Star film producer, industrialist and Parliamentarian T. Subbarami Reddy has pulled off a casting coup of sorts by announcing his plans to make a film with Tollywood’s megastar Chiranjeevi and his younger brother powerstar Pawan Kalyan.
Reddy, who made blockbusters State Rowdy and Gangmaster with Chiranjeevi, said that after watching the megastar in his recent film Khaidi No 150, he felt that he should return to producing movies.
He said the film would be directed by Trivikram Srinivas who has several successful films with big heroes to his credit such as Manmadhudu (Nagarjuna, Sonali Bendre), Malliswari (Vankatesh, Katrina Kaif), Athadu (Mahesh Babu, Trisha), Attarintiki Daredi (Pawan Kalyan, Samantha) to name a few.
Reddy has roped in successful director Ashwini Dutt of Vyjayanthi Movies into his yet-to-be-titled project. No other details of the cast and crew are announced yet.
Though Chiranjeevi and his son Ramcharan Tej have appeared in cameos in each other’s movies, the brothers have never acted in a film together. This will be the first time they will be sharing space on the silver screen. It’s going to be a tough balancing act for the scriptwriter and director as both the actors have a huge fan following, with mostly younger ones for the younger of the two.
Chiranjeevi, 61, who made a comeback onto the big screen after nearly a 10-year break with his 150th film, which reportedly has surpassed the box-office collections of Baahubali, still retains the glamour even 37 years after joining Indian cinema.
Kalyan, 47, who was ridiculed as an emaciated Chiranjeevi by the female lead in one of his own movies, is one of the ruling movie stars in the Telugu film industry.
His string of successes include Badri, Khushi, Jalsa, Gabbar Singh, Sardar Gabbar Singh and Atharintiki Daredi.
Katamarayudu is his next film featuring Shruti Haasan and directed by Kishore Kumar Pardasani.
He has already signed up a project to be directed by Srinivas in which Pooja Hegde will be playing the female lead.
Chiranjeevi will act in director Surender Reddy’s biopic on the freedom fighter Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy, who revolted against the British 10 years before the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny.
Boyapati Srinu was earlier announced as its director.
Reddy’s announcement of the film assumes significance as not everything is hunky dory between the brothers.
Kalyan, who backed his brother when he floated a regional party Praja Rajyam in Andhra Pradesh — mainly to encounter the then ruling Congress party — was disillusioned with Chinranjeevi’s lofty political ideology when he merged his party with its nemesis after a drubbing at the hustings.
Kalyan later floated Jana Sena, an outfit that supported Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2014 general elections that saw Naidu back in power after a nine-year stint as opposition leader in state assembly.
The move is also significant in the context that Kalyan has joined the agitation against the federal government seeking special status for Andhra Pradesh following the bifurcation with the carving out of Telangana state. The Modi government has instead announced a special package for the state.
Since Subbarami Reddy is a Congress MP, he needs all the support he can garner to put pressure on the government in New Delhi to accede to the people’s demand.
A patch-up between the brothers is the need of the hour to strengthen this cause though the older brother has repeatedly said there’s no animosity between them.
It remains to be seen if it’s true. But fans will be eagerly waiting for the mega movie, which is sure to be a double delight for them.
