Prabhas News from the Archives - Part 1

Did you know that the first title considered for Adavi Ramudu was 'Ramaraju from Buttayapalem' or that M.S.Raju registered the title 'Varsham' in 2002 even before Prabhas was chosen for the movie. Get to know a lot of interesting news about Prabhas and his movies right from 2002 onwards. This is yet another attempt by this blog to give you more on Prabhas which you can't find elsewhere. I will continue to give these older news in parts till 'Billa' and from thereon the rest can be seen in my 'Movie Updates' label.

2002 - 2003

23rd August 2002
MS Raju 'Varsham'
MS Raju registered a title 'Varsham' the film chamber. This film has a caption 'Rain stops.. But love never stops'. MS Raju himself prepares Varsham story. Some of the portion of the film would be shot in New York, USA. A set worth two crores is getting erected in green farms of Godari District. The estimated budget for this film is 10 crores. Varsham might hit floors in January 2003 (after Mahesh Babu Okkadu release). The other cast and crew is yet to be decided.

10th November 2002
Odd time and odd day for Eeswar
The lanky producer-actor K Ashok Kumar is a strict religious follower. His sternness in sticking to auspicious time is such that he does not mind even releasing in on an add day of Monday and odd time of 2:30 pm. A per the strict instructions given by the producer, the film should open in the theaters on 11th of November at 2:30 pm. Strange - is not it? Made in 45 workings days, this film Eeswar introduces Prabhas (cine heir of Krishnam Raju) and Sridevi (third daughter of oldtime actress Manjula). Jayant C Paranji, who worked with big heroes so far, is attempting a small budget film this time. Would the producer's belief in auspicious time pay off for him? Checkout idlebrain.com during the night of 11th of November!

20th February 2003
Eeswar celebrates 100 days at Guntur
Prabhas's debut film 'Eeswar' has celebrated 100 days function amongst fanfare at Central public school grounds, Mallareddy Nagar, Guntur today (20th February 2003). Dasari Narayana Rao, Krishnam Raju and Anshu graced this occasion as guests of honor. The crowd attended for this function includes 5000 to 6000 people in a relatively small ground. The function started at 7:45 pm and ended at 9:15 pm. Speaking on this occasion Krishnam Raju mentioned that he had a special bonding with the Guntur people as his Bhakta Kannappa ran for 25 weeks in Guntur. Heroine (junior) Sridevi attended the function and went back to Chennai after taking the shield due to immediate commitment.

15th March 2003
Simran in Prabhas 'Raghavendra'
Simran has given a nod to do a special song for a Prabhas film in production 'Ragahvendra'. This song would be shot on Simran and Prabhas from 16th March onwards. The audio of this film was recently released on 14th of this month. Anshu and Swetha Agarwal are playing heroines. This film is all set for the release on 28th of this month.

24th May 2003
Okkadu 100 days function's guest list
Here are the details of Okkadu Function:
Venue: Old Andhra Cement Factory Ground, Vijayawada
Date: 5 pm, 31st May 2003
Chief Guest: Nara Chandra Babu Naidu
Honorable Guest: U Krishnam Raju
Beloved Guest: Dasari Narayana Rao
Distinguished Guests: Krishna, Vijaya Nirmala & Dr. B H Briz Kishore (Chairman - National Council of Rural Institutes Government of India
Special Guests: Prabhudeva, Uday Kiran, Prabhas, Reema Sen & Sangeeta

18th June 2003
Varsham for Sankranthi 2004
MS Raju's next film 'Varsham' starring Prabhas, Trisha, Gopichand and Prakash Raj is going to release on 15th January 2004 as Sankranthi gift. Incidentally MS Raju's latest blockbuster Okkadu was also released on 15th January this year. Regular shooting of this film would start on 30th June 2003. The music sittings and script work are currently going on in Pragati resorts that are situated 40 km away from Hyderabad. Sirivennela is writing lyrics and Paruchuri brothers are penning dialogues. S Gopal Reddy handles camera. Sobhan directs this film. Devi Sri Prasad provides music.

1st July 2003
Digital background colors for Varsham
Sekhar V Joseph has experimented with the digital background colors for a couple of scenes that lasts for a couple of minutes in Okkadu film. Now, MS Raju is planning to use the same technology for his forthcoming film 'Varsham' with Prabhas and Trisha in the main leads. This film would be having 30 minutes duration of digital background colors. The 'rain' plays an important role in the story of this film. Popular villains Prakash Raj, Gopi Chand and Shafi (Khadgam fame) are playing important roles in this film. Regular shooting of this film was started on 27th of June. This film is expected to be releasedon 15th January 2003.

17th October 2003
Prabhas in Gowtam's direction
Young actor Prabhas is going to act in a Telugu film to be directed by Gowtam - who directed blockbuster Kakha Kakha in Tamil. Tatineni Ajay Kumar (son of Tatineni Rama Rao) and D Raj Varma (son of D Pratap Raju) are going to jointly produce this flick. They earlier directed films like Dil and Youth in Tamil. They are currently producing a film each with the heroes Vikram and Sreeram.

12th December 2003
Varsham audio on 18th Dec
Producer MS Raju today announced that audio of his latest film 'Varsham' with Prabhas as hero is releasing on 18th of this month. This movie is slated for the release on 14th January 2004. Shooting of the film is completed except for picturization of 3 songs. Dubbing and post-production work is in progress. Devi Sri Prasad is giving music to Varsham. Prakash Raj and Gopichand are also playing vital roles. Trisha is paired up with Prabhas. Sobhan (of Bobby fame) directs this film that revolves around the concept of rain. This film is releasing with 150 prints in 200 theaters.