Bengaluru :

Bouncing back with his second music album Nangukodava 2, after a successful prequel Nangukodava 1, Mandepanda Niron aims to raise the level of cultural awareness of the Coorgi community through music. He states that his album holds its distinction in representation of all aspects of the culture.

How it began
Niron began his career in music production in 2008 with community musical performances and programmes. In 2010, he began his collaboration with C J Anil, who is the co-owner of the production house in Banashankari, Bengaluru.

In the same year, Niron began composing remixes to retro music such as Chalthe Chalthe, Mere Sapnon ki Rani and Neele Neele Ambar Par. His love for his community coupled with his passion for music led him to begin the project of Nangukodava ( We Coorgis) where he invested nearly `5-6 lakhs and availed no financial gain.

Niron gave Udapanda Vimala, a teacher at Cauvery high school a platform to display her talent by giving her the opportunity to write the lyrics for his first album Nangukodava 1.

She also wrote most of the songs of the second album except for two songs — Kodava mangala and Selfie — which were written by Niron

The Process
Awareness and improvisation of culture are key to Niron’s mission. However he faced difficulties in bringing forth his ideology as he had no financial aid and self-funded the cause.

He received no support as there were ego clashes and attitudinal differences amongst the people. Despite the struggle he managed to process the sequel to his first album where he includes all facets of daily life through his songs ( Iguthappa Swamy – Relation to their God , Jeevamanna -life and philosophy, Ponhputtaraj, Selfie – a modern relation for the youth, Yelama Ponnamma – a proposal for marriage).

Future Prospects
His passionate endeavours towards his community have brought him acclamation and praise. His initial target was to raise the cultural banner of his community amongst the members itself, he now decides to move the boundary further by reaching a nationwide platform.

He hopes his music will reach the cinema through A grade movies and gain popularity in other languages as well. He plans to work with advertisements and promotional agencies to add credibility to his already eminent profile.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Erica Cyril / Express News Service / April 12th, 2017

MTV Roadies Rising Episode 9th April 2017 Video, Nikhil Chinappa’s Gang Wins First Task :- The stunt based reality show MTV Roadies Rising journey kick-started from last week which is having good feedback from audiences. In the show, there are the gang leaders including, Rannvijay Singh Singha, Prince Narula, Neha Dhupia and Nikhil Chinappa and those stars are having rocking feedback at the show.

Now at the show, the gang leaders are having the new challenge in front of them to identify their warriors behind the masks. And all the warriors will be wearing the mask on their face so it is for the gang leaders it will be tough to search the warriors.

MTV Roadies Rising Episode 9th April 2017 Video
The gang leaders and the team are needed to use their brains only to defeat the teammates who were seen doing competition with them. The team also said that the other gang’s warrior is needed to search the perfect gang warriors and they need to compete with them in the task.

As the task started, the gang leaders were shocked to see the each of their, participates were using their brains and they were also seen defeating each of them. Nikhil identified the male dancing feet, Neha guessed the jersey number. Rannvijay guessed a gang and they were seen performing their task at the Goa.

Nikhil Chinappa’s Gang Wins First Task
After the participants’ perform the task, the final results were announced and the masks people were also got revealed. Prince made the most number of wrong guesses at the place of Jahangir so it was tough for his team to announce the gang leaders. So the task of the team announced and the teams got divided where there were two groups.

But now there is a big twist and as per this twist the winner of the challenge will announce who will rule the gang and the members who will perform well will get immunity too so that they won’t be evict either they will be coming at the bottom line.

The game started and the correctly guessed gang members the water comes out from a pipe with water from a pond using buckets. The team 2 had to stop them from successfully filling the pipes.

But when Divya from the Ranvijay’s team failed to perform well she got dumped which irked Ranvijay as he doesn’t want to lose someone from his team.

Prabjot leant against the barricades and it seems like advantage for them. 4 members performed for Nikhil’s team and the Nikhil’s team won the challenge. Due to Neha’s team did not perform well so she had an argument with Nikhil as Nikhil’s team perform well.

The performance of Neha’s gang was very disappointing also and Prince team also face disqualification as his team did not perform up to the mark. Nikhil’s gang won the game and he thanked Karan Kundra as it was actually Karan select them to be the perfect one.

Before the episode came to an end, a new twist was announced that now the gang leaders and their team won’t leave in the five-star hotels, rather they will be staying in the jungle at the tank as now the challenges of the Roadies will be the more difficult one.

source: http://www.dekhnews.com / Dekh News / Home / by Chitra Home Chowdhury / April 09th, 2017

Director Suni of Simpallag Ondu Love Story fame has quietly finished the talkie portion of his next film.

The film, titled John Seena, features supermodel-actress Shubra Aiyappa and newcomer Vidyut Chandra in lead roles.

What is interesting is that the super-glam Shubra is seen in a completely plain-Jane avatar, sporting braces and glasses. “The film sees Shubra in two contrasting looks.

The first half of the film has her as someone who is only bothered about her work and doesn’t cares about herself. She is someone who believes that everyone is beautiful from within, and has never given a thought to her appearance.

The hero and she fall in love unknowingly through circumstances and then you see a completely different transformation that stuns you.

This was one of the reasons I chose Shubra, because she could carry off the two contrasting looks,” says Suni.

Speaking about the film’s title, Suni explains that the film is about two people — John and Seena — who are fans of WWE wrestler John Cena.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> Entertainment> Kannada> Movies> News / by Sunayana Suresh / TNN / April 05th, 2017

Rashmika Mandanna, who became popular with the huge success of her debut film, Kirik Party has her hands full.

Her immediate concern is to do well in her upcoming journalism exams. A student of M S Ramaiah College of Arts, Science and Commerce, the actress will be appearing for her final year exams scheduled in April and May. She is also making her entry into Tollywood for which she is also learning Telugu. “I am between shooting for Anjaniputra, dedicating time for my Telugu classes and preparing for my exams,” she says.

Ask Rashmika, about her exam preparations and she says, “I am not attending college because of my shoot and my teachers are giving me their full support.

I have a couple of friends, who are also helping me out. They take me through the entire syllabus and make sure to sit down with me the previous day of the exam. If at all I do well, it is because of them.”

The actress is confident that she will come out with flying colours.”I have been a distinction holder in school and college,” she beams.

She also quipped that she can opt for another career option besides acting if she just shows her marks cards.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Entertainment> Kannada / by Express News Service / March 23rd, 2017

Sandalwood actress Harshika Poonacha was originally supposed to be making her Tamil debut in the 4K (Kanavil Kanda Kadhal Kavithai) that had Jai in the lead.

But director Hashim Marikar has pushed the filming of Jai’s project to later this year and has begun working on his next, which is said to be a thriller, in which she’s a part of.

Talking about the film, she says, “I play a college girl in this film. She’s both bold and bubbly. She stands up for the issues in her college and help it solve. She rides a sports motorbike and dresses up in a rather rugged style. She’s more of a charmer, I should say. While so many guys try to woo her, I have my eyes on only one.”

Malayalam actor Maqbool Salmaan plays her love interest in the film. “We shot most of our portions in a college in Kochi. We will be shooting some city portions in Chennai soon,” she adds.

The film also stars Sampath Kumar, Paoli Dam and Lena in the lead. “We all have different stories to tell, but all of them are somehow connected. It has been a fun shoot so far,” she reveals.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> Entertainment> Tamil> Movies> News / by Sharanya CR / TNN / March 17th, 2017

Annual art show at Taj West End from February 24 to 26

Bengaluru, Karnataka :

Rotary Club of Bangalore (RCB) will be showcasing its annual art exhibition Kala for Vidya on Friday, February 24, at The Taj West End – Art Corridor.

The event is to be inaugurated by Ms. Shefali Vaidya, the eminent columnist and Mr. Prasad Bidappa, the fashion guru, guests of honour.

26 prominent Indian artists have joined hands with RCB along with The Taj West End for the cause, the education of economically weaker section children. The Art Show will be on display February 25th and 26th, 2017, from 11.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. for art lovers to enjoy and contribute.

‘Rotary club of Bangalore has a long history of service projects. We have constructed 40 government primary schools, run our own high school, build toilet blocks, and similar projects. A successful Kala for Vidya show will mean one more step in the direction of making India free of illiteracy.

This initiative by Rotary Club is part of the larger effort to bring in underprivileged children into the mainstream through education’, said Rtn. President Ranga Rao, RCB. He further added “What is special about this show are the fine artists coming to partner with us for the cause. Well-known artists such as Gurudas Shenoy, Milind Nayak have been our source of inspiration for us to sustain the cause for over 9 years generating smiles on the faces of the children of rural India.”

Mr Somnath Mukherjee, the General Manager of Taj West End,’ The Taj West End has always aimed to showcase the finer things in life and the Art Corridor is a perfect example of it. We have partnered with RCB for Kala for Vidya in the past as well and is an extension for the support we provide for artists’.

Rotary club of Bangalore is 82 years young and has an enviable spectrum of service projects. We have partnered in running the Rotary TTK blood bank, significant dialysis presence, inculcate solar and green values in rural areas, and many other socially relevant projects.

source: http://www.indiaprwire.com / IndiaPRWire.com / Home> Healtcare-Hospital, Childrens related News / February 20th, 2017

The lissome Coorg beauty took a breather after Vajrakaya, and is now back as the love interest in this new Kannada film.

Two years ago, at almost six feet, a svelte and beautiful Coorg beauty towered into Sandalwood and created waves, and “simply” wowed audiences in a song. She then went off the radar for a bit.

Now, back as the love interest of John Seena, Shubra Aiyappa hopes for some more tall claims. Her ‘John Seena’ however has nothing to do with the WWE popular wrestler John Cena. It’s just the title of the upcoming directorial venture of Simple Suni of the Simple Aag Ondh Love Story and Bahuparak fame.

The model-turned-actress Shubra makes a comeback after two years and speaks to Bengaluru Chronicle about her love for John Seena, and what made her wait for a while despite the huge popularity she attained after her short and sweet special appearance in Vajrakaya’s famous song No Problem alongside Shivanna.

“My second film in Kannada is very different from my earlier one, as an actress. I had never expected that first-ever song in Kannada featuring me along with the great Shivarajkumar Sir would become so popular, and would go onto be the number one song of that year. That is so so wonderful.”

Though, I play the love interest in my John Seena, the character I am portraying is very interesting, though revealing any more about her would spoil the whole fun of the movie,” says Shubra, adding that it will be a complete transformation for her.

On why she chose to wait for some time despite her huge popularity, the actress feels that she is not a person who will do something just because she has to, but only when she wants to. “I love my craft so much that I will be a part of something if I have a connect with it. When the first film came to me, it was very exciting. I knew that there would not be too much of a screen presence but sharing the screen space with Shivarajkumar Sir, playing his love interest, and also the song was a great debut,” Shubra says.

She admits that she did get a lot of offers, but did not accept them out of choice. “After doing a film of that level, it only made sense to either do something on par with it or to wait for something higher,” she says. In a first for her, she will be lending her own voice in John Seena.

“I got many calls and enquiries but nothing got caught my attention. The numbers are irrelevant, and also, if I choose the wrong film, it would be difficult to bounce back as history has seen such actresses typecast.

Hence, I have been a little more careful with the choice of movies, and decided to take a break for something after Vajrakaya. I got an offer that involved Suni Sir for his next directorial. He has such a great reputation since Simple Aag Ondh Love Story, and the kind of films he has been making are different. Once I heard the fantastic script, I had to accept it,” she adds.

With the shoot in progress, the actress is doing her home work for John Seena — there are strict instructions at home to speak only in Kannada, amongst a huge to-do list.

“Featuring in the No Problem song, as a beautiful girl was easier for me, as I was a model. Now working for Suni has been very great. He is quirky at work, and there is never a dull moment,” she says.

The actress thanks her modelling days for helping her to a great extent when she took up films. “I started modelling at 15, and have worked for almost all the designers in India, and walked on the international catwalk as well. I am certainly not over-confident, but modelling helped me face my fears (in front of the camera). When I started doing ads, I was identified, and I was also interested in doing films as it allows me to explore different characters and evolve,” Shubra explains.

Before signing off, the actress who loves dancing says that her parents have been the greatest support for her, and post No Problem, they have changed their caller tunes to the song that saw her catapult to fame. “Even now, they help me with rehearsals at home as they know Kannada very well,” she ends.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Entertainment> Sandalwood / by Shashiprasad SM – Deccan Chronicle / March 01st, 2017