Abhishek Bachchan's fantasy film ‘Drona’

Drona is the much awaited fantasy action adventure film starring Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Jaya Bachchan, and Kay Kay Menon. Lead actor Abhishek Bachchan playing duel rolls as Aditya and Drona in this prestigious film. Drona has been described as a Harry Potter meets Indiana Jones movie, but with an original story. Drona will display hundreds of top-notch special effects shots that were worked on by EyeQube headed by Charles Darby and David Bush. Drona will also feature Indian martial arts such as: Kalaripayat,Chhau,Gatka, and sword fighting. Drona was filmed in exotic locations in Prague, Bikaner, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Namibia. Drona releases worldwide on October 2, 2008.
Lead Story
Rooted in the vibrant tapestry of Indian mythology, Drona is the compelling modern tale of one man's spectacular voyage through the labyrinths of mystic myths and legendary legacies. Of a journey that will force him to face his fears and make him the hero he was born to become.
From the times, when time itself was a newborn baby, the universe has kept one secret carefully camouflaged within its folds. A secret, which if unraveled, could unlock the destruction of humankind and the entire cosmos.
Today, only one man can protect the universe's precious secret and thus, save the human race from absolute annihilation. Drona
Lead Cast
Abhishek Bachchan... Aditya/Drona
Priyanka Chopra... Sonia
Jaya Bachchan...Queen Jayati
Kay Kay Menon...Riz Raizada

Lead Crew
Distributor: Eros International
Production House: Rose Movies
Director: Goldie Behl
Screenplay : Goldie Behl, Jaydeep Sarkar
Cinematography: Sameer Arya
Editing: Shyam K. Salgonkar
Music Director: Ashu Dhruv
Costume Design: Anaita Shroff
Special Effects Design: David Bush

Hollywood Box Office Collections

Average weekend predictions of 551 players: for the week of 16-08-2008 to 22-08-2008. 1. 'Death Race' - $15.7 million
2. 'Tropic Thunder' - $15.0 million

3. 'The Dark Knight' - $11.5 million

4. 'The House Bunny' - $11.1 million

5. 'The Rocker' - $7.9 million

6. 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' - $7.2 million

7. 'The Longshots' - $6.7 million

8. 'Pineapple Express' - $5.7 million

9. 'Mirrors' - $5.3 million

10. 'The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor' - $4.5 million

Newsreelindia launches Andhra Pradesh website

http://www.newsreelindia.in brings you another exciting website - www.hyderabadsaimira.com - which is a portal providing you info and services on everything about Andhra Pradesh.
This is a portal dedicated to the sweet Telugu language, the glorious culture of Andhra Pradesh, its language, art, lifestyle, movies, music and what-have-you.
This is yet another website from the stable of the Pyramid Saimira group with a view to provide info, news, services, events - in short, everything you wanted to know about Andhra Pradesh.
The site went live with the click of the mouse by T K Vibhaker, president, Operations, Saimira Access Technologies Ltd, in the presence of R Venkatakrishnan, COO.
The site will provide 24-hour live news updates related to Andhra Pradesh and Telugus living all over the world.
This is the next best thing to living in Hyderabad.Videos, audio, photos of events would be brought to you, giving you an exciting and vibrant feel of Andhra Pradesh irrespective of which part of the world you live in.So, stay in touch with hyderabadsaimira.com and stay in touch with Andhra Pradesh.
http://www.hyderabadsaimira.com This is the url to watch out for and to share with Telugu-speaking people all over the world.
http://www.hyderabadsaimira.com comes to you close on the heels of chennaisaimira.com going live.

Upcoming film ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a 2008 fantasy adventure film, based on the novel by J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth film in the popular Harry Potter films series. Production is in the post-production stage. David Yates, the director of the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is returning as director for this film. David Heyman and David Barron are producing the film, and Steve Kloves, though he did not write the fifth film, has returned as screenwriter for this instalment. Filming began on September 24, 2007 and the film is scheduled for a UK and US release on November 21, 2008, South Africa on December 5, 2008, and an Australian release on December 11, 2008. Like the previous film, the sixth film will be simultaneously released in regular theatres and IMAX 3-D. Editing of the movie has been completed and studio officials will soon see the finished product. The film has been chosen to be screened at this year's Royal Film Performance on 17 November 2008.
Production- Development
Before David Yates was officially chosen to direct the film, many others had been offered the job, and previous directors had expressed an interest in returning. Alfonso Cuarón, the director of the third film, stated he "would love to have the opportunity" to return. Goblet of Fire director Mike Newell declined a spot to direct the fifth film, and was not approached for this one. Terry Gilliam was Rowling's personal choice to direct Philosopher's Stone. However, when asked whether he would consider directing a later film, Gilliam said, "Warner Bros. had their chance the first time around, and they blew it."
Yates has retained composer Nicholas Hooper, costume designer Jany Temime, visual effects supervisor Tim Burke, creature and make-up effects designer Nick Dudman, and special effects supervisor John Richardson from the fifth film. Since February 2007, Stuart Craig, the production designer of the first five films as well, has been designing sets, including the cave, and the astronomy tower, where the climax of the film takes place. Academy Award nominated Bruno Delbonnel is the film's cinematographer.
Yates and Heyman have noted that some of the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows may influence the script of the film, and that there will not be as many memories in the film as in the book. Yates noted: "We're making a decision right now to compress those a wee bit, but we've still got some really cool ones." Steve Kloves, who wrote the first four films, returned for the sixth adaptation. Rowling has read Kloves' script and crossed out a passage in which Dumbledore recalls a past female love, penning in the margin "Dumbledore is gay."

Filming
Filming began on September 24, 2007; with one week of rehearsals, and principal photography ended in May 2008. Before filming commenced, there was belief that filming may move from the UK, where all of the previous five films have been shot. This is North Scotland reported filming will take place in New Zealand, due to the "more agreeable economy and climate" and lack of Scottish funding. The Sunday Business Post in Ireland noted that the film's producers and WB executives had been scouting there, specifically Leinster and Munster because they "believe they have now exhausted possible locations in Britain." They are "particularly keen on Ireland, as the landscape is similar to Britain and will appear similar to the settings of the previous films." The crew also scouted around Cape Wrath in Scotland, for use in the cave scene. Filming is scheduled to return to Glen Coe and Glenfinnan, both locations that have appeared in the previous films, to preserve the continuity of the landscape.
On the weekend of 6 October 2007, the crew shot scenes involving the Hogwarts Express in the misty and dewy environment of Fort William, Scotland. A series of night scenes have been filmed in the village of Lacock and the cloisters at Lacock Abbey for three nights starting 25 October 2007. Filming took place from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily, and residents of the street were asked to black out their windows with dark blinds. On set reports indicated that the main scene filmed was Harry and Dumbledore's visit to Slughorn's house. Further filming took place in Surbiton railway station in October 2007, Gloucester Cathedral, where the first and second films were shot, in February 2008, and at the Millennium Bridge in London in March 2008.
Though Radcliffe, Gambon and Broadbent started shooting in late September 2007, some other cast members started much later: Watson did not begin until December 2007, Rickman until January 2008, and Bonham Carter until February 2008. Principal photography wrapped up on 17 May 2008.

Cast
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore
Jim Broadbent as Horce Slughorn
Alan Rickman as Severus Snape
Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley
Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbotton
Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood
Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid
Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall
David Thewlis as Remus Lupin
Natalia Tena as Nymphadora Tonks
Helen McCrory as Narcissa Malfoy
Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange
Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew
Mark Williams and Julie Walters