Karthika Impresses Danny

Remember Karthika, daughter of yesteryear beauty Radha, who made her acting debut with Telugu film Joshopposite Nagarjuna’s son Naga Chaitanya?

She is part of renowned director Lenin Rajendran's period film Makaramanju, starring acclaimed cinematographer-turned-director Santosh Sivan in the lead as legendary Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma.

Makaramanju recently had a special screening for Oscar winning director Danny Boyle ofSlumdog Millionaire fame during his Mumbai visit. After watching the film, Danny Boyle was speechless over the production values and performances by Santosh Sivan and Karthika.

Notably Danny Boyle, who was deeply impressed by Karthika's performance, has invited Karthika to appear for a screen test to feature in his next Indo-British production, it is said. More developments are yet to come. It is noteworthy that Karthika's debut Tamil film Ko is now in its final stages of production and will hit theatres during Pongal.

Deepika Item in DMD

Leading Bollywood beauty Deepika Padukone has agreed to perform an item number for Tollywood's young heart throb Daggubati Rana's debut Hindi film Dum Maro Dum, being directed by Rohan Sippy.

According to a unit member, "This song will be shot next week and would be contemporary and extremely urban." The song, a remix version of the famous 'Dum Maaro Dum' song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna, has been composed by Pritam. Starring Abhishek Bachchan in the main lead role, the film is now progressing in Goa and is set to release on April 22, 2011.

Celebrity Cricket League

The Sandalwood stars' cricket team for Celebrity Cricket League was announced by the organizer Induri Vishnu Vardhana at Windsor Manor Hotel in the presence of Artists' Association President Ambarish. Ambarish, Upendra, Raghavendra Rajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar, Sudeep, Doddanna and Thara were on the dais.

The minimum bidding for Rs. 17 crores for 10 years of Sandalwood stars cricket team for Celebrity Cricket League was also announced.

Ambarish announced the 'Bengaluru Royals' Sandalwood team captain as Kichcha Sudeep; the icon of the team is Super Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar.

The first few matches will be played on January 22nd and 23rd at Chinnaswamy Stadium. For strengthening the Bengaluru Royals team, Ambarish has spoken to India's ex-bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad to be the coach of the team. He has also informed KSCA President Anil Kumble and KSCA SecretaryJavagal Srinath in this matter.

Puneeth Rajkumar, the icon player of Kannada Film Stars team, liked the idea of this kind of match between film industries. This would not only entertain but will help them know their colleagues in other states, said Puneeth Rajkumar.

Bengaluru Royals captain Sudeep, speaking on the occasion, said it is time to be without make up on grounds with bat and ball. The sincerity would give good results and he will work with commitment he said.

Upendra, who was also present on this occasion, asked for a chance to Sudeep to be the 11th man at least. It is better to see the match rather than playing, stated Uppi.

Indur Vishnu Vardhana stated the bidding will be kept open from 10th to 15th December. On Jan 22nd and 23rd matches will be played in Bangalore. On Jan 29th and 30th matches will be played at Hyderabad. The unifroms of five teams -- Mumbai (Mumbai Heroes), Kochi (Kochi Kings), Hyderabad (Telugu Tigers), Chennai (Chennai Stars) and Bangalore (Bengaluru Royals) -- will be announced in Chennai later.

Coach in Merupu?

After the debacle ofOrange, young superstar Ram Charan Teja is currently busy with the shooting of his next Merupu, in which he plays a football player.

While the second schedule of the film is gearing up to commence in about a week, an interesting buzz in the industry is that a prominent actor will be playing the role of a football coach in Merupu. It could be either Nana Patekar or Tamil action hero Arjun. But we need to wait a bit to see who would agree to do the role.

Directed by Dharani and produced by N.V. Prasad and Paras Jain under the banner of Mega Supergood Films, Merupu stars Kajal Aggarwal as the heroine. Music is by Devi Sri Prasad, dialogues by Paruchuri Brothers, cinematography by P.C. Sreeram, art by Thota Tharani and editing by V.T. Vijayan.

Nagarjuna lost his cool over Dil Raju

Hero Nagarjuna has always been known for his cool cucumber attitude when it comes to public events and even if he is unhappy, he conveys it in sugar coated style. However, it appears that Dil Raju & Co have tested his patience to the limit and as a result, faced the heat.

It is heard that a press meet was organized for the film ‘Gaganam’ and when Nag arrived, he was horrified to see hoardings and posters of Bagpiper and no posters of ‘Gaganam’. On enquiry, it was revealed that the Bagpiper folks came into an understanding with Dil Raju and were looking at Nag as a brand ambassador.

As for Nag, he was totally in dark about this understanding and he breathed fire on reaching the venue. Sources say that Nag’s wrath began sending shivers to those around and Dil Raju’s PRO Gogineni Srinivasa Rao took to his heels without turning back. While media and others were witness to this, Nag reportedly breezed out of the venue fuming at Dil Raju’s attitude.

Nisha with Ram

Reigning Tamil-Telugu actress Kajal Aggarwal's sister Nisha Aggarwal, who debuted in films withEmaindi Eevela, will be one of the heroines in hero Ram's next film Kandireegawhich was launched recently.

The other heroines are Hansika Motwani andColours fame Swathi. Kandireega is Ram's seventh film. It is directed by Santosh Sivan and produced by Bellamkonda Suresh under the banner of Sri Sai Ganesh Productions. More details are awaited.

Rc-2 Review

Ram Gopal Varma movie Rakta Charitra 2 is really not a continuation to the first part. You need not see Rakta Charitra 1 to understand the second part. If first part is all about rise of Pratap Ravi, Second part is about the rivalry between Pratap Ravi and Surya.
Surya Bhanu Reddy Aka Surya (Surya) an engineer who wants to settle down in life even after his father’s (Narsimha Reddy from 1st part) murder. But Surya takes the revenge path after gruesome killing of his mother, sister and brother with a TV bomb by Pratap Ravi in an effort to wipe of the rivals in his area.
In his first attempt, Surya fails to kill Pratap Ravi (Vivek Oberoi) by plotting a road side bomb. After the incident Pratap Ravi kills every possible enemy in Anandapuram Area. At this point Surya goes underground to escape from Ravi men and better plan. DCP Mohan Prasad (Sudheep) who learns the Surya’s hand Ravi murder attempt arrests Surya’s wife Bhavani (Priyamani) and blackmails Surya to surrender. To save his wife and son, Surya surrenders to the police and go behind the bars.
The rest of the story is how Surya able to take revenge on Ravi and who all are supported.
Rakta Charitra 2 has more drama, action and it is cinematic too. In this part there are more gripping scenes compared to the first part. First half of the movie is good while the second half lost its tempo towards climax. RGV killed the audience anxiety with half baked climax in the end. Surya killing Ravi in the climax is cinematic. Muddu Krishna (Moddu Seenu) character is not etched well.
Surya’s character is highlight for the movie. Vivek Oberoi role toned down to elevate Surya. Varma showed his skill in not showing Ravi character as antagonist for the film.

Finally, It can be watched once for Surya.