Laxman's creates magic again....

Fielders don't matter to VVS Laxman. Their placement and angles become superfluous

When VVS Laxman plays like he did today, there isn't a worry in the world. For 470 minutes over the last two days even the Feroz Shah Kotla's garish stand at the Tata End didn't look ugly. For 470 minutes, Laxman disguised violence with grace and left Australia hopelessly spellbound.

When Laxman plays like he did today, fielders don't matter. Their placement and angles become superfluous. If there are men blocking his whip through midwicket, he can always hit the ball straight past mid-on - and sometimes mid-off - and time it just as well. Early this morning, Laxman had Michael Clarke, at short extra cover, staring him in the face. One typically crunchy push-drive went straight to him, and Australia's plan seemed to be working. The next ball was of similar length but Laxman waited for that extra half a second and played the same shot. This time Clarke had no chance. The other fielders would have experienced the same helplessness at various times throughout the day.

When Laxman plays like he did today, he is one of the most difficult batsmen to bowl to. Mitchell Johnson can bowl as full and wide as he likes, but Laxman will just flick his wrists and hit the ball from outside off to send it speeding to the long-on boundary. Clarke can come over the wicket and pitch it in the rough as much as he likes, but Laxman will either whip him against the spin or clear his leg and play inside out. Brett Lee can bowl as many bouncers and outswingers as he likes, but Laxman will roll his wrists to keep the pulls down or drive them wristily through the covers. Stuart Clark, the only bowler who managed to keep him quiet, admitted that Laxman, when on song, was the hardest batsman to bowl to. "He's very wristy, hits to midwicket from outside off stump, although we did plan for that," Clark said. "He played really well, got on top, and once the momentum went it was hard to get it back."

When Laxman plays like he did today, you leave the ground with memorable shots replaying in your head. He was on 13 yesterday when he played the first one: his front foot came out, his bat met the ball right under his head, and no flourishing follow-through was required. It was a decent delivery from Shane Watson and didn't deserve the treatment it got.

When Laxman plays like he did today, he makes audacious shots look classical. Johnson bowled one wide outside off stump and Laxman's response - a flick to long-on boundary - would evoke awe, and not outrage, from the purists. The next ball was similar, but a touch shorter, and Laxman late-cut it for four. Two overs later, he picked one up from off-stump and whipped it to the square-leg boundary.

When Laxman plays like he did today, he paces his innings superbly. He scored 17 off 19 balls out of the first 50 runs in his 278-run partnership with Gautam Gambhir. Then came the lean period against Clark during which Laxman took 34 balls to move from 50 to 55. And then he took off, reaching his century off 170 balls and scoring his second 100 off only 130, though he hardly ever looked like he was in a hurry. "I'm very satisfied because, after a long time, I got a score more than 150," Laxman said. "I was getting hundreds but was unable to get big hundreds. Hopefully this will start a process and I'll get big hundreds."

When Laxman plays like he did today, his opponents are usually Australia. This was his sixth century, his second double, and his fifth score of more than 140 against his favourite team. When he plays his 100th Test, in Nagpur, he would have played 24 matches but scored 33% of his runs against them. Often he has been asked what it is about Australia that brings out the best in him. And often he has said they are an aggressive side which allows him to play his natural game. It shows too, for nearly 36% of his career boundaries have come against Australia.

When Laxman plays like he did, he often sets up matches for India, like he did today. The declaration came soon after Laxman's double-century and then the hard work started in the field for India. Until then there wasn't a worry in the world.

Puli changes to Kommaram Puli

Pawan kalyan's latest film Puli can be changed to Kommaram Puli.Pawan Kalyan plays the title role as IPS officer.S.J.Suryah who delivered a hit Kushi with Pawan Kalyan is directing the film.A.R.Rehman scores the music for the film.The film is produced by Ramesh.The shooting of the film is taking place in and around Hyderabad.

RCT shoot in RFC

Ram Charan Tej's next venture with S.S.Rajamouli is currently taking place in Ramoji Film City.A huge set of "Bhairavakonda" is erected in the Film city.Kajal is playing the female lead.Sri Hari is performing an important role in the film.M.M.Keeravani gives the music and produced by Allu Arvind.

Zaheer bowls India to record victory....

Zaheer Khan's three early wickets on the fifth day hastened Australia's defeat

It was a match that was never out of India's control. After the tremendous work done over four days, they needed less than a session on the fifth morning to defeat Australia, sealing the Test by 320 runs, their biggest margin of victory in terms of runs ever. Zaheer Khan nipped out three wickets in the space of four deliveries when play started, and though Michael Clarke resisted with 69, it was always going to be a matter of when India would take a 1-0 series lead. In terms of runs, it was Australia's biggest defeat since their 343-run loss to West Indies in Barbados in 1991.

India had reduced Australia to 58 for 5 yesterday, but had to wait 84 runs for their next strike, after which proceedings resembled a bowling alley as Zaheer knocked over the lower order like nine pins. Zaheer was simply unplayable. He struck in the first over of the day, bowling Brad Haddin for 37 with a ripper. It pitched on a length, shaped back in, and took out the middle and off stumps. In his next over, Zaheer struck with his second and third deliveries and found himself on a hat-trick. A leaden-footed Cameron White went for a drive and edged to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Next ball, Brett Lee had no clue to one pitched fractionally shorter and had his stumps splayed. Three wickets had fallen for three runs.

With nine men around the bat, Mitchell Johnson averted the hat-trick. Zaheer had slowly built up his momentum through the fourth day and struck gold on the fifth morning. He got the ball to move slightly away from the batsmen, and was very accurate. Ishant Sharma achieved movement both ways, evident when Clarke outside-edged towards slip - the ball didn't carry - and later inside-edged towards square leg.

Perhaps significant with two Tests to play, Clarke shrugged off an indifferent tour with a fluent 69. On a pitch with good movement and against bowlers who were on song, he batted with focus and determination. He and Johnson, who batted well for his 26 before popping a return catch to Amit Mishra, added 50. Clarke had been the glue that held a poor Australian innings together, but he was last out when he clipped Mishra - who finished with seven on debut - to midwicket. As the fat lady sang and Punjabi bhangra filled the Mohali air, Dhoni - India's stand-in captain who rarely made a wrong call through the Test - led the charge towards the catcher, Virender Sehwag.

Teams that have a habit of winning know how to seize the momentum and never let it go. Like Australia had done for the last decade and more, India did that very well in Mohali. They were, unquestionably, the superior side in this Test.

Tendulkar breaks Lara's record

	Sachin Tendulkar went past Brian Lara's tally of 11,953 Test runs

At 2.31pm, on a hot Mohali Friday, Sachin Tendulkar steered Peter Siddle towards the third-man boundary for three runs to break Brian Lara's record for most Test runs. The record stood for nearly two years after Lara played his final Test and it was inevitable that Tendulkar would eventually break it. As the day progressed Tendulkar scored his 50th half-century and became the first player to cross the 12,000-run mark.

The disappointingly small crowd, built largely of school kids, immediately got on its feet to salute the feat, and fireworks, which continued for three minutes, went off at the PCA Stadium. Tendulkar raised his bat in the air, took his helmet off, and looked up at the sky, as is his routine when he gets to a hundred. The Australian fielders rushed immediately towards him to congratulate him. Ricky Ponting, the man most likely to challenge his status of being the top run-getter, was the first man to shake his hand.

This also brought an end to the soap-opera-type frenzied anticipation for the record. Tendulkar was expected to overtake Lara in Sri Lanka recently, but he endured a poor series with the bat, scoring just 95 runs in three Tests. Then in the series-opener in Bangalore, during a fine match-saving effort in the second innings, it seemed he would get to the record, but he gifted his wicket when 15 short.

Even today the anxiety around was palpable. During the time he got to 15, India lost two wickets in moving from 146 to 179 in 10.2 overs. While he scored at a fair rate, he didn't get nearly as much strike during the period as he would have wanted. While he played 23 balls, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly faced 19 each. It was fitting, in a way, that he achieved the record against Australia, a team he has tormented several times in the past.

Coincidentally, Lara too achieved the world record against Australia, when he went past Allan Border's tally of 11,174 runs during the Adelaide Test in 2005. They remain the only three players to cross the 11,000-run mark in Tests. Though it is uncertain how long Tendulkar will prolong his Test career - which has lasted 19 years - the two players who stand the best chance of beating his eventual tally are Rahul Dravid (10,302) and Ponting (10,239).

India draws first test with Aussies

VVS Laxman concentrated hard and helped India secure the draw

Five days on a cracking pitch could not separate Australia and India, who will head to Mohali for Friday's second Test at 0-0 after playing out a draw in Bangalore. VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar helped grind out the result - or lack of - which was a pleasing outcome for India after Australia dominated the first couple of days.

Hoping for another Sydney, Ricky Ponting set India 299 from 83 overs but his attack lacked the firepower to blast through India's resolute middle order. For the full five days the surface had featured crevices so wide that, had the wiry Ishant Sharma gone missing, you would know where to look. Strangely, it continued to play relatively well throughout. Occasional deliveries spat and bounced while others stayed low but batsmen who applied themselves could survive.

However, scoring remained difficult and once Virender Sehwag departed cheaply, India's target was largely irrelevant. As Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Laxman held off Australia's bowlers it began to look like the only celebration would be a personal one as Tendulkar closed in on Brian Lara's all-time Test run-scoring record. Even that party was put on hold when Tendulkar fell 14 short of Lara's mark.

At least he made a major contribution to saving a game Australia will feel they should have won. The parallels with Sydney for much of the final day were obvious: again India were set a target that was all but out of reach and again they went to tea with seven wickets in hand.

But the Chinnaswamy Stadium is not the SCG. In Sydney more was happening, both off the field and on it. In that game an average of 321 runs were scored each day; in this Test the figure was 239. And in Sydney the game finished with the sun still shining; in Bangalore bad light interrupted proceedings when Australia required miracles.

Viewed in its entirety, the hard-fought match was like Test cricket of old. Five full days of relatively low-scoring play without a result provided the starkest possible contrast to the IPL, which was the last major cricket played in Bangalore. Consecutive sixes were commonplace in the IPL; there weren't two in this entire Test.

It didn't stop the deafening roars from the crowd as Tendulkar and Laxman fought off Australia's attack. Tendulkar put together two incredibly valuable partnerships that all but secured the draw after India lost two early wickets that gave Australia a sniff. He combined with Gambhir for a 53-run stand and then added 61 with Laxman. The responsibility was then passed on to Laxman and Sourav Ganguly, who prodded away the spin and built a 39-run partnership that took India through to the close.

	Cameron White's first Test wicket, that of Sachin Tendulkar, was one to remember

Laxman's concentration was complete. He watched the ball closely, defended with ease and did not get bogged down at one end. The same could be said of Tendulkar, until a momentary slip-up that gave Cameron White an experience he will never forget - he picked up Tendulkar as his first Test wicket. White threw up a delivery outside off and drew Tendulkar into an airy drive that was snaffled at cover. A teary White, Test legspinner, celebrated just over a week after playing as a batting allrounder in club cricket in Melbourne.

The lack of a truly dangerous frontline slow bowler did restrict Australia. Michael Clarke and White sent down 38 overs between them and, although they gave the batsmen moments of trouble, rarely did they look like running through the order. Nor could the fast bowlers provide the necessary spark, although they threatened to light a fuse early in India's innings. It seemed like India's batting order would break apart quicker than the deceptive pitch when they lost Sehwag and Rahul Dravid within the first nine overs.

Sehwag, the one man who might have made Ponting nervous about the target, was taken at first slip off Stuart Clark having been dropped by Brad Haddin off the previous Brett Lee over. India's 16 for 1 became 24 for 2 when Dravid flicked Lee to short midwicket, where Ponting dived acrobatically to take the catch.

It gave Australia's captain reason to believe that batting into the final day - the lower order added 35 to the overnight total - was not a bad decision. His attack simply didn't have the time or weaponry to finish the task. It meant no real answers to the two primary questions that hung over Australia in the lead-up: could a pair of half-spinners add up to a whole, and could the fast bowlers prove matchwinners in India.

The hosts entered the Test with a query or two as well. India's Fab Four were under pressure and while Laxman, Tendulkar and Ganguly were major reasons the game was saved, rarely in either innings did they look like dominating Australia's bowlers. Anil Kumble was also being pressed on his retirement plans; his rickety right shoulder and failure to take a wicket have done nothing to suppress those questions.

After five days, 30 wickets and 1195 runs, neither side can claim to be especially better off than the other. It's time for Mohali.

Kotha Bangaru Lokam Review

My Rating:3.25/5

Cast:Varun Sandesh,Swetha Prasad,Prakash Raj,Jayasudha,Ahuthi Prasad

Music:Micky J Meyer

Story-Screenplay-Dailouges-Direction:Srikanth Addala

Producer:Dil Raju

My View:I expected this movie a another good movie of Dil Raju and it is.Might look alike as Happy Days but yet it is not that good but an O.K. fare but it will be a hit as Dil Raju's previous films.

Story:Balu(Varun) and Swapna (Swetha) both study their intermediate in a college near Rajahmundry and both fall in love.Swapna's Father(Ahuthi Prasad) comes to know about their love and brigs back to their home.Accidentally Balu's Father(Prakash raj) dies.How Balu takes care of his mother(Jayasudha) and gets succeded in his love and career is the remaining part of the movie.

Performances:

Varun Sandesh:He did his role very well and his first solo chance as a hero and he proved himself well.His dailouge delivery is also good.

Swetha prasad:She did her part good and didn't appear as a debutant.

Others:Asusually Prakashraj did very well as hero's father.Jayasudha did her part in ease. Ahuthi Prasad is good in his part.Brahmanandam did a good job as principal of the college.

Technical Departments:

Story-Screenpay-Direction:Srikanth Addala did a fine job as directo,dailouge writer,screenplay writer and also had a convincing story.Narration of the film is also good.

Music:Music by Micky is godd after Happy Days.

Others:Editing by Venkatesh,Art by Prakash is good.Production values of Dil raju are exceptionally great.

Final Word:First half of the film is gfood and second half is decent.like in his previous films Bommarillu and Parugu Dil RaJu again dealt about relation between parents and kids.The negative part of the film is that they are just intermediate students and love in that period is not that good.The main asset of the film is Godavari basin.Almost the whole movie is done in and around Rajahmundry which is very pleasant to see and a ver nice idea by Dil Raju.Finally it is yet another hit for Dil Raju.

Chintakayala Ravi Review.......

My Rating:3/5

Cast:Venkatesh,Anushka,Mamata Mohandas,Laxmi,Chandra Mohan,Sayaji Shinde

Story-Screenplay-Dailouges:Kona Venkat

Music:Vishal-Sekhar

Producer:Nallamalapu Bujji

Director:Yogesh

My View:I expected a lot before entering into the hall as the movie might be another Nuvvu Naku Nachav or Malliswari but it didn't reach the expectations and is an average fare.

Story:Chintakayala Ravi(Venkatesh) who works ina bar in USA pretends his Mother(Laxmi) as a software engineer.She fixes a match for him with Manidikayala Lavanya(Mamata Mohandas) and lavanya accepts thinking he is a software engineer and asks her friend Sunita(Anushka) who works in USA to know about Ravi. The rest of the story is what happens between Ravi,Sunita and Lavanya

Performances:

Venkatesh:He did his role very convincingly and with ease and he is the only one who can do such roles in industry as he already done.He is the big saving grace of the film.

Anushka:She is good in the role of Sunita as a friend of Lavanya.

Mamata Mohandas:She is adequate in her role.

Others:Laxmi did her role convincingly and is back after Murari.Venu did a special role as a friend of Ravi.Sunil is good in his role.Ali's role is continuation of Nachmi he did in Chiruta. NTR made an appearence in SHAVA SHAVA  song and made few steps with Venky.

Techical dpartments:

Story-ScreenPlay-Dailouge-Direction:Story of the film by Kona Venkat is Simple.Direction by Yogesh is just OK.There are many ispired scenes like Copy scene in Mr.Bean,Kitikilu 2008(telugu version of Windows 2008 which is know tomany).Dialouges by Kona Venkat are good.

Music:Vishal and Sekhar composed good music for the film.Bagunde and Enduko songs are good on the screen.Backgroud score by Manisharma is good.

Analysis:Chintakayala Ravi has as good first half and slows a bit in second half.Even the comedy is not that great in the film which is expected.Bog plus point is Venky.I assure that this definetly going to be a Hit as Venky has a huge power of pullig family crowds and made many of his prevous films which got avg talk and became hit.