MANOJ KUMAR IS DOING WHAT EVERYONE DOES AT HIS AGE, DATING SUBHASHINI'S DAUGHTER POOJA

Manoj Kumar


Pooja on the extreme right

What do you do when you don't have films on hand? If you are a struggling actor, you would do the rounds of producers and directors, and take all that bashan they give you. But, if you are an actor's son, you would party, flirt with women or generally have a ball. And wait for dad to produce his next film to promote you. That is precisely what Mohan Babu's son, Manoj Kumar, is doing. With his father's attempt at putting him on the pedestal of success having coming to nought, the restless youngster is in a haste to make headway on the personal front at least. We hear, that he his dating Subhashini's daughter Pooja. Now, Subhashini is Jayasudha's younger sister, and her daughter has acted in a film with Arjun, which was an inevitable whitewash, as she was not considered to have the looks. But that is then, and today, she seems to have metamorphosed into a pretty young thing. And being in the same position as Manoj is, without no offers to come by, both of them have become the thickest of pals and are seen cootchie-cooing with each other. What more, they are childhood friends, and so, it didn't take much effort on their part to break the ice. Wonder what Mohan Babu must be thinking about his son's dalliances.

YAMADONGA IS A GOOD ENTERTAINER FOR THE FRONT-BENCHERS, BUT WHAT IS SO NEW ABOUT IT?

It takes guts to make a movie based on Yamalokam, especially when everyone of us is familiar with such themes. First it was the Senior NTR, who essayed a phenomenal performance as the odd man out in Yamalokam, in Yamagola, so much so, that it has gone on to become a milestone in Telugu cinema. Later S V KRishna Reddy managed to recreate the magic with Ali in Yamaleela. Of course, it turned out to be a xeroxed version of the original with the mother sentiment thrown in. In between, Chiranjeevi too did his own version of the theme which became a runaway success. And now director S S Rajamouli treads the beaten track with Junior NTR as the man who has Yama Dharmaraju in a fix. And, we must say, it was a good effort on the part of Rajamouli to dish out an out-and-out entertainer.

Like all themes go, there is not much to talk about the theme. Death plays the villain in the life of Raja, who is unable to cash in on his big theft, as the guy who gets the job done is dead before he can pay NTR his reward. So, he starts cursing Yama Dharmaraja, who decides to right the wrongs.

And so goes the movie. An entertainer, it has some phenomenal dialogues between Mohan Babu and Junior NTR. The film has some wonderful graphic wonders which bring about the two NTRs -- the junior and senior -- in one sequence. It is an amazing effort, and the film will be talked about more for this than for anything else.

Then there are the ladies -- the more the merrier seems to be Rajamouli's policy -- to add that glam quotient to the film.

But we must say that it is a pure entertainer, and Rajamouli doesn't seem to have enough time to devote to the story and the screenplay. He only seems to concentrate on the Yamalokam scenes to the neglect of the theme. Anyway, if you can leave your mind back at home, which you should always do when you go to watch a Telugu film, it will entertain. If not, perish the thought of watching the film.

LOKESH-BRAHMANI MARRIAGE: Has their marriage brought the Daggubati and Chandrababu Naidu families together?

The relationship between Daggubati Venkateswara Rao and his co-brother Nara Chandrababu Naidu has not been a cozy one for the last 10 years. After successfully using Daggubati to dethrone NTR from power, Chandrababu dropped him like a hot potato, so much so that the latter was even hounded out of BJP, along with Mohan Babu, thanks to Chandrababu's tacit understanding with the party for the 2000 polls.

After biding his time in political wilderness for almost a decade, both Daggubati and his wife Purandeswari bounced back, this time from Congress. Given this equation between Daggubati and Chandrababu, there have been only cold vibes between the two families for these last 10 years. Even at family functions, the two families hardly met. And Daggubati's wife Purandeshwari, it is reported, has never forgiven Chandrababu for using and dumping her husband. So, predictably, it is rumoured, that she tried to put a spanner in the marriage of Chandrababu Naidu's son Lokesh and Balakrishna's daughter Brahmani

"Not exactly," says Daggubati to a regional television channel. "In fact, it is the other way round. Our family has been taking active interest in the Lokesh-Brahmani marriage. Purandeswari has been personally looking after Brahmani's shopping needs for the marriage, and even coordinating with Bhuvaneswari, Chandrababu's wife, and lending her a helping hand.

But no where does Daggubati reveal that either he or his wife had a word with Chandrababu regarding the marriage. Treating Chandrababu as an outcast, the Daggubati family has been bonding with the brother and sister duo of Balakrishna and Bhuvaneswari. And, it is reliably learnt, Chandrababu, a pariah in the NTR family, is not aware of half the things that are going on in the name of marriage. But Daggubati insists that politics cannot and will not come in the way of Lokesh-Brahmani's marriage. The ball is clearly in Daggubati's court.

Why is Chandrababu Naidu hell-bent on roping in Balakrishna into the Telugu Desam Party?

Everyone knows that Chandrababu Naidu is a master in the art of realpolitik. His detractors have even compared him with Chanakya, the Machievalli of Indian politics. And naturally. For he is known to use the right people at the right time and dump them like hot potatoes once he achieves his objective. Mohan Babu, Jayaprada, Renuka Choudary, Rammoorthy Naidu, Harikrishna, Daggubati Venkateswara Rao -- he had the knack of using all of them to rebel against NTR and usurp the chief ministership of the State in 1996. And what did he do after becoming the CM? One by one, he got rid of them.

And for more than eight years, he didn't even give them a second glance. Not even at private parties and functions. But, now, with the elections drawing near, and with the party's image plummeting in the eyes of the people, he's realised that he needs star power to pull the masses back to the party. Because the alienation of the people has been so severe that even the so-called misdeeds of the Congress party under Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, are unable to bring the TDP any closer to the people.

Sensing the seriousness of the situation, Chandrababu Naidu realised that it is time to play the NTR card to the hilt. So the CEO of Indian politics thought of a brilliant plan to make it a realistic ideal -- rope in Nandamuri Balakrishna, who is presently blazing a trail in the Telugu film industry, to rev up the image of the party. But, with the NTR family being wary of his moves after the death of NTR, and later with the exit of Harikrishna from the party, earlier, he has come up with a marriage proposal. Of giving his son Lokesh in marriage with Balakrishna's daughter Brahmani.

This way, he not only has Balakrishna, who has kept away from politics all along, canvassing for his party, but can also hope to cash in on the glory of NTR. And everything seems to work according to his plans. For, initially, the NTR family, it is reliably learnt, was antithetical to the very proposal of giving Brahmani is marriag to Lokesh. But, Buvaneshwari stepped in to cut the ice.

Everything has worked well so far. How? Harikrishna was give his rightful due during the recently anniversary celebrations of the party in Tirupati. And two, he has dangled the carrot of Rajya Sabha seat to Balakrishna. What more, with Balakrishna busy shooting for his film Okka Mogadu near Rajahmundry, Chandrababu has reportedly told the partymen that the latter's birthday celebrations on June 10 in Rajahmundry, which Balakrishna is planning to celebrate with his fans, should be a party affair. And that no stone should be left unturned to make it a grand spectacle. Gorantla Buchaiah Choudary, a senior TDP leader from the place, has been personally supervising all the arrangements at Subrahmanya Grounds in Rajahmundry.

And there have been messages flying thick and fast from the top rung leaders in Hyderabad, a euphemism for Chandrababu's house, that no Telugu Desam flags or banners should be seen at the venue. Not even the colour yellow! Everything should look as if it is being done by Balakrishna's fans alone.

It is reliably learnt that Balakrishna is likely to make an important announcement concerning his entry into politics and his role in the Telugu Desam Party. While this has gladdened the heart of Chandrababu, it is also making him jittery, that Balakrishna might say something unusual that the party may not be unable to digest. But, is there anything that the diplomatic Chandrababu can't counter in his life?

Mohan spews venom at casteism in Telugu film industry

Mohan Babu is an angry man today. And not without reason. Neither his career, nor that of his sons has been going anywhere. The next trip would be politics. He has joined Telugu Desam, but after a spat with Chandrababu, he was kicked out, literally. For a while he hobnobbed with BJP. But Chandrababu had a tie-up with BJP at that time, and ensured that Mohan Babu was nipped in the lotus bud. He knocked on Congress doors, but no one seemed to be interested in him. So, he was left nowhere to go in politics. And therefore, he started concentrating on his school in Tirupati and on his sons' careers. While Manoj is still to give a hit, the eldest son Vishnuvardhan Babu just about managed to get a toehold in Tollywood with the success of his latest film Dhee. The crux of the matter is: a couple of days back, he called for a press conference at Likhithapudi village in West Godavari to express his disappointment at the way casteism is thriving in politics and cinema. Which is why he has been away from politics for a while. However, he was quick to add that he was not going to be away from politics permanently. Basically, what he implies is that politics is dirty and the film industry too has caught on the dirt. Is it right, Mohan Babu?

JUST FOR LAUGHS

The scene took place in Hyderabad. The producer of a low-budget film is trying to convince the newly-hired director of the quality of the work by telling him the big names they've gotten for the cast.
"First of all," he tells him, "We've got Kalyan in the lead."
The director is surprised, "You got Pavan Kalyan?"
"Well, no," the producer responds, "We got Kalyan Mohan, he's a distant cousin who lives in Tirupati, but he's very up and coming. And besides, we've also got Junior."
"You got Junior NTR?" the director asks.
"No, we got Junior Venu Madhav, but he's very talented and has lots of acting experience from years of stage appearances as mimicry artiste." "But," he says enthusiastically, "we've got Aishwarya, and that too in a singing role."
"Aishwarya Rai?" he asks.
"No, Aishwarya, the former heroine," the producer responds. "But she's got a great voice. And we've got Babu."
By this time, the director is not surprised any more, and decides to go in for the least of the popular names.
"You got Mohan Babu?" the director asks.
"Yeah," the producer replies glumly, "we got Mohan Babu."

Manoj Kumar is ready to explore his dark side

Reality seemed to have finally dawned on Manoj Kumar. Before you can ask who Manoj Kumar is, he is Mohan Babu's son, who has been wrestling with success. After the disastrous performance of his first two films -- Donga Dongidi and Sri -- he is now doing one more film, Rajabhai, after a long hiatus. But much before the film can release, he seems to have developed cold feet about it making him a star. So he is hinting to the filmmakers that he is not averse to doing villain roles. Of course, it is couched in Tollywood terminology like "If the story is good". "I've come to the industry to act. The role is not important for me." Pray, why didn't you say that in the beginning, Manojbhai. You wouldn't have to sit twiddling your thumbs for a couple of years biding your time. At lest now you've woken up. All the best.