NTR's 'Simhadri' now shoots in Kannada

Simhadri is the film that made NTR the big star. It catapulted him into mass hero segment and also cemented the career of director S S Rajamouli. 7 years after its release in Telugu, the film is now being remade in Kannada. Kannada star Vijay is portraying the role that was done by NTR while Pooja Gandhi is doing Bhumika's character. The film goes to the sets very soon.

Remakes of super hit Telugu films are now hot in Kannada. Recently Ram and Genelia starrer Ready was also remade and it became successful.

Mayabazaar In Color

No one gets tired watching Mayabazaar all over again, innumerable times. This is a great opportunity to watch the timeless wonder Mayabazaar in color. Directed by KV Reddy the 1957 film is striking the screen soon..the painstaking effort of three years is soon going to be realised. The five-decade-old black-and-white negatives are being converted into color prints through specially designed software. Goldstone Technologies Limited has taken up the project. Supergood Films is releasing this movie.

Chiranjeevi in South Scope Magazine Dec 2009

Going by normal standards it would be hard to say Chiranjeevi is handsome. Perhaps that is what helped him become one of the biggest matinee idols ever. He looks so much like the regular guy we see everyday, yet the megastar also epitomises a fundamental precept of style: It’s not the clothes, but the personality that matters more. That is why two men dressed in the same outfit never quite produce the same effect. However, with Chiru, clothes were merely incidental.It did not matter whether he was dressed like a taxi driver devouring his bidi, he still did it like nobody else could. We are not sure how much of a fashion follower he was, but he certainly was an instigator. His first major hit Khaidi gave him the angry young man image, which stuck on for over three decades. True to that image, his style was always eye-stopping and had an intense presence, much like the last puff of a hand rolled cigar... raw but deeply satisfying.

Mamatha mohandas in south scope

Photographs: Ramakanth T MaMta Mohandas aroused in south indian filM buffs a hunger that's not getting satiated anytiMe soon, especially after her songs aakaleshthe annaM pedatha in telugu and kaalai kaalai in taMil have becoMe everyday huMs. egyptian?

yep. she goes back there a long way. sunny vishwanath finds out Moreso it's just a matter of time. But I'm still waiting for a super hit film in the South.

I think there's much more in Tamil that I can do.

Mamta talking straight for so long was turning out to be not so Mamta like. So we threw in a tricky question. Which is more preferable a national award for singing or a national award for acting? She smiles and smiles and smiles some more. "Well, it's a difficult choice, but I'd say acting (if I can't have both.) I hope it'll be a national award for acting and a Grammy! Two things make her uncontrollable: riding a bike and being in love The second one first though. Mamta confessed that she's been more love prone than not all through her growing up years. Although she often came back from school convinced that she was in love, she never really had anybody who could be definitely called her boyfriend. "When it happens it will be great but right now it's not the time. I am not interested in anyone in the industry right now. Once I find him and settle down, I may just do more of singing than acting. But that doesn't mean it will be a few devotional songs every once in a while! (Roaring laughter) Can't imagine Mamta's spirit contained to just that, can you? See her when she's riding a bike, you'll know. "There will be a time after showbiz when I will use the money I am earning to buy some real fancy bikes," and not the usual touring the right places, parties and yep, no devotional songs. Link ups and gossip have brought out her real strength Like any newcomer, she used to get terribly upset at the merest mention of a linkup, but now she's risen to a level where these things don't bother her all that much. We tried to push in (eyebrow raised teasingly) how she's been taking all this talk about she getting along quite well with Devi Sri Prasad. We expected the usual `we're just good friends.' A totally relaxed and unperturbed Mamta shares that she and he "bounce off each other the same level of energy. We have great chemistry and I love his sense of humour."

Her linkup with a much older Malayali co-star a few years ago was not so funny, for her at least. "It was crazy and I just couldn't handle the gossip. But that episode has made me stronger. I don't give a damn anymore."Will the real Mamta please stand up...

She's religious, believes in Astrology (especially after somebody predicted she'll get into films when she was still in the eight standard) and had she not been the sort of passionate dreamer she is, she'd well have been an accountant! "Initially, I wanted to become a pilot and my parents almost planned a career in banking for me," she gasps in mock horror. We are glad too it didn't go that way, although she would have made for an accountant who surely aroused interest in figures.

"Extended vacations are oh so unnecessary and anybody not matching my energy frankly puts me off." So guess she's got more enemies than friends. "Yep I'm a Scorpio, but hey, I don't sting!"

Shruti hasan in south scope

She does stunts that action heroes would proudly put on their resumes but sizzles in a bikini too, is not the usual star kid, is not the usual girl! Shruti Hassan in an exclusive conversation with Mona Ramavat and Anil Merani
Luck surely favors the brave.

Jumping off burning trains, dangerous stunts and no body doubles, a stunning debut packed with adrenaline. Add to it oomph, determination and defiance. Luck has indeed favored the brave and the beautiful Shruti Hassan! Versatile. Singer, actor, music maker... Bollywood's latest offering makes a rather unconventional beginning on the silver screen.

"But I honestly don't know how to define unconventional," confesses a mildly bemused Shruti. We get the impression she's been told this by way too many people that she's playing a `different' sort of role in her first film. More so because she was all set to do a Tamil film with Madhavan that never took off. "Aren't most debutante actors these days making unconventional beginnings? The perfect formula of romance, comedy and drama to launch a new actor has really changed over the years. The only thing that mattered to me was that my role in Luck fitted with what I was excited to do and I took it up.

It's as simple as that."

Simple? She's got to be joking. In the scene where the entire cast had to jump off a train on fire, Shruti not only sent the body double away but also motivated Mithun da to do it! "Imran singed his eye lashes and I ended up with the kind of nicks and cuts that my dad really thought I've been in a duel with a mountain lion! But it was the most exciting thing I've ever done," she recalls.

Venkatesh in south scope

Angry man, crazy man, family man... Karthik Pasupulate revisits the many faces of Venkatesh He is probably the least celebrated of the famous quartet of Telugu superstars that ruled for over two decades. The name Venkatesh might not evoke the same frenzy as a Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna or a Nagarjuna, but with seven Nandi awards, four Filmfare awards besides a host of other such honours, he clearly has a way with the audiences.

Down south, people have a proclivity for hyperbole. It is a tendency that is reflected in titles we bestow upon our reigning film stars.

Honorifics like Vishwavikhyatha natasaravabhauma NTR, Natasamrat ANR, Nata Bhushana Sobhan Babu, Rebel Star Krishnam Raju, Megastar Chiranjeevi, Collection King Mohan Babu, Yuvasamrat Nagarjuna, Yuvaratna Balakrishna... give a glimpse of our penchant for the superlative. Victory Venkatesh then seems like a pretty toned down expression of that kind of worship.

Perhaps Venky would not have it any other way. The deeply spiritual person that he is, he might just say what's in a name? He is the sort of guy who would rather let his work do all the talking. His caliber as an actor was never in doubt. His mature debut as the south's very own angry young man in K Raghavernder Rao's Kaliyuga Pandavulu won him many accolades. The Nandi award for the best newcomer only confirmed what was already known. However, it was K Vishwanath's Swarnakamalam that truly established Venkatesh as someone not to be taken lightly.

In fact, Venky went on to win the prestigious Nandi Award three times in the first four years of his career.

The law of averages soon caught up with Venky, with a slew of unsuccessful films. But it was only a matter of time before he got it right with the jungle adventure Bobbili Raja. It was also the debut film of late teen sensation Divya Bharati. Bobbili Raja rocked the box office, and Venky was back in business.

The film's success marked the beginning of a very special phase in his career. His films Coolie No1 and, Surya IPS were big hits. Then came the Ramgopal Varma-directed Kshana Kshanam.

Among other things, Kshana Kshanam was a revelation of Venkatesh's flair for jest.

Not one to be tied down to an image, Venkatesh has constantly reinvented himself over the years. Another great year was 1992. It was the year Chanti released. It proved to be one of the biggest hits of the year, and was even dubbed in Hindi as the Karisma Kapoor starrer Anari. Venkatesh's touching portrayal of a slightly demented man won him much critical acclaim as well.

It was around this time that he started experimenting with familyoriented films like Chinnarayudu.

His impeccable comic timing came to the fore. Such was the success of these films that it also earned him the sobriquet of being the family hero.

Not so flattering for his angry young man days but Venky had come a long way since then. Be it with action films like Gharshana, Lakshmi and Tulasi or family entertainers like Kalasiundam Raa, Pelli Chesukundam Raa, Malleswari, Aadavari Matalaku Ardhale Verule, Venkatesh broke stereotypes and created quite a stir. Not bad for a foreign-returned MBA who wanted to get into film production, we'd say.

Among the most versatile actors on the Telugu screen, Venkatesh is surely far from done