Malayalam mega star Mammootty joined the sets of the YSR biopic Yatra recently and the shooting is progressing at a brisk pace. The film will highlight the 2003 Pada Yatra that YS Rajasekhara Reddy went on and how it played a big role in him winning the general assembly elections and led him to be elected the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking about working with the mega star, Yatra’s director Mahi V Raghav is all praises for him. The director revealed in an interview to the Times of India that it feels like he is collaborating with the star and not directing him.

“It has been phenomenal. I don’t think there’s anything new that I can add to what he brings to the table. I was thinking of making the character louder and more dramatic but Mammootty sir wanted to stay true to the real-life persona of YSR. The credit to his interpretation of the character goes entirely to him. We have taken the middle path where I tell him my vision and he does the rest,” Mani told TOI.

Yatra is being produced jointly by Vijay Chilla and Shashi Devi under the banner of 70MM Entertainments. The film will also have Suhasini Mani Ratnam and Jagapathi Babu in pivotal roles. To be released in Telugu and Tamil, Mammootty will be dubbing with his own voice in both the versions to lend credibility for his role.

The Yatra team had already caught the attention of the film buffs and netizens by releasing the first look poster featuring Mammootty as YSR. The technical crew of the film includes K (Krishna Kumar) for composing the tunes, Sathyan Sooryan for camera and A Sreekar Prasad for editing.

The shooting of this film began a few days ago in Hyderabad and will be wrapped up within a couple of months. Reports are that Yatra will hit the marquee as a Sankaranthi release next year. Yathra will be released in Telugu as well as Tamil and Mammootty will be dubbing for both the versions.