Tollywood star Chiranjeevi, who was last seen on screen in the Telugu period epic Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, has two remake projects in his kitty. The actor recently confirmed that he will star in the Telugu remake of Malayalam blockbuster Lucifer, to be directed by Mohan Raja. The latest on the project is that Nayanthara has been roped in to play a pivotal role.
According to an Indian Express report, Nayanthara has been roped in to play the role essayed by Manju Warrier in the original. While Nayanthara has agreed to be a part of the project, she is yet to sign on the dotted line. The remake will be launched on January 21 in Hyderabad and the film will go on the floors in March.
Nayanthara was part of Chiranjeevi starrer Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy as well. In the film, she played the role of Siddhamma, Chiranjeevi's wife in the film.
The Malayalam film Lucifer, starring Mohanlal, was the directorial debut of Prithviraj Sukumaran. The film emerged as one of the biggest blockbusters in the Malayalam industry at the time. Lucifer, a political thriller, starred Mohanlal as a character called Stephen Nedumpally. Produced by Antony Perumbavoor, the film also starred Vivek Oberoi, Tovino Thomas, Indrajith and Manju Warrier in crucial roles.
The Telugu remake will be jointly produced by NV Prasad and Konidela Productions and the rest of the cast and crew are yet to be announced.
It may be noted the film was initially to be directed by Saaho fame Sujeeth. Apparently, Chiranjeevi had put the Lucifer remake on the backburner, because of creative differences with the director. Later, it was reported VV Vinayak will be directing the remake.
Meanwhile, Chiranjeevi will be next seen in the upcoming Telugu film Acharya, in which he is rumoured to be playing dual roles. Koratala Siva is directing the film, which will hit the screens next year. Acharya, as per reports, will be about a middle-aged Naxalite-turned-social reformer who launches a fight against the Endowments Department over misappropriation and embezzlement of temple funds and donations. The film marks the first collaboration of Chiranjeevi and Koratala Siva, best known for helming films such as Mirchi, Srimanthudu, Bharat Ane Nenu and Janatha Garage. Acharya originally was supposed to mark Trisha’s return to Tollywood after many years. However, she opted out of the project due to creative differences. Kajal Aggarwal was brought in as a replacement for Trisha and joined the sets earlier this week.
Chiranjeevi also has the Telugu remake of the Tamil film Vedalam (2015) in his kitty. Meher Ramesh has been roped in to direct this venture. Anil Sunkara’s AK Entertainments will bankroll the Vedalam remake.
The project was initially planned to be made with Pawan Kalyan a couple of years ago. Eventually, Kalyan went on to star in the Telugu remake of Ajith’s Veeram. Sai Pallavi is most likely to be roped in to play Chiranjeevi’s sister in the Vedalam remake.
(Content provided by Digital Native)