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In the United States, the vast world of Telugu cinema isn't terribly well-known. Indeed, many Americans might have first been exposed to Telugu cinema as recently as 2022 with the release of S.S. Rajamouli's musical action epic "Rrr," a film that won Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. Telugu cinema -- sometimes called Tollywood -- is an industry that goes back 1912, and is produced in the southern part of India. Tollywood movies are not to be confused with Bollywood movies, which belong to a separate industry, describing movies made out of Bombay. Tollywood movies are in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, or Malayalam. Bollywood movies are in Hindi, but also sometimes in the Punjabi or Haryanvi languages. Also, generally speaking, Bollywood movies are shorter than Tollywood movies, and the former tends to skew toward romantic melodramas while the latter leans toward action and spectacle. 

Working in the world of Telugu cinema...

Deep Blue Sea (1999) is a thrilling 25-year-old shark horror movie directed by Renny Harlin. With a 60% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Deep Blue Sea is a divisive film that has nonetheless developed a cult following since its release. The B-movie boasts a fantastic cast who play scientists researching a remote island. Their experiments on sharks, designed to cure Alzheimer's disease, take a terrifying turn when the genetically engineered creatures become intelligent and deadly.

The movies talented lineup and impressive special effects elevate it above the typical B-movie standard while retaining the so-bad-it's-good shark movie appeal. It's a fun, campy, and entertaining disaster flick that has become a cult classic shark movie among horror and sci-fi fans. Deep Blue Sea's enduring legacy explains why many fans are eager to learn where the movie's cast is today.

Thomas Jane As Carter Blake Date Of Birth: February 22, 1969

Active Since: 1987

Actor: Thomas Jane was born in Baltimore,...

In memoriamViswanath’s social commentary and love for classical art are things that can be learned and borrowed, but his deft hand that manoeuvres all these threads into a single tapestry of cohesive beauty belongs to him alone.Courtesy: Wikimedia.Commons/ UttamdabiWhen you are tasked with writing about a man who is a true master at what he did, your hands hover over the keyboard, not knowing where to start. Ever since K Viswanath’s recent demise, social media has been filled with videos of scenes from his 50 films, most of which can be considered masterpieces depending on who you are asking. Viswanath had managed to create a filmography teeming with cinema that tries to teach, without shortchanging the viewer's expectations. You can see his reverence for art in films as early as Kalam Marindi (1972). Films like O Seetha Katha (1974), Siri Siri Muvva (1976), and Seetamahalakshmi (1978) had characters practising some form of art.

TollywoodThese women comedians might play the supporting role of a friend, mother, or even neighbour in Telugu movies starring big names, but their contribution is no less.Rajeswari ParasaImageCredit: Twitter/ Gangavva, Youtube/iDream Telugu Movies/Ramaprabha PrayanamThe Telugu film industry is known for its larger-than-life films and a plethora of famous stars who have a massive fan following. But an integral part of most Tollywood films is the comedic side story and the funny elements, which serve as a welcome relief from the drama and action that make up the main plot. It is no wonder then that Telugu comedy actors like Brahmanandam, Ali, and Babu Mohan command such respect. Not to mention the several women comedians such as the iconic Surya Kantham to the more recent. These women comedians might play the supporting role of a friend, mother, or even neighbour in Telugu movies starring big names, but their contribution is no less.

ReviewThe film, directed by Vinod Anantoju and starring Anand Deverakonda and Varsha Bollamma, released on Amazon Prime Video on Friday.Jahnavi ReddyAmazon Prime Video ‘Bombay chutney’ is an unconventional kind of chutney, made with gram flour. In Middle Class Melodies, which is out on Amazon Prime Video, Raghava (Anand Deverakonda) wants to move to Guntur to make it big with his mother’s Bombay chutney recipe. He believes it is flavourful enough to become a local ‘specialty’ and ‘famous’ food item, in a city preoccupied with groundnut and tomato-based chutneys, and has an exciting street food culture. Sandhya (Varsha Bollamma) is Raghava’s classmate from high school, and while we don’t get to know much about her aspirations, we do know that she loves Raghava but is timid and reluctant to speak her mind. Although Raghava and Sandhya are the leads in Middle Class Melodies, the film and its...

Tollywood Tnm spoke to the director and the lead actors about the significance of food in the film, working with hyperlocal theatre artists, and showing Guntur in a new light.Jahnavi ReddyAll images from Amazon Prime Video The trailer of Middle Class Melodies, the latest Telugu film to release on Ott, indicates that the food of Guntur plays a major role in the film, parallel to the lead roles played by Anand Deverakonda and Varsha Bollamma. Directed by Vinod Anantoju, the film released on Amazon Prime Video on Friday. Tnm spoke to the director and the lead actors about the significance of food in the film, working with hyperlocal theatre artists who play most of the supporting roles, and showing Guntur in a new light. ‘The Guntur Song’ from Middle Class Melodies looks like a comfort food video you might come across on YouTube or TikTok. But food has a bigger role in the film,...

Tollywood The romance between a denim-clad ‘America abbayi’, and an ‘Andhra ammayi’ in a half-saree who is equal parts upbeat, sweet and naive, is a recurring trope in Tollywood.Jahnavi ReddyIn the recently viral reality show Indian Matchmaking, Sima Taparia, the marriage consultant, is shown shuttling between the US and India to manage her clients in the respective countries. While Sima Aunty struggled to successfully match Nri and local Indian youngsters living in the same country, ‘matchmakers’ or marriage brokers in the Telugu states have been efficiently matching thousands of women in the Telugu states with Nri grooms from within their communities for decades now. Telugu is reportedly among the fastest growing languages in the US, and most people from upper and dominant castes have relatives settled in the US, or have heard of a relative looking for an ‘America sambandham’ (finding a groom settled in the US). Of course...

Flix Flashback In #WatchWithTNM, we revisit the 2011 film written by Nandini Reddy, one of the extremely few women filmmakers in Telugu cinema.Jahnavi ReddyScreenshot/Zee 5 In Ala Modalaindi (That’s how it began), there are many beginnings to the romance between Nithya (Nithya Menen) and Gautham (Nani). There’s chemistry from the beginning, but circumstances drive them apart each time until they finally overcome them. That’s it. That’s the plot. Both Nani and Nithya were just starting off as actors and it was Nandini Reddy’s first film as a director. Yet, Ala Modalaindi was one of the biggest hits of 2011, and even won the Andhra Pradesh government’s Nandi award for Best First Film of a Director. Of course, the film had good actors and writing going for it. It had audiences shrieking with laughter in theatres. Some of the funny lines and scenes are still recalled with fondness,...

Flix Flashback In #WatchWithTNM this week, we revisit the classic Telugu comedy in which Brahmanandam made his debut.Jahnavi ReddyYouTube/Suresh ProductionsOne of the many things that Jandhyala’s characters are adored for, is their highly specific and unique insults or ‘thitlu’. In Aha Naa-Pellanta!, it is Brahmanandam’s character who does most of the insulting, generously embellished with alliterations and absurd similes. Gaali vaanalo visenakarrelu ammevadi la moham chudu, for instance. (“You look like a man who sells hand fans during a storm.") But we mostly hear these insults through his inner voice, because Aragundu (half-shaven head), as he is called throughout the film, is essentially in bonded labour under his boss and legendary miser Lakshmipathi (Kota Srinivasa Rao). It has been 33 years since the major hit and classic film Aha Naa-Pellanta! released, and it is these two characters (Aragundu and Lakshmipathi) who dominate the popular memory of the film.

TollywoodWomen's friendship has been a little explored relationship in Telugu cinema because the stories tend to revolve around the men.Srivathsan NadadhurGoing by how poorly female friendships have been represented in Telugu cinema over the years, you would risk saying the words, 'Women, we feel you' to a regular woman movie spectator. Women friendships, even in their minimalistic existence over the years in Telugu cinema, have predominantly revolved around men, their cooking abilities, the shopping lists and their quest to be dedicated wives (read pativratas). The men and their friends have more or less been the do-ers, who chill, struggle, fight it out, while women don't quite seem to lead lives as colourful or are rather content to be domesticated. The most celebrated directors of Telugu cinema, including Raghavendra Rao, K Vishwanath, Dasari Narayana Rao and Bapu (who are great storytellers beyond a doubt) are no exception to this. It's the men or the male,...

EntertainmentFrom Kasturi Siva Rao in the silent cinema days to recent entrants like Vennela Kishore and Priyadarshi, a list of Tollywood’s popular entertainers.CV AravindComedy has been an integral part of Indian cinema right from the time the first talkie hit the screens and comedians have always been in great demand in south Indian cinema as well. Comedy of course is a serious business and unless one really has the talent and flair for it success could well prove elusive. Tollywood has had a long tryst with comedy and a name like Kasturi Siva Rao was popular among the audiences even during the silent cinema days. The early 50s witnessed the emergence of the talented comedian Relangi Venkata Ramaiah who in tandem with another funster Ramana Reddy earned name and fame by portraying comic roles. They were also referred as the Laurel and Hardy of Telugu cinema with the...

Chennai, April 20: Telugu comedian Brahmanandam, who recently completed three decades in the industry, says he will continue to entertain audiences till the sky and earth last. He said he is indebted to every single member of Telugu filmdom.

Brahmanandam, who started his career with a brief role in Jandhyala's 1986 Telugu comedy "Chantabbai", has starred in over 1,000 films.

"I entered the industry two years before I got my first break in 'Chantabbai'. Since then, it has been a memorable journey with ups and downs. I will continue to entertain my fans as long as sky and earth last," Brahmanandam told Ians.

"It.