Telugu cinema’s leading stars Mahesh Babu and Anushka were honoured with the coveted black lady at the 63rd annual Filmfare Awards South, which concluded last night. While Mahesh won the Best Actor Male award for his subtle yet brilliant performance in Srimanthudu, Anushka clinched the Filmfare Best Actor Female for her ferocious act in Rudhramadevi. Maverick director SS Rajamouli was awarded the Best Director award for his magnum opus Baahubali. The film also went on to win the Best Film, Best Cinematography and Best Playback Singer Female awards. Devi Sri Prasad won the Best Music Director Award for Srimanthudu. Allu Arjun (Rudhramadevi) and Ramya Krishna (Baahubali) won the Best Supporting Actor Male and Female respectively. Senior hero Manchu Mohan Babu was honoured with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.
The 63rd annual Filmfare South awards were presented to some of the exceptionally talented stars and technicians belonging to all the four film industries down south. The glitzy event concluded last night and it was graced by the who’s who of the South Indian film fraternity. Here is the list of Telugu stars and technicians that won the coveted black lady: LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Dr. Manchu Mohan Babu BEST ACTOR (MALE) Mahesh Babu (Srimanthudu) BEST ACTOR (FEMALE) Anushka Shetty (Rudhramadevi) BEST DIRECTOR S S Rajamouli (Baahubali) BEST FILM Baahubali BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (MALE) Allu Arjun (Rudhramadevi) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (FEMALE) Ramya Krishna (Baahubali) CRITICS JURY AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR (MALE) Nani (Bhale Bhale Magadivoy) CRITICS JURY AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR (FEMALE) Nithya Menen (Malli Malli Idhi Rani Roju) Best Debut (MALE) Akhil Akkineni (Akhil) Best Debut (FEMALE) Pragya Jaiswal (Kanche) Technical Awards: BEST MUSIC Devi Sri Prasad (Srimanthudu) BEST LYRICS Sirivennala Seetharama Sastry (Raa Mundadugedham – Kanche) BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (MALE) MLR Karthikeyan (Pora Srimanthuda – Srimanthudu) BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (FEMALE) Geetha Madhuri (Jeevanadhi – Baahubali) Best Choreographer Sekhar V J Kung Fu Kumari (Bruce Lee – The Fighter) Best Cinematographer KK Senthil Kumar (Baahubali)
Recently, director Puri Jagannadh revealed the first look of Nandamuri Kalyanram from their ongoing film. Kalyanram’s suave and stylish makeover created a huge stir. And yesterday, Puri posted a couple of photographs of Jagapathi Babu on his Twitter profile to a thumping response. The image showcases a macho and mean looking Jaggu Dada in with his trademark salt and pepper look. Jagapathi Babu and Puri Jagannadh have regrouped for this project after nearly 15 years since the release of their first association, Bachi. In Puri’s latest directorial, Jagapathi Babu will be seen in a powerful antagonist’s role.
Jagapathi Babu bonded very well with Young Tiger NTR during the shooting of Nannaku Prematho. They have maintained friendly relations ever since. Now, Jagapathi Babu is working with Kalyan Ram and he seems to have hit it off with this Nandamuri hero as well. Puri Jagan is the director of this movie. Kalyan Ram is a very affable person by nature and because Jagapathi Babu has a similar temperament, the two of them are getting along really well. Kalyan Ram is producing this big budget action entertainer and Aditi Puri is the heroine.
Natural star Nani is having a great time professionally. His latest release, Gentleman has received a superb report on the first day from both critics as well as common audiences. This has translated into superb revenues for the film in Nizam. The film has grossed almost 4Crores for two days in the region and this is a superb figure for Nani. The film is also doing very well in overseas markets. Directed by Indraganti Mohana Krishna, the film has music from Manisharma. Gentleman is expected to bring in good money for producer Shivalenka Krishna Prasad as there is no notable opposition for a while.
We reported yesterday that Vishnu Manchu’s wife Viranica Manchu was involved in a car collision in Hyderabad. Fortunately, she escaped with minor injuries and was discharged from the hospital immediately. After the accident, Vishnu took to his Twitter profile and spoke about the incident and especially showed his gratitude to the automobile company, Volvo. The company is known for having one of the safest collision records in the automobile industry. Vishnu tweeted, “I have to thank @volvocarsglobal company for making such a safe car #XC90 …doubt if any other car would have protected her so much.”
Akhil Akkineni’s most awaited second project has been one of the most talked about subjects in the media. Although several rumors popped up in the past, Akhil has frequently squashed the buzz and cleared the air. If the latest buzz is to be believed, Akhil has finally given his nod for two scripts, both of them being coming-of-age love stories. Going into details, it seems two directors are in the race to direct Akhil’s next, and it is unknown whether he will be working with one or both these directors back-to-back. An official confirmation has not been made yet. Meanwhile, Akhil is planning meticulously for his comeback after his debut film ended up as a debacle.
Naga Chaitanya’s upcoming flick, Premam, is getting ready to hit the screens soon. A remake of the Malayalam blockbuster with the same name, the film is a coming-of-age musical love story. In the movie, Naga Chaitanya dons three roles of the same character across three different time periods. One of the roles requires Naga Chaitanya to blend himself into the skin of a 16-year-old school student. Apparently, Naga Chaitanya lost approximately 16 kilos for the role and used to follow a strict diet and fitness routine to look his part. Apparently, the entire crew was bewildered on the first day of shoot. The film’s audio is slated to be released soon, while the movie is touted to come out on August 12th.
Young hero Si Dharam Tej is slowly but steadily making his presence felt in Tollywood. He has some very interesting films lined up and one among them is the much awaited Thikka. The shooting of this film is nearing completion and latest update reveals that the first look of the film will be revealed on June 25th. Directed by Sunil Reddy, this film has Mannara Chopra as the female lead. Watch out this space for more details on this project.
Sometime back, we had revealed that star hero Venkatesh will be doing a cameo in Naga Chaitanya’s Premam. Latest update reveals that Venky is not reprising any role from the original but will be seen in a completely new character. Reports also suggest that the character was specially created for the film by director Chandoo Mondeti. Premam has been in the making for quite some time now and has created a huge buzz for itself. Starring Shruthi Haasan, Madonna Sabastian and Anupama Parameswaran, this film is the remake of the super hit Malayalam film Premam.
