Akhil Akkineni has firmly denied the reports that he will be working with director Ram Gopal Varma next. The young actor, who is desperately in need of a big hit, has been reported by the Times of India as saying, “I’m not sure who is confirming any such news (of Akhil doing Varma’s film) or why. I’m off to London to shoot my next film. That’s the only thing on my mind right now.”
Though talks about Akhil getting to work with Ram Gopal Varma surfaced when Nagajuna hopped onboard the director’s Officer, the film’s failure at the box office may have made Akhil reconsider the decision, say sources.
Further, Akhil also confirmed that he has inked the deal to star in Venky Atluri’s upcoming film. In the movie, he will be sharing screen space with Nidhi Agarwal. The actor is also reported to have confirmed that the team will be flying down to London and be stationed there for a few days to shoot a major portion of the film.
Akhil's statement comes months after Ram Gopal Verma tweeted: “Just love the circle of life Nagarjuna produced my debut Shiva and now after some 25 years I produced Nagarjuna’s Officer and now in a full circle Nagarjuna is producing Akhil Akkineni‘s film with me as director.” Both Nag as well as his son Akhil chose to remain silent to this tweet from the director.
Just love the circle of life @iamnagarjuna produced my debut #Shiva and now after some 25 years I produced Nagarjuna’s #Officer and now in a full circle Nagarjuna is producing @AkhilAkkineni8 ‘s film with me as director
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) March 27, 2018
Akhil made his debut as hero with Akhil in 2015 and his next film as the main lead with the Vikram Kumar directorial Hello. Incidentally, both these films received a lukewarm response at the box office. According to trade reports, Hello managed to gross Rs. 25.05 crore worldwide within four days of its release, with a distributor share of Rs.14.38 crore. The collections from Telugu states Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in four days were approximately Rs. 15.75 crore with a share of Rs. 10.1 crore. On completion, the film collected a share of Rs.17 to 20 crores share approximately.