Untitled Vamsi Paidipally project

Prasad V Potluri is producing an upcoming bilingual film shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil languages directed by Vamsi Paidipally. It features Akkineni Nagarjuna and Karthi playing the male leads, the film being the latter's first straight Telugu film. Tamannaah plays the female lead. Gopi Sunder composes the film's music. Production began on 11 February 2015 at Hyderabad and principal photography began on 16 March 2015 at Chennai.

Cast

• Akkineni Nagarjuna
• Karthi
• Tamannaah
• Jayasudha

Production

Development

Karthi subsequently replaced N. T. Rama Rao Jr. after the latter walked out. This film marked the former's first straight Telugu film.

After the release of Yevadu (2014), Vamsi Paidipally approached Akkineni Nagarjuna and N. T. Rama Rao Jr. for a multistarrer film.^[1] Prasad V Potluri announced in early April 2014 that he would be producing it under the banner PVP Cinema.^[2] Pre-production began in late March 2014 and the film was expected to go on floors in July 2014.^[3] During the promotion of Manam (2014), Nagarjuna said that the final script is getting ready.^[4] The final narration was given to both Nagarjuna and Rama Rao Jr. in the end of June 2014.^[5]

Nagarjuna said in an interview said that this film will have an interesting theme and will be on the lines of Missamma (1955), adding that the film's production would begin in December after he completes his pending commitments.^[6] Rama Rao Jr. walked out of the project due to unknown reasons and it was rumoured that he walked out just to not hurt Nandamuri Balakrishna who had differences with Nagarjuna in the past.^[7] With Karthi subsequently replacing Rama Rao Jr., the film turned into a bilingual filmed simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil, marking the first time in recent few years where two prominent actors from Telugu and Tamil cinema shared screen space for a multistarrer.^[8]

In late January 2015, the film was confirmed to be an official remake of The Intouchables (2011) which dealt with the relationship of a quadriplegic patient and his caretaker. Paidipally made a lot of changes in the script to make it more relevant to south Indian audience by adding elements that would appeal to them.^[9] Gopi Sunder was signed in on as the film's music director marking his first collaboration with Paidipally.^[10] The film had its official launch twice, first on 11 February 2015 at Hyderabad^[11] and on 15 March 2015 at Chennai.^[12] P. S. Vinod was confirmed as the film's cinematographer.^[13] Abburi Ravi penned the dialogues for the Telugu version.^[14]

Casting

Shruti Haasan (left) was initially signed in on to play the female lead, and was replaced with Tamannaah (right) after Haasan walked out of the film citing scheduling conflicts.

Nagarjuna said in an interview that both the leads will play two characters each.^[6] Regarding the selection of Karthi to replace Rama Rao Jr. after the latter walked out, PVP Cinema's executive director Rajeev Kamineni said to The Hindu that they opted for Karthi to bring "a combination of actors who had not collaborated before and who appealed to both the classes and masses", considering the fact that Karthi and Nagarjuna are familiar to both Telugu and Tamil audience. This marked Karthi's first straight Telugu film.^[15] Karthi persuaded the film's team to give the bound volume of the Telugu dialogues in advance.^[16] He also polished his Telugu speaking skills for the role considering the fact that the film was his Telugu debut.^[17]

The film was speculated to have a single female lead and it was uncertain with whom she would be paired.^[18] Tamannaah, who worked with Karthi for Paiyaa (2010) and Siruthai (2011), was considered to play the female lead.^[19][20] Shruti Haasan was approached for the same in late November 2014 and she evinced interest to be a part of the project. However her inclusion was doubtful because of her hectic schedules.^[21] Paidipally confirmed her inclusion in early January 2015 and she was paired with Karthi. Her role was described as a central character in the film and the female lead to be paired with Nagarjuna was yet to be finalised.^[22] Jayasudha was signed in on to play Karthi's mother in the film.^[23]

Haasan walked out of the film in late March 2015 citing scheduling conflicts.^[24] However the production house claimed that Haasan's dates were allotted as per her convenience from 10 December 2014 to 8 April 2015 and initiated civil and criminal charges against her. The Nampally city court restricted Haasan from signing any new films and ordered Banjara Hills police to investigate the matter.^[25] Haasan's spokesperson however told the media that neither Haasan nor Raaj Kamal Films International received such legal notice.^[26] Prasad later approached Tamannaah to play the female lead role and signed in on upon her acceptance.^[27] The case was withdrawn in late April 2015 after R. Sarathkumar and S. Thanu intervened. Haasan too decided to withdrew the defamation claim against the producers after the court dismissed the case.^[28] Haasan paid 1.8 million and agreed to perform an item number in the film Size Zero, also produced by Prasad for free as the compensation.^[29]

Filming

Rajeev Kamineni said that a substantial portion of the film will be shot abroad.^[15] Principal photography commenced at Chennai on 16 March 2015 and scenes focusing Karthi and Jayasudha were shot in the first schedule at a house set erected for the film's shoot.^[23] By the time Haasan was restricted by the court after walking out of the film, the first schedule of the principal photography was completed.^[30] Nagarjuna joined the film's shoot at Annapurna Studios on 8 April 2015.^[31] Scenes focusing Nagarjuna, Karthi, Tamannaah and others were shot from 10 April 2015 in the second schedule which lasted for 20 days.^[14] Nagarjuna completed filming for his part in this schedule on 25 April 2015.^[32]

References