 2003. We have better sound reproduction, cameras and much better Vfx support now.

In essence Bhooth is as less or more scary as Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche at the end of the day. Even Phoonk is an adaptation of Exorcist that was made 30 years ago.”

“I have always been a huge fan of the horror genre. The fact that you can instill scare using sound, camera and performances sure gives a big kick, you know,” he shares.

It was in 1992 that he made his first horror flick, Ratri. Eighteen years on, wonder if it’s more difficult to scare people. We seem to be living with a lot of fears already? “I don’t think you can look at cinema that way. At any given point cinema is essentially dealing with a certain emotion - love, anger, horror, humour etc. It’s just the technology that changes with time. The emotion of fear is what horror is all about,” he contends.

Point taken but the horror genre, many feel does not quite have the same aura it had in the last century. Maybe we have seen a few 24 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

PAUSING FOR A BRIEF WHILE, REACHING FOR THE GLASS OF WATER HE CONTINUES, “DO GAZ ZAMEEN KE NEECHE, MADE IN THE EARLY 70S SCARED PEOPLE. SIMILARLY BHOOTH SCARED IN 2003.”

TELUGU//EXCLUSIVE

Hmm! So horror films by default are limited at the story level are they? “It’s all about feeling the fear. There if you pack in a new story could be counterproductive. It’s best not to tinker with the story too much.”

Having spoken so much about fear, we couldn’t help asking what scares RGV? “Nothing,” he says without even twitching a facial muscle. Wow! We all have our fears don’t we? “Fear comes primarily from two things. One is we are scared of losing something. I don’t want to posses anything. Secondly, I think so cinematically about everything. Even if I come across something that is potentially fearful, I get so technically analytical about it that I lose my fear completely and get into studying it,” he explains.

We are not ready to buy that, especially considering he is a 48-yearold, well to do man with much to lose.

“What I am or not is a different question. The thing is I do not care about it. See if I care about people thinking I am a good director then I would automatically be scared of losing that title,” he sticks to his guns. “I am not scared about losing anything, money, property, relationships or fame,” he adds.

Ramu’s even game to share some earth shattering details about his experiences with fear. There was a devastating earthquake that rocked Gujarat three years ago. The tremors shook Mumbai as well.

“My first instinct was to get up and run. But it would be too late to run because I live in the eighth floor. I just sat on the bed and completely lost my fear and all I was curious to see what sound the building will make when it breaks down,” he takes the pains to clarify.

don’t think there’s anything special about anybody except for what they think about themselves,” he argues.

Well if you thought that was bizarre, we assure you this is just the tip of the iceberg. Going by what he just said it would imply there is no loss worth mourning. We couldn’t help asking who he’d think would cry when he’ll die. “We are too busy to cry for people anyway.

Some people will be there I am sure but that’s what families are for, to cry! They cry for a few days and then forget it. That’s what I also did,” he says with a poker face.

So is that why he hasn’t got married since his first marriage ended in a divorce?

“I am too selfish to be married. I only think of myself,” he responds.

We wonder why though. Is that kind of detachment necessary for him to carry on being the guy he is? “No. I am like that. Just live my life the way I want to. To live up to the expectations of someone else, to be committed, to have concerns for another person is too much of hard work.”

“I don’t think life is worth it.”

“I just don’t like any kind of pressure. Somebody showing concern for me is irritating because it becomes a baggage. I have to reciprocate. I hate it when someone says good morning, because I’ll have to wish back.”

It should come as no surprise then that it is prohibited to wish him in his office.

He should perhaps be in the Ripley’s (Believe it or not)! “I have completely no fear. It’s something very strange. I have not met anybody who has no fear at all,” he goes again. Guess when he says he lives away from himself this is what he means.

“I do not want to give away that much of my time saying good morning, good day, how are you feeling, had dinner, how’s the weather . . . I hate those conversations. I hate marriages, hate birthday parties,” he expounds. Guess it is understandable why he’s never made a family drama till date.

Either he’s a monk or well just doesn’t like to admit his fears.

“Contrary to what many people feel about me and my ego and arrogance, I do not take myself seriously at all. For that matter I

He apparently has no need for any sort of bonding whatsoever.

“Don’t feel a necessity for an emotional attachment with anyone.

I don’t need anyone.”

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How’s that possible? Doesn’t he get attached to his work even? He is after all a filmmaker and by default is putting out his mind space in the public domain through his films. He’s not making films for himself, is he? “Work is something I am initiating. Starts and stops when I want to. It all depends on me. An emotional relationship with another human being comes from a different space. I don’t feel a need to confide, a shoulder to cry on. This is why I say, I don’t have any friends or relationships.”

So in short he is just a control freak! “I don’t know if that would be the right word. But I’d say this, I live my life just for my sake. But will never ask anyone else to live their life for my sake.”

That is very thoughtful, but he sure would have needed friends on his way up. You don’t get anywhere without sucking up to people at some level in this industry? “I’ve always been that way. In fact, I was ten times more arrogant when I started. Time has kind of tempered me down a little bit. For good or bad I don’t know,” he laughs.

Well there are things he cares about, thankfully if we may add. “I am primarily interested in people in power, in conflicts, something that is not explicable. It gives me a chance to study and probably widen my horizon.”

Morbid stuff like what kind of a man would be in jail thinking for seven years to kill a person is the sort of person that interests him.

“It was one of the primary reasons why I took up Rakthacharitra. It’s challenging to understand the psychosis of that, to get to the core of it, how does that happen?”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that his next film is about the politics of the Police force. He’s calling it Department. That would be something to look forward to.

We wonder if it is just his work that defines RGV; apparently not. “Take Francis Ford Coppala for instance. His other films may not have the power of a Godfather, but he’d still be interesting to talk to though you might not really have watched all his films.”

“A director and his films are different things. A film is coming from diverse points. There are other characters, they interact, there is a conflict happening. So over a two-three hour period of time when you are dealing with such a spectrum of possibilities, it cannot represent exactly what the director wants.”

So by default the success or failure of a film is well just a matter of chance. It doesn’t seem to bother him in the least. “When I am talking now my concentration is on you. Though I am speaking my answers are coming from the questions you are posing. In a way you are getting them out from me. If this is the kind of availability I have in a film theatre I could make every film a super-hit film for everyone.

But the moment there are twenty people in the room I wouldn’t be able to answer my questions in the same way.” It seems like chaos theory at work.

With RGV, everything is transient and complicatedly so. He is a huge fan of Steven Spielberg but hasn’t watched a single film of his in the last 10 years. “I read every interview of his though. I’ve changed as a

I AM A BIG FAN OF WOMEN IN GENERAL. IF I EVER PAY A RARE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO GOD, IT IS FOR CREATING WOMEN. I LOVE CAPTURING STRONG SEXUAL WOMEN. 26 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

person since the time his films impacted me, but his thought process impacts me.”

He also likes Narendra Modi, by the way. “I don’t know what people think about him, neither do I believe in what he does. I don’t know what his politics is all about nor do I relate to Gujarat’s problems. But when he’s talking about something, I listen to him even though I am least interested in what he is saying.”

For him, it’s the women that take the cake though. Be it Urmila Matondkar, Antara Mali, Nisha Kothari or Jiah Khan. They ooze sexuality. Though the feminists might be crying hoarse about the way they are projected in his films, Ramu has his reasons, pretty strong ones at that. “I am a big fan of women in general. If I ever pay a rare acknowledgement to god, it is for creating women. I love capturing strong sexual women. I am not saying women are just sex objects. I just think sexuality is a very important aspect of women,” he shrugs it off.

Well he seems to have a soft corner after all. “See, when you are fond of tigers, you end up being friends with a few,” he says laughing and we join in albeit with a tinge of jealousy. He is an enigma isn’t he?

“Enigma is too big a word. I am just a crack case,” he laughs some more. We’ll leave that for you to figure out.

TELUGU//EXCLUSIVE

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POWER STAR PLAYS PULI After Anbe Aaruyire in 2001, S J Suryah will be back after a five year hiatus with Komaram Puli. From Bollywood’s top notch cinematographer Binod Pradhan to Grammy winner and Suryah’s buddy Rahman’s music, the film boasts of quite a few things to look forward to. Komaram Puli also features one of the most celebrated actors of Telugu cinema, Pawan Kalyan. Looking at the number of hits Suryah and Pawan Kalyan have in their kitty, this one’s got huge expectations!

Pawan Kalyan plays a dual role, one being a powerful cop of the Anti Terrorist Squad. He sports a moustache and a military hair cut for the role. The second one is anybody’s guess at the moment. The leading lady Nikesha also plays a police officer in the film. After Jalsa, Pawan will be seen on screen after two years.

The term Komaram was picked from the surname of the Gond martyr Komaram Bheem, who fought against the erstwhile Asaf Jahi dynasty for the liberation of Hyderabad state. Though the first choice for the role was Vijay, we’re sure we couldn’t have a better star than Pawan himself!

Film

: KOMARAM PULI

Cast

: PAWAN KALYAN, NIKESHA PATEL

Director : S J SURYAH Music

: A R RAHMAN

Producer : SINGANAMALA RAMESH Banner

: KANAKARATNA MOVIES MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 29

SIDDHARTH//CENTRE STAGE

PLAYING

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From teen heartthrob, he has evolved into one of India’s finest actors. Karthik Pasupulate

profiles Siddharth, the cool dude who has pushed his boundaries to emerge into an

unconventional leading man of south cinema.

Romance is his niche! Make it pure romance. Nuvvasthanante Nenoddantana, Bommarillu, Aata, Konchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam or Oye, his films are all about that four letter word that makes the world (tinsel town at least) go round. Hold your horses folks; you know we are talking about love, for, the guy in question is Siddharth Narayan. Yes there have been films like Rang De Basanti and Striker but they were more of an exception than the norm. By his own admission, Siddharth is the Shahrukh Khan of south Indian cinema, and not many would disagree.

Typically, a ‘hero’ in south Indian cinema is someone who rebels against the facts of existence and goes on to conquer them. Nothing less would suffice you see. Siddharth in that sense has been a game changer. His films don’t even need a villain! The only muscles he’s ever had to flex (in the movies we mean) have been the ones on his face. Perhaps that explains why he’s just had 10 releases since making his debut in 2002. Jokes apart, it’s never been about quantity for Siddharth. “I want to be proud of my films. It is much better to show your kids 10 good films than to make excuses to them about why you made 20 bad ones,” he’s said in the past. Mind you, it’s quite an enviable resume he’s built around the soft love stories he usually does.

Photographer: Ranganath Concept and Styling: Asmita Marwa Clothes courtesy: Benetton Scarves: Asmita Marwa 30 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

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Outfit: Aftershock Accessories: Nischay Polavarapu

“I want to be proud of my films. It is much better to show your kids 10 good films than to make excuses to them about why you made 20 bad ones”

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It would not be too far off the mark to say he’s in a league of his own. Now that’s quite an achievement for someone who never wanted to be an actor in the first place. Born in Chennai, Siddharth did his schooling shutting between DAV Chennai and Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in Delhi, after which he did his Bachelor of Commerce (honours) from the prestigious Kirori Mal College, New Delhi. He was part of the reputed theatre group of the college, The Players. This is where he discovered his love for theatre. He was also the president of the debating society here and was even chosen to participate in the World Debating Championships. Siddharth completed his MBA in Marketing from the prized SP Jain Institute of Management & Research in Mumbai.

A lucrative career in marketing beckoned Siddharth when he decided to give it up to pursue his heart, which was set on filmmaking. Refusing 14 corporate job offers, he landed himself the role of assisting ace director Mani Ratnam, thanks to his mentors, cinematographer P C Sreeram and his brother Jayendra. He met Mani Ratnam for an interview and thus began his tryst with cinema. He worked as the associate director for Mani Ratnam’s critically acclaimed 2002 blockbuster, Kannathil Muthamittal. It was during this assignment that writer Sujatha recommended his name to Shankar who was looking for new faces for his film, Boys.

Boys did not exactly set the BO on fire. But the Telugu version did quite well, paving the way for Siddharth’s Telugu career, which got off to a rollicking start with Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana, directed by Prabhu Deva. The chocolate boy had finally arrived.

aware of the technicalities of cinema and gets involved with every aspect of filmmaking.

The 30 something actor is all set to reinvent himself. He’s been training in three forms of martial arts – two Japanese and one Korean style of sword fighting – as he prepares the Rs 300 million epic fantasy, Yodha. Surya Prakash the National Award winning son of veteran director K Raghavendra Rao is directing the movie.

Siddharth kicking some butt, hmmm! That’s going to be something to look forward to.

S SIDDHARTH//CENTRE STAGE

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Writing and music had been his passions ever since his childhood. Siddharth ventured into writing in the next film, Chukkallo Chandrudu. He wrote the screenplay for the film directed by Siva Kumar.

He also debuted as a playback singer for the film.

Since then he’s sung many a hit number like Eppudo Eppudo (Bommarillu), Ninu Chusthunte (Aata), Oy Oy (Oye) and most recently Bombay Bombay and Haq Se in the recently released Striker. He also worked as the album producer for Striker.

Siddharth has been a multi-talented guy and always had more than a keen ear for music. He used to write music, plays drums amazingly well even today and composes songs as well. Not many people know that he also writes amazing poetry both in English and Hindi. In fact, Anand Ranga, the director of Oye feels Siddharth is good enough to be a music director. That is really something!

His multi talented ways coupled with his choosiness, have earned him the tag of being a meddlesome actor. But those who have worked with Siddharth only have nice things to say about him. Having worked as an assistant director, he is also more

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 35

Siddharth has been a multi-talented guy and always had more than a keen ear for music. He used to write music, plays drums amazingly well even today and composes music as well

SIDDHARTH//CENTRE STAGE

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TRAFFIC STOPPERS IN THE STYLE LANE

Maya Raj traces the journey of style and the men who made their own statements in the department, over the years in Telugu cinema

STYLE. The word means different things to different people but for us Telugus, this word is consciously or unconsciously always paired with our favourite celebrities. We cannot talk about our reel idols without its mention - certainly not when the discussion is about our favourite heroes. They along with the heroines, dancers and character artistes not only reflect the fashion of the time but also start new trends.

We wondered when this all started and a quick look back had us very intrigued. Fashion in our movies has definitely changed by leaps and bounds in the 90 years gone past.

It was Bhisma Pratighna, a silent film released in 1922, which unleashed the Telugu film industry onto the world.

Several dozen movies and about a decade later, Bhakta Prahlada, the first talkie Telugu film brought the audiences flocking to the theatres. Since religious and mythological themes took centre stage initially, it was only natural that the costumes of the actors were those of kings, queens, gods and devil men to name a few. The grandeur of the clothing was directly related to the social status of the characters, much like it is done today. Dhotis, olden day kurtas, shawls, saris and half saris were the staples of mythological movies. The key was gold jewellery, lots of it, if you were the royalty and very little or none if you were not. Men and boys covered their exposed bodies with chains, waist bands, arm bands and rings, while adorning earrings, turbans, crowns and plenty of other sparkles as well. Women’s jewellery was similar but the use of crowns

was less prominent. Gods and demigods also carried their characteristic props such as the bow and arrow if it was Lord Rama or a chakra if it was Lord Krishna.

Towards the latter part of the 1930s, social issues were also being dealt with in Telugu cinema. These movies saw the costumes tone down to that of the regular people of the time. Coats, shirts, kurtas, dhotis and sometimes pants were worn by men; women still wore saris and half saris. The way these outfits were worn was however dependent on the social standing of the actor in the movie. For example, in Malapilla, the respectable men wore full sleeved button-up shirts with glasses and their women wore silk saris with short sleeved blouses, a small bindi and classy bangles, chains and earrings. Those in a lower class wore huge nose rings,

marked the beginnings of the `hero’ culture and elevated them to cult status. The way ANR acted, danced and dressed became the hallmarks of the time. Initially, he was typecast into mythological and folklore movies with his appearance changing entirely according to the demands of the character. With the release of Samsaram in 1950, ANR proved that he was also perfect for social cinema. His neatly tucked in full-sleeved button-up shirts and formal pants belted up much higher than would be acceptable in today’s times, were all the rage back in those decades.

ANR’s moustache was trimmed sometimes into a thin line and at times into a more glamorous version of Charlie Chaplin’s. As the 60s and 70s approached, ANR’s hair started to be styled in a much neater and consistent manner. He also shifted his focus onto more casual clothing like jackets and short

Dhotis, olden day kurtas, shawls, saris and half saris were the staples of mythological movies. The key was gold jewellery, lots of it, if you were the royalty and very little or none if you were not. big bindis and gaudy jewellery. In terms of hair, most women parted their hair to the side plaited neatly.

The men wore it slightly long with a compulsory moustache which was inversely proportionate to their socio economic status. These trends, with minor changes now and again, prevailed for the next couple of decades.

The introduction of Akkineni Nageshwara Rao in the 1940s

sleeved checkered shirts, all the while ensuring that he personifies class in any outfit he wears. With the introduction of Eastman colour cinema, the scope for styling inflated and ANR, like others at the time, was quick to take a liking to colours.

During these years, several actors with the proverbial x factor emerged, whose style and dressing were also mimicked by the masses of their generation.

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 37

Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao became the heart throb of the Telugu cinema industry as quickly as he stepped into it in the late 1940s. Like ANR, NTR also acted in several mythological and folklore films, dressing accordingly.

As the years passed, NTR evolved with a vengeance, strictly sticking to the fashion of the time. Flashy suits, bell bottoms, huge collars and chains showing through his unbuttoned shirts were all NTR’s favourites at some point. Although ANR and NTR were the two big names in the industry, Krishna and Shobhan Babu were not far behind in their mass appeal in the 60s and 70s. They were quick to carve out their niche with Krishna taking on the style icon status and Shobhan Babu reinventing the age old dhoti into a style must-have of the time.

He also invented the unforgettable single strand fringe and popularised all white ensembles.

Krishna became the homegrown surrogate for some of the biggest Hollywood icons such as cowboys and Bond, dressing exactly as you would expect inspired by either of those icons. He was seen in dashing suits, macho hats, vests, pants and holding one too many enviable guns.

He also played the traditional Telugu man in kurtas, kanduvas and dhotis as well as the rogue and the college student, all the while holding onto his experimental and colourful sense of style.

The 70s saw the entry of four great men into the industry: Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Mohan Babu and Rajendra Prasad. These were true style icons as they brought to life with much élan any role they were handed, whether it was that of a hero, anti-hero or a character artist. Rajendra Prasad occasionally played the everyman so his attire was very much the result of the average man’s fads of the time. In the 80s, he wore fitted formal pants, button-up shirts, polos, tees, jackets and vests in a variety of colours.

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Through the years, his outfits became more colourful and extravagant.

When it came to Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna and Mohan Babu; they embodied style to such a degree that what they wore was essentially never as important as the ease with which they made it look good. Chiranjeevi’s trademarks initially were the Rambo or Rocky looks with leather pants, leather gloves, sleeveless tees and plenty of attitude to carry them off in style. Of course, that did not mean that he shied away from experimenting with other kinds of outfits. Dependent completely on the requirement of the character, Chiranjeevi wore fitted pants and shirts in the 80s, moved onto the regular and baggy fits in the 90s and even embraced denim pants later. His bright checkered lungis paired with khaki shorts, netted vests and shirts with impressive prints unbuttoned just enough to reveal the vest inside could also be called Chiru’s staples.

For a man with unlimited talent and fan following, it is of no surprise that he managed to pull off all these looks, and many more.

Balakrishna was a showman par excellence and throughout his career, his wardrobe played a major role in giving him the panache with which he could stop trains in their tracks and move objects and people with a single finger click. His clothes were as flamboyant and bright as his characters, regardless of whether he played a village man in khaddar shirts, dhotis and the quintessential puli goru chains or a rugged business man in formal suits paired or in jeans and boots. On the other hand, Mohan Babu’s sense of style was not just restricted to his clothes; he wore anything from plain cotton kurtas to yellow and white stripped buttonup shirts paired with white pants. In general, hair styles in the 80s and 90s had left behind the side parting and nearly all the heroes preferred to

wear their hair brushed back. Mohan Babu was the exception.

The typical moustache also underwent a change in the 70s, 80s and 90s. It was no longer trendy to trim it down to a pencil thin line.

Moustaches started being expanded and eventually became full grown but trimmed to perfection by the 90s.

Another big hit with the heroes in the 90s were sneakers à la action shoes not entirely sure why but we can only assume it had something to do with comfort.

Venkatesh and Nagarjuna had also entered the industry by the 80s. They were both conventionally handsome and dressed their part but the similarities stopped there. Venkatesh became the family entertainer with stylish yet understated characters and clothes.

Rolled up sleeves, trademark stubble and slightly puffy jackets were all definitely made cool by him. Also, in southern cinema, he was the original man who made ogling at male bodies possible. So not surprisingly, Venkatesh was probably the only actor who pulled off the law enforcer look to the T. His tall and well built physique ensured that no one looking at Surya IPS, Super police, Gharshana or Eenadu could ever picture anyone else playing the role.

Nagarjuna on the other hand, was always admired for his good looks but it wasn’t until the 90s that he

became an icon of men’s fashion.

With his long Greek God locks in Ninne Pelladatha, statement kurtas in Santosham, classy suits in Manmadhudu and European model tresses in Super, Nagarjuna set a trend with each of his releases and still continues to do so.

What Nagarjuna started, Pawan Kalyan carried through with intense spunk and a zeal for experimentation.

He raised the bar and forced everyone to think out of the square and get creative with their clothes. Pawan introduced cargos to us through Khushi, overalls in Badri and really rocked the boat with his pants worn unzipped over another pair of contrasting pants in Gudumba Shankar. All the while his quirky casuals connected him with the audience so deeply that he has been reigning as the undefeated youth style icon for the past decade.

When talking about style icons, the next breed of superstars have given the yesteryears stars a real run.

Mahesh Babu, Ram Charan Tej, Jr NTR, Allu Arjun and Prabhas have all taken the 2000s by storm. Mahesh’s

a surprise that more girls were not rushed to the emergency after taking one look at him in his signature fitted Billa suits. He also looked amazing in his other angry-young-man roles wearing army pants, ripped jeans, hot tees, jackets and fitted shirts unbuttoned down to the chest and rolled up sleeves.

With the hero culture in full swing right now, our male actors are taking extra care to portray themselves in the best possible light, on and off screen. In recent times, their focus has shifted from acting to gaining proficiency in fighting and dancing; and also grabbing eyeballs on screen.

Whether it be sweating it out at the gym for six pack abs, going under the scalpel or hiring the best designers and stylists, all is fair in showbiz.

As per the timeline, Ram Charan is the last actor in this discussion but in terms of star power and the x factor, he would certainly top all lists. His superb sense of style has his fans begging for more, after just two movies! Check out Charan in Chirutha and Magadheera and you can see a suavé young man tempting us all to embrace the cowboy hat. I would have bought one too if it wasn’t for my last minute realisation that maybe it wasn’t at all about the hat but about the man who wore it! His stubble and flowing enviable hair could give anyone a complex, so no surprises that everyone wants to sport Charan’s signature look or better still – be him!

Check out Jr NTR and the evidence is clear. He always had a certain charm and pull to him but it wasn’t until Yamadonga in 2007 that Jr NTR transformed himself into a lean, statement clothes wearing, new-age star. He paired a checkered shirt layered over and under a plain shirt with denims in Kantri and wore bright tees, jackets and shirts in Adhurs, looking super cool.

The next actor and probably the most important in the discussion on style is of course Stylish Star Allu Arjun! His title says it all, doesn’t it? Whatever the movie, Arjun spares no efforts to bury himself into the character and somehow gives it the most stylish twist we could have imagined. His long locks in Desamuduru had us all going ga-ga over him in 2007 while his fitted button-up shirts, vests, and his entire range of office looks set the wardrobe benchmark for today’s working men – a major feat in itself I think!

style was quite simple in the beginning - loose fitted button up shirts, tees, jeans and pants. Effectively, his boyish charms did most of the work but with the release of Pokiri, Mahesh did a number that left us all gasping for air.

His ultra cool flowy hair and bad boy attitude paired with the perfect mix of rugged costumes and baby coloured outfits in the songs put Mahesh into a category of his own.

Prabhas is another tall, tanned and conventionally handsome actor who nudged his way into the style countdown with his super cool Billa look. With a body like Prabhas’s, it is

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KANNADA // EXCLUSIVE

WHEN THE YOUNG AND RESTLESS MET THE FAST AND FURIOUS!

ARAVIND G SHIVKAMAL PITS THE HUNKY DIGANTH AGAINST FRESHER NIDHI SUBBAIAH, RESULTING IN SOME OH-SO-TITILLATING MOMENTS…

You could easily call them the hottest pair in the Kannada film industry currently, after they were paired in acclaimed director Yograj Bhat’s first home venture Pancharangi. The film, revolving around five aspects of life is presently being shot extensively in coastal Karnataka.

For the happening star that he is, this is Diganth’s fourth consecutive film with Bhat. No wonder he is considered the top director’s favourite star! Starting with the blockbuster Mungaru Male, Diganth was seen in Bhat’s later hit movies like Gaalipata and Manasaare. In each of these films directed by Bhat, Diganth has had a different female co-star. From Pooja Gandhi in Mungaru Male, the husky Neethu in Gaalipata to Aindrita Ray in Manasaare, he seems to be on a roll. In Pancharangi, Nidhi Subbaiah, who is a top model from Bengaluru will be seen casting a spell on him.

For Nidhi, Pancharangi came as a surprise package. She had been a popular face on TV commercials till then. It took her just one audition to be roped in for the project. So far Nidhi has completed three other Kannada films, the latest being a comic caper, Krishna Nee Lateagi Baro.

It’s over to Diganth and Nidhi now!

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Photographer: Manu Costumes: Ramesh Dembla Location: Hotel Royal Orchid, Bengaluru

2. WHY THE SHIFT FROM MODELLING TO ACTING? D: I started my career with acting. My first movie was a flop.

After that I took up modelling. I always wanted to act and modelling was just to kill time.

N: I was always a bit of a nautanki as a kid, so I was meant to be here!

3. HOW HAS IT BEEN SO FAR? D: Today I’m doing what I always wanted to do…

N: Pretty ok so far is what I’d like to believe!

4. HAVE YOU BEEN HAPPY WITH YOUR PERFORMANCES? D: I hope I never get complacent because I want to keep on pushing myself every time.

N: I’m happy with what I’ve done in Pancharangi.

5. WHAT DID FACING THE CAMERA FOR THE FIRST TIME FEEL LIKE? D: It felt great. And yes of course I was nervous!

N: Wow! So this is how a film camera looks, is how I felt. Oh by the way, on the very first day of my first film, I looked right into the camera and said all my lines! Ha ha!

6. YOUR OPINION ON THE KANNADA FILM INDUSTRY? D: We are growing and definitely getting better.

N: It is a great place to be in. Really!

7. WHY DO YOU WANT TO ACT IN YOGRAJ BHAT’S FILM? D: I have always wanted to work with the best, and he is the best there is.

N: Because dude, it’s a Yograj Bhat film!

8. WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE YOU WANTED TO BE IN BHAT’S PANCHARANGI? D: Apart from the man himself, the story and my character in the movie pulled me right in.

N: That my character Ambika is just like me!

9. WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT EACH OTHER? D: She is quite humble and pretty hard working. Also, she always tries to give her best shot.

N: Well, the way he balanced himself when he fell off a tree while shooting! FYI we were perched high up in a coconut tree for three days (for a scene, not because we were punished, or romancing)!

WHEN THE YOUNG AND RESTLESS MET THE FAS AND FURIOUS!

1. DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN ONE SENTENCE. D: Simple, humble carefree… I believe I can change things around me.

N: Ah, well, I cannot fit in my description in just one sentence.

I need a whole page!

N: Of course, I have dream roles. Many in fact! Priyanka’s role in Kaminey, Kalpana’s role in Sharapanjara, Soundarya’s role in Apthamithra, Lakshmi’s role in Gaalimaathu, Vidya Balan’s in Ishqiya and Paa, Julia Roberts’ in Pretty Woman, Alison Lohman’s in Flicka, Jennifer Aniston’s in Marley and Me. I could go on and on…

14. WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST SHOCKING INCIDENT IN YOUR LIFE? D: That was when I realised that I can act!

N: It happened when I ate a chewing gum called center shock. Trust me, I was shocked!

15. IF YOU MAKE A FORTUNE, HOW WOULD YOU WANT TO SPEND IT? D: I want to produce a movie, a good movie.

N: I’d buy a big house by the mountains and a boat … I’m a bit of that cheesy fairytale kind of person. I’d also have a huge walk-in cupboard filled with shoes!

16. A SECRET WE DO NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU? D: Well it won’t remain a secret if I tell you! (Laughs) N: I cry while watching not only movies, but even adverts.

You know, if they’re touching enough!

17. IF YOU WANT TO HIT SOMEBODY, WHO WILL IT BE AND WHY? D: No one. I am a very forgiving and peace loving soul!

N: This person I know, I’ve wanted to beat that person up for a while; I even enrolled myself in martial arts classes!

18. WHAT DO EACH OF YOU THINK IS THE OTHERS SEX APPEAL? D: I think she is getting hotter everyday!

N: Here we go again, are you all trying to set me up with Diganth?

19. WHAT CAN’T YOU STAND ABOUT ONE ANOTHER? D: I don’t know much about Nidhi. But I’m sure that I can stand her!

N: He keeps imitating me. I don’t like that!

20. IF YOU HAD TO GIVE STYLE ADVICE TO EACH OTHER, WHAT WOULD IT BE? D: I think she is pretty stylish anyway. She needs no suggestions.

N: He would have to ‘pull up his pants’! (laughs unstoppably)

10. WHAT DO YOU HATE MOST ABOUT ONE ANOTHER? D: Nothing so far, but if she does anything then I will definitely let you know!

N: That he wears low waist jeans and bends over without any consideration for others around!

11. WOULD YOU EVER CONSIDER DATING MUTUALLY? WHY OR WHY NOT? D: As a rule, I don’t date my co-stars! (Laughs) N: Maybe if he pulled his pants up, I would! (Laughs) 12. WHO IS YOUR DREAM DATE? D: Priyanka Chopra! She is gorgeous and a fantastic actor.

N: George Clooney. (Blushes) 13. DO YOU HAVE A DREAM ROLE? D: I’ve always wanted to play a full-blooded action hero.

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 41

TELUGU // GALLERIA THE OTHER SIDE OF

THE OTHER SIDE OF

ALLARI NARESH

Shirt, sunglasses and watch: JOURNEY Belt: Designer Sampath/ CON’TRADITION Shoes: REFLECT colors U wear

ALLARI NARESH

Photographer: Ranganath Stylist: Maya Raj Makeup & Hair: MIRRORS Location: OUR PLACE Restaurant, Banjara Hills Coordinated by: Vrinda Prasad

A conversation with Allari Naresh leaves Karthik Pasupulate with the sort of mood life usually associates with laughter clubs!

His first crush was a girl called Swetha Balakrishnan in school (class seven, for the record). Well it was one of those pure heart squeezes that’s with boys that age.

Such romances rarely go as far as the ice cream vendor across the street, and his didn’t either. The usual, you say? He has had many crushes since. Usual again. But here’s the unusual: “I’ve never had a girlfriend. I don’t know why!”

People, that’s Allari Naresh for you. He’s definitely not your regular hero, is he now? Either that’s just plain humility or he’s trying to empathise with the otherwise luckless writer. We are not buying it though. Unfazed, Naresh sticks to his guns. He admits to have had many love interests, so to speak, but apparently it’s been a tale of unrequited love; the sort where the beloved isn’t even aware of her admirer’s deep affections. Don’t blame us.

He’s the actor.

Here’s an interesting anecdote. A friend once suggested Naresh hit on his sister. Wondering why? Apparently all the girls he’s ever liked usually ended up getting hitched to somebody else by the time Naresh confessed his love!

“It’s not like I’ve not met any one interesting. I am prone to my attractions but it’s always a case of bad timing.

By the time I muster the courage, the girl invariably is already getting hitched or something like that,” he rues a tad too dramatically.

“Being a celebrity comes with its share of woes as well.

You cannot hit on every pretty girl coming your way,” he contends. We’d assume in showbiz there wouldn’t be such a short supply of willing, single and available pretty female company. So any interested ladies out there, here’s a bit of advice: do not wait for Naresh to make the first move!

Anyway, believing is an individual prerogative but you cannot deny Naresh’s sure got a sense of humour.

“Comedy too, is a matter of timing,” he says and we couldn’t agree more. Most funny men do have a way with words but Naresh, by his own admission is unlike most funny men. “I have my funny moments but am quite the introverted, serious kind of guy off screen,” he confesses.

He isn’t the readily open me and read me like a book type either. Quite the antithesis of his onscreen persona, if you ask us.

Shirt and sandals: JOURNEY

He is perhaps the only one of his kind among the current crop of sons of the fraternity. Breaking away from the mass, testosterone laden action/dancing variety, Allari Naresh has broken new ground in his own unassuming ways, providing more than just comic relief.

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 43

“Gamyam was a breakthrough film for me.

I don’t think Shambho Siva Shambho would have happened without Gamyam. Not that I expected to win an award for it but winning it did give me a huge kick.”

“I agree comedy has been my forte but it’s not like I deliberately did this to stand out. My first film Allari (which also gives him his name) was a comedy. It was big hit. Since that one, every 10 roles I am offered eight of them happen to be in the comedy genre,” he admits.

Given a choice, he would like to do a bit of visual comedy as well. Most of the comedy in his films is very dialogue based, slapstick variety. “I’d really love to do visual comedy à la Charlie Chaplin. That’s really challenging. Besides we do not focus much on the look and feel of the films as that would be pushing up the budget. I am aware of it and am consciously working towards it,” he shares.

The tag of a being a comedy hero does not seem to bother him at all. He’d rather let his work do the talking. “I’d like to try out a variety of things. If there is a character I find interesting and even if it is just for a couple of scenes, I will do it,” he shares.

Funnily enough, his most celebrated performance till date has been one such off beat role - the deaf Malli in Shambo Siva Shambo. There was the Gali Seenu character in Gamyam as well. That fetched him a Nandi Award and a Filmfare too.

“Gamyam was a breakthrough film for me. I don’t think Shambho Siva Shambho would have happened without Gamyam. Not that I expected to win an award for it but winning it did give me a huge kick,” he confesses. Now he’s hungry for more.

Naresh has proven his acting credentials beyond any doubt but not many thought he had what it takes to be a successful actor.

Everybody around him felt his good looking brother, Aryan Rajesh was better suited to become an actor. Even his dad, veteran director E V V Satyanarayana did not think Naresh could act. “When my dad saw Allari, his first words were, “I never thought you could act. I should have launched you.”

Polo: Designer Sampath/ CON’TRADITION Watch: JOURNEY Shoes: Earth Quake

44 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

Even his friends bet against his debut becoming a hit. In fact the first person who thought Naresh would make a good actor was none other than Big B himself. Naresh was helping his father manage their production house. It was at a public function organised to celebrate the success of their home production, Chalabagundi. It was directed by E V V Stayanarayana. “Tanikella Bharani introduced me to Amitabh Bachchan. He asked me how tall I was. I said 6ft two. ‘That is how tall Abhishek is. E V V Ise Hero banado (make him a hero, E V V),’ he’d said,” shares Naresh.

Naresh however, was launched by director Ravi Babu with Allari. He himself would not have it any other way. “Yes, I always wanted to be an actor I never wanted to be launched by my dad,” he shares.

Shirt, vest, watch and jacket: JOURNEY Pants: Designer Sampath/ CON’TRADITION Belt: Earth Quake Shoes: REFLECT colors U wear

Naresh though wants to do what many people haven’t. “When I direct my film, I will launch him as an actor,” he says breaking into a guffaw. “My father, I mean!” That too as a villain! But we aren’t kidding folks; Naresh is all set to turn filmmaker. “I will make my film in next three-four years. It’s something I’ve dreamt of for a long time,” he shares. That would certainly be something to look forward to. In the meanwhile, we always have Naresh the comedy maker!

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 45

TELUGU // FEATURES

That translates to quite literally, mother said. And sons, daughters, daughters-in-law, step children, adopted children, foster children have all been listening to what she said! When they don’t or can’t or are not meant to, the drama begins on screen. Karthik Pasupulate follows the Telugu on screen mother from then to now.

May is a rather interesting month. Just for the amazing mix of historical coincidences it brings to the calendar.

International Labour Day...World Mother’s Day…World Hypertension Day. They all fall in the month, exactly in that order at that. There’s International Nurses Day that follows as well. This isn’t a case of reading too much into words, just an unbiased statement of facts - days rather. Leave all else aside, this seems like divine coincidence, ahem, perhaps stereotype is the word.

Being a film magazine, matters of functionality would not permit us to delve further into the socio-cultural roots or realities of this seemingly fascinating arrangement of important world days. So we’ll just stick to the Mother’s Day for now. Mum’s going to be the word this month as the world celebrates motherhood; we thought we’d raise a toast to the reel mothers of Telugu cinema.

We must say Telugu cinema has been celebrating mothers long before Mother’s Day started finding a mention in our calendars. Stereotypically or otherwise, the onscreen mothers have been an integral part of our collective movie going experience. To say mother roles have evolved with time would be stating the obvious. From NTR to NTR Jr, three generations of superstars have doted on their mothers and done pretty much everything imaginable and more, to underline the maternal bonding!

46 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

The likes of Anjali Devi, S Vara Lakshmi, Kannamba, Bhanumathi, Rushyendramani, Shantha Kumari and Nirmalamma come to mind when you think good old black and white days. Except for perhaps Kannamba and Nirmalamma, almost all the others started off as leading ladies alongside NTR and ANR and gradually moved on to playing mothers to their contemporaries, giving way to younger and newer leading ladies! It’s always been a man’s world, you see. It did not matter that the mothers were perhaps just as old as or even younger than the heroes sometimes.

However, their genteel giving ways, adoring smiles, soft voices, aching eyes and all sacrificing tendencies, epitomise and in the process set the benchmark for the ideal onscreen mother.

Everything changes with time, so did the dynamics of the mother roles in Telugu cinema, but these quintessential qualities have stood the test of time, barring a few exceptions.

Then there were also the likes of Suyrakantham and Chaya Devi who specialised in playing the evil step mother or scheming mother-in-law. They were both brilliant actors but Suryakantham was in a league of her own and lit up the screen with her wicked portrayals which were a huge

hit with the audiences, who’d go walking out of the theatre hating her (character of course)!

Then came the era of the glycerin mothers, tricked by fate (should we say the script writers). Actors like Sarada, Annapoorna and Sujatha gradually took over the mantle of the unfortunate mother. For decades, many action film plots revolved around these hapless, destitute mothers.

Their worn out cotton saris and perpetually glycerinated expressions symbolised all the wrongs done to them and their families. They were central to the plot of the movie though. The mother’s suffering would culminate with her son’s (the hero’s) quest for justice. Sometimes her terminal illness would push the hero into the world of crime and her humiliation at the hands of the villain often led the hero down the path of retribution. She was usually an important element of the climax. Kidnapped by the villain and left hanging over a pit of crocodiles or something even more dramatic.

On the flip side, a bad onscreen mother usually was the stepmother. The hero nonetheless loved her no matter how she treated his wife. Eventually she’d realise her follies and come around.

Vani Sri in particular carved a niche for herself playing the headstrong mother-in-law in the Chiranjeevi starrer Attaki Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu. The incredible success of the film spawned a whole genre of such films, which pitted the hero against wily scheming mothers-in-law. Jayachitra also carried off such roles with much panache.

The nineties saw another avatar of the onscreen mother thanks to films like Ninne Pelladatha. Moving over from the weepy mould, she reveled in traditional splendor and her glamour quotient went up quite a bit. She’d have her little jokes and did not shy away from breaking into a couple of dance numbers at weddings and parties. In the last decade the likes of Jayasudha, Bengaluru Padma, Kavitha, Manjula, and Telangana Sakunthala and Suhasini more recently have gotten much cooler. Most films have moved to the cities these days and the mothers are more like best friends to their children. These modern mothers even urge their children to follow their heart, go after the girl of their dreams. “I am with you and will also help you elope with the girl if required!” Well, that’s not exactly a dialogue translated to English. But that’s writ large on the persona of the modern onscreen mother who has reinvented herself over the decades, and how!

Even screen divas of the yesteryears, like Vani Sri and Lakshmi reinvented themselves into successful mothers.

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 47

TELUGU// FEATURES

The one and only…

Raghupathi Venkaiah

Southscope salutes the spirit of Raghupathi Venkaiah as Srikanth Kumar C looks back at his monumental contributions to Telugu cinema.

48 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

The government of Andhra Pradesh introduced the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award to recognise lifetime achievements and contributions to Telugu cinema. Veteran filmmaker, late L V Prasad was the first recipient in 1980. Many legends of Telugu cinema followed. M A Rahman (Camera), B A Subbarao (Director), P Pilliah (director producer) ANR, B Nagi Reddy (director), Dr Dasari Narayana Rao…However, stalwarts like Narasraju, Marcus Bertly, Rushyendramani, B Padmanabham didn’t live to be felicitated, even as the likes of Balasubramanyam, Jamuna, Mohan Babu, K Raghavendra Rao are yet to be honoured. Little wonder then that the selection procedure has attracted severe criticism.

The greatest name to have never won the hounour perhaps is Raghupathi Venkaiah himself. A pioneer of Telugu cinema, his contributions are quite simply jaw dropping. The father of Indian cinema, Dada Saheb Phalke made the first ever Indian movie, Raja Harishchandra in 1913. Raghupathi Venkaiah had been exhibiting films right from 1909! He sure deserves a fancy title or two.

He was born to Subedar Appaya Naidu and Seshamamba, in Bandar (Krishna district) in 1869. As a child, he was a talented artist and a sculptor. He moved to Chennai and set up his art gallery at Mount Road, while he was just 13 years old. He gradually learnt about photography and got hooked to it. It was around this time that he came across a news item that perhaps kick started the advent of cinema in south of India. It was about an instrument called the Chrono Megaphone that could relate sounds with pictures. He ordered the Chrono Megaphone from the UK in 1909. It cost him Rs 30,000, a fortune in those days. He had to let out a portion of his photo studio to raise the money.

The father of Indian cinema, Dada Saheb Phalke made the first ever Indian movie, Raja Harishchandra in 1913. Raghupathi Venkaiah had been exhibiting films right from 1909!

A short film called Under the Panama was the first film he exhibited at the Victoria function hall in 1910. He shot and exhibited about a dozen three-minute-long-short films. Thus began the business of film exhibition in Madras, perhaps all of India. While people loved the novelty, it did not make him any money. He soon set up the Dera Cinema Hall, the first ever rain proof exhibition centre. He travelled around Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and exhibited films. He also travelled to Sri Lanka and Rangoon (Burma of today) to exhibit his films. He started the Gaitey Talkies, the first ever permanent theatre in Madras, all of south India actually. He later constructed Crown Theater on Mint Street and Globe Theater in Parasuwakka, Chennai.

He also exhibited American and British films. Some of the first movies shown in his theatres were Million Dollar Mystery, Mysteries of Meera, Clutching Hand, Broken Coin, Raja’s Casket, Peral fish and Great Bard.

He started his film production company, Star of East Films in 1919. Wanting to make a feature film, he sent his son, Raghupathi Surya Prakash Naidu to study cinematography in London. Surya Prakash learnt his craft assisting Cecil B DeMille, who directed the 1923 American epic silent film, The Ten Commandments. in 1923. Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu and his son Prakash made their first movie Meenakshi Kalyanam around actual locations of the Madurai Meenakshi temple. Later, they produced films like Gajendra Moksham, Mathsyavatharam, and Nandanaar. The father son duo also made Bhishma Pratigna, the first ever Telugu silent film. In all, fifty actors were featured in the film and it was exhibited all over the country with subtitles.

He started another film production house called Guarantee Pictures Corporation along with partners. A couple of films like Dasavataram (1927) and Kovalam (1928) made on the banner flopped and he apparently ran into debts. Raghupathi Venkaiah left the movie business to his son, stepping back from the business. He passed away in 1941 leaving behind a rich and unparalleled legacy...

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 49

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SOUTHSCOPE Southscope has been conceived as a magazine that will foster the status of the south Indian film industry. Southscope is not about drawing lines between film industries in the south and other parts of the Country, but a sincere attempt to appraise the world about the strengths and expertise of this blooming industry.

When Southscope was envisaged as a monthly digest that’d take the entire south Indian film industry to the doorstep of cinema buffs, little did we know there are millions across the world, waiting to get up close with their favorite stars.

In less than six months, Southscope became a household name across continents.

Macro in scope, micro in detail, design aesthetics, production values, attractive photography, intelligent content, and above all, a team with 150 man years’ combined industry experience with top publishing houses and agencies - Southscope has a lot going for it. The rousing response, the increasing production run month-on-month, the growing follower numbers on e-sites, and more than anything else, the whole-hearted welcome and encouragement by the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada film industries have made the journey thus far extremely interesting for Southscope.

Innovations like the double-sided cover pages and the resolve to cover films, stars, happenings of all four regions in proportionately equal portions has seen Southscope’s popularity soar in all states.

That, in brief was the trailblazing Southscope Style Awards, 2009. The first-of-its-kind in the “Country” to honor style in films. The thought behind the event was to bring to the fore, the fact that South India is not just a hotbed of talent but also home to beauty, style and aesthetics.

Attended by all the powers that be and applauded by all, unanimously, Southscope Style Awards, 2009 proclaimed to the world that style is integral to South Indian cinema.

Taking South’s style statement a step further, we launched Southscope Calendar Girls ‘10. This aesthetic limited edition compilation of photographs of South Indian cinema sirens against the backdrop of exotic Goa become a collector’s item.

And now, it’s time again for SOUTHSCOPE STYLE AWARDS, 2010.

Bigger, better and more brilliant!

SOUTHSCOPE STYLE AWARDS - 09

RECAP

Style is everything they say. If you have any doubts about the veracity of that truism you’ve obviously not been to the Southscope Style Awards 09, for style was not something the stars carried with them, it was the end in itself. From Megastar Chiranjeevi to glam queen Ileana, Reigning star Shriya Saran to dapper hero Venkatesh, the who’s who of the south Indian film industry strutted around flaunting their style quotient at this first of its kind revelry. The inaugural edition of the Southscope Style Awards 09 was made of stuff that was never seen before in south Indian cinema. To begin with, it is the first ever show that celebrates `style.' It was a boisterous carnival that was unleashed amidst a titillating potpourri of music and dance. For the benefit of those who missed it here’s a snap shot of the best of what happened on that starry starry night.

Allu Arjun, Priyamani, Mumaith Khan, Nikitha, Devi Sri Prasad, Jenifer Kotwal among a host of others set the mood for the evening. Their perfectly choreographed dance moves sent the crowd in a tizzy. But it was Allu Arjun – Prabhu Deva moonwalk ensemble that was the high point of the night as cheers from the crowd more than threatened the sound barrier. You had to see it to believe it!

It was not all about dancing though. The likes of Shriya Saran, Priyamani, Reema Sen, Shraddha Das, Sindhura Gadde, Seiya Gautam, Deeksha Seth and others set the ramp on fire. In an explosive finale, the stunning Shruthi Haasan and the eternally flamboyant All u Arjun walked the ramp together, much to the delight of the cheering crowds. And when Ram Charan came in for the grand finale of the night, he had the already delirious crowds on cloud nine.

Oh did we forget to mention the awards! Surya and Nayanthara picked up the Youth Icon Male and Female respectively. From lead actors to choreographers the most stylish set of all of all four south Indian languages were felicitated. But it was not so much about who won or did’nt, for the film loving public of this part of the world, it was a night to indulge in their love for cinema.

SOUTHSCOPE STYLE AWARDS ARE BACK! Nominate your favourite stars and win exciting prizes!

The first 50 entries will win VIP passes for the Southscope Style Awards, 2010.

Turn overleaf for the nomination sheet.

WIN

NOMINATIONS

TELUGU - TAMIL - MALAYALAM - KANNADA

‘10 Category Stylish Actor

Telugu 2008-2009 Allu Arjun – Arya 2 Prabhas – Billa Raviteja – Kick Siddarth – Konchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam

Stylish Actor (Female)

Kajal Agarwal – Arya 2 Ileana D’Cruz – Kick Anushka Shetty – Billa Tamanna Bhatia – Konchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam

Stylish Film

Billa – Meher Ramesh Kick – Surender Reddy Arya 2 – Sukumar Konchem Ishtam Konchum Kashtam – Kishore Kumar

Stylish Choreography (Song)

My Love is Gone (Arya 2) - Ganesh Ye Maya Chesave (Drona) - Johnny Master Dheera Dheera (Magadheera) - Shiva Shankar) I am Bad Boy (Josh) - Raju Sundaram

Stylish Choreography (Fight)

Peter Hynes – Magadheera Ram Lakshman – Arya 2 Stun Shiva - Billa Vijay, Aman Ghani - Josh

Stylish Album

Arya 2 – Devi Sri Prasad Kick – S. Thaman Billa, Ek Niranjan – Mani Sharma Oy – Yuvan Shankar Raja

Category

Category

Malayalam 2008-2009

Stylish Actor

Mammootty - Pazhassi Raja, Daddy Cool, Chattambinadu Mohanlal - Jackie Alias Sagar Reloaded Pritviraj - Puthiyamugham, Robinhood Dileep - Passenger Sarath Kumar - Pazhassi Raja

Stylish Actor (Female)

Padmapriya - Pazhassi Raja Mamta - Passenger Lakshmi Rai - To Harihar Nagar Bhavana - Sagar alias Jackie Rima Kallingal - Ritu Archana Kavi - Neelathamara

Stylish Film

Amal Neerad - Sagar alias Jackie Ranjith Shankar - Passenger Renjith - Paleri Manickam Hariharan - Pazhassi Raja Lal - 2 Harihar Nagar Deepan - Puthiyamugham

Stylish Choreography (Song)

Picha vecha (Puthiya Mugham) - Kala Master Chanthu Thottilile Chandanam (Banaras) - Kumar Shanthi Daddy my daddy (Daddy Cool) - Gayathri Raghuram & Dinesh) Priyanu Matram (Robin Hood) - Prasanna

Stylish Choreography (Fight)

Aanal Arasu - Puthiya mugham Ravi Dewan - Pazhassi Raja Aanal Arasu - Sagar Alias Jackie Reloaded Aanal Arasu - Daddy Cool

Stylish Album

Neelathamara - Vidyasagar Puthiya Mugham - Deepak Dev Banaras - M Jayachandran Bhramaram - Mohan Sitara Bhagyadevatha - Illayaraja

Tamil 2008-2009

Stylish Actor

Vikram – Kandaswamy Suriya – Ayan Kamal Haasan – Unnaipol Oruvan Jayam Ravi – Peranmai Bharath – Kanden Kadhalai

Stylish Actor (Female)

Tamannah - Ayan, Kanden Kadhalai Shriya - Kandasamy Nayanthara - Aadhavan Neetu Chandra - Yaavarum Nalam

Stylish Actor

Ganesh - Maleyali Jotheyali Puneet Rajkumar - Raaj, The Showman Chetan - Birugaali Sudeep - Ee Shathamaanada Veera Madakari

Stylish Film

Ayan – K.V Anand Aadhavan – K.S Ravikumar Kandhasamy – Susi Ganeshan Unnaipol Oruvan – Chakri Toleti Sarvvam – Vishnuvardhan

Stylish Actor (Female)

Aindritha Ray - Junglee Nisha Kothari - Raaj, The Showman Radhika Pandith - Love Guru Priyamani - Raam

Stylish Choreography (Song)

Nee Kobapettal (Villu) – Raju Sundaram Nenje Nenje (Ayan) – Dinesh Hasili Fisili (Aadhavan) - Shobi Excuse Me Mr Kandasamy (Kandasamy) – Gayatri Raghuram Shambo Shiva Sambho (Naddodigal) – Dinesh

Stylish Film

Raaj, The Showman - Prem Junglee - Soori Maleyali Jotheyali - Preetham Gubbi Manasaare - Yogaraj Bhat

Stylish Choreography (Fight)

Vijayan – Villu Kanal Kannan & Franz Spilhaur - Ayan Kanal Kannan – Aadhavan Rajashekar. K – Nadodigal Dalapathy Dinesh – Padikkathavan

Stylish Choreography (Song)

Hosa Gaana Bajaana (Raam) - Imran Sardhariya Onde Ninna Nota Saaku (Manasare) - Harsha A Haalad Haalad Heartalli (Maleyali Jotheyali) - Murali Loose Maada (Preetse Preetse) - Imran Sardhariya

Stylish Choreography (Fight)

Different Danny - Raaj, The Showman Ravi Verma - Birugaali Palani - Yodha,Kiran Bedi Ravi Verma - Abhai

Stylish Album

Ayan, Aadhavan - Harris Jayaraj Siva Manasula Sakthi, Sarvvam - Yuvan Shankar Raja Eeram, Sinthanai Sei - Thaman Villu, Kandasamy - Devi Sri Prasad

Stylish Album

Junglee, Raaj the showman - V Harikrishna Manasaare - Manomurthy Parichaya - Jessi Gift Birugaali - Arjun

Category

Kannada 2008-2009

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Why do celebrities use brands?

Since this is no marketing lecture, let me jump straight to the point. Brands see great value in roping in a celebrity for endorsements. If they didn’t see RoI (return on investment) on celebrities, they wouldn’t be doing it. After all, the celebrity endorsement market in India is valued at Rs 850 crore. A celebrity endorsement gives the brand many advantages. It gives a high-recall value to the brand. An average consumer is exposed to hundreds of marketing messages a day, through TV ads, newspapers, hoardings etc. The one that has a celebrity, ‘cuts through the clutter.’ It gives instant recognition to the ad.

PART – I:

The buzz in the advertising and marketing world is that the endorsement for south Indian movie actors is the ‘next big thing’ in business. Ever wondered why most of our celebrities don’t endorse as many brands as their Bollywood counterparts? And why are we subjected to dubbed ads, which are more humorous than convincing? This article hopes to throw some light on the business of celebrity endorsements. Luckily for me, all the four actors in my family have been the brand ambassadors for leading brands. Also, as a producer at Geetha Arts and CEO at Southscope, I have interacted with the big boys of Marketing and Advertising on this topic and have a ring-side view of the celebrity endorsement business.

This subject being an extensive one, has been divided into two parts.

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

Having a cult like following amongst its movie goers, and having about quarter of the country’s population and GDP, shouldn’t southern movie actors get a bigger cut of this pie? Ideally, yes – but let’s have a look at why this hasn’t been the case and what the future holds.

A Rs 850 crore market, dominated by Bollywood With its wide reach, Bollywood still has the lion’s share in the endorsement market. There was a time when cricket and other sports stars started notching up deals on par with actors, but again the tides shifted in favour of actors. The celebrity endorsement market in India is Rs 850 crores annually. And movie stars command 70 per cent of this, while the remaining is mostly sports stars. The surprising part is, of this, southern stars only account for a measly Rs 20 crore!

Also, celebrities’ endorsing a brand gives it a certain amount of credibility – no matter what naysayers say. Most often there is a good marriage between the brand’s characteristics and that of the celebrity. Like Pepsi always positions itself as the ‘youth drink’ hence it has Ranbir Kapoor and Ram Charan Tej, two youth icons as its brand ambassador. Genelia’s bubbly image goes well with the brand she endorses like Fanta, Virgin Mobile and Perk.

These associations make the consumer identify and relate himself to the product better.

Marketers call this ‘brand connect.’

AS AMBASSADORS?

WHY BRANDS NEED SOUTH STARS

Trisha

Allu Arjun

To be continued…

The big bosses of most brands are based in Delhi or Mumbai and have a limited understanding of south India. A lot of them still see the south as a single mass, with similar attitudes, culture and preferences. They make decisions and execute campaigns based on their perceptions rather than an understanding of the market. How brands and marketers get the whole south Indian market wrong is another topic worthy of an article by itself, which probably I will write later. But this is one of the reasons why we see many dubbed ads more hilarious than engaging, as the people who created them have no idea of their target audience. As brands realise this, they’re looking more towards ‘regionalisation’ of their campaigns. Their best bet to help them in this mission – a regional brand ambassador. The endorsement opportunities don’t limit to superstars alone, but to the B-list and character artistes as well. Also, national brands are not the only ones that need a brand ambassador.

Mallika Sherawat (previously)

Trisha

7Up

Mahesh Babu, previously Chiranjeevi

Akshay Kumar Hrithik Roshan

Thums Up

Vivel Shampoo

Idea Cellular

Siddharth

Trisha

Preity Zinta

Perk (previous campaign) Abhishek Bachchan

Trisha

Tata Indicom

Kajol

Suriya, Mahesh Babu

Rani Mukherjee

Amitabh Bachchan

Fanta (previous campaign)

Navratna Oil

Simran

Ram Charan Tej, previously Pawan Kalyan

Juhi Chawla

Ranbir Kapoor

Kurkure

Surya

Shahrukh Khan

REGIONAL OR SOUTH INDIA BRAND AMBASSADOR

Pepsi

NATIONAL BRAND AMBASSADOR (OR FOR NORTHERN BELT)

Limited reach of Bollywood in south India To penetrate further into these ‘regional’ markets, brands need to localise the campaigns and make them relevant for the consumer. In most cases, a Bollywood star wouldn’t be enough. A big-budget Bollywood starrer, like My Name is Khan or 3 Idiots would release in about 30 towns in Andhra Pradesh, where even a small-budget Telugu film would release in more towns than that. If a brand has to do an ‘in-film placement’ and marketing tie up to increase their AP sales, a small-budget Telugu film is a better platform. Though people in Tier-II and Tier-III cities can recognise Bollywood stars, most of them wouldn’t connect to them as they wouldn’t have seen the movies (or very few, if so) of those stars. Even in a mega city like Hyderabad, where over 60 per cent of the people can speak Hindi – the highest grossing Telugu film (Magadheera) sold Rs 22 crore worth tickets, whereas the biggest Hindi hit (3 Idiots) sold just Rs 9 crore worth tickets! While neighboring Karnataka is a more Bollywood-friendly market, the reach of Hindi cinema is even lesser in Tamil Nadu and negligible in Kerala. Some of the smarter brands have realised they need a local brand ambassador if they have to improve the ‘connect’ between their consumers and their ads. Some of the smarter brands have a separate brand ambassador for their ‘national’ campaign and a separate one that appeals to their regional consumers.

percent of their national sales. Why does Airtel tie up with a movie for cross promotion every month? Andhra Pradesh is their single largest market for the brand where they hold the number one spot. The two biggest liquor consuming states in the country are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka followed by Punjab. Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are home to 4.2 crore and 5.1 crore mobile connections respectively. Likewise, for every product or service – be it electronics, housing, food and beverages, financial products – the southern markets are huge.

Fair and Handsome

BRAND

Andhra Pradesh, the 70th biggest country of this world Each state or region is becoming a huge market by itself. Marketers cannot afford to overlook them. With a Rs 2.67 lakh crore economy, AP is India’s third largest economy after Maharashtra and UP. If Andhra Pradesh is a country, it would be the 70th biggest economy in the world ahead of Oman, Lebanon, Bulgaria, Kenya and Jordan amongst others! With nearly 100 million population and a per-capita income of Rs 30,000! Yes, we’re that big! Tamil Nadu has a Rs 2.41 lakh crore economy. Karnataka is a Rs 2.11 lakh crore economy while Kerala’s economy is 1.32 lakh crore in size. Why do you think Thums Up has a separate brand ambassador for AP? It’s because the state contributes nearly 20

Marketers call India ‘the most pluralistic’ market and rightfully so. There is even a book titled We are like that only by Rama Bijapurkar that explains how marketers should respect India’s diversity and not treat them like a single mass. Slowly, marketers have realised that to increase ‘brand connect,’ they have to localise ads and talk to consumers in a way it appeals to them.

The ‘unified Indian consumer’ myth Through the post-liberalisation era marketers believed that India will turn into one large unified mass (like China), where people can be easily divided into demographics according to age, income levels and location (urban, rural). They believed if they crack the ‘great Indian middle class’ they have a huge mass of 500-600 million consumers in one go. But that’s not the case. Though, politically in spirit we Indians are one, culturally – we’re vastly different from one another. Brands are realising that to appeal to today’s new-age wellinformed consumers, they should make campaigns that talk in their language, reflect their beliefs and be relevant to their culture. The ‘one size fits all’ attitude doesn’t work anymore and brands are quickly adapting this new found insight.

SOUTHSCOPE BLOGBUSTERS Starting this issue, 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!

>> Kara My love affair with Indian films began when a college friend gave me a cassette tape with the soundtrack to Maine Pyar Kiya on it, way back in 1996. Although the man who gave it to me is long forgotten, my love for Indian films and music has continued to grow. My friends and family eventually grew tired of hearing me talk about films all the time, so I began blogging under the name ‘Filmi Girl’ and met a wonderful community of fellow film fanatics.

I am a 30 year old librarian. I live with my sister and a big pile of books and DVDs in Washington, DC.

OF MASALA AND MAGADHEERA...

I love masala films.

This weekend I saw not one but two modern specimens of the form – Vivek Oberoi’s Prince and the Telugu super hit Magadheera.

The divide between the two is indicative of so much that is happening in Bollywood right now and with all the Bollywood chattering classes expressing surprise that Prince has done well when piles of films with better critical reviews have crashed up against audience indifference, I thought I should add my take on it.

It used to be, not so long ago that Bollywood put out films that were not too different from the southern film industries – granted they were always a little tamer with a little better production values and of course, different cultural reference points. Something like Khakee (2004) is not really so far removed

58 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

from Chatrapathi (2005), even if Akshay Kumar has never wrestled a shark, but in the last few years, the number of big budget Bollywood masala films has dropped along with the quality of the masala. Signalling that the trend is here to stay, the Filmfare Awards quietly dropped the traditional ‘Best Villain’ and ‘Best Comedian’ awards in 2007 – awards that used to give the industry a chance to appreciate the hard work of actors like Pran, Amjad Khan, and Johnny Lever who stole scenes from out under the feet of the hunky heroes headlining the films. Bollywood filmmakers are aiming more and more towards the greener (as in cash) pastures of the ‘world’ audience and, in doing so, are changing the composition of the films they want to sell.

And yet, for all the talk about ‘competing with Hollywood,’ the Hindi film industry has had a rough couple of years. Since Akshay

Kumar had his year of low-brow hits in 2007 and solidified his place as a hero who could bring in the masses, no new faces have emerged to take over the mantle from the Three Khans, who are all in their mid-40s and objectively speaking don’t have that many years of ‘heroing’ left. While Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, and to a lesser degree, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Imran Khan have all had hits, none have begun to in spire the devotion shown to Shahrukh, Aamir, and Salman. And this isn’t a coincidence – the kinds of films that create the largerthan-life personas of Shahrukh, Aamir and Salman are just not being made today. The industry has gone and changed the kind of audience it is aiming at – Westernised, educated, and most likely raised on Hollywood – and has been suffering at the box office at home because of it.

All of this is a roundabout way of bringing me to my point, namely, there is a reason that one of the top films of the last two years was a Southern remake – Ghajini.

Bollywood scriptwriters have forgotten how to write a proper Bollywood narrative.

I feel like every week, we see yet another round of films that don’t connect with the audience. Take Karthik Calling Karthik, which had a promising premise, a good cast, great music and then proceeded to waste all of it in an attempt to make a film that was as ‘realistic’ as Hollywood but still Bollywood enough to please the average viewer. Song picturisations, which ideally should flow naturally from the narrative, have become

song montages thrown in at random intervals. Witty dialogues and memorable lines have – with the exception of, perhaps, Imtiaz Ali; vanished into Hinglish simple enough that even gori me can watch a recent film without subtitles – which I did for Karthik Calling Karthik - and understand everything that’s going on. In one of my favourite scenes from the post-modern masala film Tashan (a total flop, although not because it was a bad film), arch-villain Bhaiyaji gives a corrupt version of Amitabh Bachchan’s epic temple speech from Deewar entirely in Hinglish, horrifying his audience.

(This is just one of the many scenes from Tashan that leads me to believe that Vijay Krishna Acharya, who also wrote Dhoom 2, is currently the only man in Bollywood who knows how to write an honest masala story).

chattering classes to express surprise that something like Prince turns out to be a hit.

Of course, it was a hit! When was the last Bollywood film to add action, adventure, sexy ladies, evil villains, and a bumping soundtrack? I can answer that for you because I saw that one too – tepid, hugely boring Blue back in October. It’s now April.

Why are we surprised at Prince’s success? It may not be a ‘good’ film but it is certainly much more entertaining than anything else out there right now.

So, where does Magadheera fit into all of this? The super hit film starring Ram Charan Tej and Kajal Aggarwal is a masterwork of masala from the opening motorcycle jump sequence to the star-

And it’s not just the style – the songs and dialogues – gone, too, are the epic struggles and epic romances of times past that would emotionally connect the audience to the film and the actors in it. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na was cute but it doesn’t have the emotional heft of DDLJ. More and more often, when I leave the theatre, I don’t care about the film I just saw – actually, sometimes I stop caring while still watching the film. Prince may not have had any dil but it did deliver on the masala style, which was enough to give it a 70 to 80 per cent opening crowd at the single screen theaters.

There is a wonderful quote from the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes in which Calvin says, “A good compromise leaves everyone mad.”

To me this sums up so much about the state of Bollywood right now. New filmmakers want to make Hollywood-style films but audiences at home still want the traditional masala experience, leading to the cognitive dissonance that results in the Bollywood

crossed love to the creeptastic villain and unironic heroicness and even more unironic dance moves by Ram Charan Tej. Magadheera delivers on everything that Bollywood is too embarrassed to show onscreen and it’s incredible. The simple yearning between Harsha and Indu, Hero and Heroine, is palpable and the villain is evil enough for us to enjoy hating while

not overwhelming enough that I end up rooting for him. Ram Charan Tej’s performance as the Hero was breathtaking – he has the kind of charisma that gets an audience rooting for him even though we know he is going to win. That takes talent.

And while Ranbir Kapoor and maybe Shahid could pull off something similar in Bollywood, they won’t get the chance because no matter how much I might wish it, the Pandora’s Box of ‘realism’ has been opened and, like a virus, this desire to appear ‘realistic’ is spreading around Film City.

I may sound like a crank but I’m not against progress – like I said, I loved post-modern Tashan to pieces - and there is certainly a place on film screens worldwide for films like Ishqiya and Dev D which use a subtle and modern form of Bollywood narrative.

What I am against is this half-baked idea that films can only be taken seriously if they are ‘realistic’ and that ‘realism’ is something only found using a Hollywood style of filmmaking. This idea is something that filmmakers are going to have to shake if they want audiences to start returning to the theatres en masse. While I still go to my local Bollywood theatre and still see all the new releases. No matter how terrible the reviews, when I do get excited for Bollywood films, now it’s usually for things like Golmaal Returns or Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani or Singh is King - comedy aimed at the masses (and me) – because I know I’ll be in for a rollicking good time.

But when I want a cathartic viewing experience, the kind of film that I’ll watch twice in one day, I turn south.

To Magadheera.

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

COMING SOON

‘10 WWW.SOUTHSCOPE.IN FOR DETAILS CALL +40 3060 2323/2424

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 59

SONU SOOD // EXCLUSIVE

20 Q’S

SONU SOOD TALKS OF ROLES, SCRIPTS, LIFE… RAHUL GANGULY GETS BUSY WITH THE NOTEPAD.

You studied engineering, so how did acting happen? I started out in the fashion industry, which culminated with a few shows in Nagpur. Then I thought, why not acting? As it turned out, it wasn’t a bad idea after all.

Although I must say it wasn’t easy. Screen success happened slowly over time. Guess it boils down to how well you can convince people that you can deliver. Also, it’s about getting in touch with the right people for the rest of the pieces to fall in place.

Did you always want to be an actor? Well, I come from Moga, a small town in Punjab. My mother was a college professor and dad, a businessman.

Growing up in a small town, I’ve always wanted to move out and make something out of myself. Let’s put it that way.

How do you deal with stardom? Ask anybody who’s grown up with me and they’ll tell you that I am still the same guy they grew up with. In fact I still write letters to my relatives back at Moga and meet up with old pals whenever I go there. I guess you can call the story of my life one of those familiar Indian narratives. Small town guy goes out and tries his luck in the big bad world. In a sense, I am still that small town guy.

How has life changed after you took up acting? Speaking of change, you could say that I’ve become more of an open person. Everyday, I come across new people. It enriches me more and more. I love to learn from each new day. I am fortunate to have great friends who have been supportive of my endeavours, and anyway, nothing’s changed between me and my friends or family.

Anyone you emulate or draw inspiration from? My mother. She has always been a great source of inspiration for me. She passed away a few years ago. I still miss her a lot. Another person I admire is Amitabh Bachchan. I’ve always looked up to his sense of discipline as an actor and humility as a person.

Besides acting, what else are you passionate about? A few years ago, I started a trust in my mother’s memory for children with no access to education. I wanted to carry forth my mother’s zeal for teaching through the initiative. For the time being it’s doing pretty well.

Coming from a pukka Punjabi family, did you ever envision making a name for yourself in south cinema? South cinema has been a definite stepping stone in my acting career. I started off with Tamil cinema and have never looked back since then. With every film I have grown as a person and learned a great deal from the people I’ve worked with.

You are now a household name playing villains in Telugu films. How has it been working here? Honestly, I’ve found that the industry can be quite a stimulating place to learn and grow. Every actor has an appetite for creative projects. You can say that my hunger as an actor has been satiated after working in south films.

What makes a script interesting for you? The decision to select a role depends on a mix of intuition and experience. Five months into the industry and then you just know it. It’s as simple as that. As you’re reading the script, you just know if you are cut out for the film or not.

After that, it’s just a matter of taking or leaving it.

60 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

If there has been one driving force in your career, what would that be?

You have to be absolutely convinced that you were born to do this. Call it determination, call it insistence, I’ve found that it’s always worked for me. Somewhere, that remains one of the driving factors in my life, a sort of curiosity that keeps me going and ensures that I do my best in every role I do.

What is it that you like best about playing a southern film villain? When I started in south cinema, it wasn’t all smooth and easy. The acting style is a touch overplayed here when compared to Bollywood. But yeah, sure, it’s fun! But what matters most is your performance and not so much whether it’s a southern film or a film in any other language.

Did playing the villain in Arundhati require any special preparation?

Arundhati required five hours of preparation a day across the fifty-odd days we shot for. That kind of routine helped me slip into the skin of my character.

What is your life mantra? That’s easy. As an actor and a person, one has to keep doing what comes naturally. No more, no less.

How do you unwind? I love strumming the guitar when I can. I absolutely love listening to Bollywood music down the ages. Sometimes I still play to my friends whenever there is a get together (smiles), but I’m no party animal. Of course, I love my dose of Punjabi folk music too!

Are you a foodie? I still find comfort in home cooked food. Daal chawal and rajma always works!

How do you feel about playing the baddie the audiences love to hate on screen? You know, playing the good guy or the baddie does not really matter for an actor. So long as you know you are putting in that hundred percent in a role.

Do you think villains are somehow sexier than the good guys? Did your negative roles affect you female fan following? Personally, there have been no clear lines between the good guys and the bad guys on screen.

Being actors, our job is to simply live the role. I don’t think women fall for villains any more than the nice guys. We can’t generalise, can we?

(Chuckles) Have people said that they’ve hated you since you do negative roles and most often the reel morphs into the real. This has happened to many famous villains like Amrish Puri, Prem Chopra etc. How do you react to such feedback? When you’re doing a certain kind of roles, you tend to get labelled into a category. I believe I’ve given a distinct shape to the characters in, say Jodha Akbar, Arundhati or Ek Niranjan. When the actor faces the camera, the only defining factor is the performance. Not the character’s inherent goodness (or lack of it).

What is the craziest thing a fan did for you or to you? While shooting in Vizag a few years ago, I was bombarded with a bunch of messages from this young lady who claimed to be a huge fan. I often received gifts and letters from her, and this went on for a year and a half. Naturally, this was getting a bit freaky. And guess what? There was even a marriage proposal!

You are generally accessible to anyone on phone. How come? It’s one of those things that keeps me grounded. And anyway, getting into a shell never helps, so no starry airs for me. Fate brought me to southern cinema and it all started with that single call, years ago. Glad I took it!

TWENTY QUESTIONS WITH SONU SOOD SONU SOOD // EXCLUSIVE

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 61

sty e sutra The long legged Parvati Melton set hearts racing in 2005 with her Telugu debut, Vennela and got us used to her fresh sense of style till much after. Once we found this picture, putting it away was a tad hard. So we decided to make it easy for you to recreate this look!

GET THIS LOOK Rs.45

Rs.90

FELIZ

FELIZ

Rs.105

Rs.995

FELIZ

ENVY

1, Lower Ground Floor, GS Mall, Somajiguda, Hyderabad

- Maya Raj

Rs.8995

Rs.6500

JOURNERY

SAGAR TENALI

19, My Home Tycoon, Begumpet, Hyderabad.

8-2-460/3 Road No. 4, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.

Rs.795

ENVY the styling lounge Near Cancer Hospital, Road No. 10, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.

Rs.1595

Earth Quake 1-8-91/19/1, Sindhi Colony, PG Road, Secunderabad.

Rs.90

FELIZ

62 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

Rs.2895

Rs.2195

ENVY

ENVY

Rs.1495

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ENVY

ENVY

It

sty esutra

Star of the month Venkatesh looks, walks, talks, sits and even stands stylish – we at the style department think we are in love!!!

Just a polo and jeans, and Venky still makes them look good!

V

VENKATESH

v

< Buttonup shirts sure look great on Venky.

>

< Denim on denim is a noted fashion no no but we think we have to let it slide here – Venky still manages to ooze his noted charm.

Guess Venky likes his geek glasses. >

Looking hot in the chillier months too.

- Maya Raj MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 63

64 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

Mammootty is just one year short of an extraordinary feat. Next year, he is completing forty years of acting! Amazing considering he still churns out hits every year, winning awards galore along the way while also being involved in a number of philanthropic projects. To top it all off, he has evolved his style over the years as well. As you can see from the picture story of his evolution, his hairstyles have changed considerably each decade. From his curly twirls of the 70s and 80s, through to his signature 90s hair and now onto spikes (that’s right!), Mammootty’s experimented a great deal with his hair. Although his moustache was a staple, it varied quite a bit every once in a while. His wardrobe too set him apart from the rest and managed to give him a distinctly different look that we get to dissect in made in made out this issue…

- Maya Raj

MADE IN MADE OUT

sty esutra

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

TER

E ME

STYL

*Ratings below were derived from the online Southscope poll.

- Maya Raj

7.5/10

Looks like checkered shirts are all the rage huh Jr?

8/10

Sumanth pulls off simple and stylish with ease.

10/10

A++ Charan!

7.5/10

Looking great Karthi!

7/10

With a body like Arya’s, we are not sure if anything could dare to look bad on him!

7.5/10

Bright, bold and very cool Navdeep!

9/10

Chaitanya just looks adorable in anything these days!

6/10

Ummm…we like the watch!

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 65

KANNADA // FEATURES

DURING

THE DAY OR HIGHWAY

Much to the collective angst, surprise and exasperation of filmmakers in Karnataka, the Kannada Film Producers’ Association has gone ahead and imposed another set of bizarre rules for cost cutting. Aravind G Shivkamal digs out some dirt from behind closed doors.

No late night parties. No evening promos. No special screenings of movies post six pm. Sounds like some police diktat for party animals? Wrong.

These new rules are set by the Kannada Film Producers’ Association (KFPA) in yet another attempt at cost cutting for filmmakers!

Absurd but true. The KFPA has also issued a stern warning against violating this strange ‘model code of conduct.’ Recently, the Association, despite strong protests from many, passed a resolution making it mandatory for all producers not to hold film launches, audio release events and promotional activities after six pm. The logic behind this bizarre move: There is a dire need to cut down costs, as films are falling flat and investments are being eroded. Of the 114 films released last year, only six were hits, while four performed moderately at the box office.

The average budget for a film’s promotion is around Rs 20 lakh. Most of the time though, big budget movie producers don’t mind splurging in excess of Rs 50 lakh for publicity. If the same promotional activity takes place during the day time in 3-star hotels, the budget is reduced by 50 per cent, as the rates are nominal during the day. As of now, there are only a handful of big producers in Kannada. The rest rely on financiers and banks for their films.

“We want all the producers to benefit,” reasons S A Prasanna, from the KFPA. “The bigger players don’t mind shelling out money. What about low budget movie producers? They should get a fair deal too. That has prompted us to bring in this rule, to ensure that publicity costs don’t overrun the set budget. Some producers even borrow money from money lenders. Hefty publicity spending could result in a huge loss for them,” he adds. The Association has even sent out letters to media organisations, requesting them to avoid attending film promotional dos after six.

66 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

The first victim of this decision was the producer of the trilingual film, Coffee Shop. He was all set to host a tea party for the media in one of the top star hotels in Bengaluru. Around quarter past six, he received a call from the Association and was asked to wind up the party, as he was violating the rule.

But when the producer did not budge, Association workers walked into the venue and urged the media to leave!

The big budget movie producers intend to take the matter to the court. Says legal expert, Maruthi Prasanna, “At best, such a rule should be brought in through an informal arrangement among the producers. There is no way that the rule can be enforced through the law. It is clear violation of the freedom of speech and expression. It will not even stand the test of law.”

The visibly embarrassed producer had to eventually apologise to the media and the KFPA over the issue. Had the producer ignored the order, he would have been suspended from the Association making his film release practically impossible.

All this while, the going has been tough for the KFPA, as it cannot afford to upset the big producers. “All the hits are being delivered by big producers. If the Association takes on them, they are bound to lose the battle. In such a case, compromise seems like the only way out,” muses film critic Nagamangala Prakash.

Big budget movie producers have strongly opposed the Association’s decision, as they consider it a major setback for publicity. “I don’t understand why the Association should stop us from holding promos during evenings,” lashes out Sowmya Sathyan, a producer, adding, “That’s when everyone’s free.

The film fraternity, especially the stars, high society and the media prefer attending promos only in the evenings. Will anybody turn up for networking during the day? There is no logic in this decision.”

A few other big producers have dared to take on the Association on this issue. Acclaimed director Prem deliberately held the launch of Shivarajkumar’s 100th film Jogayya, post seven pm at a star hotel in Bengaluru. Jogayya happens to be Prem’s first home production venture and he is directing the film too. The who’s who of the Kannada film industry turned up for the event. Strangely, all the office-bearers of the KFPA were also present at the launch party! But none had the guts to question Prem, whose latest film Raaj - The Showman, featuring Puneet Rajkumar was a mega hit.

Similarly, Upendra preferred to launch his multilingual film, Super in the evening too at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association grounds in Bengaluru. It had live stage shows and heavy duty performances. The KFPA did not dare to even send a notice to Upendra or Prem for violating the rule.

A film producer who did not wish to be named says, “The Association has become the fiefdom of a few members who want to wield their clout. If they could stop the producer of Coffee Shop from interacting with the media after six pm, they should have applied the same rule to Prem as well. But they have been biased.”

This decision to rein in the producers has resulted in a vertical split in the film industry. Some producers are in favour of the Association’s move, while others oppose it. Now, some producers have approached the Karnataka Information Ministry to put an end to the controversial issue for good.

Perhaps the worst hit among them all are the film publicity managers. “It has become very difficult for us to manage the media because of this decision. Only a few media persons manage to turn up during the day for events. The producers in turn blame us for poor publicity. What can we do if they impose absurd decisions on themselves?” questions Baragur Manjunath, a film publicity manager.

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 67

bioscope

TELUGU Good Dialogues! In a word the film is all about dialogues. Sai Kumar in what can be described as at his understated best, was handed some of the most profound dialogues written in recent times. The satire was razor sharp and layered with many Bhagawat Geeta connotations attached. This oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for the writers!

n

Drama as a genre is not very popular with us folks and political dramas are even more scarce. But the script has enough intrigue and unexpected twists to keep you interested. There are flashbacks, dirty family secrets, sibling rivalry, step father syndrome, drugs and wild passions that make up for the lack of the regular commercial elements.

n

Saikumar and Sharwanand in particular stand out with their powerful performances. Jeeva was also great with his typical Rayalaseema accent. Debutante Sandeep playing the villain was not far behind and stood his ground.

n

PRASTHANAM Cast: Sharwanand, Sandeep Kishan, Sai Kumar, Ruby Parihar, Jeeva, Jayaprakash Reddy, Vennela Kishore, Surekha Vani, Reshma Direction: Deva Katta

Could have been better...

We seem to have a natural propensity for hyperbole in general and this is where the film falls flat. Agreed it was a dark film with emotions running wild, but perhaps the filmmakers could have been more thoughtful and dare we say, subtle.

n

Imagine an item number (a bad one at that) with a guy. It might seem like too sexist an argument but what the hell it was just too tacky!

n

Music: Mahesh Shankar

A lot of times the profoundness of the dialogues or situation did not quite match up to the caliber of filmmaking! The film could well have used a trainload of finesse!

n

- Karthik Pasupulate

68 SOUTHSCOPE MAYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;10

bioscope

KANNADA

Good An absolute paisa vasool slapstick comedy caper, Swayamwara is devoid of cheap dialogues and unnecessary subplots. The movie is entertaining till the end.

n

The best of Kannada films’ current crop of comedians feature together in this one. That’s a rarity. Umesh, Lakshmi Devi, Rangayana Raghu, Ramesh Bhat and Tennis Krishna are a treat to watch.

n

The director is successful in bringing back the famous Seethapathi character from the super hit Golmaal series. Seasoned comedian Umesh is excellent throughout the film in Seethapathi’s character.

n

Diganth proves a point. Till now, he was considered a romancer at best.

In Swayamwara, he essays a comical role easily. Sharmila Mandre sizzles in this tailor-made role as a fashion aficionado. Kitty continues to retain his cute image.

n

SWAYAMWARA : Diganth, Sharmila Mandre, Srinagar Kitty, Rangayana Raghu, Umesh, Lakshmi Devi

Cast

Direction: Anantharaju : Manikanth Kadri

Music

Could have been better...

The plot is loosely based on the Hindi film Mujhse Shaadi Karogi. There could have been more interesting twists and turns to the story.

n

The character played by newcomer Anand, at times, is irritating. Probably he wanted to make his presence felt in a film full of star comedians.

n

The gay scenes involving Diganth and Kitty appear to be overdone. They become predictable throughout the story.

n

The music is a complete let down. Except for one song, none of the other tracks have any recall value. Choreography is not up to the mark either. In a couple of songs shot abroad, the foreign dancers seem to forget their dance steps.

n

- Aravind G Shivkamal MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 69

Predictions

01

02

03

t on fr b s ) jo te th e . g th les da 30 rin on ac on or ve s st o n b c rn st io o e s e r e bo 21 n en b l i l t i ar e , s e w e u pl 2th cl ac e r f yo a eo 1 if st to the (P d, ob n ly s ge s e 3r e ia . io r t lik ne m nt ar ca re usi so e m gh e ym ds Vo u a n b hi of ac a n Yo d i s t f d p ien ity ai a an set igh ke Fr bil m t e r at d m loc ba ec As ll i p u b an ro wh w p ex e. .

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Th leas and p em d

Astro Numerologist: Bhavikk Sangghvi E-mail: bhavikksangghvi@gmail.com / Website: www.bhavikksangghvi.com

MAY 2010 PREDICTIONS

70 SOUTHSCOPE MAYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;10

05

04

07

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06

09

08

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a s da d d e te ) n ) an ) h bl . o s on th da 3rd ra ins n 7t es rn 25 vo ga ew or 2 gr of on 2 a g r o f b or bo o r rn in alf e nd pr rn o e e r t h l a t h e l i b l h t l p of t d a bo th 8 ll en qu ess r op 16 er e 14 eo 1 e wi on ng fo ay ht s ec ov pl , ar cc ni (P h, Pe , n u g m h ( y h n i n us s s o es s u eo t be 9t m rl g gi io io ti et , in e 7t s o i e l h e t l s ic t (P 5 u b i ld ca lan es d ,y r ca w e eb bu g sp yo e te th Vo e p usin ak th ou al rin Vo re h. au h, of or y t e on u n t s h is Th r b ts ds of io d t m s in m Th w s be ds on lt t o u h a i o t be t th r e n f y en n e m o g d l e h he i g e o l a s he t ss mi en h. on ay t. h. ad r y . ri ss ft Fr isi he m nd wi e A ar m t o t s m F m h r A a t h u i f iv in nt s . t on d o s. u d n f t st u a e y u s d n o ti m Yo ves mo an e d erty mo n Yo ains mo an le o out mil th of d yo w , y er le r ca e e hip b in e r, or r d b fa of th rd g e fe y ob on oo ily ll op he a o l d h r i a s Vo th ers i f i g t rt . ds pr wi l pr of t on diso . th m d ur ye e d sit n an i a s e m r a pa ns o e uld By rtn s a am e m ie yo en ily r a e F t h r g i t o i p t h F ew e e h r o r c t n n y in n t h pa set arly ga o i a h r Fr fam t ic Th are nni us ain tn ab of e s In e w le ra io of om ed g As e e cial nd ng us e ay p egi th ic u m b op h po in d st m a tr . i . dl th r m l p t y e o n o b d t u h l f m s Th an y y a id f ’ e p y e t g u l n e e yo m ry o au lp ea e d b ts o fin mi pe on on rn yo H of ft h u d n d H , e e e e t i o u c s l o m s j e h h h j . e d e b y t Fa y e an p n . l T l i d h c n ff m l u a i B lit in an i in sh ble wi alt l ro e la g an xib So m h bi e t e l n n a e u h e e i ga . a f c v r h fl by alt tim to e o se sid ave rob ed. tio ch g d e ra car du t la a n r t lo T H me one Tr e p ica e l an e le re ro ro jo to g pp st ies.

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Vo ll p you n. y m bo n to isk op 7 lit ro e e 2 s at wi to sio s le r bi t f ,1 P e n b r a pl , 2 ( e h i t n th ks an et er s. ob pa io e a ta er 8t eo th da on han exp Ass our . pr y a y. ph es at l b cer re .

(P 1 3 es n ) m s t s y l c t t r t o o ca ers th sin ns ng er er wi ng h, er se s he ss fo Vo e u o e m 4 p b i n p v s t r u p h v o t o 4t l f t e re a t s m o x r cy nd . r s rb or 2 co a o o l Y e e p d s sin si e d p h u v b i vi en it or re rt bu de in set is a ew old ien wit ly m an yo e ed ci n Fr an th ta to pa ur s re n g ffi ha nt pl th l d e ns nd Fr y i ge A t e p , 5 a p a o m l n n g h e er o t i io a p t d 1 e w a e h g . e a m h tt y H at exp Th yin vat an ha r f n in nt le e lh ig un ry n (P h, la or ly u o k b u e o i b. r r b m e lf ic ob ’t e. ga no ly be ou is 6t atio sit elp of jo m te hin s tr le pr n s wo m Th cia re mi ill of y c se or er Fa ny e un ac as h wo ea el d his fi ew l h w o l r a t u s b t g n i i n l i v h s F a Vo ss co m u n a t ne m m n w d c d e f e i n o o ea ou d ra th qu e e w r h Y Y be h T ry re an be sin Th ork ts re er t e ir o ien m ro lth alt ter on in. go a f. jo c a n h d g u na a r e a m w s ay ily . ai e se ig epa F ea he bet e. di s to th li m oa b e rt r p c r m r H r ou or ship u wi k re ny As u m e r th ce an nd nd fam ice ve u ci of ab o ou be fo

a y o l o e a r l Y l pi ite on ed ic y a of un ha n Yo th o y l m h l Y u y b u i s o e o t t d c l a g d t i i qu lati s w l t h t ub q d b yo r Ro e w s. au on m . ar n i s d a n g a o m i i f p e wa ave igh ted as ip be e ic e tr n le es ip m An Fa e o f th ll d r rm le nsh r e o fi ub rly bl m la nd iti sh u . i e e T l n wi n i ar ls ro ea ta On b o h n et op tio yo es ou rk r nce th e a ib io u la t t d e ofi Y pe ela h, im jo alt is a . n v ns la t, yo wil th pr wo ma o s lo . e nt l t e s po re g s en ew r o a r / e m e H se u s n d s e es s al m er Ro his r a ned rin le ca yo nfi ith st Th sea l e f r hip is ev fa er T du be In co w of di ave g th e s anc re o nds el ill as nc v m u ie be ling rid av w Tr rin ea co s r ll l tr u’ ea ing Ro res ct f Du ng P ffe Yo in d ett lo a e g bl as y An

ta

r fo m co

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 71

Pic: M N Bushan

Prabhas walked in with the director Karunakaran at the audio launch of Darling, while Allu Arjun celebrated his birthday with Ravi Teja, Krishnam Raju, Kajal Agarwal, Rajamouli, Puri Jagannadh, Dil Raju, Adita Babu and a host of others.

Devi Sri Prasad was the focus of the audio launch of Syeata. Present were Dil Raju, Puri Jagannath, Abhinaya and Charmme.

Pic: M N Bushan

The audio launch of Rama Rama Krishna Krishna saw the entire film fraternity in attendance, including buddies Jr NTR, Prabhas and Ram. The event marked the 175th composition of M M Keeravani as music director.

Pic: M N Bushan

Pic: M N Bushan

KALEIDOSCOPE

TELUGU / KANNADA

Dasari Narayan Rao launched his Young India project.

Brahmanandam, V V Vinayak and many others came in to support Dasari.

Pic: Manu

The who’s who of the Kannada film industry at the audio CD release of Puneet Rajkumar’s film Prithvi.

Pic: Manu

A member of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce sounds the clapboard for Ganesh’s upcoming filma, Maduve Mane.

Pic: P Naresh

72 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

Pic: Manu

Kajal Agarwal with Southscope Editorin-Chief, Vanaja Banagiri at the cover launch of the April edition of Southscope, held at the Courtyard by Marriott in Hyderabad.

Director S Narayan, actors Ambareesh and Sudeep at the launch of Veera Parampare.

KANNADA //HI-5

HI-5 WITH

SHRUTI From the fold of up and coming young actors in Telugu, the chirpy Shruti seems to hold oodles of promise. As the story goes, she sent across her portfolio to a producer’s office like any other aspiring actor would. Right then, director Shivaji saw her pictures and decided on an impulse to take her as the female lead in his Telugu film, Taj Mahal. Around the same time Shruti also landed a role in the much talked about Love Sex aur Dhoka. With a theatre artiste for a father, an acting career seemed like the thing to do. But easy debuts don’t always mean an easy way ahead, does it? Vrinda Prasad finds out...

01

Why is it that you changed your screen name from Nushrat to Shruti? Do you think new comers think it important to change their names?

Changing names is not really an issue. While shooting for Taj Mahal, no one could pronounce my name on the sets. So I just decided to use the name of my character from Love Sex aur Dhoka as my screen name.

Besides, it’s a common name and is easy to pronounce.

02

Was it difficult for you to convince your family about your acting plans?

I didn’t have any issues. My father comes from a theatre background.

He used to be associated with Prithvi theatre. So my family has always been familiar with the sensibilities involved in acting. In fact my background has helped me understand acting better.

03

Do you think actors should have backup career plans since acting is an unreliable career?

I think it’s a personal choice. But one should always have some options open. Guess it makes sense to set a time frame and try working out an acting career within it. If it does not work out, it’s best to move on and try something else.

04

Why do you want to move down south after having had a Hindi debut?

Both movies happened simultaneously and it has never been a conscious decision. Love Sex aur Dhoka and Taj Mahal released within two days of each other. Come to think of it, I don’t really want to be bound by a language, or an industry for that matter.

05

As an actor, what’s you biggest dream?

To work with Aamir Khan and be part of his cinematic journey!

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 73

Looking

BAC K There may be remakes galore, yet some films stand the test of time as the original Maro Charitra, notes Karthik Pasupulate.

Film: Maro Charitra

Director: K Balachander

Producer: Rama Ayangannal

Music: MS Viswanathan

Banner: Andal Productions

Cast: Kamal Haasan, Saritha, Jaya Vijaya, Shyamala, Madhavi, Saroja, Ramana Murthy, PL Narayana

It’s very difficult to say something that has not already been said about a cult classic like Maro Charitra. Something the makers of the recently released remake found out the hard way thirty two years on, despite the happy ending. The critics were out with daggers yelling hoarse at the 21st century version of the K Balachander classic.

Wonder what it was about the film that really captured the spirit of the romance of that time. Was it the tragic ending or the onscreen chemistry between Kamal Haasan and Saritha, incredible music or the story telling prowess of K Balachander. Perhaps it was just the air of the seventies.

For a whole generation of Telugu movie lovers, Maro Charitra remains one of (if not the) best love stories of all time. Songs like Bhale Bhale Mogadivoi Bangaru Naa Saamivoi and Ye Theega Poovuno Ye Komma Chetino touch somewhere deep inside. M S Vishwanathan’s tunes remain as popular today as they were when the movie was released in 1978.

It is a simple story about a Telugu boy, Balu and a Tamil girl, Swapna who happen to be neighbours. Coming from different backgrounds

74 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

the couple can’t even speak each other’s language. Both Swapna and Balu’s parents absolutely detest each other and not a day goes by without a skirmish or two between the neighbours. Yet Balu and Swapna fall in love amidst all this chaos. All hell breaks lose when the parents find out and their love is duly forbidden. Balu and Swapna are asked to stay apart for a year to see if their love stands the test of time. This they do only to commit suicide in the end, forced by circumstances.

After the stupendous success of the film in Andhra Pradesh, it was released in Tamil Nadu as well. The filmmakers decided to release the film without dubbing it into Tamil and were proved right since Maro Charitra turned out to be a massive hit. It ran for a year in Chennai.

Maro Charitra was remade in Hindi as Ek Duje Ke Liye in 1981.

L V Prasad produced the Hindi version with Kamal Haasan and Rati Agnihotri in the lead. The Hindi version also turned out to be a huge hit.

screentest // kannada

Vrushabha, all of four-and half years is a budding child actor.

And he’s all set to take on the screen! His father noticed his potential first. Vrushabha featured in the Kannada film, Chikapeth Saachagalu. He’s naïve, lovable and quite the chatterbox. Though Vrushabha loves acting, he carries his books to the sets as he doesn’t want to fall behind in studies. Ask him who his idol is and he’ll tell you it’s none other than Spiderman!

Vrushabha Just shy of seven, the sprightly Sanjana is always brimming with energy. She thrives on the idea of acting and loves trying out expressions in front of the mirror.

Sanjana is from Dharwad, a town near Bengaluru and was featured in the film Chikapeth Saachagalu.

She enjoys dancing and watching cartoons. She also wants to drop the ‘baby’ prefix and turn into a full time actor! And get this: Sanjana really looks up to Deepika Padukone as her idol since the superstar also hails from Karnataka!

Hallikeri Sanjana

Southscope invites aspiring actors to send in their portfolio pictures to vrinda@southscope.in MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 75

KANNADA

10 AARYA 2

09 LEADER

08 ADHURS

07 AMAYAKUDU

06 SARVAM

05 DARLING

04 SYE AATA

03 MARO CHARITRA

02 SIMHA

01 YE MAAYA CHESAVE

TELUGU

TAMIL

TELUGU

01 AAPTA RAKSHAKA

KANNADA

VARUVAAYA -MAATHALLI

06 MALEYALI JOTHEYALI

09 PARICHAYA

08 TAMIL PADAM

10 AATA NAYAKAN

10 RAAJ, THE SHOWMAN

08 MANASAARE

07 MAANJA VELU

09 GURU SISHYAN

07 SURYAKANTHI

06 RETTAISUZHI

MURATUSINGAM

05 GUNDRUGOVI

04 RAAM

03 JUST MAATH

05 IRUMBUKOTTAI

04 MADHRASAPTTINAM

03 SURA

02 VINNAITHAANDI 02 PRITHVI

01 PAIYYA

TAMIL

KATHA

10 GULUMAAL

09 CHATTAMBINADU

08 BODYGUARD

07 ARYA-2

06 SUFI PARANJA

10 LSD-LOVE SEX AUR DHOKHA

09 ISHQIYA

08 AJAB PREM KI GHAZAB KAHANI

07 LOVE AAJ KAL

06 3 IDIOTS

05 KARTHIK CALLING KARTHIK

04 AAGATHAN 05 HAPPY HUSBANDS

04 HOUSEFULL

10 IN THE CLUB 2009

09 SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

08 # 1 HITS

07 MICHAEL JACKSON -THIS IS IT

06 BONEY M THE COLLECTION

05 ENRIQUE IGLESIAS GREATEST HITS

04 COUPLES RETREAT-OST

03 2010 GRAMMY NOMINEES

03 PAATHSHAALA

03 THANTHONNI

02 AKON-FREEDOM

02 PRINCE

01 MINISTRY OF SOUND-ONE

01 KITES

02 IN GHOST HOUSE INN

BOLLYWOOD

01 PRAMANI

MALAYALAM

INTERNATIONAL

MALAYALAM BOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONA

TELUGU KANNADA TAMIL

76 SOUTHSCOPE MAY’10

karaoke // telugu

Following around, up and all through the town baby take me with you am with you show me all around hey ... Following around, up and all through the town baby take me with you am with you show me all around Nana nana nana ... Gonna getcha gonna gonna getcha ... Nananana Nana nana nana ... Gonna getcha gonna gonna getcha Nana ... Yeh Oka nimishamulona santhosham ...

Oka nimishamulona sandheham ...

Nidhurana kooda hey née dhyanam ....

Vadhaladhu Nanne oh née roopam ..

Uhhuvey hoovey ey Hoovey ... Hoovey ...

Alochisthu pichho nayya ne ne cheliyaa ....

Edhirusthoone unnave ne nedharilo Veluthunna ..

Kadhilusthoone Unnave ne nekanthamulo vunna..

Maripisthoone unta ve nakemem gurthusthunna o ...

Muripisthoone untave na mundhe nuvvule kunna ...

Neeve .... Neeve ....

Neeve .... Neeve ....

Neeve .... Neeve ....

Neeve .... Neeve ....

Film : Darling Singer : G V Prakash Music : G V Prakash Neeve .... Neeve ....

Neeve .... Neeve ....

Neeve .... Neeve ....

Neeve .... Neeve ....

Neeve .... Neeve ....

Neeve .... Neeve ....

Edhainaa née tharvathe anipisthundhe ila ...

Emaina adhi nee valle jariguntundhe Ela ....

Edhirusthoone unnave ne nedharilo Veluthunna ..

Kadhilusthoone Unnave ne nekanthamulo vunna..

Maripisthoone unta ve nakemem gurthusthunna o ...

Muripisthoone untave na mundhe nuvvule kunna ...

Neeve ....ho Neeve ...

Neeve .... Neeve ....

Neeve .... Neeve ....

Nadakalu saagaedhi Née vaipey ...

Palukulu aagindhi Née valle ....

Evariki cheputhunna Née oosey ...

Chevariki ney nayya neelaane ...

Uh hoovey hey hoovey ...

Hoovey.. hoovey Chuttu antha pittesthunnane ney Vinane ..

Edhirusthoone unnave ne nedharilo Veluthunna ..

Kadhilusthoone Unnave ne nekanthamulo vunna..

Maripisthoone unta ve nakemem gurthusthunna o ...

Muripisthoone untave na mundhe nuvvule kunna ...

Neeve ....ho Neeve ...

MAY’10 SOUTHSCOPE 77

Photographer: Manisha Panchwati Location: Spoil

DIALOGUES

CORNY

BRAHMI’S

TELUGU // Bramhanandam

DON’T PLAY GAMES WITH KHAN, BODIES WILL FLY!

KNOWLEDGE IS DIVINE, IT MEANS KNOWLEDGE IS LIKE WINE, MORE YOU DRINK THE STRONGER YOU GET.

I WANT TO MEET NELLORE PEDDHA REDDY RIGHT NOW!

BRAHMI, SOFTWARE ENGINEER

DON’T INVOLVE ME RAO GARU!