The bilingual movie ‘Viswaroopam’ has finally kick started today after a number of road blocks.

Contrary to the earlier reports of Sameera Reddy bagging the lead role, its actress Anushka Shetty who will feature in the movie as Kamal Hassan’s wife.

At first Kamal Hassan was very keen on roping in a Bollywood actress so that the movie would appeal to the Hindi audience, as the movie will be simultaneously released in both Tamil and Hindi.

Sonakshi Sinha was signed for the movie but the actress walked out in the last minute due to date issues. Other names like Deepika Padukone and Sameera Reddy were doing rounds but its Anushka Shetty who finally managed to grab the role.

Padmabhushan Megastar Chiranjeevi turns 56 today. Hailing from a middleclass family Chiru became the no: 1 hero of the Telugu film industry. He delivered many Industry hits and redefined the stamina of the box-office. He changed the fate of Telugu cinema with his dances, fights and performance. He entertained the audience from over 3 decades and now he became a politician. In 2006, Chiru was honored with the Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India and he was presented with an honorary doctorate from Andhra University for his services to the film industry.

Chiru is the founder of Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust and motivated his fans to donate blood, eyes and help the needy. Chiru floated a new political party Prajarajyam in 2008 and won 18 assembly seats. He recently merged his party with Congress. Chiru has acted in 149 films and the latest news is he is soon going to act in his career’s milestone 150th film to enthrall his fans and audience.

Chiranjeevi won 5 Nandi and 7 film fare awards respectively. We wish Chiranjeevi a very Happy Birthday and good luck for his future projects.

Bubbly girl Hansika who is back with Kandireega in the race is bagged another big project with none other than Mahesh Babu. However, she is not the main heroine but it is heard that she is playing an important role in Mahesh Babu’s The Business Man. The film is written and directed by Puri Jagannadh.

Venkat is producing this film on RR Movie Makers banner. Though, the makers approached Shruthi Hassan for the heroine role, but later Kajal Aggarwal has been named as the leading lady. The film is touted to be an action thriller. Thaman who worked earlier for Mahesh’s Dhookudu is the music director of this film. The film will commence its regular shoot from September and is expected for Pongal release. This is the second movie in Puri-Mahesh combo after 2006’s blockbuster Pokiri.

Finally, Kamal Hassan has found a heroine for his prestigious project Viswaroopam. It is reported that Kamal has signed Sameera Reddy to play the role of his wife in this movie. Initially, Kamal tried to rope in Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha of Dabangg fame in this thriller. But citing date problems these two ladies opted out of this project.

Though, Kollywood circles are telling that the reason to leave Sonakshi is only because of her weight issues. The film is written and directed by Kamal Hassan. Earlier, Selva Raghavan is supposed to direct this film but following some creative differences with Kamal, he walked out of this big project. Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy is composing music for this film. The film is also produced by Kamal Hassan under Rajkamal Films International banner.

According to our sources, the most expected multi-starrer featuring Victory Venkatesh and Superstar Mahesh Babu will be launched on November 17. Srikanth Addala who earlier directed Kotha Bangaru Lokam is directing this prestigious project. Sensational producer Dil Raju who is famous for making big ticket films is producing this mega project.

Mahesh will join the shoot soon after completing The Business Man and in the meanwhile, the scenes involving Venky will be shot. This film is supposed to have Pawan Kalyan but it is heard that the actor is not excited with the script and hence Mahesh is roped in. The film is tentatively titled Seethamma Vaakitlo Sirimalle Chettu. The makers are planning to release this film for 2012 summer. Fans of Venky and Mahesh are going berserk to watch these actors together on the big screen. Let’s hope that this film will create a trend for many more multi-starrers.

Abhimanyu Singh who shot into fame with Ram Gopal Varma’s Raktha Charithra is finalized as the villain in Power star Pawan Kalyan’s Gabbar Singh. Director Harish Shanker is searching for a villain since many days for this remake. Earlier, Harish approached Sonu Sood for the same role but the actor said NO as he finds donning the same role again and again will lead to monotony.

Shruthi Hassan is playing Pawan’s love interest in this film. As all the cast and crew are finalized the film will commence its regular shoot from October. Devi Sri Prasad is the music director. Bandla Ganesh Babu is producing this film on Parameswara Arts banner. This is the second film in Pawan-Ganesh combo. Gabbar Singh is the remake of Salman Khan Starrer Dabangg. Incidentally, their first film is also a remake of Bollywood’s successful film Love Aaj Kal.

Nandamuri Balakrishna’s latest devotional film based on Ramayana, Sri Rama Rajyam is slated for Dasara that is on October 6. Bala Krishna is playing the role of Lord Rama while Nayantara plays role of Sita. The audio of the film released recently and received good applause from the listeners as well as from the critics. According to sources, director of this film Bapu is putting his all efforts to make this film a milestone in Tollywood.

Earlier, the film is slated for release on September 16 but as the post production work is taking time it was pushed to October 6. The makers of this film are expecting huge crowds into the theatres as it’s a holiday season. Dialogues of this film are penned by late Mullapudi Venkata Rama. Music is scored by Maestro Ilayaraja.

Veteran actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao is playing Valmiki Maharshi in this film. Sri Rama Rajyam is produced by Yalamanchili Sai Baba under Sri Sai Baba Movies banner.

Power star Pawan Kalyan’s film in the direction of Vishnuvardhan completed its shooting in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the film unit is planning to start its Hyderabad schedule. Shobu Yarlagadda and Neelima Thirumalasetty are jointly producing this film. Yuvan Shanker Raja is composing music and Abburi Ravi is penning the dialogues.

Pawan Kalyan is seen as a mafia don in this film. Sara Jane Dias and Anjali Lavania are paired opposite Pawan Kalyan. Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff and Adavi Sesh of Karma fame are playing important roles in this film. Kaali and Shadow are the titles under discussion for this film.

Naga Chaitanya starrer Auto Nagar Surya will commence its regular shoot from October 6 as per the sources. The film is set in the backdrop of Vijayawada politics. Naga Chaitanya will be seen in a very serious role in this film. Venkat of RR Movie Makers is producing this film under the direction of Dev Katta of Prasthanam fame. Chaitanya’s character in this film is inspired from Ayn Rand’s novel The Fountainhead. Art Director Ravinder errected a huge set in the out skirts of Hyderabad for this film. Anup Rubens who is away from limelight since many days is scoring music for this film. Chaitanya recently injured on the sets of RGV’s Bezawada Rowdeelu and recuperating from  surgery.

Superstar Mahesh Babu’s forthcoming film Dhookudu audio has been launched in a grand gala event with more hype and hoopla. Top celebrtities from Tollywood like SS Rajamouli, Sukumar, Dil Raju, Brahmanandam and heroine of this film Samantha graced the event. Fans from across the state thronged the venue with celebrations. Mahesh looked dashing and attended the event with his wife Namratha. Star director SS Rajamouli released the audio CD and handed over the first copy to Sukumar.

Dhookudu is directed by Sreenu Vaitla under 14Reels Entertainment Pvt Ltd Banner. Anil Sunkara, Achanta Gopinath and Achanta Ram are producing this film and Krishna Productions is presenting it.