Tamanna in Celkon ad - Tv9

Tamanna's tops the Totem Pole

She made NTR weep.  It is Tamanna Bhatia for your.  The ever-so charming actress, who is supple in romantic scenes, heart-rending in intense scenes, dashing in duets.  You name it.

With her Konchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam performance, Tamanna stole the hearts of the audience and a nationally-instituted award.  An actor par excellence, who was chiselled into a diamond by Shekhar Kammula (he is not a mentor though; Tamanna is, by and large, a self-made actress), the Teluguammai has become a name to reckon with.

Juggling Tollywood and Kollywood with equal panache, Tamanna is all set to pip everyone and occupy the top slot.  After all, she has three big releases in the coming months.

Raccha, where she is co-starring with Ram Charan is the biggest of the projects.  Next in line comes Prabhas' Rebel.  Ram-starrer Endukante.. Premanta is yet another favourite.

Looks like Tamanna already tops the Totem Pole.  All that she needs to do is consolidate her position with a hat-trick in Telugu

South stars shining bright

South stars shining bright Varada Bhat / Mumbai October 26, 2011, 0:57 IST Big names in Kollywood and Tollywood account for a quarter of the Rs 1,100-cr brand endorsement market. When Mahesh Babu beat up the goons in picturesque Istanbul in his recent movie Dookudo, it’s not the front-benchers alone who were cheering. A host of marketing managers at some of India’s biggest companies were equally thrilled by their decision to make the Telugu superstar their brand amabassador. Dookudo opened much bigger than most Hindi films in the overseas market and became what in trade parlance is known as a super-duper hit. Mahesh Babu is now flooded with endorsement offers and has taken on Idea Cellular, pain relief balm Amrutanjan, apparel brand Provogue, jewellery retailer Jos Allukas, ITC Vivel and mobile retailer Univercell. He commands Rs 2.5-Rs 4 crore per brand endorsement, which is almost similar to the amount charged by most Bollywood stars. Babu is certainly not alone. The celebrity endorsement market is sizzling down south, with regional films getting bigger by the day and a sharp increase in the marketing budgets of big spending categories like telecom, beverages and FMCG sectors. Popular southern stars hot on the endorsement circuit include Surya, Mahesh Babu, Ram Charan Tej, Trisha, IIeana, Shriya Saran and Sneha. According to celebrity endorsement agencies, the southern stars have cornered a quarter of the Rs 1,100 crore endorsement market for celebrities. “There is a big demand and opportunity for southern movie stars to endorse national brands in the four southern states, primarily because of the brand connect and their hysterical fan following. In most cases, a Bollywood star wouldn’t be enough. In addition, the brands have also realized that in order to penetrate further into these markets, they need localised campaigns,” says Anirban Das Blah, Managing Director, KWAN Entertainment & Marketing Solutions. KWAN has opened a dedicated division to manage the endorsements and appearances for South Indian stars. It has also joined hands with Geetha Arts to form Artist Alliance, the country’s first entertainment marketing firm focused on South Indian cinema. There are others such as Globosport, Cornerstone, Bling and a few other smaller ones. The move for regional brand ambassadors has gained ground after the huge success of many regional movies. In Hyderabad, for example, the highest grossing Telugu film (Magadheera) sold Rs 22 crore worth of tickets compared to Rs 9 crore of the biggest Hindi hit (3 Idiots). Some of the smarter brands have realised that they need a local brand ambassador if they have to improve the connect between their consumers and ads. “Brands need to localise the campaigns and make them relevant for the consumer,” says Navin Shah, Joint Managing Director, EMC Solutions Worldwide. Companies have been quick to realize that. For example, while Malaika Arora Khan is the brand ambassador for Zandu balm for north, Emami, the owner of the popular pain reliever brand, signed on Surya as brand ambassador for the same product for the Tamil Nadu region, which is a big consumption market for such products. For Andhra Pradesh, however, the brand ambassador is different – Tollywood’s top actor, NTR junior. Surya has also been associated with Emami Fair & Handsome, Himani Navratna Oil, Pepsi, TVS, Nescafe and Sun Fest biscuits . Surya commands Rs 3-5 crore per endorsement. Brand experts say regional stars give them a much better reach to the target audience as the market is clearly identified. Besides, the choice of local media properties enables the national brands to promote a specific communication strategy. “To penetrate further and establish a connect, we need someone whom local people can identify with,” says Ritesh Ghosal, Head - Brand Marketing Tata Teleservices. Tata Docomo has two brand ambassdors for Southern market which includes Ram Charan Teja for Andhra Pradesh and Vijay for Tamil Nadu. Brand experts say companies often make the mistake of trying to have a single brand amabassador for the whole of south India, without realizing that it’s a highly pluralistic market. And it’s not national brands alone that fuel the endorsement market. There are quite a few regional powerhouses as well. The southern market has also shown a huge increase in disposable income and purchasing power. For example, 40 per cent of fairness creams for men are consumed in Tier III cities while according to the World Gold Council, 60 per cent of India’s annual consumption of gold and gold jewellery is from semi-urban and rural areas in the south. “If Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were a country, it would be the 70th and 71st biggest economy in the world in terms of GDP, “ says Blah.

Junior NTR Oosaravelli in DTS Mixing Works

Young Tiger Junior NTR’s forthcoming film ‘Oosaravelli’ has completed shooting. DTS mixing works are presently going on. Makers of the film are planning to release it as Dassera special on October 6.

BVSN Prasad, the producer of the film said “Shooting is completed and DTS mixing works are currently in progress. We are planning to complete all works and release the film worldwide as Vijayadasami special on the 6th of October. The recently released audio of the film has become a big hit. Songs composed by Devi Sri Prasad are being appreciated by audience. We are planning Platinum Disc function soon. ‘Oosaravelli’ is a different action, romantic entertainer, which will be a biggest hit in NTR’s career. It is a different and variety film from his earlier ones. We believe that the film will be liked by audience of all ages and genre”.

‘Oosaravelli’ is directed by Surendar Reddy. Milky white beauty Tamanna Bhatia played the female lead role. The film is produced by BVSN Prasad on Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra banner.

Film other cast includes Prakash Raj, Tanikella Bharani, Vidoot Jamwal, Adwik Mahajan, Payal Gosh, Ali, Raghubabu, Jayaprakash Reddy, MS Narayana, Duvvasi Mohan and Raghu Karumanchi.

Tamanna is now a showstopper

Sashaying down the ramp in a red traditional ensemble designed by Neeta Lulla was none other than Tamanna.
She was the showstopper for the designer’s collection at the Blender’s Pride Fashion Tour. To think that the actress managed to squeeze out time from her busy schedule was quite a surprise.
Tamanna quickly explains, “Neeta and Nishka are my favourite designers. In fact, Nishka is the one who has got my whole wardrobe sorted out.”
Being a model does not come easily to the actress though. “I am very accident prone. I am always tripping and falling. For me, the challenge was more about living the moment and having fun,” she says.
Tamanna was told about being the showstopper only a couple of days earlier. Coming back to movies, the actor feels that one thing that the audiences don’t know about her is that she tenses up in front of the camera.
“That’s what I am working on right now. I just need to let go, relax and be able to act as if I am in my own room,” she says.
About her style quotient off-screen, she says, “You can easily define me as a dal-chawal person. I am not at all glamourous the way I appear on screen.” Not having taken a break for the past 50 days, the actor has still two months of work to finish.
“I have been working continuously for a very long time. I wake up everyday whining that I need a break,” she laughs.

NTR Insulted Tamannaah on Stage

Yes, It’s true! All this happened during the audio launch of the much talked film ‘Oosaravelli’. During his speech, NTR spoke high about everyone who were part of the film. He took time to speak about the key members of Oosaravelli team.

He called upon young producer Bapineedu and spoke very good words about him. His love towards Devi Sri Prasad is seen. He also told good things about writer Vakkantham Vamsi. But he missed to say a word about his lead lady Tamannaah.

However, NTR didn’t mention the name of his lead lady Tamannaah intentionally. Even, the duo didn’t shake hands and didn’t exchange any pleasantries, when they came face-to-face with each other. “All is not well between NTR and Tamannaah. There were cold wibes between them, during the shoot of the film. Though Tamannaah tried to resolve the issue, NTR is not showing any interest,” said a source close to the unit.

Tamannaah confirmed as heroine for ‘Rebel’ Now!

With Anushka opted out of the ‘Rebel’ project directed by Raghava Larencce and produced by J Bhagawan and J Pulla Rao on the banner of Sri Balaji Cine Media with Prabhas as hero, the director immediately contacted Tamannaah and made her to sign the dotted line for the movie.

The third schedule of Rebel is slated to begin in Hyderabad from September 15.

Giving details about the progress of the film, producers say, ‘We are planning our third schedule from September 15 in Hyderabad. The schedule would continue without any break and the unit would complete the shooting in Hyderabad and leave for Bangkok and would wrap up the shooting with Vizag schedule.

Prabhas and Tamannaah are pairing up for the first time, while Deeksha Seth is playing another heroine. We are very happy for doing a hit film with a hero like Prabhas. We will never forget the cooperation extended by Prabhas in the film production. Moreover, Larencce too is not compromising on any occasion and is committed to bring out a super hit film. We are thrilled for bringing out such a high budget film and it would be the career’s highest budget film for Prabhas too.’

Prabhas says, ‘My look would be different in this film after ‘Mr Perfect’. The film would be quite stylish to suit the title ‘Rebel’. Larencce is bringing out the film in an extraordinary manner. The film has all kinds of elements the audiences would expect from my film.’

Director says, ‘The story of the film would suit at its best to Prabhas’ personality and image. Such kind of film should be done by Prabhas and none others. The producers are cooperating in every matter and we are sure that the film would be a definite hit.’