Simran's fans were in for a shock on April 24 as Tamil newspapers frontpaged a news report claiming that she was quitting films to get married to a pilot from Mumbai.

The rumours began when she withdrew from a Kannada film and returned the advance.

Simran's last movie Arasu, in which she co-starred with actor-politician Sarath Kumar, was released during the Tamil New Year.

The actress, who has been linked with actor Kamal Haasan, is yet to react to the story.

'Johnny' is a disaster

After opening to a positive response in over 310 theatres, Johnny lost its magic on Friday night itself.

The unexpected failure of the movie, sold for an unbelievable price of Rs 210 million, has left the Telugu film industry in a state of shock. Trade circles thought the film would bring extraordinary collections. But Telugu star Pawan Kalyan's directorial debut failed to impress the audiences.

Kalyan's fans seem to have enjoyed the action, but are unable to digest seeing their favourite star struggle to save his wife's life.

Johnny's buyers are expected to lose 50-60 per cent of their investment in what has turned out to be the second flop of Kalyan's career.

The actor, who is superstar Chiranjeevi's younger brother, rose to star status with consecutive hits after his disastrous Akada Ammaiyee Ikada Abbayi.

Silent treatment for Nandana

Noble laureate Amartya Sen's daughter Nandana has signed a silent film to be directed by Telugu actor Aditya Om.

Sen has earlier acted in Canadian films like Forever and Seducing Maarya, the US film Bokshu -- The Myth, and the Bengali film Gudiya.

"She instantly liked the concept," says Om, who approached several Bollywood actresses before deciding on Sen.

"The hype associated with her name has given my film a boost," claims the debutant filmmaker, who has directed and acted in Hindi plays like Kaal Kothri and Court Martial. "Besides, she is quite talented."

Om believes his 'experimental' film will work, as it has been 15 years since Pushpak (Kamal Haasan, Amala, Tinnu Anand) was released.

Arvind Swamy firm on retirement

The success of Mani Ratnam's Roja (Madhu, Pankaj Kapur) turned Arvind Swamy into a teenage heartthrob overnight. After a few years in the film industry, he got bored with the adulation and quit to concentrate on the family business.

Recently, there were reports of his return to films through a Malayalam movie helmed by an unknown director.

Swamy's only Malayalam film to date is the late Bharatan's Devaragam with Sridevi.

The former actor, however, scotched all rumours through a press release: 'I am, at this point in time, not considering acting in any movie as I do not have the time or the inclination to do so. I am fully involved with my multinational business.'

Pranav Mohanlal wins state award

Inspired by the interesting stories cousin Suraj Balajee narrated about the making of Asoka (Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Ajith), Mohanlal's 12-year-old son Pranav also wanted to act.

He even played the young Mohanalal in Onnaman, but the film didn't do well.

Mohanlal's wife Suchitra, who wanted her son to concentrate on his studies, packed him off to a boarding school in Ooty. During a school vacation, however, he got a chance to act in a children's film, Punarjani.

The film has now won Pranav Kerala's state award for best child artiste. He was holidaying in the United States with his parents when the awards were announced. But there were no celebrations even after they returned to Chennai.

"I am happy he was not over-excited about the award," said Mohanlal. "If he can react to good news in this manner, I am sure he can handle bad news too."

Kerala's third superstar?

For the last two decades, two actors -- Mammootty and Mohanlal -- have dominated the Malayalam film industry.

The Tamil film industry, meanwhile, saw Kamal Haasan and Ranjikanth reign. They were followed by Ajith, Vijay and Prashanth. Now, new stars like Srikkant and Shaam, who are in their twenties, have entered the Tamil film scene.

In Malayalam, however, younger actors like Kunchako Boban could not match the charisma exuded by Mohanlal and Mammootty.

Now, Prithviraj, son of the late Malayalam actor Sukumaran, may dislodge the two superstars.

Prithviraj, who was vacationing in Trivandrum, was grabbed by director Ranjith to act in Nandanam. He was flooded with offers, even though Nandanam's release got delayed.

The offers were so tempting that Prithviraj, who was in his second year in engineering in an Australian university, has decided to take a break from studies to concentrate on acting.

The 20-year-old has been asked to sport a beard so that he looks older in all his films.