There is hardly 10 days more for Ramzan- October 12 Friday. For the Malayalam film industry, it is the second biggest festival season after Onam. Remember during the one-month Noyambu (Fasting) period there was no Malayalam releases, and theatres were having as low as 10 percent occupancy in towns. Now with the Perunal(Ramzan) on October 12 or 13, it is going to be boom time, especially in Malabar area of the state which accounts for nearly 45 percent of the Kerala box-office. The Ramzan releases are impressive and the crowds are sure to lap them up. Mammootty's Nasarani will be the Ramzan biggie and is likely to release in 55 centers in Kerala. The film will release on October 12, Friday at 2 pm, all over Kerala, there will not be any morning or noon show on the opening day. A Mammookka film for Perunal usually takes a bumper opening,( Remember Rajamanickam opening in 2005 Ramzan?) and Nasarani is a typical mass masala and will open big. Mohanlal's off-beat Pardesi is his big Ramzan release on October 12, and it is likely to open in 40 screens. Mohanlal plays the role of Valiyakathu Moosa, and the film is all about his life and times from the age of 30 to 80. The fans of the star are waiting to see him do this difficult role. Suresh Gopi's long delayed Black Cat is now almost certain to release for Ramzan. The director of the film Vinayan in a magnanimous gesture has waived his salary, so that the film will release! Pritviraj is the lone male student studying in a womens college and three hot girls –Roma, Remya and Samvrutha are after him in Chocolate! The Shafi directed rollicking comedy has also Jayasurya in an important role. It is the only 'youth film' due for Ramzan on October 12.

Rajnikanth has denied that he is doing a film with Kamal Hassan, directed by Mani Ratnam, as made out by the Tamil print media. Rajni told a selected few journalists after watching a special show of Chiranjeevi's son Ram Charan Tej's launch Telugu film Chiruta at Four Frames preview theatre in Chennai. Rajnikanth said: "No such film has come to me or was discussed. All the news of Kamal producing my next movie in the direction of Mani is false. I haven't yet decided on future projects," Rajni says he is just taking it easy and it will take some time for him to even start looking for a script for his next film. For the last few weeks the local media has been full of colourful stories on Rajni-Kamal-Mani coming together with even the national English news channels playing it up. When the rumour started in the Tamil press, Moviebuzz had stated that it is an "imagination running wild, and the project would never become a reality."

Remember Charmi, Simbu’s Kathal Azhivadilai heroine? After doing some insignificant Tamil and Malayalam films, she struck gold in Telugu. She played the role of the bubbly and mischievous “Little Miss Sexy” in Telugu films like Lakshmi, Pournami, Style etc, but could not make it to the top. Now after four years Charmi, is making a comeback to Tamil films in a heroine oriented role in director Prabhu Solomon’s (Kokki, Lee fame) new film Laadam, opposite a new boy. The rumour mill has it that Charmi is playing the role of a female gangster, and has five top south Indian villains opposite her! Laadam is being produced by Chola creations, with music by Dharan. The shoot of this gangster thriller will start by the end of the month in Chennai. For Charmi it is her second innings in Tamil, and she may grab more roles in Tamil where there is acute shortage of glam girls.

Abhishek Bachchan and Viveik Oberoi will be sharing screen space with each other in Apoorva Lakhia's "Mission Istanbul", and producer Suniel Shetty says that neither has any problems with it. "Why should they have any problem? Abhishek is a thorough professional. He has no problem with anybody. And weren't they both part of 'Shootout At Lokhandwala'? Yes, they do have scenes together in 'Mission Istanbul'. And I'm sure they'll do them splendidly. It's very unfair to bring in personal matters and question their professionalism. Neither Abhishek nor Viveik have expressed any misgivings about working together," Shetty said.Shetty, currently shooting for his TV show 'Biggest Loser', confirms the vast star cast of his forthcoming venture."We've already confirmed Bobby Deol, Viveik, Abhishek, Shabbir Ahluwaliah. Tusshar Kapoor has problems with the combined dates required with the other actors. The problem is now being worked out," he said.The leading ladies are also being finalized. "They're integral to the action. I need ladies who can kick ass as effectively as the boys," says Shetty.Elaborating on the preparations for the film, Shetty said: "'Mission Istanbul' is being made on an international scale. The theme requires an international vision. My director is browsing for F-X teams from abroad. It will be top-of-the-line technicians. They're a step ahead not because they're more talented but because they're more professional.""We can no longer get away with sub-standard spectacles. Guys who shot 'Dhoom' or the forthcoming 'Cash' have brought an unparalleled expertise to our cinema. In both forthcoming projects 'Mission Istanbul' and 'Raaste' with Abhishek, Aishwarya, John and Sikandar Kher, I'm getting top notch technicians associated with the best of Hollywood cinema. We're spending Rs.250 million on 'Mission Istanbul' and ready to spend more. I trust my director Apoorva Lakhia completely," he said.

Abhishek Bachchan will be doing Aparna Sen’s first Hindi film Gulel. She was earlier supposed to do an English comedy titled Jewellery Box with Govinda and daughter Konkona together, but after he ditched her at the last moment, she is now starting work on Gulel. The original choice for the role was Ajay Devgan. A source says, “The National Award winning director, who has only made Bangla and English films before, is now reviving, Ismail Merchant’s nephew, Naeem Hafiz’s Gulel. The project had been stalled after Merchant’s demise two years ago. It was supposed to star Devgan in the role of a Bihari convict and Saif Ali Khan playing a Parsi gentleman. Aparna had also finalised Bipasha Basu as the lead actress with Urmila Matondkar and Kareena Kapoor in comparatively smaller but important roles. The project is now being totally revamped and the casting has been completely changed.” “The script of the film revolves around an assassin, who is on the lookout for his prey, a Parsi young man. The film was also supposed to have acclaimed filmmaker-dramatist director, Vijaya Mehta in the role of Saif’s aunt,” the source adds. Aparna had also expressed earlier that Abhishek liked the script a lot. He has expressed his keenness to work on it. But, the problem currently lies with his dates. Only if his dates are adjusted, would they be able to go ahead with the project. Abhishek has always expressed his delight for working with Bangla directors. He has done two Bangla films, Antarmahal (Rituparno Ghosh) and Desh (Raja Sen) where he had mom Jaya Bachchan playing his onscreen mother as well. His next Bollywood release Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, is also with Bengali director Pradeep Sarkar.

Priyanka Chopra is gearing up for the release of three of her films. But she is especially excited about "Love Story 2050" in which she stars alongside her good friend Harman Baweja. Asked if she has put in an extra mile for the movie, she said: "Oh, I put in lots of extra miles in all my roles. For the first time in Indian cinema you'll see the concept of time travel. And working with robots was very cool. 'Love Story 2050' is very Indian and at the same time very futuristic."Harman says Priyanka helped him with his scenes."Well, yes," concedes Priyanka. "Being a senior I gave him whatever support I could. But let me tell you, if I'm more experienced in front of the camera he's far more experienced behind the camera. He has been part of the movie-making process assisting his dad for almost 15 years. So I guess we both learnt from each other."Initially, Priyanka was apprehensive about how well she would match Harman on screen. "I've known Harman for a very long time. He knows so much about cinema. But he was completely raw to acting. So I wanted to do my best to make him feel comfortable. I remember how helpful everyone was when I did my first film 'The Hero'."When asked if her father was cutting a music album, Priyanka said it had been in the pipeline for a long time."He has been working on it for a long time. Then he fell ill. And the album went on the backburner. I'd love to be part of it, though I don't think I'll sing in it," she said.Priyanka loves to sing and would some day like to cut her own album. "But I don't think I'm ready for it yet. Singing professionally would require a lot more practice than I can muster right now. Right now I'd rather focus on my career," the actress said.Priyanka has three releases coming up. "I've 'Drona', 'Love Story 2050' and 'God Tussi Great Ho' coming up. The third would probably be my first release now. Salman and I make a great pair. And he's so funny in the film. The chemistry between Salman and Sohail is so fantastic," she said.Both "Drona" and "Love Story 2050" have loads of special effects. "But while 'Drona' is a super-hero film, 'Love Story 2050' is basically a love story. Both have been fun to shoot in different ways. I had to sport two different looks in 'Love Story'. I've been in fantasy-spectacles before. 'Krissh' and 'Don' belong to that genre. It's not as if I'm choosing these spectacles. What I look for are projects beyond the conventional," she said.Priyanka is hoping the three releases this year will take her career further. "I may have had some hiccups lately. But on the whole I think I'm on the right track."

It looks like 2008 is going to witness a fierce battle of historical warriors on the Indian screen. While Sushmita Sen is all set to raise a sword to the Rani of Jhansi in her international homage to the warrior queen, Raj Kumar Santoshi who earlier cast Ajay Devgan as Bhagat Singh is all set to now transform the actor into Mauryan emperor Ashoka.The film goes on the floors in early 2008 and will be jointly produced by Santoshi and the owners of the PVR chain of multiplexes.Cinematographer-filmmaker Santosh Sivan had made a commercially unsuccessful film on the life of Emperor Ashoka with Shah Rukh in the lead.Says Santoshi, "I'm aware of Sivan's film. He's a fine craftsman. But my approach and treatment to this fascinating subject will be very different. My Ashoka will open during the Battle of Kalinga and move forward into the emperor's life and also recreate events pre-Kalinga through flashbacks."Though he was born in 265 BC, today Emperor Ashoka's message of Buddhist peace at the time of terrible strife and war is more relevant than ever. I want my Ashoka to reach out to the young hip-and-happening generation. It won't be a costume drama like 'Mughal-e-Azam'. It will be a happening epic on the lines of Hollywood's 'Spartacus', 'Braveheart' and 'Gladiator'. Technicians from all over the world are now being finalised."Santoshi, a versatile epic maker with films as far-ranging as "Ghayal" and "Lajja" to his credit, is toying with the idea making the film as a bi-lingual. "Or maybe we could just have English subtitles to the Hindi dialogues since that would look more authentic," Santoshi says.The film will have no songs, but a background score by A.R. Rahman who has earlier done music in period films like "Lagaan", "Zubeida", "Jodhaa-Akbar" and Santoshi's own "Legend Of Bhagat Singh".This would be the second of the three historical-mythological characters that Santoshi is recreating with Ajay. After Bhagat Singh and Ashoka, the creatively compatible combination moves into the Ramayan where Devgan plays Rama.

Uttar Pradesh's Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Tuesday asked Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan to explain the basis of his claim that there was less crime in Uttar Pradesh - his line from the TV commercial as part of the Samajwadi Party's election campaign earlier this year. The notice was issued on a petition by Brij Bhushan Dubey, a resident of Ghazipur town in eastern Uttar Pradesh.Dubey initially made a query to Bachchan in the actor's capacity as former member of the state's Development Council way back in March. He later filed a complaint to the information commissioner. As there was no response from Bachchan, he appealed to the CIC last week. Referring to Bachchan's assertion in the advertisement on TV channels as well as in print and on hoardings that his claim was based on a central government report, the seven-point questionnaire submitted by the petitioner has sought to know from the actor the details of such a report. Besides asking Bachchan to submit a copy of the official report that he was citing, the petitioner has also sought to know the remuneration the star received from the state government for doing that commercial. Through a notice issued to the star, whose proximity to the Samajwadi Party supreme Mulkayam Singh Yadav and general secretary Amar Singh was no secret, the CIC has sought his reply. Failing that, Bachchan has been asked to make a personal appearance before the CIC on Oct 15.

Now it is Vijay's turn. Mahesh Babu is eager to make a Vijay film in Telugu. The 2 of them are friends and usually screen their films for each other. Vijay has recently told Mahesh Babu the one line story of 'Azhagiya Thamizh Magan.' That was enough to Impress Mahesh Babu. It is said he has expressed his desire to act in the Telugu re-make of 'Azhagiya Thamizh Magan.'

Gautham Vasudeva Menon has been on a heroine hunt for his Vaaranam Aayiram, since the launch of the film! First Deepika Padukone was approached, but she preferred to be Shah Rukh Khan's heroine, then it was Asin but she had no dates. The lovely Genelia was signed, but when the shoot did not happen on time, she opted out. However, ‘Kuthu’Ramya plays one of the heroines. So the search began all over again for the coveted heroine's role. The shoot of the second schedule of the film was to start at Berkley University in US in the first week of October. Trisha who was doing Chennayil Oru Mazhaikalam with Gautham was approached, but she had already committed her dates to Kuruvi and Abhiyum Njanum, which will go up to the year end. Gautham immediately flew to Mumbai, and met a lot of Bollywood stars like Tabu, Nandana Sen, Shamita Shetty and few others. The latest we hear is that the hot sexy siren Sameera Reddy flew down to Chennai last week, and had discussions. Gautham has sort of agreed to take her for the role of a beautiful NRI in an American university who falls for the hero. Sameera the dusky beauty of Musafir and Taxi Number 9211 fame and a few Telugu films is today transformed herself into a beautiful, even more sexy siren, after going through a fitness regime. Now it is up to Surya, to put his stamp of approval on Gautham's choice as his Vaaranam Aayiram heroine. Surya is away in Switzerland shooting a song with Asin for Vel, and should be back in Chennai by October 3. Bhanu the dress designer of the film who is also with the Vel unit will have to come down and have a costume rehearsal on Sameera before the US schedule of Vaaranam Aayiram begins from October 10.

Indian Idol Abhijeet Sawant has joined hands with talented young composer Mithoon and fast reaching the top lyricist Sayeed Quadri. In his recently released album JUNOON, he is heard rendering a song written by Quadri and composed by Mithoon. The pair that has now given around a dozen hits already is roped in as guest composer and lyricist respectively for creating 'Ek Shaqs'. This is a kind of number where for a change instead of looking at it critically from the review point of view, you want to relax and just enjoy the beauty of the song. An excellent song composed for a situation where a man is remembering the one whom he loved and cared for most, 'Ek Shaqs' is a soft number that is in the same mould as 'Beete Lamhein' [The Train]. Watch out for the pensive music video of the song which is currently on air.

According to critics and film trade Mammotty is said to be the best actor in malayalam to don the police uniform. Suresh Gopi is a close second, while Mohanlal comes only after them. Once again he plays a cop for the 25 th time in his career in Rowdram, directed by Ranji Panikkar. Mammooka when he plays a cop does it in style and with lots of hardwork. n Rowdram, Mammootty plays Assisstant commissioner of police Narendran, better known as Nari a tough no-nonsense cop. He has more enemies inside the force, who are gunning for him as he starts his investigation into the murder of a businessman Kamblikandam Jose. Manju, a debutant from Chennai plays his wife in the film, which is an edge of the seat police investigation story which moves at a rapid pace. Says Ranji Panikkar: `I have taken some real life incidents that happened in Kerala politics and blended it with Mammooka`s image. I think it will work big time at the box-office.`

Mohanlal is back after his 40 day US stage programmes. The programmes were hugely popular with the Malayalee audiences and was a sell out in most places. Now the actor has joined the shoot of Ranjit's Rock and Roll, which is going on in full swing. He will complete the climax of the film in Thiruvananthapuram and then join Sibi Malayil’s Flash in Kanjanghad by October 10. Mohanlal lets his hair down in the company of Lakshmi Rai in Rock and Roll, which has music by Vidyasagar.

Producer cum director Sekhar Kammula says, 'Our film 'Happy Days' is the story of engineering college students. Most of the Telugus in the US were engineers. We released the film on eptember 28. Those who watched the movie complimented that the film helped them recollect their college days. We felt very happy for the compliment. It is a clean and youthful film. As we were claiming from the very beginning, the film is worth watching for even the family audiences. Censor Board also gave a clean U certificate for our movie. We are going to release the movie on October 2, the Gandhi Jayanti Day.' Dil Raju says, 'As Sekhar Kammula was quite confident on the success of the movie, he dared to release the film in the US first. Likewise, we screened two shows for the students in Hyderabad and they too enjoyed the movie. We wish similar response from the audiences in general. Though all the artistes were novices, everyone did justice to their respective roles.'

Ramesh Aravind had carved a niche for himself as a successful actor in Tamil and Kannada film industry. A close associate of Kamal Haasan, Ramesh Aravind recently ventured to direct movies in Kannada. His maiden directorial venture 'Rama Shama Bhama' a remake of Tamil hit 'Sathya Leelavathy' featured Kamal Haasan in a guest role. The movie went on to become a big hit. He followed it up with a comedy film too. Now Ramesh Aravind is all set to try his luck in direction again. This time, he would be wielding the megaphone for a thriller. Ramesh Aravind says, “I am directing a movie titled 'Accident' in Kannada. It is based on a real life incident. A murder happens and what occurs after that forms the crux”.

Prashanth, who started his career with Vaigasi Porandachu, was one of the prominent heroes a couple of years ago. Prashanth's career is seemingly back on the right track now. His long pending movie Pulan Visranai II, a sequel to yesteryear hit titled the same is fast shaping up for a early release. Also his long-pending Petrol, directed by A Venkatesh will go to floors again. Pulan Visaranai II is directed by R K Selvamani and is produced by Ibrahim Rowther. Meanwhile director A Venkatesh said, “The shooting of Petrol came to a halt almost a year ago. With all issues sorted out, we are planning to commence shooting for the movie soon”.

Madhavan has turned producer with Evano Oruvan and has floated his own company `Leukos Films` which will market the film. Maddy who is now shooting for Vazhthukkal in Colombo has informed us that he will personally oversee the entire marketing of Evano Oruvan, which he plans to release in December 2007 worldwide. This Nishikanth directed film is carrying excellent pre-release reports, and is expected to do well in cities and multiplexes across India and overseas where Maddy is a big brand. For the first time special premieres are being held overseas, before its theatrical release in India. `Leukos Films` is going to have sponsored international premieres for Evano Oruvan across the globe. Maddy is taking time off his busy shooting schedules and along with his team of actress Sangeeta, Nishikanth and Seeman will be present at all venues and will also have a “Meet &Greet” with winners of contests in every city. Top celebrities, press and the elite will be invited for the premieres and they will voice their views on the film. The premieres in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto will be on 26, 27 and 28 October respectively. It will be for the first time that an Indian film will have such big premieres across the globe before its theatrical release. Evano Oruvan, will be also premiered from Nov 6 to 12 in UAE and Nov 22 to 24 in Singapore and Malaysia. Maddy is taking a leaf out of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s marketing technique, by holding aggressive premieres across the globe and the way he promoted his Chak De. Three cheers to Maddy for his marketing techniques, which should be an eye opener to our Kollywood industry.

Veteran actor Om Puri is upbeat because his desire to do a sequel to Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, one of his most popular films, is about to be realised. "Kundan Shah who directed Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron 24 years ago is going to do a sequel. We're all very excited about it," said Puri. But he said making a sequel to the 1983 hit wouldn't be an easy task. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron remains a cult comedy and recreating the film's ambience would be tough." The actor is just back from a long shooting stint of Aziz Mirza's Luck Charm in Toronto. "That's just the tentative title," the actor warns. And he says that even though he doesn't have a big role in the film, he signed on just to work with Mirza. "I took on the assignment without reading the script. I had never worked with Aziz, and I wanted to. That was enough incentive to take on the role. I don't have that much to do in 'Lucky Charm. I play the man who helps Shahid (the hero) realise his dream of building a shopping mall. "Sometimes you do a film without asking questions, like I did Buddha Mar Gaya because I wanted to work with Rahul Rawail." Puri, who has just done a remake of the 1973 blockbuster Victoria 203, is all set to do another sequel, apart from Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. "We're all doing a sequel to Priyadarshan's 'Malamaal Weekly' from last year. But Rajeev Kumar and not Priyan will be directing it."

Joshy who is presently in United States will arrive this weekend to give the final touches to Nasraani, his film for this Ramzan. The film with Mammootty is already the most demanded one for this season and the regular filmgoers have many expectations for this film which presents Mammootty in another Achayan character with plenty of heroics. After completing Nasraani, Joshy is already assigned for another movie with Mohanlal. This new project will be produced by Sasi Ayyanchira in the banner of Uthrattathi Films. Joshy, the most demanded senior director in Malayalam will have to find time this December to start his movie for AMMA. The movie which has all the prominent stars from the Malayalam film industry is into the final scripting session. Produced by Dileep, this will be one of the biggest projects ever to have done in Malayalam.

Jyothirmayi will play a prominent role in Ayur Rekha, based on K K Sudhakaran's short story Rekhayillaththa. G M Manu will direct the investigative thriller that revolves around a murder mystery. Produced by Sunny Kunthamattam, the movie also has Sreenivasan, Mukesh, Indrajith, Sindhu Menon, Jagathy Sreekumar and Nedumudi Venu in the cast. Jyothirmayi has also signed a woman-centric movie, Adayalangal, to be directed by M G Sasi.

Nedumudi Venu has bagged the best actor award in the Zimbabwe International film festival. He was given the award for portraying the complex nature of the character of Usthad Alif Hussain, the musician in the film Saira directed by Dr Biju. The festival which was held between August 27 and September 5 had 26 films in the competitive section. Saira was the only Indian film that attended the festival.

While Prakash Jha's latest production 'Dil Dosti Etc' has got a mixed response, one person whose performance has been noticed by most, is former Miss India Nikita Anand. No wonder, Nikita is floored by audience reaction as the beauty queen manages to win hearts and critics! "It's heartening to note that everyone from critics to the audiences have encouraging words for my performance," she quips with excitement. Nikita, who has a fairly noticeable role in the film, feels she is receiving more praise than anticipated. "Looking back, I felt, I could better my performance in quite a few scenes. So I was not expecting such an appreciative reaction. It has only strengthened my resolve to work harder in future". While Nikita might take quite some time to match the brilliance and popularity of earlier beauty pageant ladies like Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta, with this accomplishment in 'Dil Dosti Etc', she has made an impressionable beginning. While Prakash Jha's latest production 'Dil Dosti Etc' has got a mixed response, one person whose performance has been noticed by most, is former Miss India Nikita Anand. No wonder, Nikita is floored by audience reaction as the beauty queen manages to win hearts and critics! "It's heartening to note that everyone from critics to the audiences have encouraging words for my performance," she quips with excitement. Nikita, who has a fairly noticeable role in the film, feels she is receiving more praise than anticipated. "Looking back, I felt, I could better my performance in quite a few scenes. So I was not expecting such an appreciative reaction. It has only strengthened my resolve to work harder in future". While Nikita might take quite some time to match the brilliance and popularity of earlier beauty pageant ladies like Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta, with this accomplishment in 'Dil Dosti Etc', she has made an impressionable beginning.