NTR biopic

The NTR biopic headlined by Balakrishna took an entirely different turn the moment director Krish Jagarlamudi stepped in. The director also wrapped up Manikarnika as soon as possible and gave this film all the attention he could. No one doubts Krish’s capabilities and the production house reportedly too took great care of the cast and crew. So happy was Vidya Balan that she distributed sweets to the entire team on the last day of shoot. She worked for 15 days. Bharath Reddy played Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, Daggubati Raja as NTR’s brother, Sumanth as Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Rana Daggubati as Chandrababu Naidu. Purandareswari’s character , is being essayed by a new artiste; other characters include those like T Anjaiah and Kotla Vijaybhaskar Reddy. The first part Kathanayakudu is about NTR’s journey in cinema till he turns to politics and the second part Mahanayakudu deals with his political career. Brace up for the release of these two parts in January and February.

Maharshi

Mahesh Babu in Maharshi  

After Srimanthudu and Bharat Ane Nenu, Mahesh Babu will be seen in this film directed by Vamsi Paidipally. Maharshi is said to deal with issues like organic farming and friendship. Sources state that one can expect a bond on the lines of Krishna-Kuchela, with Allari Naresh playing the part of man going through a bad patch and gets help from his childhood buddy. Mahesh, who plays a character that lives in the US, returns on learning that his friend whose survival depends on agriculture is facing a crisis. Pooja Hegde and Mahesh essay characters called Maha and Rishi.

Majili and Miss Granny

Samantha and Naga Chaitanya in Majili  

Samantha had a great 2018 and is using that position to steer away from the routine. Expect to see her shine in director Shiva Nirvana’s Majili in which she stars alongside Naga Chaitanya. Samantha is also shooting for director Nandini Reddy’s Oh Baby, Yentha Sakkagunnave which is a remake of the Korean film Miss Granny, a promising watch in summer 2019. Destiny plays a key element throughout the film that also showcases a unique tussle between mother and son. Samantha gets to play a 70-year-old woman who has an opportunity to turn into her 20-year-old self. Naga Shourya plays her love interest. Lakshmi Bhupal is the dialogue writer, and the film is being produced by Sunitha Thati and Suresh Productions.

Yatra

Mammootty in Yatra  

This is an event-based biopic like Lincoln where the filmmaker choses a defining moment in a personality’s life and tries to capture the essence of his character. Political biopics are tricky — like Periyar, Iruvar and Gandhi, so it will be interesting to see how the audience reconnects with YSR’s story in Yatra. Eyeing the poll year for Andhra Pradesh, director Mahi Raghav’s film starring Mammootty as YSR aims high. Towards the end of 2019, the clash between the NTR and YSR biopics will be discussed. Mammooty returns to Telugu cinema after 25 years.

Saaho

Prabhas in Saaho  

The revenue and expectations of Telugu films post Baahubali have increased worldwide. Prabhas-starrer Saaho, directed by Sujeeth, is said to be a Hollywood-style project being made at more than ₹100 crore. Neil Nitin Mukesh, Vivek Oberoi and Shraddha Kapoor are part of the main cast and Sharad Kelkar who dubbed for Prabhas in the Hindi version of Baahubali will do the honours for Saaho as well. As per the industry buzz,technically it is expected to raise the bar, and the stunt sequences will remind the audience of Fast And Furious series. Sources disclose that the two and a half hours film will have about 60 minutes of action sequences. Prabhas plays the most wanted thief while Shraddha Kapoor is the cop. We don’t know if there is a dual role but he definitely sports two looks. Sujeeth waited seven years to make this film; he and Prabhas share a common love for superhero stories, so this could be a binding factor of the actor and the director.

Jersey

Nani in Jersey  

The sports drama starring Nani also looks at how personal relationships affect the game. Nani says it is one of the most honest scripts he came across and as soon as he heard the narration, he decided to take it up. Nani underwent training and put on some weight for the role. Incidentally, Nani had done another sports drama earlier. Remember Bheemili Kabaddi Jattu? Jersey is directed by Gautam Tinnanuri who made his debut with Malli Rava. Shraddha Srinath makes her debut in Telugu with this film.

Kalki

Dr Rajashekar approached director Prasanth Varma even before the release of his debut film Awe; he had a story that would be apt for him. The actor plays a character called Kalki in this investigative thriller, said to be a franchise, set in 1980s. Kalki is expected to be a whodunit . Though the name has many layers and references to the mythological character, the film will not follow any template. Dr Rajashekar will be doing more action scenes than he did in Garuda Vega. A single shot action scene is being much talked about in industry circles. Adah Sharma and Nandita Shweta essay key characters.

Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy

Chiranjeevi in a still from Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy  

History has it that Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy was one of the first Indians to rebel against the British regime and demand freedom. The story of the Telugu freedom fighter from Rayalaseema who was hanged by the British is being brought to screen with Chiranjeevi essaying the titular role. The actor is in the right space to try such roles.

After the success of Baahubali, Chiranjeevi was confident that the risk of investing more than 100 crore on this historical subject would be worth it. It is alleged that the script was first offered by Paruchuri Brothers to Balakrishna post Vamsodharakudu and director Jayant C Paranji was supposed to direct it at an estimated budget of ₹50 crore. Producer M S Reddy called it off, unconvinced by the financial prospects.

Now years later, Sye Raa has been taken up by Konidela Productions and has a pan-Indian crew. Director Surender Reddy has a huge task at hand. Amitabh Bachchan had even posted a beautiful picture from the sets when he was in Hyderabad for the shoot.