ABOUT MAHESH BABU

 It was a happy night for Mahesh Babu as surprise guest Ram Gopal Varma was all praises for the actor and also called him a better actor than Big B! 

Chief Guest Dasari Narayana Rao too, went on to praise Mahesh, calling him a director's actor. "When "Do Srinu Vaitla. Now, for "Businessman", he declares he owes the success to Puri Jagannadh. ookudu" was declared a hit, I called Mahesh to congratulate him and he said the credit should go tActors who surrender to their directors become superstars and Mahesh is one of them," praised Dasari. He also complimented Puri Jagan for penning powerful dialogues. Post the event, Mahesh was seen in a lighter mood while interacting with the media. 

It was billed as super Sankranti in Tollywood, as Mahesh Babu was pitted against Venkatesh at the BO as their respective action flicks "Businessman" and " Bodyguard" released as festive offerings amid much fanfare. 

The trade figures of indicate that Mahesh Babu's "Businessman" has emerged as the clear winner. Businessman went on to gross a whopping Rs 18,73,54,00 in collections worldwide on day one. It is new industry record as far as opening day collections go in Tollywood. In comparison Venky's "Bodyguard" solely managed to collect a gross of Rs 6.5 crore worldwide on first day of its release. Clearly Mahesh Babu seems so you can get hit a purple patch in his career and is unquestionably the biggest superstar in Tollywood at the moment.Mahesh Babu is understandably pretty excited and has been tweeting non stop since the movie hit the screens. "Thankyou 4 making businessman another sensational hit of my career:) the whole experience has been overwhelming.. my eyes turn moist with every compliment received .. never felt In this method  tweeted Mahesh. 

The actor singled out director Puri Jagannath for special praise. "jagan garu gave me super stardom with pokiri.... with businessman, he's taken me to a the next amount as an actor..cudnt have asked 4 more thank you sir.. will always b indebted 2 u he posted. Coming together five years after the record breaking success of "Pokiri", the actor-director duo has set a new benchmark for successful combinations in Tollywood. 

Directed by Puri Jagannadh and starring Mahesh Babu, the earliest major Tollywood movie throughout the year had quite a pleasant box office opening.

In the city on a promotional tour, Kajal Aggarwal got talking about her profession. "The year 2011 has been a good year for me. My movies have done well and the audience have received me pretty well. I'm very happy and very grateful about how things have worked out so far."

Playing the part

In Businessman, I play Chitra, a painter. She's a naivete, yet at the same time very bold and independent. Despite the independence she is an accomplished very confused person and is caught in this love-hate relationship with the hero. I really liked the character for that very reason.Also Chitra has Boho-chic look. She's colourful and funky in her own way. Puri was specific about the kind of look he wanted and so the three of us - him, the designer and me - we sat down together to create what finally became the character.

On-Screen romance

I don't know why the lip-lock is being blown from proportion. It came naturally with the scene which was very intense, at the same time it was very brief. In fact, if it wasn't harped on, I doubt people would've have realised it. It was very aesthetically shot.

In terms of shooting the scene, I felt it could well be better if I discussed it for the co-actor so as to avoid any confusions. So Mahesh and I discussed it, little things like where we'd keep our hands and body language, so on and so forth.

Movie culture

Our audience is definitely growing. They're beginning to accept different genres of film and are willing to test the unconventional. There could be a new wave of strong, bold films and we have a lot to look forward to.

Also, women so are not being regularly objectified as they were used to. While I have seen that happen to actresses like Sridevi and Madhuri, and even now to some of my counterparts, they are being given stronger characters. Nevertheless, at some point yes, women in the industry are objectified.

What next

I have two movies in Tamil lined up - one with Surya called Maatraan and another with Vijay called Thupaki. I also have two Telugu movies in the loop, co-starring Charan and directed by V V Vinayak and a Srinu Vaitla movie. By March first week I will begin shooting for a Bollywood movie, but I can't tell you anymore than that. By the end of February you will hear about it from the producers themselves. 

The Tollywood heartthrob has shed his inhibitions and gone ahead to do a full blown "lip-to-lip kiss" in his upcoming release, Businessman. 

scene has won approval from wife Namrata too. "We showed the film to Namrata a couple of days ago, she said she enjoyed watching it," adds Puri.

Mahesh Babu has finally done it. The Tollywood heartthrob has shed his inhibitions and gone ahead to do a full blown "lip-to-lip kiss" in his upcoming release, Businessman. Kajal stars opposite the actor in the film. Interestingly enough, it's a first onscreen lip-lock for Kajal Agarwal at the same time.When director Puri Jagan confirmed the news at a press conference held on Thursday, the gathering was naturally amused. "Yes there is a lip-lock in the film, you are going to know all about it when the movie releases," said Puri. Apparently the scene has won approval from wife namratatoo. we showed the filmto namrata a couple of days ago, she said enjoyed watching it, added puri.