Perhaps for the first time in the history of Andhra Pradesh, 12 prominent Telugu film personalities contested Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections this year, but only four -- megastar Chiranjeevi, Vijayashanthi, Jayasudha and film producer Kodali Venkateshwara Rao -- managed to win. Vijayashanthi won from the Medak parliamentary seat with a good margin, while other three won with narrow margins.
Chiranjeevi, wholaunched his Praja Rajyam Party with much fanfare last year, had contested from two assembly seats -- Tirupati and Palakollu and expected a comfortable win in boths. Though he secured a victory in Tirupati, he faced a humiliating rout in Palakollu (in West Godavari, his home district).
Allu Aravind, Chiranjeevi's brother-in-law, lost from the Ankapalle parliamentary constituency. His political rival, film producer Nookarapu Surya Prakash Rao, who had contested the election on a Telugu Desam Party ticket, also lost. Other well-known film personalities -- actor-producer Krishnam Raju and actor Murali Mohan -- had contested from the Rajahmundry Lok Sabha constituency. They too faced defeat.
Other prominent losers include actress Roja from the Chandragiri assembly constituency; TDP leader Babu Mohan from Andhol reserved constituency; actor-writer Posani Krishna Murali from Chilakaluripet assembly seat; and film producer and TDP leader Chengala Venkata Rao from Payakaraopet (SC) assembly seat. It is the second defeat for Roja and Babu Mohan after losing in the 2004 Assembly elections. (more...)
Star losers
Jayasudha bids good bye to films
Several critics vouched that Tollywood actor Jayasudha Kapoor’s efforts at contesting the Assembly elections would fail. However, she proved them wrong and went on to win the polls in the Secunderabad constituency to become the first actor-turned-MLA from the city. The 200-movie-old Jayaushda created a record of sorts with her landslide victory over former minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav. The actor attributes her success to a clean image and her contribution towards charitable work. “In the 37 years of my film career, I never courted controversies. Even in my election campaign, I never spoke ill of anyone. I kept my speeches short. I didn’t have to tell voters about the government programmes. The welfare schemes devised by the government reached most of them,” she says.
Even as a steady stream of visitors throng her residence with flowers and congratulatory notes, political pundits have been busy criticising her. They opine that the Congress has cleverly fielded her from Secunderabad, sure that the actress who converted to Christianity a few years ago would strike a chord with the predominantly Christian population of the area. “Christians, Muslims and women voters saw me through in the elections. However, religion is not a major factor. If the leader lacks credibility, he/she will not be accepted by the public regardless of the religion,” Jayasudha says.
The actor who has decided to give up her acting career now. “It is something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. Now, I think it is time I concentrate on issues in my constituency,” she says. ne of the first steps she plans to take is to start an office in Secunderabad, where people can walk in and discuss their problems with her. Once she is formally sworn in as an MLA, she says she will focus on issues like “lack of drinking water and clogged drains in the constituency”. (more...)
Balayya announces his next venture
Though his latest offering ‘Mitrudu’ has evoked weak response at the box office, yuvaratna Nandamuri Balakrishna has been happy with his performance and the efforts put for the movie by the director.
Now, there is news that Balayya will be taking off with yet another venture and this will happen in the month of August. This is being produced by Paruchuri Kiriti and it is being made under the United Movies Banner.
Touted to be a big budget movie, Balayya has said that there will be a high importance given on the technical aspects and this will be directed by a very noted director. For now, the ground work is on and more details would be announced shortly. (more...)
Mahesh’s film gets break as Anushka is not free
It is well aware that Anushka got a huge image after the success of Arundhati. She became very busy in Telugu and Tamil language films. She is presently doing a Tamil film with Vijay as hero and the film is being shot in Hyderabad itself. She is also doing a film with Maheshbabu in Telugu under Trivikram Srinivas’ direction. Though the names of several heroines came up for consideration, the unit finally selected Anushka as heroine and her sudden selection embarrassed her in adjusting the dates. After facing several hiccups, the film had gone to sets recently. However, the shooting is again facing problems in the form of Anushka. Only a few scenes and a song were shot for the movie so far. The film got a break now and according to information the shooting would resume on May 23. Not only this film, Anushka signed the dotted line for a film ‘Vedam’ under the direction of Krish of ‘Gamyam’-fame, opposite Allu Arjun. In addition to this, Anushka had also reportedly agreed to play opposite Vikram. (more...)
A R Rahman says yes to Hollywood!
The music maestro, who’s been wooed by the West ever since Jai Ho had the world on its feet, has signed a Hollywood romantic comedy called Couples Retreat that’s being directed by Peter Billingsley and which features Kristen Bell, Vince Vaughn and Jason Bateman. Rahman, who is known to fob off lucrative temptation if his heart and art are not in it, has done British productions in the past. These include the stage versions of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bombay Dreams in 2002 which took Bollywood music to the West, and The Lord Of The Rings.
He also did films like Shekhar Kapoor’s Elizabeth and its sequel followed by Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. Couples Retreat requires Rahman to do his first full-fledged western score. “It doesn’t have any Oriental or Indian touches. So, sorry, no Jai Ho this time for global listeners who are looking for a similar musical experience from me. Everywhere I go I am greeted by those two words. Thanks to Gulzar saab for creating such a globally popular catch phrase. But now I do want to move on.
This will completely be an ‘American’ score... done in my way, of course.” What’s different about this film from all the others Hollywood offered to him, Rahman said, was the subject. “I wanted to do something fluffy and light-toned. I wanted it to be contemporary. Even Elizabeth took me back to the 15th century,” said the composer for whom Indian Cinema has repeatedly thrown somber and complex musical challenges including perplexing period dramas like Lagaan and Rang De Basanti. (more...)
Chiranjeevi lost respect too
Chiranjeevi’s supposed stronghold areas and potential vote banks - East and West Godavari - broke into spontaneous celebrations late on Saturday and early Sunday as locals “rejoiced’’ over the news of the superstar’s defeat. Even Prajarajyam party workers were seen distributing sweets when the news of Allu Aravind’s Anakapalli defeat flashed on TV screens.
“We are very happy. These fellows ( Chiranjeevi and Allu Aravind) were selling tickets in their first election itself, even before they came to power. They would have looted the state had they won,’’ a resident of East Godavari told TOI. Party workers and residents of the twin districts, from where PRP won just one seat, were at their vitriolic best on Saturday as they now possibly knew there was no point in being politically correct anymore. “We wanted to see Chiranjeevi as the chief minister. But, now we have given up the hope in disgust,’’ said a PRP leader in Kakinada.
He further said, “Parties become polluted and leaders become corrupt only after a few years into politics. But in PRP, the rot set in right from the beginning.’’ Another PRP leader said that Chiranjeevi and his family did not trust anyone except Aravind. “That has resulted in this disaster. They did not take the opinion of the cadre at any level,’’ he said.
Party workers said tickets were given to “worthless candidates,” ignoring the lists given by the cadre. The biggest complaint among the cadre is that Allu Aravind stood as a wall between them and Chiranjeevi and this, they say, was the main reason why the party was swept out. “Allu Aravind deserved to be defeated. Not only did he mislead Chiranjeevi on important issues, he alienated many leaders and forced them to leave the party,’’ said a party leader blaming Aravind for selling party tickets, unmindful of the candidates’ credentials, character and capacity.
The party cadre had apparently advised Chiranjeevi to contest from Narasapuram constituency but he chose Palakollu. “It is a good example of how blind the party leadership was to the aspirations of the party cadre,’’ another PRP leader said.
While some Chiru fans here said that even the single seat won by PRP should have been lost, a few remained loyal saying that the celebrations in the two districts were inappropriate. “We cannot see him being insulted by party workers,’’ said a Chiranjeevi Yuvatha district leader in West Godavari. But such sentiments were rare.
Clearly, Chiranjeevi has lost a lot more than just an election. Respect and fans could just be added to the list of his losses.
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