Southern actor Prakash Raj has carved a niche for himself in Bollywood with brilliant performances in villainous roles in movies like ‘Wanted’, ‘Singham’, ‘Dabangg 2’ and ‘Policegiri’.

Prakash Raj, who has already directed movies down South, now wants to direct a Hindi movie as well.

 “I want to direct a Hindi film. There is a plan...News will roll in as it happens. As of now, I don't want to say anything on it,” Prakash Raj said to PTI.

Prakash Raj is happy with the way his Bollywood career is shaping up.

“There are lot of heroes and villains in films today with lot of action films coming up. So I have got a place here," said Prakash.

After a string of negative roles Prakash Raj broke the mould and played a strict army officer in critically as well as commercially acclaimed movie ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’.

“It is a refreshing change to play a role like this. It is rare to get such a role and film like this. This is a film where you are not an actor, you are part of the film, you are part of that moment," he said.

Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha will make her Tollywood debut opposite Mahesh Babu with periodic drama movie, tentatively titled ‘Shivam’, by director Krish Jagarlamudi.

Sonakshi Sinha confirmed the news and said that she was very excited to make her debut in Telugu industry.

“Wow! Lots of support from the south for my Telugu debut - thanks guys!! Really looking forward to it... Feels like Dabangg déjà - debut with superstar, script I couldn’t refuse, capable and intelligent director! Shoot starts later this year… it's going to be a great journey :),” posted Sonakshi Sinha on her Twitter page.

According to sources, the actress was very keen on doing the movie despite her tight schedule as the movie will be her first periodic drama.

“Sonakshi had limited dates but she liked the script. She was also keen to do a period film so she gave her consent,” said a source to Mid-Day.

National Award winning southern actress Priyamani will be seen in an item song for the first time in Rohit Shetty’s ‘Chennai Express’.

The actress is very excited about the item number as she will get an opportunity to meet Shah Rukh Khan, who plays the male lead in the movie.

“I am very excited. I am just waiting for the shoot to happen so that I get to meet Shah Rukh Khan and to shoot with him,” said Priyamani to IANS.

Priyamani, who won the National Award for 2006 Tamil film ‘Paruthi Veeran’, will be seen in an item song for the first time.

“I have never done an item number. It is the first time and there is always a first time for everything,” she said.

Item numbers have become a significant part of the movies. Actresses like Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Malaika Arora Khan have been roped in to do item numbers to increase the hype and expectations surrounding the movie. Item songs like Malaika Arora Khan’s ‘Munni Badnaam’, Katrina Kaif’s ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ and ‘Chikni Chameli’, and Kareena Kapoor’s ‘Chammak Challo’ and ‘Fevicol’ achieved tremendous success and raised the bar for all item numbers. But Priyamani is unperturbed about the competition.

The Tamil Nadu government defended its decision to ban Kamal Haasan’s movie ‘Vishwaroopam’ in court today.

The government of Tamil Nadu described the censor board's clearance of the film as a ‘scam’. The Attorney General for the state said the censor board's sanction was given "without application of the mind."

The Tamil Nadu High Court is expected to decide whether the ban of the movie, placed by the State Government last week, will be revoked.

In court today, Kamal Haasan’s lawyer claimed that the ban seems to be part of "a concerted effort to gag" the actor. He also said the ban is unconstitutional because the movie has been cleared by the country's censor board.

But Tamil Nadu government stood its ground and said that ban was due to the protests held by various Muslim groups throughout the country, who claim that the portrayal of Muslims in the movie is offensive.

The decision of actor Kamal Haasan to release his Tamil film `Viswaroopam' on Direct-To-Home (DTH) platform first has received strong opposition from theater owners, who have threatened to boycott not only this movie but also Kamal Haasan’s future projects.

But the actor is unfazed by the opposition and believes that releasing movie was "evolutionary growth" and insisted it was the "way to go forward."

“Like satellite television this (effort of releasing the movie on DTH) is an evolutionary growth...The monetization is very well-planned and we debated it with DTH companies without disturbing the ecosystem of the (cinema) business. This is the way to go forward,” said Kamal Haasan to PTI.

The actor claimed that this was a `first-of-its-kind` initiative across the globe.