Happy Birthday Tabu

Actress Tabu turns 38 today. As the saying goes, about wine becoming better with age, then so is the case with Tabu. The actress has just gone from strength to strength, with every passing year, preferring to live and work on her own terms. Born Tabassum Hashmi, the actress spent her initial years in Hyderabad before she arrived in Mumbai. Following in the footsteps of her sister Farah Naaz and aunt Shanbana Azmi, she made her debut in films with Dev Anand's 'Hum Naujawan' in 1985, at age 15.But her first role as leading lady was for a Telugu movie. However, it was Boney Kapoor who launched her as a heroine in Hindi films in 'Prem', which also saw the debut of Boney's brother, Sanjay Kapoor. But the film took eight years to complete and didn't do too much for her. It was 'Vijaypath' in 1994, opposite Ajay Devgn which catapulted her to fame as she won the Filmfare Award for the Best Female Debut that year. As the actress became more and more particular about her roles, her appearances in commercial cinema started dwindling and she moved eagerly towards films of substance. Even though, Tabu was a part of films like 'Border', 'Saajan Chale Sasural', 'Biwi No. 1' and 'Hum Saath Saath Hain', she is known more for her performances in films like 'Maachis', 'Viraasat', 'Hu Tu Tu', 'Astitva', 'Chandni Bar', 'Maqbool' and 'Cheeni Kum', all of them films with directors like Gulzar, Mahesh Manjrekar, Madhur Bhandrakar and Vishal Bharadwaj. Her histrionic abilities were not restricted to just Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu films and she was picked up by Mira Nair to act in 'The Namesake', which got her much critical acclaim in the US too.
Currently, the actress juggles her time between Mumbai and Hyderabad. She selects her films very carefully and is definitely not a part of the rat race. She has some interesting films in hand, like 'The Legend of Kunal', where she is once again paired opposite Amitabh Bachchan. She has already won 2 National Awards for Best Actress, and has been judged Best Actress by critic's four times for Filmfare. There is little that she needs to prove to herself or the world. But this much is true, her fans would really love to see more of her. We would like to wish Tabu all the best for today and every other day of her life

Magadheera (Tamil) releasing during Pongal

Allu Aravind, maker of Tollywood's biggest-ever blockbuster Magadheera directed by S.S. Rajamouli with Ram Charan Teja and Kajal Aggarwal in the lead, has decided to dub Magadheera in Tamil and release it during Pongal 2010. If this happens, Magadheera will face a box office clash with Ajith starrer Asal and Vijay's Vettaikkaran in Kollywood. Meanwhile, the makers of Magadheera are planning to celebrate its 100 days function on November 15 (Sunday) at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad. Released worldwide on July 31 in around 1200 screens in 14 countries, Magadheera opened with a fabulous first week's collection of nearly Rs. 22 crores. It has already collected Rs. 77.73 crores so far, breaking the record of Pokiri, the earlier highest earner in Tollywood with a collection of Rs. 40 crores.

Ram Charan Teja in Telugu remake of Paiyya

Mega power star Ram Charan Teja has been confirmed as the hero in noted Tamil director Linguswamy's Telugu remake of his forthcoming Tamil film Paiyya, starring Karthi (of Paruthiveeran fame) and Tamannaah in the lead roles. One of the most awaited films in Kollywood, Paiyya is almost 85% complete (except for a song and a few scenes) and is all set for release in January 2010. Presently, Ram Charan is busy working for Orange, directed by Bommarillu Bhaskar and produced by Nagababu under the prestigious banner Anjana Productions with Genelia and Kajal Aggarwal as heroines, Harris Jayaraj scoring the music and camera by Kiran Reddy

Mahesh Babu's Kaleja progressing in Hyderabad

Director Trivikram Srinivas' much awaited Mahesh Babu-Anushka starrer, tentatively titled Kaleja (earlier titled Varudu), is progressing at a brisk pace in a huge set erected at Vikarabad, Hyderabad. According to sources, Mahesh Babu plays the role of a taxi driver and Anushka appears as a rich brat. Prakashraj is the villain. Sunil and Brahmanandam have key roles in this movie, being cinematographed by ace Bollywood cameraman Sunil Patel. Mani Sharma scores the music. This adventurous, comedy-oriented love story is produced by Singanamala Ramesh under the banner of Kanakarathna Movies. After the tremendous success of Athadu (2005), this is the second time Mahesh Babu teams up with Trivikram Srinivas.

Trisha's Hindi floors Akshay

Trisha, all set to begin shooting for her Bollywood debut Khatta Meetha, made a flying visit to Chennai to meet her family before the shoot starts. She returned from New York where she was shooting with Simbu for Gautham Menon's Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya. Now she is in Mumbai for Priyadarshan's film. Though Trisha has not dubbed for her Tamil and Telugu films, she floored Akshay Kumar when she was able to converse with him in fluent Hindi. Looks like she is taking her debut very seriously and is preparing to dub for her Hindi films. Way to go Trisha!