BigB charms Subburaju

After Charmme, it's Subburaju's turn to be overawed by Amitabh Bachchan. The handsome villain of Telugu cinema is on the last leg of the shooting of Buddah in Mumbai. Subburaju is playing the role he is most comfortable in, a baddie again and this time he was asked to be hyper active and shout loudly. What made the actor nervous was the language.

He confesses he got nervous initially and apologised to Bachchan. “Bacchan garu is a man of letters, I became conscious and I thought I didn't get the diction right. He calmed me down and told me not to worry as I was doing a fantastic job. Aayana mundhu acting antey hanumanthudi mundhu kuppi ganthulu vesinatte.” Subburaju says Bacchan pampers his actors a lot, but despite that he is unable to get over the same jittery feeling that he had when he made his debut in Amma Naana Tamil Ammayi.

Designer woes

In Seema Tapakai, Allari Naresh plays a rich guy. The woman he falls for loathes the moneyed class for some reasons. Now our man dresses up like a servant to impress her. It's amusing to know that Naresh is upset with the director of this film, Nageshwar Reddy because he told him he would get to wear all designer clothes as a rich man.

Every day the hero would go up to the director and would ask for his trendy costumes but the reply would be “ee roju poor man's scene” and that went on for 45 days. The shooting was a pain because he was compelled to wear ‘really' old clothes. Coffee decoction would be spilled on the shirt to get the stains but the smell never left him. It would come in the way of his dialogues and finally Naresh wore the designer stuff only for two scenes, the first and the last.

Singing sensation

Sravana Bhargavi is just 21-years but she's already become a singing sensation. The playback singer is a B. Tech graduate and is pursuing MBA. She had recorded around 45 songs but the most popular ones were Mahi Re from Ride and Simham anti chinnode vetakocchade from Balakrishna starrer Simha. Currently her two numbers Aaley Baley and the remix number Basthi Dorasani from Teen Maar have become a rage.

A little birdie says Bhargavi has written a song for Badrinath and crooned two numbers, but the lady neither confirms nor denies it.

She says on Aaley Baley, “I had to sing the song three times before it was finalised by Mani Sarma but I thoroughly enjoyed doing the rap.”

A producer's dilemma

Suresh Babu squashes rumours that the working title Savitri with Venkatesh and Trisha to be directed by Teja has been shelved because it bears resemblances with Tamil actor Vikarm's upcoming flick (inspired by I Am Sam) in which his role is autistic in nature. Suresh says the casting hasn't been finalised, the script, dialogues, director and producer is ready and he's looking out for a new girl who can play a very aggressive role with perfection. Venkatesh had done Chanti earlier, so any role after that could be less challenging for him and has not confirmed whether he will be a part of the film or not. Currently, Venkatesh and Trisha's film is waiting to go to the sets, it's a remake of Bodyguard being written by Kona Venkat; meanwhile Suresh Babu adds “I'm not too happy producing films, there is no satisfaction, and it isn't working out commercially either.”

A modest man

Shankar Melkote is a corporate person and acting in films for him is a hobby. He says, “I started doing Telugu movies with Usha Kiran Movies' Srivariki Prema Lekha directed by Jandhya and for 20 years I didn't work for another banner, I was only working for the same group. Now I work for other banners and have completed 180 films.” This unassuming old man with a distinct voice is something all are familiar with. At an audio release function of a film in which he played a role, he was found seated amidst unfamiliar faces in the last row. Offer him a respectful place in the front row and try to lead him there, he says, “I'm done with the pleasantries and I'm here so that I can make an exit soon.” Melkote's forthcoming release is a horror film Shaitan in which he plays the role of a professor.