Tollywood buzz: Rajamouli's biggie with Mahesh Babu, Samantha's US trip and more

Thanks to the humongous success of the Baahubali series (biggest grosser in Indian cinema), RRR, and Pushpa: The Rise, Tollywood is the toast of Indian cinema now.

Even Bollywood biggies prefer promoting their films aggressively in the Telugu states, with the recent Ranbir Kapoor flick Brahmastra being the biggest example. The entire country is closely watching Telugu cinema closely, and it seems like that is where all the action/money is. Recently, a medium-sized Telugu film Karthikeya 2, also scored big in Bollywood.

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The Federal brings you some exclusive developments from the industry.

Rajamouli busy with script work of Mahesh film

SS Rajamouli, the numero uno filmmaker of the country, is on an all-time high with back-to-back blockbusters Baahubali and RRR. Though many Bollywood studios are ready to pay him a fat paycheck, the filmmaker continues to work with producers of Telugu cinema.

Touted to be an action-adventure, Rajamouli and his dad Vijayendra Prasad are currently busy scripting another biggie. Just like the Baahubali series and RRR, the yet-untitled Mahesh Babu-Rajamouli film will also release in multiple languages.

KL Narayana is likely to bankroll the movie, though an official announcement is yet to be made.

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One more Telugu film for DQ

Dulquer Salmaan’s recent Telugu film Sita Ramam has become one of the biggest grossers in the actor’s career. The latest update we hear is that Dulquer will be joining hands with the Sita Ramam filmmaker Hanu Raghavapudi again.

Sita Ramam‘s production house Vyjayanthi Movies and Swapna Cinema have given their nod to bankroll the film.

Devarakonda drops out of Jana Gana Mana

After the lacklustre box-office performance of Liger directed by Puri Jagannadh, Vijay Devarakonda has dropped out of the filmmaker’s next Jana Gana Mana.

My Home Group, the production house of the film, has also backed out of the project, citing the huge failure of Liger.

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Now, Jagannadh is working on a medium-budget film but he hasn’t locked any lead actor for the project.

GodFather‘s low-key promotions upset fans

The low-key promotions of megastar Chiranjeevi’s October 5 release GodFather have upset his fans. Chiranjeevi’s last film Acharya went out of theatres without any trace and it is one of the major failures in the actor’s career. Fans of the actor are pinning high hopes on God Father, but the delay in the post-production and lethargic promotions are testing the patience of the fans.

Chiranjeevi’s fans also took to Twitter to raise questions about the below-par promotions of the film. GodFather is the Telugu remake of the Malayalam blockbuster Lucifer. Mohan Raja of Thani Oruvan fame is helming the film, which also has a cameo from Salman Khan.

Samantha takes a break

According to sources in Tollywood, Telugu cinema’s leading star Samantha Ruth Prabhu has taken a break from all of her films and web series. The actress is said to have a skin-related issue and for further treatment, she is planning to visit a leading dermatologist in the US.

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Samantha has already completed the shoot of her upcoming Telugu films like Yashoda and Shakuntalam, which are ready for release but the actress has a few more schedules left in Devarakonda’s Kushi.

Samantha has also yet to complete the shoot of Arrangements of Love (web series) and Citadel remake.

Koratala Siva with NTR 

No one expected Koratala Siva, one of the bankable directors of Telugu cinema, to deliver Chiranjeevi’s biggest box office failure Acharya. Following the debacle, many thought that Jr NTR would back out of Siva’s film.

But known for their great rapport, NTR has asked Siva to come up with an exceptional script. Sources say that Siva has become extra conscious that he voluntarily goes for multiple drafts to get the script right this time.

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As this yet-untitled film will be NTR’s next after the blockbuster RRR, the actor also wants to hit the bull’s eye.

Pawan back to film sets

Telugu cinema’s Powerstar Pawan Kalyan was away from film shoots and only concentrated on his political party Janasena for the past few months.

Now, the actor is said to have given his go-ahead to Trivikram and RRR fame DVV Dannaya, the producers of his upcoming yet untitled film with director Sujeeth to commence the shoot in October.

Pawan will also resume the shoot of his period action-adventure Hari Hara Veera Mallu with director Krish in November.

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The leading star also has the Telugu remake of the Tamil film Vinodhaya Sitham in the pipeline.

Mahesh to play upright officer in Trivikram’s film

Superstar Mahesh Babu is presently busy shooting for his 28th film with director Trivikram. Sources say that Mahesh plays an upright officer, although the makers kept the department a secret. A few even say that the actor plays a secret agent but the makers are tight-lipped.

Prabhas to simultaneously shoot for Project K, Salaar

Baahubali star Prabhas is trying to focus on work to come out of the loss of his uncle Krishnam Raju.

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The actor will resume the shoot of KGF filmmaker Prashanth Neel’s Salaar in Hyderabad this week. From October, he will simultaneously shoot for Salaar and Mahanati director Nag Ashwin’s Project K which also has Deepika Padukone in the lead role.

Meanwhile, Prabhas is also gearing up for the release of his Bollywood film Adipurush (Adaptation of Ramayana), which is slated to release in January 2023.

Ram Charan-Shankar film’s release postponed

After Shankar decided to resume the shoot of Kamal Haasan’s Indian 2, Dil Raju, the producer of the director’s yet untitled film with Ram Charan has decided to push the release date from summer 2023. Sources say that Charan’s film with Shankar is likely to hit the screens for Independence Day weekend in 2023. Kiara Advani plays the female lead in the film and SJ Suryah has been roped in to lock horns with Charan.