Kona: Nani Drank a Full Bottle Of Liquor! ?

Last evening, a grand success meet of Natural Star Nani's latest release 'Ninnu Kori' was held in Vijayawada. Speaking at the function, film's screenplay writer and co-producer Kona Venkat has made an interesting revelation about how Nani drank a full bottle of liquor to bring authenticity to a particular scene.

'Ninnu Kori' has plenty of emotional scenes but if asked to pick one, many would pick the scene where Nani gets drunk and talks about girls' choices in front of Aadi and Nivetha Thomas. Nani's realistic performance in this scene has been praised unilaterally.

Talking about this particular scene, 'To bring naturality to that scene, Nani drank a full bottle. We were a bit worried but he made the scene look so realistic that it became a highlight of the film. Then I understood why he is accredited with 'Natural Star' title,' said Kona.

Kona Venkat's revelation made out of sheer excitement and also to praise Nani's commitment and acting prowess, has now become a hot topic with movie buffs discussing the actor's drinking habits. 'How can someone drink a full bottle without being a pro in drinking?' is the doubt raised by many on social media.

Fidaa movie was Rejected By Top Three Heroes?

During the promotions of his upcoming production venture 'Fidaa', Dil Raju has revealed that the love story was earlier turned down by three heroes.

Dil Raju revealed that they had earlier narrated the story of Fidaa to three heroes. 'They all liked it but refrained from signing the film as they felt they may not be the right ones to essay the lead role. Later, I decided to go with an upcoming hero and that's how Varun Tej came on board,' Raju added.

Although Dil Raju didn't reveal who those three heroes are, Sekhar Kammula has on more than one occasion divulged that Mahesh Babu was the first one to listen and appreciate the story of Fidaa. 

Talking about Fidaa, Raju added that it's a simple story with a lot of emotional moments that family audiences and youth will surely like. 'Sekhar Kammula doesn't write great stories, he assembles great moments,' Raju said about the sensible director in one sentence.

He also praised Sai Pallavi for the commitment she had shown in learning Telangana slang for Fidaa. 

Ace Producer Dil Raju's Double Hat-trick?

Hailed as the most successful producer-distributor of his era, Dil Raju is now aiming to score a double hat-trick this year.

Raju's first hit of 2017 was 'Shatamanam Bhavathi', a critical and commercial success. The family entertainer even earned a National Award for Raju.

His next was Nani's 'Nenu Local', the actor's biggest commercial hit till date. The film is also the highest grosser among mid-range heroes' films.

Raju's third release of this year is Allu Arjun's DJ. There have been umpteen doubts on this film's box office collections but Raju claims it to be a bigger grosser than Bunny's career best film, Sarrainodu.

The fourth release of this year from Raju's production house is Varun Tej-Sai Pallavi starrer 'Fidaa'. The film is slated for release on July 21. It has generated decent buzz, especially after the release of the second trailer.

Ravi Teja starrer 'Raja The Great' and Nani's 'MCA' are the remaining two releases of Dil Raju in this year. The ace producer confirmed that the former will hit screens on October 12, ahead of Diwali festival to encash the holidays, and the ever-dependable Nani's film will be released in December this year.

Raju hopes that Fidaa, 'Raja The Great' and MCA will live up to his and audiences expectations and complete double hat-trick for him this year.

He has also confirmed his next two projects - Mahesh Babu-Vamsi Paidipally's untitled movie, which will go to sets in January 2018 and Sathamanam Bhavathi director's 'Srinivasa Kalyanam'.

Nani Once Again?, In 'Krishnarjuna Yuddham'

Buoyed by the success of 'Ninnu Kori', Natural Star Nani has announced two new projects, #Nani20 and #Nani21.

#Nani21 is titled 'Krishnarjuna Yuddham'. The actor will once again be seen playing dual roles in this film after last year's hit film 'Gentleman'. Merlapaka Gandhi of 'Venkatadri Express' and 'Express Raja' fame will direct it. 'Dhruva' fame Hip Hop Tamizha will score music.

The team looks very promising. The interesting title and the fact that Nani is essaying dual roles, make this project even more exciting to look forward to. Film will release next year.

#Nani20 is titled MCA (Middle Class Abbayi), a Dil Raju production venture. 'Oh My Friend' fame Sriram Venu is directing this film which is currently on floors. This is the second collaboration of Nani and Dil Raju after 'Nenu Local'. Sai Pallavi is the leading lady, and Devi Sri Prasad is the music composer. 

Dil Raju Didn't Understand Climax, But Happy With Output?

General talk in the Telugu film industry is that Dil Raju doesn't compromise about his production ventures, and involves in every department of film making, especially story and direction. He just doesn't leave it to director after finalizing the script. He regularly monitors the progress, suggests changes and even resorts to reshoots if he doesn't like the output, notwithstanding how big a star the director is.

To the surprise of everyone, Dil Raju himself is now claiming that 'Fidaa' is his least involved film. Calling it a "100pc Sekhar Kammula film", the successful producer said that he wasn't present during most of the shooting of 'Fidaa'.

Narrating one instance, Raju said that he didn't understand the climax of 'Fidaa' when he read the scene paper. He however didn't confront Kammula feeling that the sensible director may take offence. He let the 'Happy Days' director make the film exactly how he had envisioned it. This is probably the first time Raju gave full freedom to a director. 

On a concluding note, Raju said that he was more than happy when he watched the final output conceived by Kammula.

Dil Raju: This is The Reason Why We Have Selected Varun For Fidaa

"Anand, Manchi Coffee Lanti Cinema" is quite a popular tag line ever since Sekhar Kammula has come up with his iconic Anand movie. Breaking all the existing formulaic notions, this talented director derived a new-age slow narrative technique and impressed audiences. But it's long back we've seen such a wonderful emotional film.

After scoring many flops, finally, Sekhar Kammula is back to his favourite genre and subject and is coming up with "Fidaa" now. If we have to talk about this film, then we need to believe what producer Dil Raju says. "If Anand is a coffee-like film, Fidaa will be a Kushi (Pawan Kalyan Kushi) like film. For every star hero, a love story done during the start of their career will work big time. Whether it is Suswagatham or Tholiprema in Pawan's case or Arya in Allu Arjun's case, love stories work. That's the reason we've selected Varun Tej for Fidaa and it worked superbly", he said. 

It's heard that the hero will cry will many scenes during the climax of the film and that will work at box office. Sekhar Kammula is exuding confidence that he has a blockbuster content in hand. He went on saying that he wrote exam already and knows the result as well, and just waiting for the audience to find it out. 

These are the days where films that have family-audience appealing content are working at the box office. So in a way, Fidaa might attract film lovers to a large extent, but there is a problem too. Audiences are not liking 'lag' in the content these days and Sekhar is popular for such dragging. Hope he took care of everything to make Fidaa a Kushi for Varun Tej!!

Harish Shankar: Prove Or Shutdown the Websites!

Allu Arjun's DJ is one film which indulged in as many controversies after its release as it had before release. The film's 'collections' especially came under scanner with some websites publishing the collections taking the "figures being circulated on social media as reference".

Irked by the website/websites propaganda, director Harish Shankar has now thrown an open challenge. By sharing DJ's collections of Nizam region on Twitter, he challenged the websites, which had earlier published much lesser collections, to either prove him wrong or shut down the websites. The 'Gabbar Singh' director challenged that he would stop making films if his version of collections was proved wrong. 

This is the first time a filmmaker responded in such serious manner on fake collections published by some websites. These kinds of situations won't arise if the production houses announce genuine numbers or/and media houses verify with producers or reliable trade sources before publishing collections.

As per the numbers shared by him, DJ has collected a mammoth Rs 20 crore share in the Nizam area in just 13 days. DJ is the first Rs 20 crore film for Bunny and second for Harish after 'Gabbar Singh'.

Once Again Bunny Gains Hearts of many, for his Remarks against Critics

Allu Arjun is all over the news of late. Sometimes it is for his comments regarding Pawan Kalyan or for his aggressive speech against the film critics a day back in the US.

Speaking from the promotional tour of DJ, Bunny said that critics have always shown a different attitude towards commercial films and it is high time that they start appreciating the genre which gives so much for the common man.

This comment of Bunny has been well appreciated by many where as a section of the media has once again started targeting the star for his remarks. This has become a huge topic of discussions all over and various opinions are being expressed quite strongly.

Bunny’s DJ has crossed the 60 crore mark in spite of a lot of negative publicity. It has brought solid revenues to Dil Raju and is doing decently well in the B and C centers in its second week.

We need to see what kind of reactions this topic leads to in the coming days.

Sekhar Kammula re-shooting just 3 weeks before the release?

Director Sekhar Kammula's latest movie is "Fidaa" which has Varun Tej and Sai Pallavi in the leads. While the trailer of the film looked smooth and suave, what is little worrying is the way our director will blend these characters without any trace of his previous films. 

According to the grapevine, Fidaa team is still shooting and all of a sudden they claimed that today is the last shooting day for the film. With the film set for July 21st release, wonder what is Sekhar Kammula shooting just 3 weeks before the release while he has plenty of time earlier. Reports are coming that producer Dil Raju suggested some changes in the film's second half and Sekhar is busy shooting them on Varun Tej and other actors.

Though reshoots are not a new thing, neither a wrong thing, they should have confirmed the release and all after locking the final version of the film, says mega fans. As this film is coming after disasters like Loafer and Mister, fans don't want to hear anything other than positive about Fidaa movie. 

On the brighter side, Fidaa's Vachinde song is enthralling masses for its language, words and visuals. It looks like Sai Pallavi will be a stunning revelation once the film releases, while Varun Tej is trying to stick only to his class-side.

Harish Shaker Warning to anti-fans on DJ Piracy

On Wednesday, ace producer Dil Raju has approached officials of CCD (Cyber Crime department) to seek their assistance in pulling out those people who are spearing some online piracy links of DJ (Duvvada Jagannadham) on social media platforms, particularly Facebook and Twitter. Director Harish Shankar also joined him when the producer complained police about piracy and they addressed media later.

Speaking to the journalists, Producer Dil Raju made an shocking comment - 'Our film DJ is being deliberately targeted by someone who can't digest its huge success at box-office.' The producer also submitted some information about listed Twitter, Facebook profiles that are continuously posting trolls and passing negative posts, comments against the movie. 

Later, Harish Shankar spoke to media and urged audiences and anti-fans to stop spreading such piracy links as it will no way effect the director & actor of the film. He further said, 'we have already received our payment from producer and if your intention is to defame the actor or director, you wouldn't be successful. And, in-a-way, it will impact thousands of workers who're dependent on films.'

On other hand, the makers are quite happy about collections as the film managed to pass the weekday test also. In first 5 days, DJ raked in 46.76 Crore share in Telugu speaking states and a worldwide share of 58 Crore (approximately).

Will Dil Raju Use Golden Chance Given By Pawan Kalyan?

From a long time, ace producer Dil Raju is expressing his dream, the only big one, that he should make a film with Pawan Kalyan at least once. Since the times of Toliprema, Dil Raju distributed almost all the films of Powerstar but never got a chance to produce his movie.

Earlier many times Dil Raju stated that Pawan Kalyan promised a film to him, but that never materialised. As rumours are coming out that the Janasena president will stop working on films after another one, a worried Raju rushed to the sets of Trivikram's movie to catch up with Powerstar.

"Recently I've met him on Trivikram's movie set. Pawan Kalyan told me, 'Come up with a script, that's it. If the story is suitable then I've no qualms to start a project in your production'. So I'm looking forward to directors and also stories, which suite Pawan" said Dil Raju, talking about his film with the matinee idol. 

Though the producer of National Award winning Satamanam Bhavati got such promise from Pawan Kalyan many times, we hear that the actor is not liking the stories submitted by this star producer for reasons unknown. While Dil Raju is the master of churning out family dramas, somehow he's missing the secret ingredient that could impress Pawan. Guess he finds that out soon.

Day1 Collections of DJ

Allu Arjun's latest offering Duvvada Jagannadham might not have impressed critics  but the film said to have opened to a terrific start at the Box Office. According to producer Dil Raju, Duvvada Jagannadham is the biggest-ever opening in Allu Arjun's career till date. The day 1 BO figures of DJ said to have beaten Day 1 numbers of Allu Arjun's previous blockbuster Sarrainodu.
According to trade reports quoted by Team DJ, Duvvada Jagannadham has raked in Rs 32 Crore world-wide gross (including premieres in the US). If these numbers are believed to be true, DJ has beaten Sarrainodu's day 1 record by huge margin. 

While Sarrainiodu's openings had affect of Bunny's previous film Son of Sathyamurthy that failed to meet high expectations, openings of DJ have advantage of Sarrainodu becoming blockbuster and thus pulled crowds to cinemas on the day 1. Also, rise in ticket prices (compared to Sarraiondu time) said to have worked in favour of DJ.   

Also, Sarrainodu had failed to do magic in US, overseas. Delay in the sending the prints to US then had affected Sarrainodu's openings in US and film being mass treat seems to have its affect. However, it seems DJ has got great opening in US. Thursday premieres and Friday collections said to be pegged at Rs 3 Crore gross.

However, going forward, it has to be seen how the film would fare at the ticket  windows. Huge pre-release business, mixed reviews, and climatic conditions pose a major challenge to DJ. Looks like, it is not so easy for DJ. But let's wait and watch what's in store for the film.

Break-up in Share (figures shared by Team DJ)

Nizam - 4,95,00,000

Ceded - 2,70,00,000

Nellore - 1,10,17,528

Guntur - 2,26,00,000

Krishna - 1,03,06,746

West - 2,08,00,000

East - 1,86,00,000

Uttharandhra - 1,95,00,000

Total 1st day AP & TG share 17.93cr

Trade : DJ opens humongous across Telugu states, collects a share of 17.93cr, about 24cr gross on it's day1 in AP & TG, close to 32cr gross in Worldwide.

DJ becomes the biggest opener for Allu Arjun beats his prev best Sarrainodu by huge margin & 7th highest opening of all time, 4th in 2017 behind baahubali2, Khaidi No.150, Katamarayudu !

DJ – Duvvada Jagannadham: Movie Review

Release date : June 23, 2017

Director : Harish Shankar

Producer : Dil Raju

Music Director : Devi Sri Prasad

Cast : Allu Arjun, Pooja Hegde, Rao Ramesh, Posani, Murali Sharma

The wait is finally over as the much-awaited action entertainer, DJ has finally hit the screens on a massive scale. Let’s see whether it gives Allu Arjun yet another hit in his career.

Story :-

Dhuvvada Jaganadham(Allu Arjun) is a small time brahmin boy who goes against all odds and helps others. Seeing this quality of his, a high-profile cop(Murali Sharma) asks him to become DJ, a man who fights crime in disguise.

This is the same time when Dhuvaada falls in love with Pooja(Pooja Hegde) the daughter of a high profile minister(Posani) involved with yet another crime lord Royyala Naidu(Rao Ramesh) who also operates in disguise.

On the other hand, DJ decides to take on Royyala Naidu in his mission but does not know who he is in actual life. Rest of the story is as to how Duvvada Jagannadham alias DJ manages to finish Royyala Naidu.

Plus Points :-

One of the biggest assets of this film is undoubtedly Allu Arjun and his performance. Bunny is top notch in both his characters as Duvvada and Dj. But he is the best when he becomes Duvvada as his diction, comedy touch and mannerisms are hilarious. The star hero carries the entire film on his shoulders and makes the film watchable which has an otherwise routine storyline.

Pooja Hegde is yet another star attraction for the film. She looks drop dead gorgeous and will be an eye candy for the youth and masses alike. She matches equal steps with Bunny and her chemistry with the star hero is just awesome. The first forty minutes of the film has very good entertainment with good doses of comedy.

The climax of the film is quite comical and has been handled well even though it looks a bit over the top. Subba Raju is impressive in his role and evokes good comedy. Rao Ramesh emulates his dad, Rao Gopala Rao from Aa Okkati Adakku and does his best.

Minus Points :-

Like in many other movies of late, the second half of the film is quite weak. There is hardly any story to tell here and director Harish Shankar makes the villain’s track a bit weak during this time.

Bunny’s fans would a be a bit disappointed as their star hero has not danced to his full capacity in DJ. The length of the film is also a bit high and has a lag in many areas and gets predictable and routine most of the time. The hero-villain tug of war is not that gripping.

Technical Aspects :-

Production values by Dil Raju are excellent as he has spent a lot of money and it shows on screen. DSP’s music is decent as all the songs have been inserted cleverly into the proceedings. Background score is very impressive and elevates the film well. Dialogues by Harish Shankar have a lot of tongue and cheek humor. Editing is quite weak as at least 10 minutes of the film can be trimmed easily.

Coming to the director Harish Shankar, he has done a decent job with his execution. He has written Bunny’s character quite well and his intention behind the protagonist’s fight for the society is also good. But he too disappoints during the second half as he dips the proceedings with some below average execution. But credit should go to him for showcasing Bunny in a powerful manner and also ends the film on a happy note.

Conclusion :-

On the whole, DJ is an out and out Allu Arjun film to the core. The star hero is a major attraction and carries the film with his energetic performance. Pooja Hegde’s glamor, good comedy, and some mass elements will go supremely well with the masses. 

Dil Raju's Perfect Planning

We all know that ace producer Dil Raju is a very clever businessman. He has a very good taste for movies and also makes them within a constraint budget and markets then quite well.

Apart from this, he also buys the various rights of hit films and makes super profits. Once again, the mega-producer has landed one more deal from his production house which will leave him in huge profits.

Latest reports reveal that Dil Raju has sold out the overseas distribution rights of his five upcoming films for a whopping 18.5 crores. The films include Nenu Local, Shatamanam Bhavati, Fidaa, Duvvada Jaggannadham and a film with Hebah Patel.

Dil Raju landed this deal which will also help the distributors who will share the profits with the ace producer. Overall, Dil Raju once again proves that with perfect planning one plans many films and see that they also do good business.

Dil is Happy With The Output of Nani's Nenu Local

Dil Raju is busy with a host of films in his banner right now. One of them is Nani’s ‘Nenu Local’ and the film is reportedly shaping up quite well. In fact, Dil Raju is supposed to be quite thrilled with this film’s output so far. Trinadha Rao of Cinema Chupista Mama is the director of this movie.

Recently, the intro song of this film was shot on Nani and Devi Sri Prasad has composed the music. Shooting is progressing at a brisk pace and the movie is gearing up for a release in the third week of December. Keerthi Suresh is the heroine in the film.

Nani’s current form at the Box Office should help the film score big when it hits the screens later this year.

After Dil Raju, It's Sai?

Sai Korrapati has been a successful film distributor since more than a decade. He turned producer with SS Rajamouli's blockbuster Eega. Since then, Sai Korrapati went on to produce numerous  hit and sensible movies that earned him  decent reputation.

Films like Andhala Rakshasi, Oohalu Gusagusalaade, Manamantha and the recently released Jyo Achyutananda speak volumes about his zeal for making praiseworthy movies which are both commercially and critically successful.

Today, Sai Korrapati's banner Vaarahi Chalana Chitram is a reliable brand that churns out quality movies irrespective of their commercial outcome at box-office. In fact, overseas audiences are not thinking twice about watching a Sai Korrapati film.

Producers like Sai Korrapati who dare to bet on experimental subjects and new talent are quite rare in Tollywood. Until a few years ago, such reputation was enjoyed by Dil Raju where audiences patronized any film that came out of Dil Raju's compound.

With all the goodwill that he has earned in Tollywood, Sai Korrapati will scale greater heights as a producer, if he never subsides his principles and values in filmmaking. 

Nani is Testing is Luck Again in this Year With his Fourth Film?

Natural star Nani seems to be on the mission to do as many movies as possible while he still was in his prime. As per latest reports, Nani's fourth release of this year is finalized.

This year, Nani has already released two of his movies "Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha" and "Gentleman", and scored two hits. His third release of this year, "Majnu", is all set for release on 23rd of this month. Said to be a triangular love story, Majnu is directed by Virinchi Varma of "Uyyala Jampala" fame.

As per reports, Nani is planning to release his new film "Nenu Local" for this Christmas, in December month. The exact date of release is not decided yet but the makers are targeting the Christmas season for sure. Launched on August 10, the shooting of 'Nenu Local' is progressing well and the film has already finished a large part of its shoot.

'Nenu Local' is directed by Trinadha Rao Nakkina of 'Cinema Choopistha Maava' fama and it has Keerthy Suresh as the love interest of Nani. Devi Sri Prasad is scoring music with Dil Raju producing the film on Sri Venkateswara Creations Banner. 

Flash!! Flash!! Nani's MAjnu Theatrical Trailer released

Bunny's Desire Costing Producers?

Stylish star Allu Arjun, after enjoying the super success of 'Sarrainodu' is back to work on his upcoming film 'Duvvada Jagannadham'. If we look at few previous films of Bunny, he worked with a new cinematographer every time.

After working with a renowned DOP like Amol Rathod in 'Iddarammailatho', he worked with Manoj Paramahamsa who worked for films like 'Ye Maya Chesave' and 'Yeto Vellipoyindi Manasu' in 'Race Gurram'. Recently, after teaming with famous cinematographer like Prasad Murella for 'S/o Satyamurthy', he brought in Rishi Punjabi for 'Sarrainodu'. Rishi Punjabi charged one lakh per day and the makers of 'Sarrainodu' have to pay a hefty check for him. Now it is the turn of 'Duvvada Jagannadham'.

This time Bunny roped in Aayanka Bose for 'DJ'. He is a very popular Bollywood cinematographer and had worked for noted films like 'Dishoom', 'Kick', 'Kites' and many others. So, we need to see how much does Bunny's desire cost Dil Raju. 

Nani is getting into the big league?

Probably, Nani is the only hero these days to score 4 hits in a row within one and half year. It all started with 'Evade Subramanyam' and there was no looking back for Nani from then. His movies started to get amazing response in overseas as well.

His 'Bhale Bhale Mogadivoy' gained 1.5 million overseas. His last two films 'Krishnagaadi Veera Premagaadha' and 'Gentleman' too collected nearly one million each. As Nani's films offer variety compared to other heroes, his films started to get good hype. His upcoming flick 'Majnu' teaser got tremendous response and reports say that America rights have been sold for nearly 3 crores. As there is no question of getting losses, the distributors are interested in investing more money on Nani's films.

On the other hand, Nani is slowly getting into the big league. His films are collecting a minimum of 20 crores these days and he is working under big producers like Dil Raju and others off late.