Mamta Mohandas Hikes Up Price Post Wedding

Actress Mamta Mohandas has received her highest pay cheque yet for her first signing post wedding. The actress will star opposite Dileep in the East Coast Vijayan-produced film My Boss.

She has allegedly been paid `15 lakh for her role, a huge amount for a local star, who also happens to be married.

"It's a plum, performance-oriented role and Mamta was the only actress in Mollywood who fits the bill. Also, since it's a full-length role, she has allotted close to 30 days exclusively for the film," says a source from the unit.

The deal, which was inked before her wedding in December last year, elevates Mamta to being one among the very few top paid actress in industry, second only to Kavya Madhavan, who has reportedly been paid `17 lakh for her next film. Of course, actresses from other film industries who bag roles here get paid a lot more - anywhere between `15 lakh to `30 lakh.

My Boss will be directed by Jithu Joseph, of Mummy and Me fame. Dileep plays a software engineer from Kuttanadu, and Mamta plays his boss who works out of the parent company in Mumbai. "Mamta's character is that of an Australian citizen and it is the cultural clash between them that adds colour to the love story," reveals director Jithu, who has also scripted the film. The rom-com, which also stars Lena, Salim Kumar, Sai Kumar and Suresh Krishna, is scheduled to begin filming in May and will mostly be shot in Mumbai.

Sameera Reddy Lodges a Complaint Against a Publication

Actress Sameera Reddy is unhappy over a magazine, which published her old picture with Dr Vijay Mallya on its cover page and wrote a story on his airlines. She has sent a legal to the Kerala-based publication to seek an apology for misleading cover page.

The title of the cover page says, 'End of Good Times' where Sameera Reddy will be seen with the liquor baron. The actress says that she maintains a decent image in South and the photograph makes people to believe that she has connections with Vijay Mallya's airlines.

Sameera Reddy further adds that the picture, which was taken a few years ago, on the cover page has upset her family. Hence, she has lent the notice and asking them to give an apology.

'We don't Need No Limitation'

The suggestion put forward by minister Kapil Sibal to introduce screening of social networking sites has been mostly met with opposition by users.

The new villain in the social networking circuit seems to be none other than Telecommunications Minister Kapila Sibal who, on Monday put forward a suggestion that the government would be forced to take necessary steps if internet giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google failed to screen derogatory material from their sites.

The virtual world has come up with protests against the move, mostly accusing the government of questioning their freedom of expression, with some going to the extent of starting anti-Sibal pages on networking sites.

Zac Thomas, who describes himself as a ''puzzled Congress supporter'', says he was more surprised than anything else by the report which he found on New York Times on Monday.

"It must be some sort of a stunt to publicise its India centric blog. Kapil Sibal is not a humongous idiot and nor is the government that dimwitted to suggest such an attack on freedom of expression. Surely some mistake."

Noted film director Ashiq Abu seconds this view, "I think the minister's move has been misinterpreted. While it is true that certain posts have incited religious sentiments, it's also true that r evolutions have happened through such sites. It's virtually impossible to introduce such a screening in a country like ours. What they should do instead is make cyberlaws more stringent; most social networking sites have options for reporting spam and offensive material.Make better use of it.""

Many others are of the opinion that such a move questions the very concept of social networking sites. "Such networking sites have definitely given "freedom of expression" a whole new take! For a government which has practically remained deaf to many public pleads, they have been constructive platforms for the public to discuss issues that matter to them and reach out to the concerned. If that has started bothering one of the largest democracies in the world, I fear it will be not far when we will be like one of those nations where such sites are totally banned! Only the Government knows what is "objectionable" and so on the lighter side, I feel that would definitely give more job opportunities!" says Devika Menon, a content writer.

"Every post is going to be moderated? What's the fun of social networking sites if there is no real time interaction and commenting? That will be like taking away the freedom of the common people, equal to talibanising," says Prashant Chandran, a freelance photographer.

However, actor and model Archana Kavi asks everyone to pause and think a bit before jumping into conclusions.

"We should appreciate the kind of freedom that we've been given, and make good use of it. It is very easy to just sit at home and malign someone's image through these sites, create jokes, morph pictures, but what do you do constructively? I say we should help the government and be more responsible about what we do online.""

Meanwhile, Sibal has said that the government was not trying to censor the freedom of speech and expression or the press; it merely wants to stop offensive material from being uploaded on social networking sites. The Minister had met executives from Facebook, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft on Monday, but the meeting was not fruitful, he said.

Meghana Raj’s New Avatar

When she started her Mollywood innings with director Vinayan's Yakshiyum Njaanum, many wrote her off as a one-film wonder.

But Meghana Raj has stood the test of time and is now a busy actress with films in all the four south Indian languages. The actress, who is known for her role in Kaadhal Solla Vandhen, is excited about her Malayalam film, V K Prakash's Beautiful.

"Of the 14 films I've done so far, Beautiful is really special. The film offered me a challenging role," she says.

The film has her in a never-seen-before avatar, wherein she is dressed in saris for most part of the film.

"The makers have given a different definition to glamour with my look in this film. It's simple; yet sensuous. We've infused a Bengali style, replete with a big bindi and colourful saris. I haven't put on any makeup for my role. I was the one who used to be ready first for every shot a bindi was all I needed," she laughs.

Besides, Meghna's awaiting the release of her two Tamil films - Kalla Sirippazhaga with Skakkthi and Nanda Nanditha, which is the Kannada remake of Nadha Loves Nanditha.

Ann Augustine Busy with Her Exams

Ann Augustine is trying her best to balance her studies and passion for acting. The young actress, who is currently shooting for Vaadhyar and Ordinary, is on a short break.

She is busy with her exams. A student of MA psychology at Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore, Ann could not attend class for two months at a stretch due to her shooting schedules.

Now, she is making up for the lost time, says a source close to the actress. Her friends are there for her extending a helping hand. All the very best, Ann. Hope your hard work pays off!

Metallica live was magnificent: Sanjana

She may be shuttling between shoots wrapping up the last leg of shooting of her Malayalam debut "Casanova" but actress Sanjjanna took time off on Sunday evening to catch her childhood rock idol band, Metallica, perform live in Bangalore.

The actress was ecstatic as she caught the "very powerful performance" from the VVVIP stands along with her friends. "After quite a while did I let my hair loose and have some fun. Initially, I was quite hesitant to go but my friends managed to convince me. I've heard Metallica's songs while growing up and their track "Nothing Else Matters" is one of my all-time favorites! Hearing the track just make me feel nostalgic every time I listen to it. It was the urge to watch them play this song that made me drag myself to the concert and lucky for me, they played it live!," quips Sanjjanna.

Recalling the experience of catching the performance with 30,000-odd fellow spectators, she says, "Watching them perform to a 30,000-strong crowd was crazy! I've myself performed live and even performing to a crowd of 2,000 people is such a high. One can only imagine how they felt performing to the humongous crowd! I think this kind of high is every rockstar's biggest high!"

Mohanlal Becomes Media Cameraman

Mammootty is to become a journalist in Deepan's Newsmaker. In parallel Mohanlal is also to turn a cameraman for news channel to cover sensational happenings in media circles. This happens in Joshy's new Malayalam film where Mohanlal is going to play a channel cameraman, new experience for star hero in his past 300 films. This untitled film is scripted by Sachi. Story happens between cameraman and his ex-lover, a news video editor when they are asked to make video on controversial social issue. Film is a romantic, comedy and suspense thriller that will start shooting in nexttwo months.

Orkut Oru Ormakoot Set to Release Soon

Vinod, brother of noted filmmaker and screenplay writer Lohitha Das, has teamed up with Manoj to make the film Orkut Oru Ormakootu. The duo, which has also penned the screen play, has already completed the shooting of the movie. They are planning to release the flick very soon.

There are four heroes in this film Orkut Oru Ormakootu and the peculiarity of the film is that all the heroes are sons of prominent film personalities like director Sibi Malayil's son Joe, Lalu Alex's son Ben, actress Shobha Mohan's son Anu, and photographer Gopla Krishnan's son Vishnu.

The story is about four friends living together in a flat. Rony is a humourous character, Arun is a little bit shy, Abi is a hot tempered one and Sooraj is romantic. Their parents are rich and they are not aware of the value of money and live a posh life. A girl named Chrystal enters their life and the story turns there. Rima Kallingal dons the role of Chrystal.

Orkut Oru Ormakootu is produced by Johny Sagarika under the banner of Johny Sagarika Group Combines. Debutant Swaroop Philip has cranked the camera. Other cast includes Siddique, Harisree Asokan, Sreejith Ravi, Balu James, Arjun Ashok, Sasi Kalinga, Menaka, Tini Tom, Bindu Panicker, Lakshmi, Kaviyoor Ponnamma and Jeofi Mathew.

Mamta Mohandas to Get Engaged

Actress Mamta Mohandas who has announced her plans to marry soon, will get engaged in a short while. As per the reports, her engagement ceremony with her Bahrain-based childhood friend, would be held on the 11th of November at Kochi.

Mamta don't like to be in the list of those who forgot all about marriage when they were busy with films, and hence she prefers to go through the different stages of womenhood at the right time.

Mamtha, who still have some more assignments left, will get married by next year.

Meera Jasmine to Quit Acting?

The talented Kollywood beauty Meera Jasmine has a fair share of following..

Right now, Meera is busy only with Mambattiyan, wherein she has paired up with the handsome hero, Prashant. Sources say that the pretty girl has not signed any film. However there is no proper evidence for Meeera not accepting any new projects. But buzz is the same from Mollywood as well.

Lets wait and see till the time Meera breaks her silence!!

Actress Kavya's Marriage Annulled

Popular Malayalam film actress Kavya Madhavan's marriage with Nischal Chandra was officially annulled Monday by the Ernakulam family court.

They had officially decided to separate in October last year and filed a joint divorce petition at the court.

The settlement came after several rounds of talks. It was agreed that the actress will withdraw her petition against Chandra and his family under the Domestic Violence Act.

According to George Sebastian, a Kerala Congress leader who mediated in the talks, both parties appeared in the court on May 24 to finalise the proceedings.

Kavya, a leading actress, and Chandra, a computer engineer, were married in February 2009.

Born in Nileshwaram in Kasaragod district, the actress entered the industry as a child artist in 1991. She then acted with leading stars like Mammootty, Mohanlal, Jayaram and Dilip.

Her popular films include Meesha Madhavan, Madhamabhi, Classmates and Ananthabhadram.

Suresh Gopi turns War Reporter

After donning many characters who had been always in war with the establishments, Suresh Gopi will turn a war reporter for the new movie titled as 'Ven shankhu pol'.Directed by National award winner Ashok R Nath, whose earlier movies include Sabhalam and 'Mizhikal Saakshy', this new movie will have Sureshgopi as Nandhan, a war reporter, who is facing a fatal disease.

Jyothirmayi will appear as his wife while Meera Nandhan will come up as the sister of Nandhan in this movie which will also feature Anoop Menon, Manoj K Jayan, Lalu Alex ,Chembil Ashokan and Sukumari. Anil Mukhathala is the scriptwriter of the movie, which has already kicked off the shoot. Sanal Thottam produces the movie under the banner of New TV.

Urumi gets 'U' certificate

Cinematographer-Director Santosh's magnum opus Urumi, being made in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and English with Prithviraj, Genelia, Vidya Balan, Tabu and Prabhu Deva in the lead roles, was censored on March 30 by the Thiruvananthapuram Regional Censors who cleared the film with a clean 'U' certificate without any cuts.

The film is releasing in 70 screens on March 31. Titled Vasco Da Gama (English version) and Pathinaindham Nootrandu Uraivaal (Tamil version), Urumi is based on the attempted murder of Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama when he came to Kerala. Music is by Deepak Dev, a former keyboard player with A.R.Rahman.

Dileep Injured In a Bomb Blast While Shooting

Actor Dileep got injured in a bomb blast while shooting for the movie Orma Mathram. The team for Orma Mathram, was shooting the bomb explosion scene at the Eloor Market. Dileep suffered a minor injury on his hand, but went on with the shooting.

Dileep was shooting the scene with Master Siddharth, who plays his son. The bomb blast part is an important sequence in the film as the rest of the story is about the fathers search for his lost son in the blast.

Priyanka is the heroine.

Directed by Madhu Kaithapram, Orma Mathram is produced by Horizon Films. It is the third directorial venture of Madhu Kaithapram who earlier directed the critically acclaimed and award winning movies Madhya Venal and Ekantham.

Genelia’s new face in “Urumi”

So far we have seen bubbly beauty Genelia in romantic and comedy roles but in “Urumi” she will be seen in a complete new role.

She is playing the role of a Portuguese princess and performed amazing martial art stunts. In fact, Genelia has undergone a short training in martial arts for performing this role perfectly. The film is based on the attempt made in killing Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gamma, when he reached Kappadu near Kozhikode in the year 1498.

Directed by Santosh Sivan the film has Prithviraj, Arya, Jagathy Sreekumar, Vidya Balan, Tabu and Prabhu Deva in the lead roles. The film is releasing on March 31, 2011 as the big summer release in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and English.

Santosh Sivan, Prithviraj and Shaji Natesan produced the film under the banner of August Cinema. Music is by Deepak Dev. The trailer which was out recently is showered with praises for Santosh Sivan’s brave attempt and presentation.