E-Paper
NTR biopic: Has director Teja walked out of the project? Here’s what we know
NTR biopic faces a hurdle as director Teja has walked out of the project because of creative differences with Nandamuri Balakrishna.
The highly anticipated NTR biopic was launched by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on March 29 in Ramakrishna Studio, Hyderabad. The crème le crème of Telugu film fraternity had gathered on this occasion to wish the entire team luck for the commencement of the prestigious project. Announced as Teja as its director, the film would feature Nandamuri Balakrishna in the role of his late legendary father, Nandamuri Taraka Ram Rao.
Even before the project could get into full-fledged shooting mode, it is believed that it has faced its first major setback in the form Teja opting out of the film. While we don’t for certain yet, but going by the industry grapevine, Teja chose to walk out of the project after facing creative differences with Balakrishna. Reports have also emerged that veteran filmmaker K. Raghavendra Rao, who was one of the guests at the launch of the film, is likely to take over the reins of the project as its director. Teja was unavailable for a comment. However, a source told Hindustan Times: “An official announcement is expected to be made soon regarding change of director.”
At the launch of the film, director Teja said he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to do justice to this opportunity. “When I was approached with the offer, I remember telling them if I can do justice to the story. I had this doubt, despite being a huge fan of NTR. I’ll give my best efforts. NTR’s story is so vast; it’d take six films to encompass everything. We’ve tried to encapsulate everything into one film and I hope we will do justice. If everything goes as planned, we’ll come to theatre this Dussehra.”
Being jointly produced by Balakrishna, Vishnu Induri and Sai Korrapati, the film will have music by MM Keeravani. While Santhosh Thundiyil will crank the camera, Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao will take care of editing.
