Preparations for NTR's 60-crore biopic in full swing

The biopic on NTR, in which Nandamuri Balakrishna will be portraying his late father, is all set to go on floors in March. “The producers and Balakrishna want to make this film epic and are putting their everything into it. The budget for this film is estimated at Rs 60 crore,” says a source.

Directed by Teja and bankrolled by Vishnu Induri and Sai Korrapati, the film is currently in its pre-production phase. “A team from Hollywood is working day and night and currently, they are focusing on the character sketches. There are nearly 72 characters in the film, and the cast hasn’t been finalised yet,” informs the source.

Interestingly, a research team has already collected information about the politico from nearly 125 people who knew him in some way. 

“The shooting is going to start in Hyderabad, but some important scenes are also going to be shot in Nimmakuru, the birth place of NTR,” added the source.

As of now, the film story narrates four different stages of NTR’s life. While his character will be played by three different actors at four years, 16 years and 20 years, the last and main phase, that of a grown up NTR will be played by Balakrishna. “He is playing nearly 20 get ups of NTR in the film and many actors who have worked with NTR in several films will also be shown in the film,” reveals the source.

However, amid all these developments, there are rumours that Balakrishna is not too happy with Teja’s work. But the NTR team completely dismisses the news.

“They’ve already shot the teaser and wanted to release it on January 18, the death anniversary of the NTR. But the family members advised Balakrishna against launching it on an occasion that wasn’t a happy moment. So then the makers decided to release only the poster of NTR and are planning to release the teaser at the launch event of the film,” added the source. 

It is believed that the film will be officially launched in March itself, a couple of days before the shooting begins.